Tagged: Phil Nicholas

The State Senate continues working on a pair of bills intended to give the Secretary of State more power to regulate shell corporations or those who operate without significant investments or operations in the state.  Senator Phil Nicholas successfully lowered possible penalties for people in Wyoming who act as registered agents, and says that’s because they are not the people likely to commit fraud.

“For those folks who have agreed to be a registered agent in their own individual name and they live here and have an office here,” says Nicholas. “There is no threat, those people are not becoming registered agents for those people they don’t know and they can’t locate. 

Senator Phil Nicholas has decided to remove himself from sponsoring a funding request for the Laramie Aquifer leaving Laramie Democrat Chris Rothfuss to oversee that effort.  Nicholas was accused of having a conflict of interest in brokering a land deal for his client, former legislator Doug Samuelson.  The proposal was to have the state buy Samuelson’s land and turn it into a state park.  Laramie citizens then could have access to the property and it would prevent development from occurring above the Laramie aquifer. 

However some thought Nicholas was unfairly using his position as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee to pay for the sale.   Today Nicholas apologized for the distraction on the Senate floor and says the issue will be removed from the budget.

Top Wyoming lawmakers are directing state agencies to brace for possible budget cuts.

Republican Sen. Phil Nicholas, of Laramie, and Republican Rep. Rosie Berger, of Big Horn, are co-chairmen of the Joint Appropriations Committee. They wrote a letter telling state budget officials that agencies should be prepared for cuts ranging up to 8 percent in the coming two-year budget cycle.

Budget analysts predict Wyoming will have nearly $1.5 billion in cash reserves at the end of the current budget cycle next June. But they're also predicting flat state revenues over the coming five years.