Universal school voucher bill passes Wyoming Senate, heads back to House

Yahoo

21-02-2025

CHEYENNE — A controversial universal school voucher bill was the subject of more long debate over its constitutionality in the Wyoming Senate on Wednesday before passing its third and final reading by a vote of 20-11.
House Bill 199, 'Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act,' will now go back to the House of Representatives for a concurrence vote before heading to the governor's desk.
However, several senators said they received hundreds, if not thousands, of text messages, emails and phone calls from their constituents, urging them not to pass the bill.
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper (2025)
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper
'The money, according to my emails, is the biggest issue for folks back in my district. It's a big deal,' said Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper. By 2026, the universal school voucher program would cost the state $44.3 million, according to the Legislative Service Office. 'They want to know why we're going to come up with whatever amount we're going to come up with, and we're going to pay folks to keep their kids at home.' Landen voted against passing the bill.
Last year, lawmakers passed a bill to set up the state's first-ever education savings account (ESA) program. It sets aside state funds so that parents can send their child to a non-public K-12 school.
Currently, the Cowboy State's ESA program, which started accepting applications in January, has a family income requirement at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and allows for reimbursement of qualifying expenses up to $6,000 per child per year to attend a private school of the parent's choice.
HB 199, sponsored by House Majority Whip and Wyoming Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, guts key parts of the program that some lawmakers argue made it constitutional in the first place.
Originally, Andrew's bill eliminated the program's nationally normed assessment and certification requirements, removed preschool eligibility for ESAs and changed the funding source from the general fund (Wyoming's main spending account) to federal mineral royalties (FMRs), which also fund public K-12 schools.
As the bill made its way through the House of Representatives, however, legislators reinserted the certification process for private schools receiving ESA funding and added vague language related to assessment requirements.
It passed the House on a third and final vote of 39-21, with two members excused.
The bill has not escaped the attention of President Donald Trump, who spotlighted it in a Sunday post on his social media platform, Truth Social, urging Wyoming lawmakers to pass the legislation.
'This would be an incredible Victory for Wyoming students and families. Every Member of the Wyoming Senate should vote for HB 199,' Trump wrote. 'I will be watching!'
However, some Wyomingites appear less eager to see the universal school voucher bill signed into law. Critics of the bill, and other controversial education bills sponsored by Andrew, even called for a boycott of the House majority whip's food truck business, On the Hook, according to WyoFile.com.
Changes in the Senate
Senators passed a total of six amendments to the bill, both in committee and on the Senate floor. However, some adopted amendments canceled out those adopted in previous readings of the legislation.
For example, during the bill's first reading, Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, brought an amendment to reinstate an income-based requirement for the program. Schuler's amendment broke down how much each child would receive based on varying levels of household income.
Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston (2025)
Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston
In her amendment, families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level would receive $6,000 per child; families at or between 200% and 150% of the federal poverty level would receive $4,800 per child; and families at or between 250% and 200% of the federal poverty level would receive $3,600 per child.
Household incomes above 250% of the federal poverty level would not qualify for an ESA.
'Going back to this income base, and having it based on the poverty level, will get us where we need to go to get past the constitutional issues,' Schuler said.
The Evanston senator said she is supportive of school choice, but only if it's done right. Adding an income-level requirement was the best way Schuler said she could get behind HB 199.
Senators adopted Schuler's amendment in a tight vote, but the work was quickly undone in an amendment brought by Sen. Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne, during the bill's second reading. Her amendment deleted Schuler's amendment, removing the income-based provision, and opening it back up to $7,000 per child for all families.
Sen. Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Sen. Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne
'This is for the education of our next generation, and it's about all of our students having equitable access to the same scholarship and the same amount of money,' Brennan said, 'so that they can all get educated in the environment that best suits them.'
Supporters of Brennan's amendment criticized the income-based requirement as 'discriminatory.' Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said this requirement sets a 'dangerous precedent' for school funding.
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper (2025)
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper
'Education, Mr. Chairman, is one of the most fundamental services that our state and local governments provide,' Scott said. 'We have never had a means test on education.'
One amendment that managed to stick through the bill's final reading in the upper chamber, proposed by Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, was to add back the eligibility of pre-kindergarten schools for ESA funds.
'It simply, in my view, puts the best part of the program back in place,' Rothfuss said.
Other successful changes to the bill include changing the source of funds from FMRs back to the state's general fund, requiring either a nationally normed or statewide assessment for ESA students and changing the name to the 'Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act.'
This name change is in honor of the famous Wyoming rodeo bucking horse, Steamboat, and its rider, which are seen on every Wyoming license plate and in many other places statewide.
Constitutional concerns
Before the vote that sent the bill back to the lower chamber, senators against the legislation made their final remarks on the bill's constitutionality. Rothfuss said, even with the pre-kindergarten language back in the bill, it still remained in violation of the Wyoming Constitution.
'The question is, do we want to provide $7,000 per year to individuals that are not in need?' Rothfuss said.
The Democratic senator pointed out that the ESA program is already in place — the question on the table is whether lawmakers supported turning it into a universal school voucher program. Schuler, who has previously mentioned her hangup with such programs, said she could not support the bill without the means testing.
Article 7, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution states no 'portion of any public school fund ever be used to support or assist any private school, or any school, academy, seminary, college or other institution of learning controlled by any church or sectarian organization or religious denomination whatsoever.'
'I was inching closer to where I could actually support this bill, until we took out the income-based tiers,' Schuler said.
However, senators in support of the bill argued the income-based tiers removed equitable participation for all Wyoming schoolchildren. Supporters said parents should be free to put their child in the learning environment that best supports them, regardless of their income.
'Our job is to make sure that our kids get an education, so that they are educated to their abilities and talents,' Brennan said. 'This is what this bill is about. It's not about a good system or a bad system. It's about what is the education environment that our children are going to best learn in?'