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Committee approves bill to boost Hathaway scholarship awards

House Education · February 20, 2026

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Summary

Senate File 47, which increases Hathaway scholarship award amounts across tiers, passed the House Education Committee after supporters cited tuition inflation and account reserves; lawmakers debated a proposed amendment to fix tier amounts but did not adopt it.

The House Education Committee on Feb. 20 passed Senate File 47, which would increase Hathaway scholarship awards across multiple tiers.

Chairman Andrew introduced the measure, saying members concluded it had been a long time since Hathaway awards were increased while student tuition and fees have risen significantly. "So the committee thought that it was appropriate to finally grant an increase," the chair said.

The Department of Education, represented by Nishkawe Gilea and Hathaway consultant Bradley Barker, expressed support for the bill on behalf of Superintendent Degenfelder.

Student and nonprofit witnesses testified in support. Kelsey Cooper (ASUW) reiterated that the honors tier formerly covered a much larger share of tuition; Clark Fairbanks (Wyoming Youth Services Association) and Mike Smith (University of Wyoming) also urged passage, citing benefits for students with limited family support.

Representative Harshman offered extended historical and fiscal context for the Hathaway program, describing reserve account dynamics and arguing the fund’s growth supports an increase. He proposed an amendment to set fixed dollar benchmarks for scholarship tiers (such as funding honors at a specified percentage of current tuition), but members said they wanted thorough fiscal analysis before adopting such a change. The amendment failed and the committee held a final roll call.

The chair announced "that is 7 ayes, 2 excused," and declared Senate File 47 passed the committee. The committee then adjourned.

Next steps: With committee passage, Senate File 47 will proceed in the legislative process toward further floor consideration; lawmakers indicated potential follow‑up on fiscal analysis for any tier‑fixing proposals.