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STATE OF WYOMING Working Draft
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DRAFT ONLY
NOT APPROVED FOR
INTRODUCTION
HOUSE BILL NO.
Education savings accounts.
Sponsored by: Joint Education Interim Committee
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to education; authorizing education savings
2 accounts; creating the Wyoming education savings accounts
3 expenditure account; providing for a transfer of funds to
4 the Wyoming education savings accounts expenditure account;
5 providing for the use and administration of education
6 savings accounts for education; specifying duties of the
7 state superintendent of public instruction; providing
8 rulemaking authority; making conforming amendments;
9 providing appropriations; authorizing full-time positions;
10 and providing for effective dates.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
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1 Section 1. W.S. 21-2-901 through 21-2-910 are created
2 to read:
3
4 ARTICLE 9
5 WYOMING EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
6
7 21-2-901. Short title.
8
9 This act shall be known as the "Wyoming Education Savings
10 Accounts Act." The program created by this act shall be
11 known as the "ESA program."
12
13 21-2-902. Definitions.
14
15 (a) As used in this act:
16
17 (i) "Curriculum" means a course of study for
18 content areas or grade levels, including any supplemental
19 materials required or recommended by the curriculum;
20
21 (ii) "Education savings account" or "ESA" means
22 the spending account for a child's education to which funds
23 are allocated by the state superintendent of public
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1 instruction, for which a parent of an ESA student enters
2 into an agreement with the state superintendent to choose
3 and pay for qualifying education expenses to educate the
4 ESA student, subject to the requirements and conditions of
5 this act;
6
7 (iii) "Education service provider" means a person
8 or organization, including a qualified school, that receives
9 payments authorized by a parent from education savings
10 accounts to provide educational goods and services to ESA
11 students;
12
13 (iv) "ESA student" means a student eligible for an
14 ESA pursuant to W.S. 21-2-904(a) who is participating in the
15 ESA program;
16
17 (v) "Parent" means a resident of this state who
18 is the parent or legal guardian of an eligible student or
19 ESA student and may include an eligible student or ESA
20 student who is an emancipated minor;
21
22 (vi) "Qualified school" means a preschool or a
23 nonpublic primary or secondary school, certified by the
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1 state superintendent of public instruction pursuant to W.S.
2 21-2-906(a), located in or that provides education services
3 in this state, that may include through online means;
4
5 (vii) "This act" means W.S. 21-2-901 through
6 21-2-910.
7
8 21-2-903. Education savings accounts; Wyoming
9 education savings accounts expenditure account.
10
11 (a) The total amount to be deposited in an education
12 savings account for an ESA student each year shall be three
13 thousand dollars ($3,000.00).
14
15 (b) Payments to ESAs under this act shall be made by
16 the state treasurer as certified by the state
17 superintendent of public instruction from the Wyoming
18 education savings accounts expenditure account, which is
19 hereby created. The Wyoming education savings account
20 expenditure account shall consist of funds transferred to
21 the expenditure account and other funds appropriated by the
22 legislature to the expenditure account. All earnings from
23 investment of the expenditure account shall be credited by
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1 the state treasurer to the expenditure account. Except as
2 provided by subsection (c) of this section, any
3 unencumbered, unobligated balance of the expenditure
4 account at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert but
5 shall remain in the expenditure account and shall be
6 expended to fund ESAs as provided by this act.
7
8 (c) If at the end of a fiscal year the state
9 treasurer determines that the amount in the Wyoming
10 education savings accounts expenditure account is more than
11 forty million dollars ($40,000,000.00) and is more than one
12 hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the amount required to
13 fund all approved ESAs for that fiscal year as certified by
14 the state superintendent, the state treasurer shall
15 transfer the excess amount determined under this subsection
16 to the general fund.
17
18 (d) Payments to each approved ESA shall be disbursed
19 on a quarterly basis by the state treasurer as certified by
20 the state superintendent.
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1 (e) The state superintendent shall quarterly certify
2 to the state treasurer the ESAs and the amount to be
3 deposited in each ESA under this act.
4
5 21-2-904. ESA program eligibility; parent agreement;
6 ESA administration.
7
8 (a) Subject to the availability of funds as
9 determined by the legislature, any child who is a Wyoming
10 resident, who's household income is at or below two hundred
11 fifty percent (250%) of the federal poverty level,
12 determined using the most recent federal poverty guidelines
13 for the student's household size and income, and who meets
14 one (1) of the following qualifications shall be eligible
15 to receive an ESA subject to the provisions of this act:
16
17 (i) The child has not graduated from high
18 school, received a high school equivalency certificate or
19 completed the equivalent of high school through a home-
20 based educational program and is eligible to attend a
21 public school in this state; or
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1 (ii) The child is not less than three (3) years
2 of age as of August 1 of the year in which the application
3 for an ESA is made and has not yet attained the age to
4 attend public school in this state.
5
6 (b) To participate in the ESA program, parents of an
7 ESA student shall sign an agreement with the state
8 superintendent that:
9
10 (i) Requires use of the ESA funds for the
11 following qualifying expenses to educate the ESA student:
12
13 (A) Tuition and fees at a qualified school;
14
15 (B) Tutoring services provided by an
16 individual or a tutoring facility. The tutoring services
17 shall not be provided by an ESA student's immediate family;
18
19 (C) Services contracted for and provided by
20 a public school district, including services provided by a
21 public charter school. Services under this subparagraph may
22 include, without limitation, individual classes and
23 extracurricular activities and programs;
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1
2 (D) Textbooks, curriculum and other
3 instructional materials, including, but not limited to, any
4 supplemental materials or associated online instruction
5 required by either a curriculum or an education service
6 provider;
7
8 (E) Computer hardware or other
9 technological devices that are primarily used to help meet
10 an ESA student's educational needs;
11
12 (F) Educational software and applications;
13
14 (G) School uniforms;
15
16 (H) Fees for nationally standardized
17 assessments, advanced placement examinations, examinations
18 related to college or university admission and tuition and
19 fees for preparatory courses for the exams;
20
21 (J) Tuition and fees for summer education
22 programs and specialized after school education programs;
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1 (K) Tuition, fees, instructional materials
2 and examination fees at a career or technical school;
3
4 (M) Educational services and therapies
5 including, but not limited to, occupational, behavioral,
6 physical, speech-language and audiology therapies;
7
8 (N) Tuition and fees at an institution of
9 higher education;
10
11 (O) Fees for transportation paid to a
12 fee-for-service transportation provider for the student to
13 travel to and from an education service provider;
14
15 (P) Any other educational expense approved
16 by the state superintendent.
17
18 (ii) For students eligible for an ESA under
19 paragraph (a)(i) of this section:
20
21 (A) Requires that the ESA student receive
22 instruction in, at minimum, reading, writing, mathematics,
23 civics, history, literature and science;
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1
2 (B) Requires that the ESA student take the
3 statewide assessments administered pursuant to W.S. 21-2-
4 304(a);
5
6 (C) Certifies that the ESA student is not,
7 or will not be, enrolled in a public school district upon
8 receipt of the ESA and releases the applicable school
9 district from all obligations to educate the ESA student.
10 This subparagraph shall not:
11
12 (I) Require an eligible student to
13 withdraw from a public school district before applying for
14 or receiving an ESA if the student withdraws from the
15 public school district before receiving or expending any
16 monies in the student's ESA;
17
18 (II) Prevent a qualified student from
19 applying in advance for an ESA student to be funded
20 beginning the following school year; or
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1 (III) Prevent a public school district
2 from charging an ESA for any services provided to the
3 qualified student to the extent authorized by law.
4
5 (c) Funds in an ESA shall not be refunded, rebated or
6 shared with a parent of an ESA student in any manner. Any
7 refund or rebate for goods or services purchased with ESA
8 funds shall be credited directly to the student's ESA.
9
10 (d) Parents may make payments for costs of
11 educational goods and services not covered by the funds in
12 the ESA. Personal deposits into an ESA shall not be
13 permitted.
14
15 (e) An ESA shall remain active and any unused funds
16 shall not revert until the parent withdraws the ESA student
17 from the ESA program or until the ESA student is no longer
18 eligible for the ESA program, unless the ESA is closed
19 because of a substantial misuse of funds. When an ESA is
20 closed, any unused funds shall revert to the Wyoming
21 education savings accounts expenditure account.
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1 (f) Nothing in this act shall be construed to require
2 an ESA student to be enrolled, full-time or part-time, in a
3 nonpublic school.
4
5 21-2-905. Application, award and allocation of ESAs.
6
7 (a) A parent may apply to the state superintendent of
8 public instruction to establish an ESA for an eligible
9 student.
10
11 (b) The state superintendent shall establish
12 procedures for approving applications in an expeditious
13 manner.
14
15 (c) The state superintendent shall create a standard
16 form that parents may submit to establish their student's
17 eligibility for the ESA program and shall ensure that the
18 application form is publicly available and that completed
19 applications may be submitted through various sources,
20 including the internet.
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1 (d) Except as provided under subsection (e) of this
2 section, the state superintendent shall approve an
3 application for an ESA if:
4
5 (i) The parent submits an application for an ESA
6 in accordance with application procedures established by
7 the state superintendent;
8
9 (ii) The student is an eligible student pursuant
10 to W.S. 21-2-904(a);
11
12 (iii) Funds are available for the ESA;
13
14 (iv) The parent signs an agreement with the state
15 superintendent as provided in W.S. 21-2-904(b).
16
17 (e) Fifty percent (50%) of the ESAs shall be awarded
18 to students eligible pursuant to W.S. 21-2-904(a)(i) and
19 the remaining fifty percent (50%) shall be awarded to
20 students eligible pursuant to W.S. 21-2-904(a)(ii) each
21 year. If the number of applications for ESAs exceeds the
22 available funds for any school year, the students shall be
23 selected on a first come, first served basis, except
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