HB 165 prohibits ranked choice voting in Wyoming elections by amending state election codes to require ballots to specify only one vote per office. It voids any existing or future local ordinances allowing ranked choice voting and mandates ballot language stating "Vote for one" for single-office races. The bill directly affects all state and local elections, including county and municipal races, by eliminating ranked choice voting as an option. It takes effect July 1, 2025.
This bill requires Wyoming's legislature to comply with constitutional requirements for drawing legislative districts. It mandates that future districts follow county lines and ensure each county has at least one senator and one representative, aligning with Wyoming Constitution Article 3, Sections 3 and 48. A legislative committee will study apportionment options during the 2025 interim, gather public input, and report findings by December 2025 to inform potential legislation for the 2026 budget session. The bill does not change current districts but sets a process to create a constitutionally compliant plan for the next reapportionment cycle after the 2020 census.
This bill repeals Wyoming's "strategic investments and projects account" and requires all remaining funds in that account to be transferred to the state general fund by July 1, 2026. It eliminates a dedicated state fund that previously held money for capital projects, redirecting those resources to the general budget. The bill also includes reporting requirements for the state auditor on the transfer process. This is a procedural budget adjustment affecting state fund management, not a policy change impacting specific programs or constituents.
This bill allows special purpose depository institutions (SPDIs) in Wyoming to convert into public trust companies. It removes restrictions requiring SPDIs to serve only legal entities and lowers the minimum deposit requirement from $5,000 to $1,000. The bill also repeals a supervision fee for banks offering digital asset custodial services and creates a formal application process for conversion, including shareholder approval and detailed asset/liability plans. SPDIs converting under this law must adopt a new business name and operate as public trust companies without using terms like "bank" or "special purpose depository institution."
This bill requires Wyoming's state treasurer and retirement board to make all investment decisions based solely on financial factors ("pecuniary factors") that maximize returns while managing risk. It prohibits considering environmental, social, governance, political, or ideological interests - explicitly stating such factors "have crippled, corrupted, disadvantaged, subverted, damaged or otherwise harmed" Wyoming's financial well-being. The law mandates that investment entities (like the retirement board) avoid "nonpecuniary diversions," vet vendors to ensure compliance, and may use proxy voting or divestment to enforce financial focus. It directly affects how state retirement funds and other public investments are managed, ensuring decisions prioritize financial outcomes over external policy goals.
HB 279 clarifies the order in which multiple property tax exemptions apply to a single property in Wyoming. It requires the Department of Revenue to apply exemptions sequentially: percentage-based exemptions (like senior citizen discounts) must be applied from smallest to largest percentage, while non-percentage exemptions (like homestead exclusions) come after. This affects property owners who qualify for more than one exemption, ensuring consistent application without conflicting reductions. The bill does not change existing exemptions but mandates a specific, transparent process for their combined use. It takes effect immediately upon becoming law.
This bill amends how investment performance is calculated for performance compensation paid to state investment staff. It changes the method used starting in fiscal year 2026: payments will now be based on the geometric average of annual investment performance for the current year and the two immediately preceding years (instead of the arithmetic average used for 2022-2025). The change directly affects state investment staff who receive performance-based compensation tied to investment returns. The amendment takes effect July 1, 2025.
This bill modifies Wyoming's Cultural Trust Fund by removing its "inviolable" status to allow more flexible investment strategies. It establishes a new spending rule: annual grants will be limited to 3% of the fund's five-year average market value, calculated progressively over time. Investment earnings from the fund must now be redirected back into the fund's principal (corpus), rather than being spent immediately. The bill primarily affects the Cultural Trust Fund, which supports grants for nonprofit and governmental organizations promoting Wyoming's cultural, historical, and arts heritage.
This Wyoming bill (SF 125) defines "health care" in state law to clarify what legal actions qualify as health care. It specifies that medical procedures causing harm to body systems (like heart, brain, or organs) are *not* considered health care unless documented as medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life or for patients with no chance of meaningful recovery. The definition applies broadly to all Wyoming statutes and constitutional interpretations but excludes the Wyoming Health Care Decisions Act. The law takes effect July 1, 2025, aiming to protect public health and welfare through clear legal standards.
HB 32, titled "What is a Woman Act," defines "sex" as biological sex at birth for all state laws, rules, and regulations. It requires state agencies, schools, and public facilities to distinguish between males and females based on biological sex (e.g., XX chromosomes for females, XY for males) and mandates separate accommodations in settings like restrooms, prisons, shelters, and sports. The bill also requires collecting vital statistics identifying individuals as male or female at birth and states that sex-based distinctions are permitted when related to safety, privacy, or health objectives. It explicitly states that "woman" refers only to biological females and includes protections for intersex individuals under disability laws.
SF 44 requires the University of Wyoming and Wyoming community colleges to have students compete in intercollegiate athletics based on their biological sex as recorded on their official birth certificate. The bill prohibits male students from competing in women's sports teams and female students from competing in men's sports teams, except when no equivalent team exists for their sex. It defines "biological sex" using the sex listed on a student's birth certificate (or a government record correcting a clerical error), and includes protections against retaliation for reporting violations. The law takes effect July 1, 2025, and allows students to sue institutions for violations.
Wyoming's HB 43 requires commercial websites that profit from content harmful to minors (such as obscene material or child pornography) to verify users' ages before allowing access. Covered platforms must use specific, accepted methods like driver's licenses, passports, or credit cards (excluding those not requiring users to be 18+) to confirm users are not under 18. The law creates legal liability for platforms that fail to verify ages, imposing penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, and allows parents or minors to sue for damages. It directly affects commercial online platforms hosting such content, not general websites or non-profit services.
