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Lawmakers weigh using education stabilization fund to cover WPU increases as enrollment falls
Summary
Members of the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee reviewed the public education base budget, enrollment declines and the Public Education Economic Stabilization account, and heard a proposal (SB119) to use stabilization funds to backfill the inflationary and enrollment-driven Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) increase when federal tax changes reduce state income tax revenue.
The Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday reviewed the public education base budget and debated whether to tap the Public Education Economic Stabilization account to preserve ongoing WPU funding amid a projected student decline.
The subcommittee heard staff summary of Executive Appropriations Committee actions, including a 4.2% inflationary adjustment to the Weighted Pupil Unit valued at about $191,400,000 ongoing and a set of one-time allocations funded from stabilization dollars. Rochelle Gunderson, legislative fiscal analyst, told members that statewide enrollment declined from 657,275 students in 2025 and is projected to fall to about 643,073 in 2026, a 2.07% drop that reduces WPUs and creates roughly $28 million…
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