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SF0090 • 2024

State-managed local government equity investment pool.

AN ACT relating to public funds; authorizing the establishment of a local government investment equities pool; authorizing the investment of local government funds in equities; specifying duties for the state treasurer and state treasurer's office; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Senator Gierau
Last action
2024-03-15
Official status
enrolled
Effective date
7/1/2024

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on specific penalties for early withdrawals or minimum fund sizes required before investment can start.

State-managed Local Government Equity Investment Pool

This law allows local governments to pool their funds and invest them in stocks with oversight from the state treasurer.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates a new investment pool for local government funds to be invested in equities like stocks, upon request by local governments.
  • Requires the state treasurer to manage this pool according to specific rules they will create.
  • Specifies that local governments must acknowledge the risks involved before joining the pool.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local government entities such as cities, towns, counties, and school districts.
  • The state treasurer who will manage the investment pool.

Terms To Know

Equities
Financial assets like stocks that represent ownership in a company.
Pooled basis
Combining funds from multiple sources to invest together as one larger fund.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify how much money must be pooled before investments can start.
  • It is unclear what specific penalties will apply for early withdrawal of funds from the pool.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SF0090H2001

2nd reading • Representative Hornok

Failed

Plain English: The amendment adds a new requirement for local governments to include funds invested in equities as part of their reporting, financial statements, and audits.

  • Adds a new section (c) that requires local government funds invested under the act to be included in required reports about investments, financial statements, and audits.
  • Changes the label from '(c)' to '(d)' after adding the new content.
  • The amendment text does not specify what 'as specified' means when referring to equities investment rules.
SF0090H3001

3rd reading • Representative Bear

Failed

Plain English: The amendment adds legislative findings about fiduciary responsibilities and nonpecuniary factors, and includes new provisions for the state treasurer to address potential detrimental outcomes from nonpecuniary investments.

  • Adds a section with legislative findings that emphasize the importance of pecuniary factors in investment decisions and prohibit ideological considerations.
  • Inserts new duties for the state treasurer to assess and act upon any nonpecuniary behavior by investment partners, including requesting policy changes or divesting from investments.
  • The amendment's text does not provide specific details on how pecuniary factors are determined or what constitutes a detrimental outcome.
  • It is unclear how the state treasurer will enforce these new provisions and what consequences investment partners might face if they do not comply.
SF0090HS001

Standing Committee • House Appropriations Committee

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment removes a specific section of the bill that allowed for certain duties to be assigned to the state treasurer's office and changes punctuation in another part of the text.

  • Removes lines 11 through 16 on page 5, which contained instructions or responsibilities given to the state treasurer’s office.
  • Changes a semicolon to a period at line 9 on page 5.
  • The exact nature of the duties removed from the state treasurer's office is not specified in the amendment text and cannot be determined without reviewing the original lines 11 through 16.
SF0090S2001

2nd reading • Senator Biteman

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment adds a new requirement that investments in the local government equity pool must be made based only on financial considerations and should not sacrifice potential returns for other goals.

  • Adds a rule stating that investments must be made solely based on financial factors, without considering non-financial objectives.
  • The amendment does not specify what specific financial or non-financial factors are involved in the investment decisions.

Bill History

  1. 2024-03-15 LSO

    Assigned Chapter Number 83

  2. 2024-03-15 Governor

    Governor Signed SEA No. 0064

  3. 2024-03-08 House

    H Speaker Signed SEA No. 0064

  4. 2024-03-08 Senate

    S President Signed SEA No. 0064

  5. 2024-03-08 LSO

    Assigned Number SEA No. 0064

  6. 2024-03-08 Senate

    S Concur:Passed 21-10-0-0-0

  7. 2024-03-07 Senate

    S Received for Concurrence

  8. 2024-03-06 House

    H 3rd Reading:Passed 44-18-0-0-0

  9. 2024-03-05 House

    H 2nd Reading:Passed

  10. 2024-03-04 House

    H COW:Passed

  11. 2024-03-01 House

    H Placed on General File

  12. 2024-03-01 House

    H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0

  13. 2024-02-27 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H02 - Appropriations

  14. 2024-02-19 House

    H Received for Introduction

  15. 2024-02-19 Senate

    S 3rd Reading:Passed 27-3-1-0-0

  16. 2024-02-16 Senate

    S 2nd Reading:Passed

  17. 2024-02-15 Senate

    S COW:Passed

  18. 2024-02-14 Senate

    S Placed on General File

  19. 2024-02-14 Senate

    S02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 4-0-1-0-0

  20. 2024-02-13 Senate

    S Introduced and Referred to S02 - Appropriations 27-4-0-0-0

  21. 2024-02-12 Senate

    S Received for Introduction

  22. 2024-02-12 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Official Summary Text

Bill Summary - 24LSO-0467

Bill No.:

SF0090

Effective:

7/1/2024

LSO No.:

24LSO-0467

Enrolled Act No.:

SEA No. 0064

Chapter No.:

83

Prime Sponsor:

Gierau

Catch Title:

State-managed local government equity investment pool.

Has Report:

No

Subject:

Establishing a state-managed investment pool for local governments to invest funds in stocks and equities.

Summary/Major Elements:

In an amendment adopted in 2022, the Wyoming Constitution provides that the Legislature may provide by law for the investment of funds belonging to local governments in stocks and equities.

This act establishes an investment pool for local governments to invest funds in stocks and equities. Upon request by a local government (city, town, county, special district, school district or any other political subdivision), the state treasurer shall invest funds of those requesting entities on a pooled basis in stocks and equities.

This investment pool is a third local investment pool that would have more long-term redemption options and additional and appropriate penalties for the early withdrawal of funds.

For this investment pool, the treasurer must, among other things, adopt rules for the transmittal of funds for investment, the manner of withdrawals (including limitations on withdrawal), accounting and reporting procedures, a minimum fund size for the investment of funds on a pooled basis and fees to be charged if the state treasurer determines them to be necessary.

Before a local government requests that the state treasurer invests funds in this pool, the local government must acknowledge in writing that the entity understands that investing in equities involves risk of loss of some or all of the invested amount.

The act specifies that nothing is to be construed as requiring the state to reimburse local governments for any losses that may occur on investments in this pool.
The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent.

While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
24LSO-0467

ORIGINAL Senate

ENGROSSED
File No
.
SF0090

ENROLLED ACT NO. 64,

SENATE

SIXTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2024 Budget Session

AN ACT relating to public funds; authorizing the establishment of a local government investment equities pool; authorizing the investment of local government funds in equities; specifying duties for the state treasurer and state treasurer's office; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
419 is created to read:

9
‑
1
‑
419.

Local government investment equities pool.

(a)

Upon request by any city, town, county, special district, school district or any other political subdivision, the state treasurer shall invest funds of one (1) or more of these entities on a pooled basis in the same manner as the state treasurer makes investments of state funds in equities, including stocks of corporations, in accordance with law. The state treasurer shall adopt rules that:

(i)

Provide for the transmittal of funds from the entities to the state treasurer for investment, the manner in which the funds may be withdrawn from the investment pool by entities, limitations on withdrawal of funds, accounting and reporting procedures and any other provisions that will effectively carry out the purposes of this section;

(ii)

If determined by the state treasurer to be necessary, establish fees to be charged to local governmental entities that request the investment of funds under this section. Any fees collected under this paragraph shall not exceed the direct costs incurred by the state treasurer in investing funds for each local governmental entity. Fees collected under this paragraph shall be deposited into the investment assistance account created by W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
416(a)(ii);

(iii)

Establish a minimum fund size for the investment of funds on a pooled basis under this section.

(b)

Before requesting the state treasurer to invest funds under this section, a local governmental entity shall acknowledge in writing that the entity understands that investing in equities involves risk of loss of some or all of the amount invested.

(c)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the state of Wyoming to reimburse local governmental entities for any losses that may occur on investments under this section.

Section 2.

W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
831(a) by creating a new paragraph (xxviii) is amended to read:

9
‑
4
‑
831.

Investment of public funds.

(a)

The state treasurer, or treasurer of any political subdivision, municipality or special district of this state, and the various boards of trustees and boards of directors of county hospitals, airports, fairs and other duly constituted county boards and commissions, may invest in:

(xxviii)

Investments in equities, including stocks of corporations, as part of an investment fund for local governmental entities, upon request by any county, city, town, school district, special district or any other political subdivision, as provided in W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
419. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit or alter the state treasurer's authority to invest state funds in equities in accordance with law. The investment fund under this paragraph shall:

(A)

Be a third local investment pool with more long
‑
term redemption options than the local investment pools established in paragraph (xxvii) of this subsection and W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
416 and that are in line with appropriate redemptions of investments in equities;

(B)

Have additional and appropriate penalties for the early withdrawal of funds as provided by rules adopted by the state treasurer;

(C)

Be subject to rules adopted by the state treasurer in accordance with W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
419;

(D)

Subject to this paragraph, be managed in accordance with W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
419.

Section 3
.

This act is effective July 1, 2024
.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

1