Latest news with #HouseBill199
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'We should all be mindful': LCSD1 considers fiscal impacts of legislative session
CHEYENNE – Laramie County School District 1 officials are keeping a close watch on revenue streams after significant property tax relief and expansion of a school voucher program were signed into law earlier this month. Property taxes directly fund local school districts, with a portion of these taxes flowing into the state's School Foundation Program account. The state pulls money from this account to fund inflationary costs of public school funding through the K-12 public school block grant. With four major property tax relief programs passed last year, and a historical property tax cut signed into law earlier this month, revenue streams into the SFP are expected to take a direct hit. Gov. Mark Gordon recently signed Senate File 69, which provides a 25% property tax exemption on the first $1 million of a single-family home's fair market value. The bill does not have an end date, nor does it include any backfill from the state. Laramie County School District 1 Finance Director Jed Cicarelli said SF 69 will hurt the school district's ability to collect local taxes for funding operations. Decreased local revenue means a heavier reliance on the state for school funding, he said. 'As the local tax collections decrease, the pressure on (the SFP) will increase, because the state will have to make up those entitlement payments,' Cicarelli told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. 'But it also means there's less revenue coming into that account. … So you're kind of hitting it on both sides of the equation.' House Bill 199, "Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act," is another indirect factor to the equation. HB 199 expands eligibility for Wyoming's Education Savings Account (ESA) program by removing the income-based requirement for grades K-12 and increasing the per-child, per-year amount from $6,000 to $7,000. This program will cost the state an estimated $44.3 million per year out of the SFP starting in 2026, according to the Legislative Service Office. 'Both pieces of legislation have kind of the same effect on … that increased demand on the School Foundation Account,' Cicarelli said. 'We should all be mindful of how that does impact our local governments.' On a positive note, however, Cicarelli said Wyoming schools still have a state entitlement that ensures adequate funding. And a recent decision from a state district court judge in Laramie County upped the ante on that entitlement, after he found Wyoming has unconstitutionally underfunded its public schools. The decision was released toward the end of the legislative session, and Wyoming lawmakers wasted no time in restoring the full $66.3 million external cost adjustment through a school recalibration House bill. Declining student enrollment Wyoming's largest school district has lost around 1,000 students since the pandemic, and Cicarelli said lower student enrollment reduces state funding to the school district. LCSD1 was originally estimated to receive an extra $9.3 million in funding from the state this year. However, Cicarelli said the decline in student enrollment is not reflected in the $9.3 million cost adjustment, and district enrollment numbers fell by another 129 students last fall. He estimated the lower enrollment would cost the district $3.3 million in state funds. Revenue projections for LCSD1 are also down by $1.4 million, or half a percentage point, Cicarelli told school board members Monday night. He later told the WTE this decline is not a significant concern, and better estimations will be available in the final quarter of the year. The passage of Senate File 73 also dips into school district funding, since it now requires the district's central office to allocate a portion of its revenue to district-approved and state-approved charter schools. 'That money will come out of our funding and go to those (three charter) schools,' Cicarelli said. However, it has not yet been determined what these fiscal impacts will be. Multiple other bills passed by the Legislature were also discussed Monday night, with many of them expected to have some fiscal impact to the school district. Among those was HB 172, a bill that repeals a majority of gun-free zones throughout the state, including in public schools. Cicarelli said the bill could affect costs for insurance, staff training and lock boxes, but the significance of those costs has yet to be determined.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to extend statute of limitations on PFAS civil suits in New Hampshire tabled by House
Virtually all Americans have been exposed to the class of chemicals, which are often used to make products stain- and water-resistant. (Getty Images) The House tabled a bill Thursday that would give those harmed by PFAS much more time to sue polluters. House Bill 199 would increase the statute of limitations for civil action related to damages caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the 'forever chemicals' known as PFAS, from six years to 20. These chemicals — of which there are thousands of varieties used in common industrial and consumer products — have been linked to negative health effects like some cancers, high cholesterol, reproductive and fetal development issues, and more. Proponents of the bill said it was a necessary step to ensure that all those impacted by the chemicals had time to sue, since they can accumulate in the body over many years, break down incredibly slowly in the environment, and research is still uncovering more about their risks. But opponents said the two decades was excessively long, and some argued that the current six years was ample time given that the clock for civil action starts ticking only once someone knows, or should have reasonably known, that they have been harmed by PFAS. While the House Judiciary Committee recommended it for passage, 10-8, the Democratic-led bill faced an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Legislature, which voted 188-170 to table it. It's not the only effort in recent years to lengthen the time for lawsuits related to PFAS; in 2021, the Legislature passed legislation that lengthened the statute of limitations from three years to six. Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican, made the motion to table the bill. The tabling motion sets the bill aside; the chamber could later vote to revive it or let it die by not taking it up again before the end of the session. Part of his argument for tabling the bill was that he was 'unclear' about whether the 'clock resets after every potential exposure.' Some in the state have suffered from acute PFAS exposure, like those affected by emissions from Pease Air Force Base on the Seacoast or the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant in Merrimack. But virtually all Americans have been exposed to the class of chemicals, which are often used to make products stain- and water-resistant. Those who backed the bill felt it was an important step to hold polluters accountable. 'If I know that the polluters — and not the taxpayers, municipalities, and injured citizens — should pay for the damages and remediation they caused,' Rep. Paul Berch, a Westmoreland Democrat, asked his colleagues, 'would I then vote against tabling?'
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho bill to limit refugee eligibility for medical aid program heads to governor
The Idaho State Capitol Building in Boise shines in the sunlight on Jan. 7, 2025. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) A bill to reduce the maximum income refugees can earn to still access a federal medical assistance program is headed to Idaho Gov. Brad Little for final consideration. House Bill 199, cosponsored by Rep. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, would decrease the maximum income refugees in Idaho can earn to remain eligible for the Refugee Medical Assistance program to 133% of the federal poverty level, down from its higher current cap of 150% of the federal poverty level. Under the bill, the new income cutoff for refugee medical assistance for a single person would be about $20,814 in annual income, down from the $23,475 it is under the existing income cap, based on annually updated federal poverty guidelines. The Refugee Medical Assistance program is a federally funded program that provides short-term medical coverage for refugees who aren't eligible for Medicaid, according to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. In the last fiscal year, Idaho spent about $1 million on the Refugee Medical Assistance program, Idaho Reports reported. The bill is not anticipated to change state revenue, or increase state or local government spending, the bill's fiscal note says. The Idaho Senate passed the bill on a 29-6 vote on Monday. All six Senate Democrats opposed it. When the bill is transmitted to the governor's desk, he has five days — excluding Sundays — to decide how to act on it. He has three options: He can sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In the Senate Health and Welfare Committee's hearing on the bill nearly two weeks ago, Sen. Josh Keyser, R-Meridian, who is cosponsoring the bill in the Senate, pitched the bill as a way to 'match every other Idaho federal poverty guideline of 133%.' But Idaho Medicaid expansion has a slightly higher income eligibility cap, of 138% of the federal poverty level, according to the Department of Health and Welfare's website. The new bill would set the Refugee Medical Assistance's income eligibility cap at 133% of the federal poverty level. Effectively, the bill would create a lower income eligibility cap for the Refugee Medical Assistance gap than for Medicaid expansion — which is part of the broader Medicaid program that the Refugee Medical Assistance Program is an alternative to. The income cap difference — of five percentage points in the federal poverty level — is a gap of about $782 for a single-person household. But the gap grows as family size increases. CONTACT US Only 19 people's eligibility would be affected by the reduced income eligibility cap, Keyser told the committee on March 6. Several Republican senators on the committee said they supported the bill because it set uniform public health assistance standards. 'I don't want to be callous to the fact that 19 people are going to be affected by the vote that we're about to cast,' Sen. Camille Blaylock, R-Caldwell, told the committee. 'That being said, it doesn't sit well with me either to have Idahoans at a different, at a lower rate — understanding even the traumatic situations that they're coming from.' Asked about how the bill would set a lower income eligibility cap for the refugee aid program than for Idaho Medicaid expansion, Vander Woude, a House lawmaker cosponsoring the bill, told the Sun on Monday 'If it's if it's an alternative to Medicaid, then it doesn't have to deal with the Medicaid (expansion population) that's at 138 (percent of the federal poverty level). Because this is not part of Medicaid. It's part of the refugee program, and so their benefits are the same as the U.S. citizens are.' Keyser, the Senate cosponsor, declined to comment. An Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson declined to answer questions about if the bill could create a health care program assistance gap, saying the agency does not comment on pending legislation. Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, opposed the bill in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and on the Senate floor. 'Maybe it is a special treatment. But to say, in our heart of hearts, 'If you have watched a loved one murdered in front of you and had to leave your country for your own well being and safety, that we should give you an extra boost.' And I'm willing to do it — because it's not that much,' Wintrow said in committee on March 6. 'It's not — it's not a ton of money that we're doing, but it matters a lot to those people.' That echoed what some members of the public testified in the Senate committee. 'The numbers are not astronomical, but for the lives that it will make a difference in, it will make a difference. And it could access the kind of health care they can get based on what private insurance they're able to get,' said Holly Beech, communications manager for the Idaho Office of Refugees. Hannah Habineza, a refugee medical case manager who said she was testifying for herself in opposition of the bill, said she's seen many refugees who have had to choose between work and their health. 'If they lose this assistance, then they're having to either stay home and not go to the hospital … and then continue to work. And maybe they're not even able to continue to work because of those … conditions that they have,' she testified. The program's higher eligibility cap was created through an agency administrative rule by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The bill would shift much of that administrative rule on the program into state law, but would reduce the program's income eligibility cap. Administrative rules are policies adopted by agencies, subject to legislative approval. But agency rules are generally easier to change than state laws. If the bill becomes law, it would take effect July 1. The Idaho House passed the bill last month. Only eight Democrats voted against the bill, compared to all 61 House Republican lawmakers who backed the bill. One Democrat, Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, was absent for the House floor vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wyoming Gov. Calls Universal School Voucher Bill a ‘Remarkable Achievement'
This article was originally published in WyoFile. Gov. Mark Gordon lauded a controversial universal school voucher bill Tuesday morning before signing it into law hours later. House Bill 199, 'Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act,' will represent a significant expansion of school choice in the state, offering families $7,000 per child annually for K-12 non-public-school costs like tuition or tutoring. The scholarship will also offer money for pre-K costs, but only to income-qualified families who are at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The legislation has sparked a deluge of constituent feedback, according to lawmakers, both from supporters of school choice and from critics who call the measure an unconstitutional bill that will erode the quality of public education in the state. Gordon had himself partially vetoed a similar bill last year, citing constitutional concerns. However, he lauded this version as a 'remarkable achievement for Wyoming.' 'I'm very excited that we're not only going to be able to expand K-12 choices to be accompanied by careful oversight and … ensure that all families have access to the best educational options,' Gordon said, 'but as we pursue these opportunities, I want to make sure that we uphold the strength of Wyoming's public schools.' The law will transform and expand an existing state education savings account program that gives public money to income-qualified families to help them pay for pre-K programs, homeschooling costs or private school tuition. The education savings account program was passed last year and began accepting applicants in January. House Bill 199 sponsor Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, called the 2024 ESA program much too narrow. His new bill proposed to offer up to $7,000 per student regardless of a family's economic needs. Along with making the program universal, in its original form, the bill dropped: the preschool component, a requirement that participating students take statewide assessments or similar nationwide tests and a requirement that providers be certified by the Department of Education. The bill has been transformed substantially as it travelled through the Legislature; some 26 amendments were brought, including 11 that passed. Along with changing the name from the Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act, the final version reinstated the assessment requirements, the provider certification and the inclusion of pre-K, though families have to show income need to qualify for that portion. It spurred much debate as it traveled through the body, triggering discussion on the state of public education in Wyoming, the constitutionality of the program and the importance of early childhood education. Many lawmakers asked what the rush is, given that Wyoming's existing ESA program is only two months old. Those who say the new law is unconstitutional cite Article 7, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution, which reads: 'Nor shall any 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.' When Gordon partially vetoed the education savings account bill last year, he pointed specifically to constitutional concerns when he narrowed eligibility to families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. That referenced the constitutional language that prohibits the state from giving money to individuals 'except for the necessary support of the poor.' On Tuesday, he said he's taken the last year to consider the issue, 'and I realize that that will be sort of handled by our courts' if the question is asked. 'In the meantime, I think it's important to remember that we have all been working to try to expand school choice, and this gives that opportunity for parents.' This comes less than a week after a judge ruled in favor of the Wyoming Education Association and eight school districts in a court case that's anticipated to have major implications for the state. Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher ruled the Wyoming Legislature has been unconstitutionally underfunding the state's public schools and ordered the state to fix that. House Bill 199 drew loads of attention — both from local advocacy groups vowing to fight it and from out-of-state groups lobbying for its passage. President Donald Trump even weighed in when he gave kudos to Senate President Bo Biteman for helping to advance the legislation. 'This would be an incredible Victory for Wyoming students and families,' Trump wrote on Truth Social while the measure was still awaiting Senate votes. 'Every Member of the Wyoming Senate should vote for HB 199. I will be watching!' In Wyoming, the hard-right House Freedom Caucus celebrated the signing of the bill, crediting Rep. Andrew for its success. 'Finally, we can say that in Wyoming, we support students, not systems,' a Wyoming Freedom Caucus Facebook post read. Many in the detractor camp, meanwhile, decried Gordon's action. 'Particularly in light of the extraordinary opposition to the voucher program by the majority of Wyoming's residents, we are disappointed by Gov. Gordon's decision to sign HB199 into law,' the Wyoming Education Association said in a statement. The association also questioned the decision's wisdom following so closely on the heels of the strongly worded ruling. 'The district court's ruling from only days ago confirmed that the state is not funding public education to the level as it is required, and the choice to take taxpayer dollars to support a voucher program is a curiously poor decision,' the WEA said. The organization warned that similar laws in other states have proven these types of programs to be vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse and ineffective in improving student performance. 'Unconstitutional universal voucher programs serve as a taxpayer-funded welfare handout to wealthy families whose communities have access to such schools and whose students already attend private schools,' the WEA said. During his press conference Tuesday, Gordon characterized the ESA bill passed last year as a generic program. 'I know it's a big national agenda item,' he said of school choice. 'But it's important to remember that this is Wyoming's way of doing it. This was created and crafted by people here in Wyoming, not somebody from out of state … and it really meets the needs specifically of Wyoming.' Reporter Maggie Mullen contributed to this article. This story was originally published at WyoFile
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wyoming Gov. Calls Universal School Voucher Bill a ‘Remarkable Achievement'
This article was originally published in WyoFile. Gov. Mark Gordon lauded a controversial universal school voucher bill Tuesday morning before signing it into law hours later. House Bill 199, 'Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act,' will represent a significant expansion of school choice in the state, offering families $7,000 per child annually for K-12 non-public-school costs like tuition or tutoring. The scholarship will also offer money for pre-K costs, but only to income-qualified families who are at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The legislation has sparked a deluge of constituent feedback, according to lawmakers, both from supporters of school choice and from critics who call the measure an unconstitutional bill that will erode the quality of public education in the state. Gordon had himself partially vetoed a similar bill last year, citing constitutional concerns. However, he lauded this version as a 'remarkable achievement for Wyoming.' 'I'm very excited that we're not only going to be able to expand K-12 choices to be accompanied by careful oversight and … ensure that all families have access to the best educational options,' Gordon said, 'but as we pursue these opportunities, I want to make sure that we uphold the strength of Wyoming's public schools.' The law will transform and expand an existing state education savings account program that gives public money to income-qualified families to help them pay for pre-K programs, homeschooling costs or private school tuition. The education savings account program was passed last year and began accepting applicants in January. House Bill 199 sponsor Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, called the 2024 ESA program much too narrow. His new bill proposed to offer up to $7,000 per student regardless of a family's economic needs. Along with making the program universal, in its original form, the bill dropped: the preschool component, a requirement that participating students take statewide assessments or similar nationwide tests and a requirement that providers be certified by the Department of Education. The bill has been transformed substantially as it travelled through the Legislature; some 26 amendments were brought, including 11 that passed. Along with changing the name from the Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act, the final version reinstated the assessment requirements, the provider certification and the inclusion of pre-K, though families have to show income need to qualify for that portion. It spurred much debate as it traveled through the body, triggering discussion on the state of public education in Wyoming, the constitutionality of the program and the importance of early childhood education. Many lawmakers asked what the rush is, given that Wyoming's existing ESA program is only two months old. Those who say the new law is unconstitutional cite Article 7, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution, which reads: 'Nor shall any 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.' When Gordon partially vetoed the education savings account bill last year, he pointed specifically to constitutional concerns when he narrowed eligibility to families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. That referenced the constitutional language that prohibits the state from giving money to individuals 'except for the necessary support of the poor.' On Tuesday, he said he's taken the last year to consider the issue, 'and I realize that that will be sort of handled by our courts' if the question is asked. 'In the meantime, I think it's important to remember that we have all been working to try to expand school choice, and this gives that opportunity for parents.' This comes less than a week after a judge ruled in favor of the Wyoming Education Association and eight school districts in a court case that's anticipated to have major implications for the state. Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher ruled the Wyoming Legislature has been unconstitutionally underfunding the state's public schools and ordered the state to fix that. House Bill 199 drew loads of attention — both from local advocacy groups vowing to fight it and from out-of-state groups lobbying for its passage. President Donald Trump even weighed in when he gave kudos to Senate President Bo Biteman for helping to advance the legislation. 'This would be an incredible Victory for Wyoming students and families,' Trump wrote on Truth Social while the measure was still awaiting Senate votes. 'Every Member of the Wyoming Senate should vote for HB 199. I will be watching!' In Wyoming, the hard-right House Freedom Caucus celebrated the signing of the bill, crediting Rep. Andrew for its success. 'Finally, we can say that in Wyoming, we support students, not systems,' a Wyoming Freedom Caucus Facebook post read. Many in the detractor camp, meanwhile, decried Gordon's action. 'Particularly in light of the extraordinary opposition to the voucher program by the majority of Wyoming's residents, we are disappointed by Gov. Gordon's decision to sign HB199 into law,' the Wyoming Education Association said in a statement. The association also questioned the decision's wisdom following so closely on the heels of the strongly worded ruling. 'The district court's ruling from only days ago confirmed that the state is not funding public education to the level as it is required, and the choice to take taxpayer dollars to support a voucher program is a curiously poor decision,' the WEA said. The organization warned that similar laws in other states have proven these types of programs to be vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse and ineffective in improving student performance. 'Unconstitutional universal voucher programs serve as a taxpayer-funded welfare handout to wealthy families whose communities have access to such schools and whose students already attend private schools,' the WEA said. During his press conference Tuesday, Gordon characterized the ESA bill passed last year as a generic program. 'I know it's a big national agenda item,' he said of school choice. 'But it's important to remember that this is Wyoming's way of doing it. This was created and crafted by people here in Wyoming, not somebody from out of state … and it really meets the needs specifically of Wyoming.' Reporter Maggie Mullen contributed to this article. This story was originally published at WyoFile
