2023 23LSO-0122
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0194
Wyoming freedom scholarship act.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Andrew, Allemand, Angelos,
Banks, Bear, Davis, Eklund, Haroldson,
Heiner, Hornok, Jennings, Knapp, Lawley,
Locke, Neiman, Niemiec, O'Hearn, Ottman,
Pendergraft, Penn, Rodriguez-Williams,
Singh, Slagle, Smith, Stith, Strock, Styvar,
Tarver, Trujillo, Ward, Washut, Winter and Zwonitzer, Dn and Senator(s) Baldwin,
Biteman, Boner, Brennan, Cooper, Driskill,
Hutchings, Kinskey, Laursen, D, Salazar and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to education; creating the Wyoming Freedom
2 Scholarship Act; authorizing education savings accounts;
3 specifying legal proceedings; creating an account;
4 providing for a transfer of funds to the account; providing
5 for the use and administration of education savings
6 accounts for education; providing powers and duties of the
7 state treasurer; providing rulemaking authority; specifying
8 that a qualified school is not an agent of the state or
9 federal government; establishing an oversight committee;
10 making conforming amendments; providing an appropriation;
11 and providing for effective dates.
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1
2 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
3
4 Section 1. W.S. 21-2-901 through 21-2-910 are created
5 to read:
6
7 ARTICLE 9
8 WYOMING FREEDOM SCHOLARSHIP ACT
9
10 21-2-901. Short title.
11
12 This act shall be known as the Wyoming Freedom Scholarship
13 Act." The program created by this act shall be known as the
14 "ESA program."
15
16 21-2-902. Definitions.
17
18 (a) As used in this act, unless the context otherwise
19 requires:
20
21 (i) "Curriculum" means a course of study for
22 content areas or grade levels, including any supplemental
23 materials required or recommended by the curriculum;
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1
2 (ii) "Education savings account" or "ESA" means
3 the spending account for a child's education to which funds
4 are allocated by the state treasurer, for which a parent of
5 an ESA student enters into an agreement with the state
6 treasurer to choose and pay for qualifying education
7 expenses to educate the ESA student, subject to the
8 requirements and conditions of this act;
9
10 (iii) "Education service provider" means a person
11 or organization that receives payments authorized by a
12 parent from education savings accounts to provide
13 educational goods and services to ESA students;
14
15 (iv) "Eligible student" means a child who is a
16 Wyoming resident, who has not graduated from high school,
17 received a high school equivalency certificate or completed
18 the equivalent of high school through a home-based
19 educational program and who is eligible to attend a public
20 school in this state;
21
22 (v) "ESA student" means an eligible student who
23 is participating in the ESA program;
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2 (vi) "Parent" means a resident of this state who
3 is the parent, stepparent or legal guardian of an eligible
4 student or ESA student and may include an eligible student
5 or ESA student who is an emancipated minor;
6
7 (vii) "Qualified school" means a nongovernmental
8 primary or secondary school that is located in or that
9 provides education services in this state and that does not
10 discriminate on the basis of race, color or national
11 origin;
12
13 (viii) "State treasurer" may include an
14 organization that the state treasurer has contracted with
15 to carry out the purposes of this act under W.S.
16 21-2-906(a)(iv);
17
18 (ix) "This act" means W.S. 21-2-901 through
19 21-2-910.
20
21 21-2-903. Education savings accounts; Wyoming freedom
22 scholarship program account.
23
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1 (a) The total amount to be deposited in an education
2 savings account for an ESA student each year shall be six
3 thousand dollars ($6,000.00) as adjusted annually by the
4 state treasurer for the costs of inflation.
5
6 (b) Payments to ESAs under this act shall be made by
7 the state treasurer from the Wyoming freedom scholarship
8 program account, which is hereby created. The account shall
9 consist of funds transferred to the account and other funds
10 appropriated by the legislature to the account. All
11 earnings from investment of the account shall be credited
12 by the state treasurer to the account. Except as provided
13 by subsection (c) of this section, any unencumbered,
14 unobligated balance of the account at the end of each
15 fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain in the
16 account and shall be expended to fund ESAs as provided by
17 this act. If the funds in the account are insufficient to
18 provide all approved ESAs in any fiscal year and if the
19 legislative stabilization reserve account has a balance of
20 more than five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000.00),
21 the state treasurer is authorized to transfer an amount
22 from the legislative stabilization reserve account as is
23 necessary to fund ESAs under this act.
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2 (c) If at the end of a fiscal year the state
3 treasurer determines that the amount in the Wyoming freedom
4 scholarship program account is more than thirty million
5 dollars ($30,000,000.00) and is more than one hundred and
6 fifty percent (150%) of the amount required to fund all
7 approved ESAs for that fiscal year, the state treasurer
8 shall transfer the excess amount determined under this
9 subsection to the school foundation program account.
10
11 (d) Payments to each approved ESA shall be disbursed
12 on a monthly basis by the state treasurer or another state
13 agency or person designated by the state treasurer to
14 administer and disburse funds to education savings
15 accounts.
16
17 (e) The ESA program shall not be funded with county,
18 city or school district tax revenues.
19
20 21-2-904. ESA program parent agreement; ESA
21 administration.
22
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1 (a) Before participation in the ESA program, parents
2 of an ESA student shall sign an agreement with the state
3 treasurer to do all of the following:
4
5 (i) Use the funds deposited in the ESA only for
6 any of the following qualifying expenses to educate the ESA
7 student:
8
9 (A) Tuition and fees at a qualified school;
10
11 (B) Tuition and fees for non-public online
12 learning programs;
13
14 (C) Tutoring services provided by an
15 individual or a tutoring facility;
16
17 (D) Services contracted for and provided by
18 a public school district including at a charter school.
19 Services under this subparagraph may include, without
20 limitation, individual classes and extracurricular
21 activities and programs;
22
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1 (E) Textbooks, curriculum and other
2 instructional materials, including, but not limited to, any
3 supplemental materials or associated online instruction
4 required by either a curriculum or an education service
5 provider;
6
7 (F) Computer hardware or other
8 technological devices that are primarily used to help meet
9 an ESA student's educational needs;
10
11 (G) Educational software and applications;
12
13 (H) School uniforms;
14
15 (J) Fees for nationally standardized
16 assessments, advanced placement examinations, examinations
17 related to college or university admission and tuition and
18 fees for preparatory courses for the exams;
19
20 (K) Tuition and fees for summer education
21 programs and specialized after school education programs,
22 but not after school childcare;
23
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1 (M) Tuition, fees, instructional materials
2 and examination fees at a career or technical school;
3
4 (N) Educational services and therapies
5 including, but not limited to, occupational, behavioral,
6 physical, speech-language and audiology therapies;
7
8 (O) Tuition and fees at an institution of
9 higher education;
10
11 (P) 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 (Q) Any other educational expense approved
16 by the state treasurer.
17
18 (ii) As provided in this section, use Wyoming
19 freedom scholarship program account monies to provide an
20 education for the ESA student that provides fundamental
21 instruction in at least reading, writing, mathematics,
22 civics, history, literature and science. No parent shall be
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1 required to include any instruction that conflicts with the
2 parent's or ESA student's religious doctrines; and
3
4 (iii) Not enroll the qualified student in a
5 school district or charter school and to release the
6 applicable school district from all obligations to educate
7 the qualified student. This paragraph shall not:
8
9 (A) Relieve the school district or charter
10 school that the qualified student previously attended from
11 the obligation to comply with the federal Individuals with
12 Disabilities Education Act;
13
14 (B) Require an eligible student to withdraw
15 from a school district or charter school before applying
16 for or receiving an ESA if the eligible student withdraws
17 from the school district or charter school before receiving
18 or expending any monies in the student's ESA;
19
20 (C) Prevent a qualified student from
21 applying in advance for an ESA to be funded beginning the
22 following school year;
23
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1 (D) Prevent the school district or charter
2 school from charging an ESA for any services provided to
3 the qualified student to the extent authorized by law.
4
5 (b) Funds in an ESA shall not be refunded, rebated or
6 shared with a parent or 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 (c) 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 (d) Funds deposited in an ESA shall not constitute
16 taxable income to the parent or the ESA student.
17
18 (e) An ESA shall remain active and any unused funds
19 shall roll over from quarter to quarter and from year to
20 year until the parent withdraws the ESA student from the
21 ESA program or until the ESA student is no longer eligible
22 for the ESA program, unless the ESA is closed because of a
23 substantial misuse of funds. When an ESA is closed, any
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1 unused funds shall revert to the Wyoming freedom
2 scholarship program account.
3
4 (f) Nothing in this act shall be construed to require
5 an ESA student to be enrolled, full-time or part-time, in a
6 private school or a nonpublic online school. An ESA student
7 receiving individualized instruction in a non-school
8 setting shall not be construed to be a home-based
9 educational program as defined in W.S. 21-4-101(a)(v).
10
11 21-2-905. Application.
12
13 (a) A parent may apply to the state treasurer to
14 establish an ESA for an eligible student.
15
16 (b) The state treasurer shall accept and approve ESA
17 applications year-round and shall establish procedures for
18 approving applications in an expeditious manner.
19
20 (c) The state treasurer shall create a standard form
21 that parents can submit to establish their student's
22 eligibility for the ESA program and shall ensure that the
23 application form is publicly available and that completed
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1 applications may be submitted through various sources,
2 including the internet.
3
4 (d) The state treasurer shall approve an application
5 for an ESA if:
6
7 (i) The parent submits an application for an ESA
8 in accordance with any application procedures established
9 by the state treasurer;
10
11 (ii) The student on whose behalf the parent is
12 applying is an eligible student;
13
14 (iii) Funds are available for the ESA; and
15
16 (iv) The parent signs an agreement with the
17 state treasurer as provided in W.S. 21-2-904(a).
18
19 (e) A signed agreement between the parent and state
20 treasurer under W.S. 21-2-904(a) shall satisfy the
21 compulsory school attendance requirements of W.S. 21-4-102.
22 The agreement shall stipulate that an ESA student receiving
23 individualized instruction in a non-school setting is not
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1 receiving a home-based educational program as defined in
2 W.S. 21-4-101(a)(v). The parent shall provide the student's
3 resident school district:
4
5 (i) Notice of intent to participate in the ESA
6 program; and
7
8 (ii) Annually, if the ESA student is
9 participating in an individualized instructional program
10 provided in a setting other than a qualified school, the
11 ESA student's test results or a determination that the
12 student is making academic progress commensurate with the
13 student's age and ability.
14
15 (f) Upon notice to the state treasurer, an ESA
16 student may choose to stop receiving ESA funding and enroll
17 full-time in a public school. Enrolling as a full-time
18 student in a public school shall result in the immediate
19 suspension of payment of additional funds into the
20 student's ESA and the state treasurer may close the ESA. If
21 an eligible student applies to the state treasurer to
22 return to the ESA program, payments into the student's
23 existing ESA may resume if the ESA is still open and
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1 active. A new ESA may be established if the student's ESA
2 was closed.
3
4 (g) The state treasurer may adopt rules and policies
5 to provide the least disruptive process for ESA students
6 who choose to stop receiving ESA payments and enroll
7 full-time in a public school