Wyoming, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.
State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.
Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.
Young Children in Low-Income Households: Unchanged
Approximately 36% (21,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% FPL (2022). This number was the same in 2021.1
Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High
Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% FPL than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.2
State General Fund Appropriations: Growing
Wyoming’s governor signed the state’s budget bill for fiscal 2025-2026 on March 22, with several line-item vetoes. The biennial budget provides for total fund spending of $10.9 billion, including $3.4 billion in general fund spending and $2.7 billion in School Foundation Program Account spending, over two years. (The prior biennium budget contained appropriations and transfers of $2.8 billion from the general fund and appropriations of $1.8 billion from the School Foundation Program Account.) The budget was based on the state’s January consensus revenue forecast, which projects total general fund revenues of $3.8 billion for the 2025-2026 biennium, compared to $3.6 billion for the fiscal 2023-2024 biennium. The forecast projects a balance of $152.5 million in the Budget Reserve Account and $1.6 billion in the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account.3
Key Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):4
Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls. Severance revenue, which comes from taxes on the extraction of natural resources such as oil and natural gas, is extremely volatile and can quickly rise and fall with the price and production of natural resources.
State Budget Rules:4
Wyoming uses a biennial budget. Wyoming uses one of the least strict processes in implementing its budget. There are no balanced budget requirements, no tax or expenditure limits, and no limits on authorized debt and debt service.
Political Alignment:5 Aligned Republican
During the 2024 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.
Types of Ballot Measures Available:6 Three
Key State Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:7
Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:8
Working together, advocates won a significant increase in developmental preschool funding. Wyoming has 14 developmental preschools which provide services for children with developmental disabilities and to those without disabilities. Over the years, the state has severely underfunded the preschools. For reference, in 2020, the Dept of Health requested $3.7 million, which was denied. In 2021, it requested $8 million, which was also denied. In 2022, the department made a $9.1 million ECA request, and $1.09 million was approved. And in 2023, the total requested was $11 million, and the legislature approved $4 million. Three preschools shared they would run through their reserves in the coming year and need to close if funding were not increased. The $12.2 million approved this year is three times the amount from the previous year.
HB 126 asserts child care is a residential use of property, which allows child care in a home day care setting (up to 10 children) as a non-commercial, residential, use in an HOA or covenant if not specifically denied by the HOA prior to July 1, 2024. Advocates continue to work to overcome zoning and covenant restrictions that limit child care capacity.
Advocates were successful in the work to support youth and childhood mental health. A budget amendment creates a $15M grant fund which may be utilized in the k-12 system to address youth mental health. Wyoming consistently has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation and Wyoming’s services are limited. This fund could allow for supports in a multitude of ways, including programming or allocation for contract counselors, etc. The funding’s road to passage was contentious. It was introduced as a bill during session, targeted by opponents, defeated, and then ultimately adopted in the budget.
The Alliance for Early Success’ key ally in Wyoming is the Wyoming Community Foundation (WYCF), a statewide grantmaking organization that includes the Wyoming Women’s Foundation and the Wyoming Afterschool Alliance. WYCF also works with the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center to collect KidsCount data on child and family wellbeing.
Wyoming Community Foundation is working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:
Preschool and Pre-K
Maternal Health
Infant & Child Health
Family Economic Security
Financing
Click here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.
Child care advocates in Wyoming are celebrating a major legislative victory. After years of setbacks, the state secured the most funding for developmental preschools in over a decade. The passage of SF 19 marks a significant shift. The Wyoming Women’s Foundation, who advocated for the bill’s passage, credits a new messaging approach and strategy to its success.
NOTES:
1 Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.
2National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.
3 National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.
4 Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.
5 National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.
6 Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.
7 Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.
8 Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024; and 2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, July, 2024.
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© 2024 Alliance for Early Success
The Alliance for Early Success does not endorse or advocate for specific legislation or candidates.
