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Appropriations committee advances K‑12 facilities bill, trims Campbell County funding and boosts school safety set‑aside
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee voted to pass House Bill 105 as amended, advancing roughly $31.7 million in school‑facility appropriations while reducing a Campbell County transportation‑facility allocation and increasing a school safety/design set‑aside to $5 million. The measure includes reporting and reversion requirements.
Cheyenne — The House Appropriations Committee on Monday advanced House Bill 105, a K‑12 school‑facilities appropriations bill that funds a list of district projects, creates a grant program for school safety and spells out reporting and reversion rules.
Catherine Camarotti, LSO budget fiscal, told the committee the bill "provides for appropriations, specifying conditions for expenditures, requiring reports, establishing a grant program for school facility safety and security projects, and requirements for the receipt of those grant funds." She walked members through line‑by‑line allocations, effective dates and an asterisk notation that signals immediately effective appropriations.
Key dollar items outlined in committee included a $31,700,000 appropriation to the School Facilities Commission; $6,300,000 for charter school leases; a charter school contingency fund (about $1,800,000); funds for modular buildings and $15,700,000 for design of school building and facility projects. The bill’s fiscal note specifies that unexpended funds for major maintenance, charter leases and modular buildings "shall revert to the school foundation program on 06/30/2028." Camarotti also identified line items for demolition projects and an unanticipated‑costs component, and said the JAC relocated, but did not reduce, the major maintenance funding level.
Del Macomay, director of the State Construction Department, told the committee the department had notified LSO it was returning "about $25,000,000 at this point in time" and described ongoing construction and design portfolios. "If this bill passes, it'd be about $960,000,000 worth of active construction, design funds," he said, describing how the department audits and reverts funds when projects finish.
Public commenters urged the committee to approve local priorities. Charlotte Reynolds of Teton County School District asked the committee to "support allocating the requested $2,800,000 to pay for the design of the Jackson Hole High School addition" and asked that funds be released immediately so the district can move forward. Clark Coberly, superintendent of Weston County School District No. 7, said his district supported component‑level funding to address critical needs such as failing boilers.
Committee members considered and approved two substantive amendments. Representative Angelos moved to reduce a supplemental appropriation for a Campbell County transportation facility from $7,420,000 to $2,650,000 after consulting with the department and district; the committee approved the amendment. Representative Harrelson then moved to replace a $2,000,000 set‑aside for school safety/design with $5,000,000 to give districts more liquidity for prioritized safety projects; that motion also carried.
Representative Smith successfully moved language making House Bill 105 take precedence over a similar Senate measure (Senate File 60) if both become law. The committee approved House Bill 105 as amended on a roll call, recording seven "aye" votes.
The committee designated Representative Angelos to carry the bill on the floor with Speaker Pro Tem Harrelson and Representative Smith serving as floor backups. The committee adjourned following the vote.
