PUBLIC SCHOOL BILLS TO WATCH
Bills on school funding are finally beginning to show up in the Wyoming Legislature. From school bus purchases to modernizing funding streams, school funding is sure to be the hot topic next week. Some bills to watch include:
HB 0308
– Modernizing and balancing Wyoming’s school funding streams (includes money for busses and for special education).
HB 0220
– National Retail Fairness Act.
In the senate today:
Today in the senate the appropriations budget bill passed on third reading. The bill emerged with a 50% cut to the governor’s recommended External Cost Adjustment (ECA). This cut puts the funding model below the constitutional mandate for public school funding. Sen. Jeff Wasserburger and Sen. Chris Rothfuss each presented amendments which would bring school funding back to at or near the constitutional levels, but both amendments were defeated. Once the house has finished amending the budget bill, any differences will be sent to conference committee to be ironed out. As it currently stands, the house ECA is approximately $23 million in additional funding, and the senate is at $9 million. An ECA of $18 million is needed for the funding to meet the constitutional mandate.
A CHANCE TO SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE
Please contact the legislators below and thank them for their support of public education, and for taking the constitutional mandate seriously. If you don’t see your senator on the list, please write an email asking why he or she will not fully fund the ECA.
The following senators voted to support the external cost adjustment in the budget bill:
Other action in the senate today:
SF 0129
– Educational reporting requirements – This bill passed on second reading.
SF 0109
– Educational attainment executive council – This bill passed Committee of the Whole.
SF 0001
– General government appropriations – This bill passed on third reading, as amended.
Tomorrow morning at 8:00 Senate Education Committee will hear the following bills:
HB 0023
–
Education Accountability.
HB 0024
–
National Board teacher certification.
HB 0025
–
Virtual Education amendments.
In the house:
Last night the following bills passed out of House Education Committee:
HB 0297
– K-12 reading assessment and intervention program
HB 0254
– Hathaway scholarship award petition
Action in the house today:
HB 0147
– K-2 foreign language requirement. This bill passed third reading and will be heading to the senate.
HB 0001
– General government appropriations. This bill will pass third reading. The full External Cost Adjustment (ECA) plus the additional $5 million increase for salaries stayed in the house’s version of the budget. We will have to wait and see how things come out in the conference committee between the house and senate.
On adjournment tonight the House Appropriations will hear six bills including:
HB 0314
– Retiree cost-of-living payments.
Tomorrow at lunch break House Education Committee will hear the following bills:
HB 0263
– Postsecondary education and economic development.
Continued from 1/30/19
HB 0294
– School trust lands-studies.
