HB 20 requires Wyoming school districts and state agencies to collect and report specific data to study regional cost adjustments in the state's education funding model. School districts must report unfilled staffing vacancies (including teachers and support staff) and average mileage reimbursement for staff travel by October 1 each year. State agencies must provide wage data, retirement eligibility details, and transportation mileage information by March 31 annually. This data collection, effective July 1, 2024, will inform the legislature's recalibration of the education resource block grant model under W.S. 21-13-309(t).
HB 93 increases Wyoming's reimbursement limit for livestock quarantine costs from $25,000 to $50,000 per single quarantine event under the state's animal reimbursement program. The bill directly affects livestock owners and the Wyoming Livestock Board, which administers these payments. It also establishes that payments will stop when the unexpended account balance reaches $100,000 or less, resuming once the balance exceeds that amount. The changes apply to quarantine efforts starting July 1, 2024, and adjust existing provisions in Wyoming Statute 11-19-118(d).
HB 197 revises Wyoming's sales tax administration by clarifying key definitions, tax collection rules, and exemptions. It updates the definition of "vendor" to explicitly include remote sellers and marketplace facilitators, standardizes a $60 annual sales tax license fee for new vendors, and clarifies that county treasurers - not vendors - collect sales tax on motor vehicle registrations. The bill also modifies exemptions, such as removing sales tax on admission fees for county-owned recreation facilities (e.g., pools, sports centers). These changes aim to modernize compliance requirements and align with current business practices, directly affecting retailers, remote sellers, and local tax collectors.
This bill allows volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and search and rescue personnel in Wyoming to enroll in the state's group insurance plan. To qualify, volunteers must meet service requirements (e.g., 50% meeting attendance for firefighters, 25% call response), not have other government health coverage, and reside in Wyoming. Volunteers pay the full cost of premiums themselves - there are no employer contributions - and must submit monthly verification of their active status. The bill modifies existing state insurance rules to formally include these volunteers under specific enrollment timelines and eligibility criteria.
This bill requires Wyoming's Public Service Commission to exclude from electricity rates any costs incurred by interstate utilities that do not benefit Wyoming ratepayers. Specifically, it mandates excluding costs tied to facilities built primarily for other states or entities outside Wyoming, and allows reduced cost apportionment when facilities were built at higher cost due to other states' requirements. The policy directly affects Wyoming electricity consumers by preventing them from paying for costs unrelated to their service. It becomes effective July 1, 2024.
Wyoming's SF 50 creates a legal framework for "decentralized unincorporated nonprofit associations" (DAOs) operating without traditional corporate structure. The bill defines these organizations as requiring at least 100 members with a common nonprofit purpose, governed by "governing principles" (including smart contracts on distributed ledgers), and prohibits profit distributions to members except for reasonable compensation. It requires assets to be distributed to charitable causes upon dissolution and specifies that Wyoming law governs such associations formed in the state. This directly affects DAOs seeking formal recognition for nonprofit activities while operating through decentralized digital governance.
Wyoming's SF 60 authorizes $2.15 million in funding from the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Income Account for three specific habitat restoration projects in 2024. It directly affects the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (for Upper Greybull Fish Passage and Seminoe Shirley Habitat) and the Little Snake River Conservation District (for Baggs Valley Headwaters II). The bill specifies exact grants: $1 million for river restoration on the Greybull River, $350,000 for rangeland restoration in Carbon County, and $800,000 for ecosystem restoration in central Wyoming. Unspent funds must revert to the trust account by June 30, 2028.
HB 9 extends the deadline for fuel tax licensees to provide missing or requested information from 10 to 15 business days when the Wyoming Department of Transportation requests it. This applies to all fuel tax returns, license applications, or related filings requiring supplemental data. The bill directly affects businesses holding fuel tax licenses in Wyoming, giving them more time to comply with information requests without penalty. The change takes effect on July 1, 2024, and modifies existing statutes (W.S. 39-17-107, 39-17-207, and 39-17-307).
This bill appropriates $23.6 million from Wyoming's general fund to cover the 2024-2026 operating costs of the state legislature. It funds salaries for legislative staff ($9.85M) and legislators ($1.16M session, $2.54M interim), travel expenses ($2.33M total), technology ($10K for ETS services, $150K for system development), and other operational needs. Specific provisions include $34,000 for new legislator training compensation, $500,000 for K-12 education consulting support, and authority to reappropriate unused funds from prior budgets. The bill directly affects the legislative branch's staff, members, and operations, covering all costs through June 2026.
HB 43 allows Wyoming's state forester to hire up to one full-time employee and four at-will contract workers using federal funds from the "Wyoming state forestry good neighbor authority revolving account." These positions would support cooperative forest management projects with neighboring landowners or federal agencies. The bill amends existing law to clarify funding sources and hiring limits for these specific forestry projects. It takes effect immediately upon becoming law, with no new taxes or broad policy changes. The bill directly affects state forestry operations and project management under federal cooperative agreements.
This bill requires Wyoming's Public Service Commission to establish electricity reliability standards by December 2024, focusing on adequate dispatchable power and limiting outages. It directly affects electric utilities by prohibiting the commission from allowing rate increases for new or modified facilities likely to fail these standards. Utilities violating the standards face daily civil penalties up to $100,000 (capped at $1 million total). The law takes effect July 1, 2024.
This bill clarifies rules for water exchanges in Wyoming, directly affecting water rights holders and the state engineer who approves such exchanges. It specifies that water rights aren't lost during exchanges and requires that diverted water be replaced with "makeup water" to maintain supply. The bill also reinforces that exchanges must follow beneficial use rules and avoid harming other water users' rights. These changes take effect July 1, 2024, to streamline water management without altering existing rights.
