This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series brings you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
A Laramie County District Court judge denied the state’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship.
District Judge Peter Froelicher dismissed the state’s motion for summary judgment on Friday, allowing for the lawsuit brought by several parents and the Wyoming Education Association to proceed. A trail will happen mid next year, which will determine the constitutionality of the program.
The school voucher program provides up to $7,000 per child to reimburse private school tuition or other charter or homeschooling costs. As of September, 3,359 voucher applicants have been accepted, according to WyoFile.
In his denial, Froelicher wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the block of the program doesn’t address the question of the plaintiffs’ standing.
“To establish standing, Plaintiffs need not make a clear showing of a possible irreparable personal and particularized injury,” he wrote. “Therefore, this Court concludes that the Supreme Court’s decision reversing the preliminary injunction does not directly affect this Court’s prior holding that Plaintiffs have standing.”
Since it was first proposed, critics have alleged the program funnels taxpayer money to private, sometimes religious, institutions that are allowed to discriminate against certain children. Gov. Mark Gordon signed it into law in spring of 2025.
A district court judge temporarily halted the program last year, blocking all payments while the lawsuit played out. But the state appealed this pause to the Wyoming Supreme Court, and in May, the state’s highest court handed the state government a temporary win, unpausing the program and paving the way for voucher payments ahead of this school year.
The voucher program is currently active.
