This act modernizes the Wyoming Education Trust by updating the terminology used to describe the returns generated from public lands designated for educational purposes.
Cynthia Lummis
Senator
WY
The Wyoming Education Trust Modernization Act updates existing state law regarding funds generated from public lands set aside for education. This bill technically amends the original 1890 Act by standardizing the terminology used to describe the returns from these educational trust lands. Specifically, it replaces terms like "interest" and "income thereof" with the consistent phrase "earnings on" or "earnings on which."
Wyoming Education Trust Update: Bill Standardizes 'Interest' to 'Earnings On' in Century-Old Land Law
The Wyoming Education Trust Modernization Act is making a technical but important change to how the state talks about the money generated by its public lands set aside for schools. Specifically, this bill updates the language in the foundational 1890 Act that established these educational land grants.
The Fine Print Cleanup: From 'Interest' to 'Earnings'
This section of the bill focuses entirely on standardizing terminology. If you’ve ever looked at a legal document and felt like the lawyers were just making up words, this is basically the opposite—it’s the lawyers cleaning up their own historical mess. The bill replaces the word “interest” and the phrase “income thereof” with the term “earnings on” in Sections 5, 7, and 8 of the original 1890 Act. For example, where the old law might have referred to the “interest” generated by the funds, the new language will uniformly refer to the “earnings on” those funds.
Why the Word Change Matters (And Why It Doesn't)
This isn't a funding change; it’s a language change. For the average person, this doesn't mean your local school is getting more or less money next year. The actual calculation or amount of money flowing into Wyoming’s educational coffers from these public lands remains the same. The real impact is administrative and legal: it brings the terminology in these century-old statutes in line with modern financial and accounting practices. Think of it as a software update for legal language. It makes it clearer and more consistent for the state administrators, auditors, and legal teams who have to manage and interpret these massive trust funds. It removes the potential for confusion that might arise from using outdated or ambiguous financial terms like “interest” when discussing returns that might include capital gains, dividends, or other types of “earnings.” The goal here is clarity and consistency, ensuring everyone uses the same dictionary when talking about public education funds.