Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Tuesday afternoon signed a universal school voucher bill — substantially expanding on 2024 legislation that created an education savings account program.

The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act, sponsored by Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, will annually provide $7,000 for students in nonpublic schools to be used for tuition or tutoring.

The bill is worded to go into effect immediately so students can apply for the program for the 2025-2026 school year.

“Today marks a major victory for Wyoming families with the signing of HB 199 into law. This ESA program is a huge step forward in expanding educational freedom and ensuring that parents — not the government — have the ultimate say in their children’s education,” Andrew said.

He told the Star-Tribune that the bill lays the groundwork for a more competitive and dynamic education system that allows parents to access the learning environment that best fits their children.

The education savings accounts program was created in 2024 through legislation and it created a tiered system so lower-income students received more funding.

Gordon in 2024 through a line-item veto changed the bill so that only students at or below 150% of the federal poverty level could apply. The bill’s language added that the program would go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. The program began taking applications in January.

The 2025 bill makes the program available to all students regardless of income.

The bill also offers money for prekindergarten costs to families at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

The bill appropriates up to $30 million for the program and funds will be distributed on a “first-come, first-served basis,” but preference will be made for students who have siblings who received the ESA at the same time or the year before.

The bill specifies that the students in kindergarten through grade 12 receive instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, civics, history, literature and science. The bill adds that assessments on academic progress will be required to receive the ESA.

“For my constituents in Albany County and families across the state, this means greater opportunities for students who may not thrive in a traditional classroom setting,” Andrew said. “Whether it’s micro schooling, private school, or home based programs, parents now have more tools to tailor education to their child’s needs.”

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said the bill is a win for Wyoming families following the bill’s signing.

“This bill is a win for Wyoming families. Greater choices lead to greater outcomes,” she said. “I am an ardent supporter of universal school choice because even parents in the most rural corners of Wyoming should have the opportunity to determine the best education for their child.”

Degenfelder in January included “enhancing school choice” as a legislative priority for 2025.

The Wyoming Education Association (WEA) said in a statement that the bill’s signing was disappointing given recent court findings; a Laramie County District Court judge last week ruled that the Wyoming Legislature had been unconstitutionally underfunding public schools in the state.

“The district court’s ruling from only days ago confirmed that the state is not funding public education to the level as it is required, and the choice to take taxpayer dollars to support a voucher program is a curiously poor decision,” the WEA statement said. “We know from the detailed and well-documented experiences of other states who have implemented such programs that they do not improve student performance; that there are significant and costly incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse; and that these disproportionately harm rural students and communities.”

Among Park County’s delegation, Reps. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, Dalton Banks, R-Cowley, and Nina Webber, R-Cody, and Sens. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and Tim French, R-Powell, voted in favor of the final version of HB 199; Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, voted against it while Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis, was excused.