Constitutional Amendment A - Amendment Allowing State Subdivisions to Invest In Equities

Summary

A "for" vote supports allowing the funds of counties, cities and other political subdivisions to be invested in equities to the extent that and in the manner by which the legislature may allow by law.

An "against" vote opposes allowing the funds of counties, cities and other political subdivisions to be invested in equities to the extent that and in the manner by which the legislature may allow by law.

Arguments

"The legislation would allow local governments to invest in an equity investment account which the State of Wyoming would then manage and oversee. The State would then invest these funds into low-risk equities and dividends would be distributed back to the contributing local governments. If Amendment A were to pass, the City would allocate any returns from the equity investments back into the fund which holds the investment. The returns would be allocated on a pro-rata basis. For example, the General Fund holds $24.8M of our investment portfolio of $175M (14%); 14% of the returns for the month from the equity investments would be then allocated to the General Fund. Once that money is allocated to the funds, we would treat it like any other form of revenue." - Rachel Bouzis, spokesperson with the City of Casper, in support of Constitutional Amendment A (Learn more)

"County treasurers believe the primary objective of local government investment activities is Safety. We make investment decisions to ensure the preservation of the dollars entrusted to us. We do this with the understanding that the investments will achieve a lower yield than higher-risk investments, like stocks. Current law wisely restricts local governments to low-risk, fixed-income investments like certificates of deposit, federal agency bonds and U.S. treasuries in order to ensure that your money is safe until it is put to use. Amendment A seeks to provide for higher yields on the investment of your tax dollars by allowing them to be invested in the stock market, sacrificing safety for increased returns. The volatility of the market means that losses are inevitable, and County Treasurers believe any loss of the funds entrusted to us is unacceptable." - Emily Paravicini, Sublette County Treasurer, on behalf of the Wyoming County Treasurer's Association, in opposition to Constitutional Amendment A (Learn more)

Measure Details