A bill that will stabilize funding and make budgeting easier at community colleges won the unanimous support of the Wyoming Senate on Tuesday.

House Bill 80, Community College Recalibration, calls for Wyoming community college funding to be recalibrated every four years to adjust for enrollment growth or declines.

It will eliminate the need for Wyoming’s community colleges to submit a supplemental budget request to the Legislature each year and provide the stability college leaders need to plan their annual budgets. 

The bill previously passed the Wyoming House of Representatives unanimously as well, and on Wednesday was waiting for Gov. Matt Mead’s signature.

“This bill is a win-win for the people of Wyoming,” said Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, co-chairman of the Joint Education Committee, which sponsored the bill. “Not only do we ensure that our community colleges have a reliable source of funding, but we as a Legislature will be better prepared to budget for their needs.”

Northwest College President Stefani Hicswa said the bill resolves a budgeting problem faced by community colleges and an annual frustration for legislators.

“It’s something that we’ve wanted for a long time,” she said. “For years, we have had to do an exception budget for enrollment every year.”

Since that process was put in place, the colleges have never gotten all the money they were entitled to for enrollment growth, Hicswa said.

The current process is confusing, she added. “Legislators say, ‘Didn’t we just give you a bunch of money last year?’ It’s hard to explain.”

As a result of that confusion and frustration, the colleges didn’t receive any enrollment growth funding one year; another year, the Legislature trimmed $2 million off the colleges’ combined supplemental budget request.

“This year we (Wyoming community colleges) requested $19 million and got $12 million,” Hicswa said. “So, even though we’re eligible for it every year, that doesn’t necessarily mean we get it.”

“It will really stabilize our budgeting process, which I’m looking forward to,” Hicswa said. “We have to be able to plan ... farther ahead. It will help us in so many ways.”

The bill sets the new funding base for the colleges at the governor’s recommendation for 2017-18, then allows the Legislature to recalibrate for 2019-20, with subsequent recalibration every four years after that.

Although the new base period recognizes the dramatic growth the colleges have experienced since 2004-05, it is not the peak period of growth since then, according to a news release from Republican legislative leaders.

“This is the best thing that community colleges have experienced in quite some time,” said Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, who also co-chairs the Joint Education Committee. “Before they had to go with their hat in their hand and come ask the Legislature for money, and every time they do that, it’s always a battle. At least now, we have a funding formula for them.

“Colleges in Wyoming perform a great function, and some of them have certificate programs that are exceptional, such as Northwest College. We have a welding certificate program that is outstanding, and so is the nursing program, two of the best in the state, and are well-known nationally,” Northrup said.

Northrup noted that more people are enrolled at the state’s community colleges than at the University of Wyoming.

In addition to serving many traditional college-aged students, 30-40 percent of the students on community college campuses are adults who have been in the workforce for five, 10 or more years, the release said.

“Wyoming’s community colleges are not only a critical linchpin in our education system, but they play a big role in supporting our local economies,” said Sen. Bruce Burn, R-Sheridan. “They’re training Wyoming citizens for the jobs we have available right here, right now, as well as those we’ll have in the near future.”

“What a good way for people to be able to stay in their local community, in their local area, and get a good start on their education, whether it’s a two-year certificate, or maybe they’re going to move on and go to the university,” Northrup said.

Each year, community colleges help nearly 700 Wyoming students earn their high school equivalency certificates through one-on-one and group classes and provide testing services for another 500 students. That makes community colleges the state’s largest producer of high school graduates, the release said.

“We have worked for a long time on this funding issue for a community college system that is among the best in the nation,” said Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, a sponsor of the bill. “In any given year, nearly 40,000 students are taking courses or enjoying lifelong learning at one of our colleges across the state.”

Hicswa said, “I can’t thank Dave Northrup and Hank Coe enough. They’re right here in Park County ... and they’ve done a nice job of making that happen.”

Rep. Mike Greear, R-Worland, wrote the bill, “so our Big Horn Basin delegation has really stepped up for us this session,” Hicswa said.

Hicswa said watching the process has fanned her feelings of patriotism.

“It’s very cool to live in a place where you can go to talk to your legislators, and they pass a bill to help you,” she said.