DRAFT ONLY - APPROVAL PENDING

Wyoming Legislature

Committee Meeting Summary of Proceedings

Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments

 

November 29, 2007

Room 302, Capitol Building

Cheyenne, Wyoming

 

Meeting Attendance

 

Committee Members (Present)

Senators Jim Anderson, Bob Fecht, Jayne Mockler and Kathryn Sessions;

Representatives Ross Diercks, Alan Jones, Jack Landon, Lisa Shepperson, Colin Simpson and Mary Throne.

 

Committee Members (Absent)

Senators Hank Coe and Drew Perkins

 

Legislative Service Office

Dave Gruver

Steve Sommers

 

Written Meeting Materials and Handouts

All meeting materials and handouts provided to the Committee by the Legislative Service Office (LSO), public officials, lobbyists, and the public are referenced in the Meeting Materials Index, attached to the minutes.  These materials are on file at the LSO and are part of the official record of the meeting.

 

Summary of meeting

The Committee reviewed, amended and approved for redrafting and subsequent mail ballot for potential Committee sponsorship 08 LSO 145.W3, Investment of State Funds-Revisions.  The Committee also reviewed spending policies for the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund, asked that the report be amended and submitted for approval by post card ballot.  No additional meetings are scheduled for the interim.

 

Call To Order

Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.  The agenda which was followed is appendix 1.  Senator Fecht moved approval of the minutes from the September meeting.  The motion passed.

 

The treasurer's Office provided written information to the Committee regarding FY 08 investment highlights and the WYO-STAR program.  (Appendices 2 and 3).

 

 

State investment statutes

 

State Treasurer Meyer addressed the Committee and the state investment statute draft bill (08 LSO 145.W3).  (Appendix 2)  He noted the bill did contain clarification and removal of redundant statutes, but it was the Committee's choice as to whether to proceed with sponsorship, his goal was to bring the issue and especially the spending policy issues before the Committee for discussion this interim.

 

LSO staff, the State Treasurer and Betsy Anderson, attorney with the State Treasurer's Office reviewed the draft bill.  The Committee discussed the various components of the bill as it was being reviewed.  The Committee agreed to work the bill for possible sponsorship by the Committee in the upcoming session.  The following actions were taken:

 

Page 3-lines 7 through 15        Reinsert the references to statute citations to 9-4-204(u).  Representative Simpson moved – passed.

 

Page 5-line 1                Delete "in the" insert "of the".  Representative Landon moved – passed.

 

Page 7-line 3                After "evaluated" insert "solely"; after "but" insert "also".  Representative Landon moved – passed.

 

Page 7-lines 6 through 8          Reinsert stricken language and change the citation to 9-4-716.  Representative Simpson moved – passed.

 

Page 11-lines 2 through 12      Reinsert stricken language.  Senator Sessions moved – passed.

 

Page 16-line 13            After "of" insert "a total of".  Representative Simpson moved – passed.

 

Page 52-line 13            Delete "9-4-712" insert "9-4-713."  Representative Simpson moved – passed.

 

Staff noted that some references would need to be changed.  The Committee requested that LSO make conforming amendments to the changes made above.  Representative Simpson moved the bill be redrafted and the Committee vote on sponsorship by postcard ballot.  The motion passed.

 

 

State spending policy review

 

Treasurer Meyer stated that the issue was presented to the Committee in order to allow the Legislature to debate what it wished to do with the spending policies and inflation proofing the corpus of each fund.  He had discussed the spending policy reserve accounts with the Governor and the Governor suggested with the potential increase in capital gains his preference was to accumulate $300 to $400 million in the reserve account before there is an automatic spill over into corpus.  The Treasurer noted that the "spill over" will not occur until July, 2008.  Thus the Legislature will be able to adjust those flows this session, should it wish to make changes; as it stands now, the flows will automatically occur.

 

LSO staff reviewed the background and current status of the spending policies for the permanent mineral trust fund, the common school account within the permanent land fund, and the excellence in higher education endowment fund.  Staff reviewed a draft of the spending policy report which the Committee is required to submit to the Legislature each year.  (Appendix 3)  The Committee made the following motions for modifications to the spending policy report:

 

Representative Simpson moved to modify funding of the common school reserve account.  After discussion the motion was restated to be the Committee recommends that the common school account spending policy reserve funding no longer be an automatic general fund appropriation; instead the reserve account would be funded from school foundation program account funds.  The amount of the funding of the reserve account would be the same, but the source of the funds would be the school foundation program account rather than the general fund.  The motion passed.

 

Representative Simpson moved that the Committee recommend the Joint Appropriations Committee review the size of the reserve account of the PWMTF, with a recommendation of setting a dollar amount instead of a percentage of corpus as the spending policy amount, and with a further recommendation that the dollar amount be $350 million.  The motion failed.

 

Representative Landon suggested that references in the attachments to "book value" be changed to "basis value."  The Treasurer stated whatever the Committee's preference was for clarification would be acceptable.

 

Representative Simpson moved the Committee request LSO to review the extent the PWMTF has been inflation proofed over the last three biennia and report that review to the Joint Appropriations Committee with a recommendation the JAC review the appropriateness of the spending policy for the PWMTF.  LSO's interpretation of the motion was stated as an intent to show amounts of all revenues to the PWMTF and compare each year's growth of the PWMTF with growth based upon some type of inflation factor.  The motion passed.

 

Staff was requested to make the changes to the report and mail the report to Committee members for approval by postcard ballot.

 

Reports to the Legislature

 

The Committee was requested by Management Council to review certain reports made to the Legislature and determine whether the reporting requirement should be amended or repealed.  LSO staff presented a listing of those reports and other reports the Committee had previously acted upon, noting that one of the reports will be changed under the bill reviewed earlier by the Committee.  (Appendix 6)  The Committee made no other changes to the reporting requirements.

 

The Committee adjourned at approximately 12:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Senator Jim Anderson, Chairman