A joint meeting of the Senate and House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee on Oct. 31, 2023, reconsidered and passed amendments to 24 LSO 0070, a bill clarifying the date that state land lease applications are considered (postmark rule) and updating payment provisions.

The committee ultimately removed the statutory list of specific payment methods and left payment handling to the existing statutory language that makes payments acceptable to the director — a move proponents said preserves flexibility while resolving the committee’s primary aim: confirming that postmarked applications are treated as timely.

Why it matters: The bill is intended to protect producers by ensuring state land lease applications are considered based on postage date. The payment-language debate — including a proposal to allow “specie” or specie legal tender (gold and silver) — drew extended discussion about implementation, accounting, security and whether changes should be made for a single office or applied statewide.

Most of the committee’s debate focused on an amendment proposed by Senator Eide that would have explicitly allowed payment in “specie or specie legal tender” and referenced the Wyoming Legal Tender Act. Supporters said the change would preserve payment options into the future; opponents said it raised practical questions about valuation, handling costs and whether acceptance should be extended to all state agencies rather than only the state lands office.

Deputy Director Jason Crowder of the Office of State Lands and Investments told the committee his office has no current process to accept specie and would not likely accept such payments until procedures and guidance are in place. He said the office prefers to keep an electronic-payment provision and to require applicants to bear associated transaction fees. “We don’t have that process,” Crowder said, adding the director would not accept an unusual payment without proper protocols.

After multiple amendments and revotes, Representative Schlegel successfully offered a revision that removed the statutory list of payment methods from the grazing-lease section (striking the enumerated methods such as certified check, money order, cash, gold and silver language). The committee voted to pass the bill as amended.

Votes and next steps: The committee recorded the measure as passing in committee and will advance the amended bill through the legislative process. Committee roll-call commentary recorded committee-level counts during the session (at one point the clerk summarized committee support as "3 ayes in the senate, 2 no, 1 excused; 9 ayes in the house" during earlier procedural counting as the package moved through several amendments). The committee designated the bill as sponsored.

Context and clarifications: Committee members repeatedly emphasized the bill’s central policy goal was the postmark rule — ensuring land office timeliness for applications — and urged separate, broader action if the Legislature wishes to set a statewide specie-acceptance policy. Several members and outside speakers recommended any specie-related policy be designed for all state agencies and accompanied by treasurer-led operational rules before being added to this bill.

Ending: With the payment-method list removed and the postmark language retained, the committee moved the measure forward to the next legislative steps. State Lands staff and the state treasurer’s office indicated they would continue working on possible implementation protocols if the Legislature later requires acceptance of alternative payment types.