Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law a major expansion of the state’s school voucher program. It reimburses families with state funds to send their child to their school of choice, including private and religious schools.
Wyoming currently offers $6,000 to low-income families to reimburse tuition at a private school.
The bill signed by Gordon Tuesday raises the payout to $7,000 and opens the program to all families, regardless of income.
During a press conference earlier in the day, Gordon called HB 199 and the “Steamboat Legacy Scholarship” it creates a “remarkable achievement for Wyoming.”
“This particular piece of legislation will provide additional choices for parents with their child's education,” Gordon said. “But I'm really excited about the pre-K option.”
The pre-K option was debated by lawmakers, but the final bill includes pre-K tuition for low-income families.
“We know that early education builds a very strong foundation,” Gordon said. “It's important that when kids get to kindergarten, they have the grounding that's necessary to be able to move forward, thrive and do really well.”
Opponents of the legislation raised concerns about where the vouchers could end up. The bill as originally written removed much of the oversight present in the current program, such as requirements that schools receiving vouchers be certified and teach state standards.
This prompted one Republican representative to argue that Wyoming risked becoming the “wild, wild West of waste, fraud and abuse.” However, amendments to the bill undid the main provisions driving these concerns.
Supporters, meanwhile, argued the state government should “trust the people of Wyoming to do its best for their own children.”
During the Tuesday press conference, the governor stressed that the voucher program will pull money from the general fund, not public education funding.
“Public schools are going to still have the funding that they need,” he said. “This is a commitment by the state of Wyoming on this, in expanding this.”
The new law moves $30 million from the general fund to the newly created steamboat legacy scholarship program account.
A Laramie County judge recently found the legislature had failed its constitutional duty to adequately provide for public education. The ruling mandated lawmakers to recalibrate the school funding model.
“I think it's [court ruling] something that the state of Wyoming is going to have to wrestle with,” Gordon said. “We have opportunities here that no other state does. We're small enough and nimble enough that we can make the adjustments that we need to, and I hope that they do that.”
President Trump announced his support for Wyoming’s HB 199 last month amid the session, praising Senate President Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester) for presiding over a chamber that passed the bill.
The law takes effect in July.
