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Revenue Committee advances constitutional amendment clarifying taxation, spending and school‑funding formula
Summary
The Senate Revenue Committee approved Senate Joint Resolution 10 as amended to reserve taxation and spending authority to the legislative and executive departments and to require the legislature to provide a school‑funding formula that is subject to judicial review while making the appropriation amount not subject to judicial review.
The Senate Revenue Committee at a Revenue Committee meeting (date not specified) advanced Senate Joint Resolution 10 after approving an amendment that clarified the amendment's wording and the branches referenced.
Senator Dan Larson, sponsor of SJR10, told the committee the joint resolution would amend the Wyoming Constitution to specify that the power of taxation and spending is reserved to the people and to the legislative department and executive department, and would require the legislature to provide a formula for funding public schools. Under the proposed language discussed in committee, the formula itself would be subject to judicial review but the legislature's appropriated amount to fund the formula would not be subject to judicial review; if an appropriation proved insufficient, spending would be uniformly reduced by percentage.
Larson read the proposed amendment language to the committee and said the change aims to limit judicial authority to dictate the specific appropriation amount for school operations while preserving judicial review of the formula. During debate, several senators asked for clarification about who could bring litigation over the formula and how the "formula" would be defined; Senator Larson and staff described the formula as the funding model used to determine school funding allocations, which could be reviewed by courts but not the dollar appropriation.
Committee members negotiated a technical wording change to align the amendment with the constitution's existing phrasing by using "department" instead of "branch." A standing‑committee amendment was offered, deleting specified lines and inserting the sentence "The power of taxation and spending is reserved to the people and the legislative department and executive department," and language that the proposed amendment states the legislature shall provide the formula for funding schools which may be subject to judicial review while the legislature's funding of the formula shall not be subject to judicial review. The committee adopted that amendment and then approved SJR10 to move forward from committee.
Senator Eyde moved SJR10 out of committee; Senator French seconded. The committee conducted a roll‑call vote: Senator French and Senator Eyde voted aye, Chairman McEwen voted aye, while Senator Case and Senator Pappas voted no. The committee recorded three ayes and two noes and advanced the joint resolution out of committee.
The measure, if advanced through the legislative process and enacted, would require placement on the ballot for voter approval because it proposes a constitutional amendment; the committee transcript shows only the committee's approval to advance the measure.
Source material: sponsor remarks, committee debate, clerk readback of the amendment language, committee roll call as recorded in the committee transcript.
