28-11-301. Appointment of members; powers and duties; related duties of school facilities commission.

(a) Not later than March 31 following each general session, the president of the senate shall appoint five (5) members of the senate and the speaker of the house shall appoint five (5) members of the house to a select committee on school facilities. Appointments to the committee by each presiding officer shall reflect as nearly as possible the percentage of the elected membership of the majority and minority parties of each house, provided that not more than four (4) members appointed by each presiding officer shall be from the same political party.

(b) The select committee shall:

(i) Select from among its members a chairman and vice-chairman;

(ii) Meet at least quarterly;

(iii) Monitor the assessment of statewide school facility needs, prioritization of these needs and remediation of identified needs, as undertaken by the school facilities commission and the state construction department pursuant to title 21 of Wyoming statutes;

(iv) Develop knowledge and expertise among its members regarding issues pertaining to school facilities and commission and state construction department programs and procedures to maintain statewide facility adequacy;

(v) Not later than November 1 of each year, prepare and submit budget recommendations based upon information reported by the commission and the state construction department under W.S. 21-15-119 and 21-15-121, addressing statewide building and facility needs to the joint appropriations committee and the governor. Based upon reports submitted under W.S. 21-15-119 and 21-15-121, the select committee may report recommendations to the legislature including any necessary implementing legislation;

(vi) Review commission proposals for rules and regulations and provide recommendations to the commission concerning the proposed regulations.

(c) The state construction department shall:

(i) Provide the select committee with notice of all school facilities commission meetings;

(ii) Provide the committee with school facilities commission and department reports and studies pertaining to school building and facility remediation projects;

(iii) Provide information to the select committee upon request to assist the select committee in monitoring progress under paragraph (b)(iii) of this section and in reviewing budget recommendations under paragraph (b)(v) of this section;

(iv) Using accepted accounting standards, account for all funds appropriated by the legislature for each fiscal period and not less than four (4) times during each fiscal year, report expenditures of appropriated amounts and separately identify and report any expenditures which are modified from those amounts specified within the proposed budget submitted to the select committee under W.S. 21-15-119. Any such modification of expenditures of legislative appropriations shall be executed only upon the express approval and authorization of the school facilities commission, shall be within the sole authority of the commission and shall not be delegated by the commission.

(d) The select committee may review the budgets prepared by the school facilities commission for each separate project contained within the total budget request submitted under W.S. 21-15-119 and may request additional documentation associated with the development of the project for inclusion within the budget request.