Senate Committee Proposes Smaller Increase to Alaska School Funding
Five days after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a major increase to Alaska’s per-student public school funding formula, a Senate committee has proposed a smaller increase.
The Senate Finance Committee amended a bill related to regulating cell phones in schools by adding a $700 increase to the base student allocation, core of the K-12 per-student funding formula.
The amended version of House Bill 57 remains in committee, which means it could be further amended to include policy changes advocated by the governor. It could also be advanced to a vote of the full Senate without further changes.
Policy differences between Dunleavy and legislators have repeatedly derailed efforts to permanently increase Alaska public school funding.
On Thursday, Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 69, which would have permanently increased the BSA by $1,000 to $6,960, raising the base level of state education funding by $253 million.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, stated, “We are negotiating with the other body right now,” suggesting ongoing discussions with the House on the bill.
Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, who authored HB 57, expressed support for the $700 increase, acknowledging it as a step forward in providing financial stability for school districts.
Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, expressed frustration at lawmakers putting forward another education funding bill without some of the governor’s priority policy changes, at risk of another veto.
Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage, also echoed frustration, stating, “Doing these fake victory laps on passing something out (of the Legislature) when you know that it’s going to die from a veto — you’ve got to just quit doing that.”
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