Bill Number: HB199
Bill Name: Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act
Issue Summary: This bill gives families $7,000 in public funds per child intended for k-12 education, but the legislation lacks accountability. LWVWY opposes changes made by HB199 to the existing Education Savings Account (ESA) for reasons listed below.
- Diverts $44 million from the school foundation account to pay for these “scholarships”
- Raises the per-student funding to $7,000
- Removes income requirements and provides public money for private school – both potentially problematic for the Wyoming Constitution (a question for the Wyoming Supreme Court)
- Removes preschool funding
- Lacks accountability – no registration required for private providers and no student achievement testing
Action: HB199 passed the House and will be heard in Senate Education Committee 8 a.m. Wednesday. Message members of the committee to insert accountability features and include preschool or kill the bill. To testify on the bill, come to Room W110. To testify online, go to the meeting notice https://wyoleg.gov/Calendar/20250211/Meeting and click on “testify” to register up to one hour before the meeting.
The bill is likely to be approved in committee and go to the full Senate, so you can message any senators about floor debate.
Action Timeline: Committee debate 8-10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb.12 (tomorrow). Then all senators.
Additional resources: Senate Education members: Chairman Wendy Schuler, Evie Brennan, Jared Olsen and Chris Rothfuss. Senate roster: https://wyoleg/Legislators/2025/S