Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/802239
SPRING 2017| WEAnews 14 Green River EA Action WEA Legislative Update The 2017 Legislative General Session is over. The Wyoming Education Association fought to reduce cuts to K-12 and Community College funding while following 90 pieces of legislation. Even though WEA helped reduce the magnitude of the cuts to K-12, the passage of HB 236 resulted in a loss of $34.5 million additional dollars for the 2017- 2018 school year. The total cuts made during the 2016 budget session and the 2017 general session total $56 million. To see how the funding decreases affected individual districts, you can look at the legislative summary at http://legisweb. state.wy.us/LSOWEB/SchoolFinance/ Documents/2017EndOfSessionSummary.pdf. HB 236 also authorized another recalibration of the school funding model during the 2017 interim. It will be critical to have all WEA members involved and communicating with legislators about this important process. Several constitutional amendments were brought forward in the session. Some of them were targeted at reducing the constitutional protections for education and as another means of reducing funding. WEA worked to make sure that SJ 006 Public instruction constitutional amendment, SJ 008 School construction and renovation- constitutional amendment, and SJ 009 Public school financing all failed. All three of these Senate Joint Resolutions would have had negative effects on how schools operate and are funded. "Even though there were controversial issues, we continued to work well with legislators," said WEA Government Relations Director Ken Decaria. "Our interactions with legislators were open and positive. Even when we had different positions, the interactions were professional." Other issues that were important to the members of the Wyoming Education Association were discussed as well. Bills dealing with how schools will be funded next year, raising class sizes, teacher and leader accountability, and changes to the Hathaway Scholarship Program were debated and voted on. A bill that would have changed the continuing contract law was stopped. The WEA worked with partners in the Community Colleges to keep an additional $295,451 in funding and to keep guns off college campuses. HB 237 also passed, which will allow for $36.7 million dollars of capital construction to take place at community colleges in Wyoming. Decaria was the main point person on the WEA Legislative Action Team, along with President Kathy Vetter, Communications Director Coleen Haines, Executive Director Ron Sniffin, and Professional Issues Director Kathy Scheurman. Through their efforts, this team lobbied on important issues of interest to members and monitored the progress of all pertinent legislation. WEA Government