Senate amendment would add $750,000 state match to finish Central Wyoming College Jackson project

A Senate amendment proposed during committee consideration of House Bill 111 would add $750,000 in state funds as a one-to-one match to local fundraising to complete the Central Wyoming College Jackson project.

Senator Guru, who introduced the amendment in committee, traced the project's funding history back to 2018 and said local donors and past ballot measures had already contributed significant sums. He told the panel the figure is intended to help finish remaining items such as landscaping and materials before a planned ribbon-cutting later this year and described the $750,000 as an "educated" estimate drawn from conversations with project leaders: "we never come here and ask for the first dollar in, nor do we ask for the last," he said.

Committee members questioned whether the funding request had gone through the usual vetting process. Representative Lean asked whether the money had been routed through the same approval procedures as other projects; Senator Guru acknowledged it had not and framed the amendment as an attempt to leverage immediate local philanthropic momentum rather than delay the work. Several members recalled recent examples of last-minute appropriations and urged caution about setting a precedent for late-stage increases without full review.

Members also discussed technical details of the project's local funding arrangement: Teton County and the town of Jackson have been appropriating funds to Central Wyoming College in anticipation of a future mill-levy shift from Fremont County to Teton County, a step that would change board representation and requires coordination between counties. Committee members urged clarity on how those local funding mechanics interact with any state match.

The transcript records extended discussion but no recorded vote on the amendment during this meeting.