2025 25LSO-0127
STATE OF WYOMING Working Draft
0.4
DRAFT ONLY
NOT APPROVED FOR
INTRODUCTION
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO.
Amending Wyoming's act of admission for leases and earnings.
Sponsored by: Select Committee on Capital Financing &
Investments
A JOINT RESOLUTION
for
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to introduce a bill
2 and enact law to amend Wyoming's act of admission to authorize
3 the expenditure of earnings for the support of the common
4 schools in Wyoming and to amend the authority for leasing
5 state school lands.
6
7 WHEREAS, on July 10, 1890, the United States Congress enacted
8 the Act of Admission that admitted Wyoming as a state in the
9 United States of America; and
10
1
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 WHEREAS, the Act of Admission granted the state of Wyoming
2 two (2) sections of land in every township for the support of
3 common schools; and
4
5 WHEREAS, the Act of Admission specified that any proceeds
6 from the disposition of granted school lands were to
7 constitute a permanent school fund, "the interest of which
8 only shall be expended in the support of said schools"; and
9
10 WHEREAS, the Act of Admission authorized the state of Wyoming
11 to lease granted school lands for mineral, grazing,
12 agricultural or other purposes but that agricultural and
13 grazing leases shall not exceed ten (10) years; and
14
15 WHEREAS, the Act of Admission specified that a percentage of
16 the proceeds of the sales of federal public lands in Wyoming
17 were to constitute a permanent fund, "the interest of which
18 only shall be expended for the support of the common schools"
19 in Wyoming; and
20
21 WHEREAS, the Act of Admission specified that certain
22 previously granted lands constituted a permanent fund, with
2
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 the interest and income to be used for university purposes;
2 and
3
4 WHEREAS, the state created the common school account within
5 the permanent land fund in accordance with the requirements
6 of the Act of Admission and Article 7, Section 2 of the
7 Wyoming Constitution; and
8
9 WHEREAS, the common school account within the permanent land
10 fund has grown over the years and has been invested to where
11 the current value of the fund exceeds four billion dollars
12 ($4,000,000,000.00); and
13
14 WHEREAS, the investment of the funds in the common school
15 account generates earnings and capital gains that are in
16 addition to interest and income generated from the funds; and
17
18 WHEREAS, providing broader authority to the state of Wyoming
19 for leasing granted school lands will allow the state of
20 Wyoming to secure better long-term returns from leases; and
21
22 WHEREAS, an amendment to Wyoming's Act of Admission that would
23 replace references to "interest" and "income" with references
3
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 to "earnings" will better reflect the reality of how the
2 common school account is invested and will allow the earnings
3 that are generated from the investment of the permanent funds
4 of the common school account to be better and more efficiently
5 applied for the benefit of Wyoming's public schools; and
6
7 WHEREAS, an amendment to the Act of Admission to allow the
8 state to lease granted school lands under laws that the
9 Wyoming Legislature prescribes and subject to each lease
10 securing the maximum long-term financial return will allow
11 the state of Wyoming to secure greater returns from leases.
12
13 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE
14 LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:
15
16 Section 1. That the Wyoming Legislature requests that
17 members of Wyoming's congressional delegation introduce, and
18 that Congress enact, legislation that will amend Wyoming's
19 Act of Admission to strike references to "interest" in
20 sections 5 and 7 of the Act of Admission and to insert
21 references to "earnings," to strike the reference to "income"
22 in section 8 and insert a reference to "earnings," and to
4
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 amend provisions related to leases of granted school lands to
2 secure greater returns from those leases.
3
4 Section 2. That members of Wyoming's congressional
5 delegation and Congress consider introducing legislation that
6 makes the following changes to sections 5, 7 and 8 of the Act
7 of Admission as follows:
8
9 Section 5.
10
11 All lands herein granted for educational purposes
12 shall be disposed of only at public sale, the
13 proceeds to constitute a permanent school fund, the
14 interest earnings of which only shall be expended
15 in the support of said schools. But said lands may,
16 under such regulations as the legislature shall
17 prescribe, be leased for mineral, grazing,
18 agricultural, or other purposes, provided that the
19 term of agricultural and grazing leases shall not
20 exceed 10 years Lands granted under this act for
21 educational purposes may be leased in accordance
22 with State law; and such land shall not be subject
23 to preemption, homestead entry, or any other entry
5
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 under the land laws of the United States, whether
2 surveyed or unsurveyed, but shall be reserved for
3 school purposes only.
4
5 Section 7.
6
7 Five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of public
8 lands lying within said state which shall be sold
9 by the United States subsequent to the admission of
10 said state into the union, after deducting all the
11 expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the
12 said state, to be used as a permanent fund, the
13 interest earnings of which only shall be expended
14 for the support of the common schools within said
15 state.
16
17 Section 8.
18
19 The lands granted to the Territory of Wyoming by
20 the act of February 18, 1881, entitled "An act to
21 grant lands to Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho and
22 Wyoming, for university purposes," are hereby
23 vested in the State of Wyoming, to the extent of
24 the full quantity of 72 sections to said state, and
6
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1 any portion of said lands that may not have been
2 selected by said Territory of Wyoming may be
3 selected by the said state; but said act of February
4 18, 1881, shall be so amended as to provide that
5 none of said lands shall be sold for less than $10
6 per acre, and the proceeds shall constitute a
7 permanent fund to be safely invested and held by
8 said state, and the income earnings thereof be used
9 exclusively for university purposes. The schools,
10 colleges, and universities provided for in this act
11 shall forever remain under exclusive control of
12 said state, and no part of the proceeds arising
13 from the sale or disposal of any lands herein
14 granted for educational purposes shall be used for
15 the support of any sectarian or denominational
16 school, college, or university. The section of land
17 granted by the act of May 28, 1888 to the Territory
18 of Wyoming for a fish hatchery and other public
19 purposes shall, upon the admission of said State of
20 Wyoming into the union, become the property of said
21 state.
7
[Bill Number]
 2025 STATE OF WYOMING 25LSO-0127
Working Draft
0.4
1
2 Section 3. That the Secretary of State of Wyoming
3 transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the
4 United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
5 of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress,
6 the governor, the state treasurer and to each member of the
7 Wyoming Congressional Delegation.
8
9 (END)
8
[Bill Number]