Committee reviews LSO draft of K‑12 school facilities appropriations; staff to refine amounts and timelines

The Legislative Service Office presented LSO 0086 — a draft bill that organizes appropriation requests for K‑12 school facilities into categories the state construction department and committee will consider for the upcoming budget cycle. Tanya Heidrick (LSO operations administrator) and senior finance analyst Matt Wilmar walked the Select Committee through the draft and stressed that the numbers were initial and must be reconciled with the department’s recently submitted budget document. Heidrick said the bill draft is intended as a preview to show the committee the structure of commonly requested appropriations (charter school leases, modular leases, design and construction projects, component projects, demolition, school safety and security grants, and unanticipated funds). Director Dale McComie and staff had already provided a departmental budget document 08/18/2025 that included several line‑item requests; Heidrick told lawmakers the bill’s narrative language and totals will be adjusted to match the department’s final numbers and that the committee can direct staff about effective dates and reporting requirements. Key committee discussion points included: - Component projects: The draft contains a prioritized list of component requests. Committee members discussed giving the department flexibility (modeled after another statute for season‑transfer priorities) to deviate from strict order for efficiencies or combined bidding. LSO staff said they can add language to allow the department to use remaining funds for alternate projects in a prioritized order. - Demolition and immediate‑effect requests: The department asked that certain demolition funds for Laramie County School District No. 1 and a rural elementary abatement be made effective immediately; the committee directed staff to include conforming language to allow immediate availability if the department continues to request it. - School safety and security: The draft included a $10 million request for safety and security, with $2 million proposed for a grant program focused on secure vestibules and vehicle barricades and $8 million proposed for district distributions based on ADM. Committee members asked for more inventory data and a cost estimate before finalizing distribution methodology. Director McComie agreed to circulate a district questionnaire that would collect which buildings already have vestibules or barricades, which do not, and rough cost needs; the committee asked LSO to move the safety/security item to a later bill section as a placeholder while staff gather that inventory. - Charter school contingency and leases: LSO staff and the director discussed a $1.8 million contingency item for new or expanding charter school leases to cover the possibility of new charter openings during the biennium and to ensure timely payments. The committee added a reporting requirement to track how contingency funds are spent. The committee asked LSO to carry forward the draft to the October meeting with refined numbers, added reporting requirements for selected funds, and clarified the effective dates on items the department requests be available immediately.