Education

SB 871 allocates $12.66 million from West Virginia's Excess Lottery Fund to the Hope Scholarship Program for fiscal year 2026. This supplemental appropriation adds a new funding line (Fund 3517) to the State Board of Education's budget, directing unappropriated lottery surplus funds toward scholarship payments. The bill does not change program eligibility, rules, or structure - it only provides additional funding for existing scholarship disbursements. It is a procedural budget adjustment, not a new policy.

HB 5106 allows the Cabell County Board of Education to provide funds from its special and excess levies to the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District. This would give the park district an additional funding source for maintaining parks and recreational facilities, using money currently collected for educational purposes. The park district must submit a written request for these funds, and the school board would then decide whether to transfer them. The bill does not require the school board to provide funds, only authorizes the option.