Legislature passes Wyo. school chief duties bill

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A bill stripping the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction of most administrative duties passed the state Legislature on Friday despite concerns from some lawmakers about its constitutionality.

Senate File 104 became the first bill to pass the Legislature, moving through the legislative process in an unusually quick 12 days. Opponents complained the measure was being fast-tracked, but supporters noted no legislative rules were broken or suspended.

On Friday, the bill, which was first proposed on Jan. 9, passed the House on a 39-20 vote after a 70-minute debate, and the Senate followed with a 21-9 vote to accept the House version. The measure now goes to Gov. Matt Mead, who has not explicitly endorsed or rejected the bill.

There was no immediate comment from the governor, according to spokesman Renny MacKay.

The bill would take effect on the governor's signature, meaning Superintendent Cindy Hill would be immediately removed as head of the Department of Education and an interim director appointed by the governor would assume supervision of the agency.

The superintendent would remain a statewide elected official with some education duties, such as making an annual report to the Legislature on the status of Wyoming's public education.

Hill was not immediately available for comment Friday, according to her spokesman.

Elected in 2010, Hill is in her third year as head of the Wyoming education system. However, two years into her term she had alienated and frustrated state lawmakers and others who took issue with how she ran a department with a $1.9 billion two-year budget and 150 employees.

Proponents say the bill would improve delivery of K-12 education and save the state's school reform effort. Opponents are concerned about increasing the governor's power and diminishing voter influence on education policy.

In its short run through the Legislature, the bill quickly became one of the most contested proposals, prompting multiple hours of impassioned floor debate in front of packed Senate and House galleries, hours of committee testimony and hundreds of phone calls and emails to lawmakers. Some 400 phone calls were made to a legislative "hotline," according to Legislative Service Office records.

During debate Friday on the House floor, some lawmakers raised concerns about the bill's constitutionality and warned of a possible lawsuit.

Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, argued that the bill strips the superintendent of so many duties that it effectively negates the office's status set out in the Wyoming Constitution and begs for a court challenge.

"How far can you go? I don't think you can go this far," Gingery said.

But House Speaker Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette, said it's the duty of the Legislature to fix a broken state education system that allows elected officials to "overstep their bounds."

"If enduring lawsuits is what I have to do to protect the sanctity of the government, bring them on," Lubnau said.