Committee approves expedited Secretary of State filings, adds one FTE

The Wyoming House Minerals, Business & Economic Development Committee in Cheyenne approved House Bill 47, creating an expedited filing option in the Secretary of State’s office and adding an amendment authorizing one full-time equivalent position to support the new service.

Sponsor Representative Ocean Andrew and co-sponsor Representative Daniel Singh told the committee the proposal would let filers pay a fee "up to $5,000" to move a business filing ahead of the ordinary queue in limited, time‑sensitive situations. The bill includes a provision forbidding payment from allowing a filer to "skip the line" ahead of another applicant who has a competing claim to the same business name.

Why it matters: committee members and the Secretary of State’s office said the state already operates with a 15‑day statutory deadline for business filings, but that very short, date‑certain needs (for mergers, acquisitions or other time‑critical transactions) sometimes arise and a paid expedited service could be commercially useful. The Secretary of State told the committee the office’s business division has seen rapid growth in filings and revenue and may need additional staff to administer an expedited option.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray described the office’s workload and finances during the hearing. He told the committee, “We have a 15 day statutory deadline,” and said Wyoming is handling a high volume of filings: the office reported roughly 675,000 filings in fiscal year 2024 (up from about 590,000 in 2023) and roughly $50.4 million in business‑division revenue in fiscal 2024. Gray and his staff said an expedited service would impose additional manual duties and recommended either adding one position in the bill or ensuring the budget process provides necessary staff.

Representative JT Larson offered and Representative JR Riggins seconded an amendment to authorize one FTE and a fiscal year 2026 appropriation of $93,000; the amendment included language that would remove the position if the Appropriations process added one to three positions to the Secretary of State’s budget. The committee adopted Larson’s amendment and then approved the bill as amended in a roll call vote.

Votes and next steps: the roll call on House Bill 47 as amended was unanimous (9‑0). The committee re‑referred HB47 to the Joint Appropriations Committee for review of the staffing and fiscal implications.

The committee record shows follow‑up questions from members about fee tiers, likely frequency of requests, and whether revenue from expedited filings would cover any added costs. Agency witnesses said the fee could be tiered (shorter turnaround = higher fee), that they have fielded occasional urgent requests (an agency witness estimated 20–30 such ad hoc requests in the past year), and that a $5,000 cap would allow flexibility to set tiered fees below that amount.