AN ACT relating to the Wyoming education trust fund; repealing the Wyoming education trust fund; repealing related provisions; providing for a transfer of funds from the Wyoming education trust fund to the common school account within the permanent land fund; amending the distribution of trust funds available to public schools; and providing for an effective date.
Education
Enacted
This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.
Sponsor
Senator Hicks
Last action
2023-03-02
Official status
enrolled
Effective date
7/1/2024
Plain English Breakdown
The candidate statement incorrectly specified the transfer date as July 1, 2023, when it should be July 1, 2024.
Education Trust Fund Transfer Act
This act repeals the Wyoming Education Trust Fund and transfers any unspent money to the Common School Account within the Permanent Land Fund, while also changing how innovative program grants are funded.
What This Bill Does
Repeals the Wyoming Education Trust Fund.
Transfers all unencumbered, unobligated funds in the Wyoming Education Trust Fund and a related account to the corpus of the Common School Account within the Permanent Land Fund on July 1, 2024.
Changes the source of funds for innovative program grants from the Education Trust Fund to amounts appropriated by the Legislature.
Limits the amount available for innovative program grants to $250,000 annually.
Who It Names or Affects
School districts receiving innovative program grants.
The state treasurer responsible for transferring funds.
Legislators who appropriate money for education programs.
Terms To Know
Permanent Land Fund
A fund that holds and manages land assets to generate income for public schools in Wyoming.
Innovative Program Grants
Grants given by the state to school districts to support new or improved educational programs.
Limits and Unknowns
The act does not specify how the transferred funds will be used in the Common School Account.
It is unclear what happens if there are no unspent funds in the Wyoming Education Trust Fund when the transfer occurs.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
Plain English: The amendment changes the amount of funds transferred from the Wyoming education trust fund and updates a reference year in related statutes.
Changes the amount appropriated by the legislature for transfers to public schools from $500,000 to $250,000.
Updates references to 'The state department' with new language that includes W.S. 21-22-106(a).
Modifies a date reference in the statute from '2023' to '2024'.
The amendment text does not provide details on why these changes are being made, such as reasons for reducing the transfer amount or changing the year.
Standing Committee • House Appropriations Committee
Corrected, Adopted
Plain English: The amendment changes how funds from the Wyoming education trust fund are distributed to public schools by adding new rules for innovative program grants and removing certain sections of existing laws.
Adds a new section that amends W.S. 21-22-106(a) and 21-22-107(f), setting criteria for distributing funds as innovative program grants to schools.
Deletes the current Section 3 of the bill and replaces it with a new Section 4, which repeals certain sections of Wyoming statutes related to education funding.
The amendment text does not provide specific details on how the distribution criteria for innovative program grants will be applied in practice.
It is unclear what exact provisions are being repealed by the new Section 4, as only references to other sections of Wyoming statutes are mentioned.
Bill History
2023-03-02LSO
Assigned Chapter Number 139
2023-03-02Governor
Governor Signed SEA No. 0068
2023-02-27House
H Speaker Signed SEA No. 0068
2023-02-27Senate
S President Signed SEA No. 0068
2023-02-27LSO
Assigned Number SEA No. 0068
2023-02-27Senate
S Concur:Passed 31-0-0-0-0
2023-02-24Senate
S Received for Concurrence
2023-02-23House
H 3rd Reading:Passed 56-2-4-0-0
2023-02-22House
H 2nd Reading:Passed
2023-02-21House
H COW:Passed
2023-02-16House
H Placed on General File
2023-02-16House
H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0
2023-02-10House
H Introduced and Referred to H02 - Appropriations
2023-01-20House
H Received for Introduction
2023-01-20Senate
S 3rd Reading:Passed 31-0-0-0-0
2023-01-19Senate
S 2nd Reading:Passed
2023-01-18Senate
S COW:Passed
2023-01-18Senate
S Placed on General File
2023-01-18Senate
S02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0
2023-01-12Senate
S Introduced and Referred to S02 - Appropriations
2023-01-11Senate
S Received for Introduction
2023-01-11LSO
Bill Number Assigned
Official Summary Text
Bill Summary - 23LSO-0264
Bill No.:
SF0097
Effective:
7/1/2024
LSO No.:
23LSO-0264
Enrolled Act No.:
SEA No. 0068
Chapter No.:
139
Prime Sponsor:
Hicks
Catch Title:
Education trust fund transfer.
Subject:
Repeal of Education Trust Fund.
Summary/Major Elements:
This act repeals the Wyoming Education Trust Fund and transfers any unencumbered, unobligated funds in the Fund to the corpus of the Common School Account within the Permanent Land Fund.
This act revises the operation of innovative program grants to remove references to the Education Trust Fund and to specify that the source of funds for the grants are from amounts appropriated by the Legislature.
The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent.
While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill.
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
23LSO-0264
ORIGINAL Senate
ENGROSSED
File No
.
SF0097
ENROLLED ACT NO. 68,
SENATE
SIXTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2023 General Session
AN ACT relating to the Wyoming education trust fund; repealing the Wyoming education trust fund; repealing related provisions; providing for a transfer of funds from the Wyoming education trust fund to the common school account within the permanent land fund; amending the distribution of trust funds available to public schools; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1.
W.S. 21
‑
22
‑
106(a)(intro) and 21
‑
22
‑
107(f) are amended to read:
21
‑
22
‑
106.
Distribution of trust funds available to public schools; innovative program grants; criteria.
(a)
Revenues available to the department of education from the separate account under W.S. 21
‑
22
‑
102
From amounts appropriated by the legislature, the department of education
shall
be
annually
distributed
distribute funds not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) from the school foundation program account
to school districts as innovative program grants to fund programs providing innovation in or improvement to public education through the creation of new, different and improved educational opportunities in elementary or secondary schools, including:
21
‑
22
‑
107.
Innovative program grants; application; selection by the state department of education; classification of districts; distribution; report on grants awarded; initial grants.
(f)
In accordance with W.S. 21
‑
22
‑
106(a), t
he state department shall annually distribute funds to selected proposals on or before August 15.
In no event shall grants awarded exceed funds available for this purpose within the separate account.
Innovative program grants received under this subsection shall only be used for the purposes for which the grant is awarded and shall not be expended for any other program, activity or purpose.
Section 2.
On July 1, 2023 the state treasurer shall transfer all unencumbered, unobligated funds in the Wyoming education trust fund and in the separate account established under W.S. 21
‑
22
‑
101(b) to the corpus of the common school account within the permanent land fund. Any funds that are directed by law to revert to the Wyoming education trust fund or the separate account established under W.S. 21
‑
22
‑
101(b) shall revert to the common school account within the permanent land fund.
Section 3.
W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
715(p)(xiv), 21
‑
22
‑
101 and 21
‑
22
‑
102 are repealed.
Section 4
.
This act is effective July 1, 2024
.
(END)
Speaker of the House
President of the Senate
Governor
TIME APPROVED: _________
DATE APPROVED: _________
I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.
Chief Clerk
1