This bill amends existing laws governing public funds in Wyoming, specifically targeting the Wyoming cultural trust fund and the Wyoming wildlife and natural resource trust account. It removes the inviolate status of these funds, thereby enhancing their investment potential by allowing investments in equities, such as corporate stocks, which will require a two-thirds majority vote in the legislature. The bill establishes income accounts for both trust funds, detailing how contributions and earnings will be managed and how investment earnings will be redirected into the corpus of these accounts. Additionally, it sets guidelines for grant disbursement from these income accounts, limiting annual grant amounts to a percentage of the five-year average market value of the respective trust funds, while allowing for certain exceptions.

Furthermore, the bill introduces new provisions for the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Account Board, empowering it to receive and evaluate grant applications for both small and large projects. The board can approve small project grants and forward large project applications to a select committee for further review. It also establishes a spending policy for the appropriation of funds in the income account, restricting grants to nonprofit and governmental organizations and prohibiting the use of grant funds for acquiring real property or water rights. The bill repeals several outdated provisions that previously limited investment strategies for the trust funds and clarifies that annual spending limits on income accounts will not apply to funds deposited before July 1, 2025, ensuring these funds maintain their previous obligations. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
25LSO-0153 v0.2: 9-2-2302, 9-2-2303, 9-2-2304, 9-2-2306, 9-2-2307, 9-15-103, 9-15-104, 9-15-105, 9-4-715