Senate Appropriations advances generational account bill with $100 million annual transfers, 30-year plan

The Senate Appropriations Committee on an ongoing agenda approved amended language to establish a Wyoming generational account that would direct a portion of investment earnings into a long‑term fund and set an initial funding plan of $100 million per year for 30 years.

Treasurer Meyer, State Treasurer, told the committee the amendment restores language on page 4 that would deposit “37 and a half percent of all investment earnings in the Wyoming generational account attributable to the annual transfer to the account made 30 fiscal years earlier.” He described the package as a way to create a one‑time multiyear investment tranche that would produce income for future appropriations.

The amendment makes the vehicle a statutory trust and specifies an investment reference profile and asset allocation; Treasurer Meyer described the profile as 85% private equity and 15% private credit. He said the proposal starts with a $100 million annual transfer for 30 years (a total of $3 billion) to provide enough capital for diversified private market commitments and to smooth funding for large, anticipated capital needs.

“About the smallest amount of money that you can get by in private equity…is like $10 to $20 million,” Treasurer Meyer said, explaining why the committee chose a $100 million starter level. He added that the legislative design intends the account to be finite in its funding phase and to feed the budget thereafter.

Meyer described distribution timing in later years using a handout he provided to members: “The table underneath the chart, you distribute $600,000,000 in year ’31 through year 60, and you keep $1,000,000,000 remaining to be redistributed, or to be reinvested,” he said, describing one modeled scenario for how investment proceeds would be handled decades from now.

Committee members asked about the source of the transfers and whether the $100 million would come from investment income specifically, or from mineral royalties or other revenues. Katie Smith, chief financial officer for the State Treasurer’s Office, said the investment earnings off the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA) have been redirected to the general fund by statute and that the proposed $100 million would come from whatever is transferred into the LSRA under existing statutory transfers.

Several senators described the bill as a long‑term fiscal planning measure and urged care in drafting floor language on funding sources and mechanics. Senator Driscoll said the measure could be “transformational,” comparing it to the state’s permanent mineral trust fund in terms of long‑term impact. Senators emphasized they wanted clearer numeric tables for floor debate so members can state specific distribution amounts when presenting the bill.

On a roll call, the committee voted to give Senate File 197 a do‑pass recommendation as amended. The recorded vote was 5 ayes, 0 nays.

The committee recessed to address the next bill on the agenda after completing work on the generational account amendment.