When last week’s Wyoming legislators gaveled out for the weekend, the Senate and House were still 60 million apart in an effort to find a solution to the $300 million deficit in k-12 funding.
The Senate’s funding proposal gained final approval last Thursday and calls for cuts of $130 million from the state’s school funding model. According to the proposal, those cuts were not expected to impact teachers’ salaries or benefits.
State Senator Dave Kinskey had this to say earlier last week regarding the cuts necessary for school funding…
On the House side, HB173 includes cuts of $70 million in addition to redirecting existing funding mechanisms to k-12 education. The bill also carries a “provisional” one-percent sales tax that would take effect if and when the state’s “rainy day” fund falls below $650 million.
Here’s District 40 State Representative Barry Crago regarding the HB173…
Neither bill comes close to finding an answer to the $300 million shortfall, so the question remains… Can the legislators find enough cuts or will there be a sales tax imposed on Wyoming residents and the state’s visitors?
