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HB0047 • 2025
Secretary of state-expedited filings.
AN ACT relating to the administration of government; allowing the secretary of state to charge a fee to expedite filings of documents as specified; authorizing a position; providing an appropriation; specifying a contingency; and providing for an effective date.
Budget
Labor
Technology
Did Not Pass
The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.
- Sponsor
- BlockChain/Technology
- Last action
- 2025-03-06
- Official status
- inactive
- Effective date
- 3/1/2025
Plain English Breakdown
The bill did not pass in its current form as it was postponed indefinitely.
Secretary of State Can Charge Fees for Expedited Document Filings
The bill allows the Secretary of State to charge fees for expedited document filings and provides funding and staffing for this new process.
What This Bill Does
- Allows the Secretary of State to charge a fee to speed up the filing of certain documents.
- Creates one full-time position to handle these expedited filings.
- Provides $93,179 from the general fund to support this position.
- Specifies that if another bill authorizes more positions for the Secretary of State, this funding and staffing will not be needed.
Who It Names or Affects
- The Secretary of State's office
- People or businesses filing documents with the Secretary of State
Terms To Know
- Filing fee
- A charge paid to file a document quickly.
- Secretary of State
- The government official responsible for managing state records and documents.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill did not pass in the current session.
- Fees will be set by rules made by the Secretary of State, based on costs involved.
- The funding and staffing are only temporary until June 30, 2026.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
Plain English: The amendment requires the secretary of state to report to the joint appropriations committee about a new position created by the bill before December 31, 2025.
- Adds a requirement for the secretary of state to submit a report to the joint appropriations committee regarding whether a newly authorized position has been filled and its necessity.
- The amendment does not specify what happens if the position is not necessary or if it remains unfilled by the deadline.
Plain English: The amendment changes the effective date of certain provisions in HB0047 from July 1, 2025, to immediately after a bill becomes law according to Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
- Changes the effective date for specified provisions from July 1, 2025, to an immediate effect upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law.
- The amendment text does not specify which particular provisions are affected by this change in timing.
- It is unclear what specific 'acts' must be completed before the effective date can occur, as defined by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
HB0047HS001
Standing Committee • House Minerals, Business and Economic Development
Adopted
Plain English: The amendment adds provisions for the secretary of state to hire a new full-time position and receive funding from the general fund to implement certain document filing procedures.
- Adds authorization for the secretary of state to have one additional full-time employee until June 30, 2026.
- Provides an appropriation of $93,179.00 from the general fund to cover the costs associated with this new position.
- Specifies that if another bill authorizes more positions for the secretary of state by a certain date, these provisions will not take effect.
- The amendment does not specify what happens after June 30, 2026 regarding the position and funding.
Plain English: The amendment adds an appropriation of $500,000 from the general fund to the University of Wyoming center for blockchain and digital innovation to develop software for online filing services at the secretary of state's office.
- Adds a new section that appropriates $500,000 from the general fund to the University of Wyoming center for blockchain and digital innovation to create software for the secretary of state’s office.
- Specifies that this funding is intended to develop software allowing online filing for various document types including business entity formation, notary registration, apostille requests, and lobbyist registration.
- The amendment does not specify how the reduction in funds will be calculated if other similar bills are enacted into law.
- It is unclear what specific software features or functionalities will be developed with this funding.
HB0047SS001
Standing Committee • Senate Appropriations Committee
Adopted
Plain English: The amendment removes the authorization for a new position and adjusts how the $5,000 fee is set to account for inflation.
- Removes language that would allow the secretary of state to create a new position.
- Changes the $5,000 fee to be adjusted every two years based on inflation in the Denver area.
- The amendment deletes several lines and pages without providing clear details about what is removed, which limits full understanding of all changes made.
Bill History
-
2025-03-06
House
H postponed indefinitely
-
2025-03-06
House
H Appointed JCC01 Members
-
2025-03-04
Senate
S Appointed JCC01 Members
-
2025-03-03
House
H Appointed JCC01 Members
-
2025-03-03
House
H Concur:Failed 13-47-2-0-0
-
2025-03-03
House
H Received for Concurrence
-
2025-03-03
Senate
S 3rd Reading:Passed 29-2-0-0-0
-
2025-02-28
Senate
S 2nd Reading:Passed
-
2025-02-27
Senate
S COW:Passed
-
2025-02-26
Senate
S Placed on General File
-
2025-02-26
Senate
S02 - Appropriations:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 4-0-1-0-0
-
2025-02-12
Senate
:Rerefer to S02 - Appropriations
-
2025-02-12
Senate
S07 - Corporations:Recommend Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0
-
2025-02-10
Senate
S Introduced and Referred to S07 - Corporations
-
2025-01-24
Senate
S Received for Introduction
-
2025-01-23
House
H 3rd Reading:Passed 60-0-2-0-0
-
2025-01-22
House
H 2nd Reading:Passed
-
2025-01-21
House
H COW:Passed
-
2025-01-17
House
H Placed on General File
-
2025-01-17
House
H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0
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2025-01-16
House
:Rerefer to H02 - Appropriations
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2025-01-16
House
H09 - Minerals:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 9-0-0-0-0
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2025-01-14
House
H Introduced and Referred to H09 - Minerals
-
2025-01-02
House
H Received for Introduction
-
2024-12-17
LSO
Bill Number Assigned
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
25LSO-0081
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0081
ENGROSSED
3.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0047
Secretary of state-expedited filings.
Sponsored by: Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to the administration of government; allowing the secretary of state to charge a fee to expedite filings of documents as specified; authorizing a position; providing an appropriation; specifying a contingency; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
.
W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
305(a) by creating a new paragraph (viii) is amended to read:
9
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1
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305.
Fees; amounts; collection; exceptions.
(a)
The secretary of state shall collect the following fees in advance for:
(viii)
Expediting the filing of any document filed pursuant to title 17, title 34 or title 40, chapters 1 and 2 of the Wyoming statutes, a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the secretary of state may charge a fee as specified in this paragraph to expedite the filing of a document filed with the secretary of state's office pursuant to title 17, title 34 or title 40, chapters 1 and 2 of the Wyoming statutes upon the request of the filer. The fee and process for requesting an expedited filing shall be established by rule of the secretary of state taking into account the cost of the filing fee, the costs of expediting the filing and deadlines for response required by law. The expedition of a filing shall not grant any benefit over a nonexpedited filing for purposes of the timing of filing.
Section 2.
(a)
Subject to subsection (c) of this section, the secretary of state is authorized up to one (1) full-time position for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2026 for purposes of implementing this act. It is the intent of the legislature that the secretary of state include this full-time position in its standard budget request for the immediately succeeding fiscal biennium.
(b)
Subject to subsection (c) of this section, there is appropriated ninety-three thousand one hundred seventy-nine dollars ($93,179.00) from the general fund to the secretary of state for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2026 to be expended only for the purposes of funding the position authorized in subsection (a) of this section. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from this appropriation shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2026. It is the intent of the legislature that this appropriation be doubled and included in the standard budget request of the secretary of state for the immediately succeeding fiscal biennium.
(c)
The authorization and appropriation under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not be effective if 2025 House Bill 0001 or Senate File 0001, as enacted into law, authorizes at least one (1) additional full-time position for the secretary of state compared to the number of positions authorized in 2024 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 118, Section 002.
Section 3
.
This act is effective July 1, 2025
.
(END)
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HB0047