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Green River Star -
July 15, 2021
For the first time in decades, Campbell County will not send excess revenue to the state’s School Foundation Program, the primary statewide school fund.
The county’s shift from a “recapture” to an “entitlement” district reveals changing economic dynamics among state communities. It also underscores the risk inherent in Wyoming’s reliance on mineral extraction to provide equitable and adequate funding for each district, no matter its local economic health.
“I think it says a lot about the state of Wyoming,” Wyoming Education Association’s Government Relations Director Tate Mullen said. Some historically mineral-rich counties are generating less revenue for a statewide school funding model that depends on coal, oil and natural gas extraction to serve students across the state.
By Brendan LaChance on February 24, 2021
Voters cast ballots in Vista West on Tuesday, Nov. 3. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City)
CASPER, Wyo. Wyoming and the United States operate as republic in which the people elect representatives who then have the authority to establish laws, including the ability to impose taxes.
Wyoming’s Senate Revenue Committee rejected an effort that could have moved the state in the direction of direct democracy rather than the republican form of government during their Tuesday, Feb. 23 meeting.
The committee rejected Senate Joint Resolution 01 on a vote of 1-4 during the meeting. That resolution wouldn’t have implemented full-blown direct democracy, but proposed putting a question before voters to amend the Wyoming Constitution such that voters would have to approve any new taxes or tax hikes.
How Wyoming should balance the need to address revenue declines with the constitutional obligation to educate the state’s citizens will be the focus of a discussion Thursday night.
A panel of experts will convene starting at 5 p.m. for a roundtable talk on “The Real Cost of Defunding Education in Wyoming.” The event will be via Zoom and is open free to the public.
The roundtable is presented by the Equality State Policy Center.
In accordance with the state constitution, Wyoming’s Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that Wyoming must provide an adequate and equitable education to every student, ruling that all other financial considerations of the state must yield “until education is funded.”