House committee advances 'Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act,' reduces startup appropriation and rejects multiple accountability amendments

The House Committee of the Whole reported House Bill 199, the “Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act,” to the full House Friday after a full-day floor debate that focused on funding, accountability and constitutional risk. Representative Andrew, the bill sponsor and committee chair, described the measure as a conversion of the state’s existing education savings account (ESA) program into a universal, income‑independent scholarship program.

Representative Andrew said the program would pay roughly $7,000 per student and that state analysis and other states’ experience suggested 1,500 to 4,000 students could participate in year one. “As the bill is written, it would be worth about, well, it would be worth $7,000 per student,” Andrew said.

Key policy and fiscal changes in the bill as discussed on the floor: - Universal eligibility: The bill removes income limits so any Wyoming family could apply for an ESA under the program as written. The sponsor also proposed removing kindergarten as an eligible expense. - Start-up appropriation reduced: The appropriations committee reduced an initial general‑fund appropriation in the draft from $50,000,000 to…