SF0195 creates the Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program within the Office of State Lands and Investments to provide short-term loans to Wyoming businesses after a governor-declared natural disaster. The bill allows the governor to trigger the program when a disaster affects designated counties, including infrastructure failures such as roads, bridges, dams, and irrigation systems. Eligible borrowers must be Wyoming businesses located in the disaster area, established before the disaster, and meet owner-credit and guarantor requirements. Certain business types are excluded, including loan packaging, short-term rentals, gaming, investment, lending, and other unlawful activities.
The program is administered by the Office of State Lands and Investments, with the State Loan and Investment Board responsible for rulemaking, lender registration, application development, oversight, and repayment tracking. Loans may be up to $750,000, must be secured by anticipated insurance or other disaster-related funds or business assets, and must be used for disaster recovery purposes such as replacing livestock, buildings, vehicles, inventory, equipment, fencing, or temporary facilities. Loans cannot be used to expand operations or buy new property or equipment beyond pre-disaster levels, and they must be repaid within three years with interest tied to the state’s pooled investment earnings. The bill also creates a dedicated account, allows grants or gifts to reduce borrower interest, requires annual reporting, and authorizes borrowing up to $25 million from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account to fund the program if needed.
This act adds a new chapter to Wyoming law governing emergency lending for small businesses and creates a new revolving state account for disaster-related bridge loans. It gives the Office of State Lands and Investments and the State Loan and Investment Board new administrative, rulemaking, and oversight duties, while also authorizing the use of state reserve funds to capitalize the program. The bill affects small businesses in disaster-affected counties, participating financial institutions, and state fiscal management by establishing a state-backed lending mechanism for post-disaster recovery.
The bill appears to have broad overall support, passing the Senate and House overwhelmingly and receiving unanimous or near-unanimous committee recommendations in most stages. The only notable floor-level resistance appears in the Senate, where the bill and an amendment each drew a small number of no votes. The voting pattern suggests general agreement with the goal of helping businesses recover after natural disasters, while still leaving some concern about program structure or fiscal exposure.
The main points of contention likely centered on the scope and financing of the program. The bill authorizes borrowing up to $25 million from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, which may have raised concerns about state fiscal risk and the use of reserve funds. Eligibility restrictions, including the 550 credit score requirement, guarantor requirement, and exclusions for certain business types, may also have been debated as to whether they appropriately target aid or unnecessarily limit access. The amendment vote in the Senate suggests there was some disagreement over program details, even though final passage was strong.