CREATION OF THE WYOMING BUSINESS COUNCIL IN 1998 (Part 1)
The Wyoming Business Council (WBC) was created in 1998 during a Special Legislative Session of the 54th Wyoming State Legislature via Senate File #0035/Senate Enrolled Act #0004 Economic development-restructuring, which was sponsored by the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committee. The 65 page bill can be viewed at the bottom of this page with some of our own notations. Sponsors and Vote records can be found below the bill pdf. (This bill can now only be found archived at the WY State Library. The version they offer is actually 204 pages with vote records included – we have pared it down with bill text only.)
As stated in the original bill title, there was a restructuring of state agencies to create the WBC – although some of it seems more like they were just throwing a lot of stuff in the kitchen sink. According to page 2 of the bill (and other pages as noted) the following functions, programs and authority were transferred to the newly created WBC on July 1, 1998:
| AGRICULTURE. Department of Agriculture Promotion and Marketing Division. |
| COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. Department of Commerce Division of Economic and Community Development. Whoa! That sounds pretty pricey and like someone was shooting for the moon! Are they trying to diversify the economy, or are they trying to diversify our communities? Is community development actually necessary for entrepreneurs to set up shop? |
| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Economic Development and Stabilization Board. This was originally established in 1985 as a non-profit 501(C)6 called the Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA). How successful have they been for the last 34 years? |
| INVESTMENT. Investment Fund Committee. Doesn’t the State elected Treasurer already do this? |
| LOANS. Administer Wyoming Partnership Challenge Loan Program (pg 53). How well has this worked out 21 years later? (Also as a curious side-note – when you go to the WY Admin and Info Dept’s Transparency Resources and click on the WBC link for Transparency – you are actually brought to these loan resources & applications.) |
| MANUFACTURING/INDUSTRY. Mid-American Manufacturing Technology Center Industrial Advisory Board and Partner Steering Committee. |
| SCIENCE/ENERGY. Science Technology and Energy Authority. |
| SMALL BUSINESS. Small Business Development Center Advisory Board. |
| TELECOMMUNICATION. Develop both short and long-range plans and goals for telecommunications, including infrastructure (pg 23-24). Internet, Broadband… OK, we get it. But, is 5G really necessary as stated on pg 27 in the 2018 WY Broadband Enhancement Plan – especially with both the privacy and health concerns related to 5G?! |
| TELEMEDICINE. Cooperate with the office of Rural Health Care and the Dept. of Health to coordinate and develop statewide Telemedicine capability (pg 33). Why is the WBC involved in rural medicine? |
| TOURISM. Division of Tourism and State Marketing. |
| TRAVEL. Wyoming Travel Commission. Isn’t this the Dept. of Transportation’s field of expertise? |
| WATER. Development of rehabilitation of water projects. Advise on the “Contract for the sale, lease or delivery of water, water rights, water storage or hydroelectric power/ and fix charges, rates, rents, fees and tolls” (pg 47). Why should the WBC be concerned with water rights? |
| WORKFORCE. Approval of expenditures from the Workforce development training fund (pg 41). Why is the WBC involved in workforce training? Are they trying to diversify the economy or diversify the population? WTC supports workforce training, in fact we’d love to see more trade schools, but we do question WBC’s involvement. |
As a result of the agency restructuring, according to page 3 of the bill, “The terms of all persons previously appointed to a board, commission or council within an agency, authority or program which is transferred to the Wyoming business council are terminated as of July 1, 1998” and “No personnel of agencies, authorities or programs affected by this act are transferred to the Wyoming business council”.
The Fiscal Note for SF0035/SEA0004 specified the transfer of appropriations to the WBC of [a total of] $31,920,620. However, from what we can ascertain, 1998 SF0002 General Appropriations Budget Bill appeared to appropriate $30,279,603, with an additional appropriation of $579,685 specified in Section 307.
SF0035/SEA0004 provided a sunset date for the WBC on July 1, 2003 (pg 12). In 2002 the sunset date was amended to July 1, 2008 (HB0044/HEA0010), and then in 2003 the sunset date was repealed altogether (HB0045/HEA0008).
CURIOUS &/OR CONCERNING BILL PROVISIONS IN SF0035/SEA0004:
Page 5 lists “Government” as an economic sector.
Page 6-7 charges the WBC to measure its effectiveness by using Quality of life benchmarks that include, among other things: Community health and safety; average proficiency scores in mathematics and reading; infant mortality rates; crime rates; air quality; land use and county comprehensive land use plans; and “any other measures or adjustments the council deems appropriate”.
Page 11 of the bill refers to the WBC as “a body corporate operating as a state instrumentality operated solely for the public benefit”. Additionally, page 46 designates the WBC as a public corporation that is authorized “to establish, operate and apply, on behalf of the state of Wyoming, for foreign trade zone authority, sub-zone authority or port of entry pursuant to the act of congress and regulations issued pursuant to the act“. Page 39 also refers to the WBC as a corporation several times.
Page 13 provides that “The Council may execute and maintain at its expense a blanket surety bond covering each director, the chief executive officer and the employees or other officers of the council in the penal sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00)”. *A blanket surety bond is a bond or insurance policy covering a company in the event it loses money as the result of employee theft or fraud.
Page 15 establishes the power (or duty) to, “Acquire or contract to acquire by grant, purchase, option or otherwise real, personal or mixed property or any interest in property’ including patents, copyrights, trademarks or any other evidence of protection or exclusivity as to products.” Why would a state agency, whose primary function is to support small business development, purchase land, a patent or a copyright?
Page 19: “To encourage and solicit private sector involvement, support and funding for economic development in the state”. *Public-private partnerships – see the Prager University Video here on what Public-Private Partnerships are really about.
Page 20: “…Collaboration… with other persons within and without the state, as the council may deem necessary, to assist in the development of the comprehensive economic strategy…”. Why would/should Wyoming collaborate with any entity outside of the state to develop an economic strategy for Wyoming?! Consulting is one thing, collaborating is far different.
Page 30: “The enterprise seed capital has the reasonable potential to create a substantial amount of primary employment within the state.” Substantial amount of primary employment is never defined.
Pages 39-40 directs that the State Superintendent of Public instruction shall: “with the state board, the Wyoming community college commission, University of Wyoming, the Wyoming business council, public service commission, department of transportation, department of administration and information, public libraries, school district boards of trustees, classroom teachers and other appropriate groups identified by the superintendent, develop and implement a statewide education technology plan which shall address staff training, curriculum integration and network connectivity in and between schools, communities and between the state and the worId, and which shall have as its goal the provision of equal access to educational instruction and information”. Why is the Wyoming Business Council involved in education?
The Wyoming Transparency Commission will attempt to answer all of the questions posed above in this series. STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!
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SPONSORSHIP AND VOTE RECORD OF SF0035/SEA0004
The following was gleaned from the House and Senate Journals of the 54th Wyoming Legislature found at the WY State Archives.
Sponsors of Senate File #0035/Senate Enrolled Act #0004 Economic development-restructuring were members of the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee:
Senate:
Chairman Bill Hawks, Guy E. Cameron, Richard A. “Dick” Erb, Donald J. Lawler, Raymond A. Scarletti.
House:
Chairman Bill Stafford (R), James Anderson (R), Bruce Burns (R), Pat Childers(R), John L. Eyre (R), Charles Hessenthaler (R), Mike Massie (D), Wayne Reese (D), Robert Tanner (R).
Vote record for 1998 SF0035/Enrolled Act SEA0004 were:
Senate:
Ayes: Senator(s) Coe, Devin, Erb, Grieve, Hawks, Kunz, Larson, Lawler, Meier, Miller, Peck, Picard, Roberts, Sarcletti, Scott, Twiford and Zimmerman.
Nays: Senator(s) Barton, Cameron, Cathcart, Geis, Gilbertz, Goodenough, Harris, Job, Kinnison, Mockler, Phillips, Schiffer and Vinich.
House:
Ayes: Representative(s) Anderson, R., Badgett, Bebout, Betts, Boswell, Burns, Childers, Decaria, Deegan, Diercks, Eyre, Garcia, Hageman, Hanes, Harrison, Hessenthaler, Hinchey, Huckfeldt, Johnson, Law, Luthi, McGraw, McMurtrey, Nagel [P], Nicholas, Osborn, Parady, Paseneaux, Perkins, Rardin, Reese, Rose, Ross, Rounds, Ryckman, Sessions, Shreve, Stafford, Steinbrech, Tanner, Tempest, Tipton, Tomassi, Wasserburger, Willford and Zanetti.
Nays: Representative(s) Anderson, J., Baker, Barker. Bensel, Berry, Case, Esquibel, Hines, Massie, Meuli, Philp, Robinson, Simons and Smith.
NOTE: Governor Jim Geringer signed this legislation and addressed it in his State of the State Address. See House Journal of 54th Legislature.
