Go on now, just throw your hat in the ring...

The statewide primary election deadline is coming up tomorrow, Friday, June 1 at 5:00 p.m.  Here's a list of everyone registered so far: http://www.elections.alaska.gov/ci_pg_cl_2012_prim.php 

 

Don't like how education funding played out last session?  Sign up to run, and make education part of the campaign discussion.  Information on candidate qualifications and filing here: http://www.elections.alaska.gov/ci_pg.php

Governor Parnell Budget Vetoes: Capital Budget, Operating Budget, Education Funding

Governor Parnell signed the FY 13 budgets Monday, May 14, including SB 182 and the General Obligation Bond bill, and held a press conference to review his vetoes.  Education items vetoed were all related to early learning:

·    $1.2 million from HB 284 (operating budget) for Pre—K grants

·    $2,860,000 from SB 182 (education funding) for Parents as Teachers

·    $973,000 from SB 160 (capital budget) for the Pilot Pre-K Program expansion

Link to budget documents:

http://omb.alaska.gov/html/budget-report/fy-2013-budget/enacted.html

Governor Parnell said there was disagreement early in session on how education funding should go, and he asked for no increases to funding formulas.  He said Rep. Stoltze worked hard on SB 182, which increases funding for pupil transportation and CTE.  It also provides a one-time appropriation of $25 million in recognition of high energy costs, and reduces required local effort, so it’s local tax relief. 

Rep. Stoltze and Sen. Meyer were both in attendance.  Rep. Stoltze noted that the $25 million in one-time funding for school districts is in the capital budget, not SB 182.  Sen. Meyer said the process for how they are going to fund pupil transportation will change from per pupil to actual cost.  They will also get all school districts on the same five year bid cycle, to try to reduce costs. 

Governor Parnell said his goal with the budgets was to increase economic opportunity and strengthen families.  He thanked legislators for working with him to meet spending limits, and to meet constitutional priorities, such as education funding.  The goal was to get legislators to slow the rate of spending because of the reduction in oil production.

Governor Parnell said they all accept Pre-K and early learning as an important part of childhood development.  Clearly, parents are responsible for that.  There are times when parents do not take responsibility, and the state is stepping in.  His budget vetoes reflect what he saw as a headlong rush to public school funding of early education and early learning.  He said Parents as Teachers sounds like an education component, but it’s services to parents to teach them to be better parents, and perhaps it should be a Dept. of Health & Social Services program.  He said PaT is not restricted to the education clause of constitution, and all organizations could deliver those services.  If they rush to fund those services without discussion, they will have embraced public education from cradle to grave, which is why he reined that in.  He said they need to look holistically at how early learning issues are addressed. 

When asked again about his cuts to early learning programs, Governor Parnell said he believes the ultimate responsibility for early education is with parents, but he understands that some parents don’t exercise that responsibility.  He understands the state needs to step in, but they need to have a conversation on how that should be done, and whether that should be the Dept. of Health & Social Services stepping in, and not the Dept. of Education & Early Development.

Legislative Update

Governor Parnell announced Tuesday that he will sign SB 182, the education funding package passed at the end of session.  Link to bill: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB182

 

Here is a link to all legislation passed this session: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/passed_leg.asp?session=27&Sel=4 

 

Here is a link to legislation awaiting action: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_awaiting.asp?session=27&type_aw=A .  There are five bills that have been transmitted to the governor and are awaiting his signature/veto/and or/time lapse required to become law (none are education-related).  There are 38 house bills and 19 house resolutions awaiting transmittal to the governor, and 23 senate bills and 16 senate resolutions awaiting transmittal to the govenernor - all in all, 96 pieces of legislation awaiting transmittal to the governor. 

 

Before passed legislation can be transmitted to the governor, Legislative Legal Services has to enroll the legislation (check for errors, ommissions, and correct form). Legislation then has to be signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate before being transmitted to the governor, and it can take many weeks for the process to be completed for the large number of bills and resolutions awaiting transmittal. 

 

After the governor receives legislation, he has 20 days (when the legislature is not in session), minus Sundays, to either sign legislation in to law or veto it, including line item vetoes in budget bills.  After that time period, if he has not signed it or vetoed it, legislation becomes law.

Capital Budget & Explanation of Education Funding in SB 182

Here is a link to the capital budget: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/27/Bills/SB0160C.PDF.  This is the House Finance version: HCS CSSB 160(FIN).  It was amended on the floor of the house with the addition of $25 million for revenue sharing, but that version is not available on line yet.  Once you pull up the bill, you can do "find" search within it to quickly find specific projects.

 

Here is SB 182, the education funding package: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/27/Bills/SB0182C.PDF 

 

The fiscal notes for the bill have details on how much funding each district will get for the individual provisions of the bill:

 

Fiscal Note #3: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/27/F/SB0182-3-4-041412-EED-N.PDF shows how much increased state contribution for education a municipality will get for going to a flat mill rate of 2.65 for required local contribution.  This provision has the most widely varying effect on districts - for those municipalities already funding to the cap, there will be no benefit to the school, although there will be a benefit to the municipality.  For those at the low end of the local contribution mill rate already, there won't be as much benefit, and for REAA's there will be no impact.  For municipalities not funding to the cap, there would then be more money available at the municipality's discretion, should they decide to increase educuation funding.  For instance, The Fairbanks North Star Borough will have an additional $3,152,759 that they will not have to pay to support schools, because the state will be paying that much more for basic need in their district.  The Northwest Arctic Borough will have an additional $316,439.  Valdez will not see any benefit from this provision.

 

Fiscal Note #4: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/27/F/SB0182-4-5-041412-EED-N.PDF shows how much funding districts will get for the pupil transportation provision in SB 182.  There will be additional supplemental funding totalling $8.1 million for FY 12, and a total funding increase of $11.5 million for FY 13.  Using the same examples as above, Fairbanks will get a supplement of $1,582,407 in pupil transportation funding for FY 12, and an increase of $1,958,649 for FY 13.  The Northwest Arctic Borough will get a supplement of $5,410 for FY 12, and $7,684 for FY 13.  Valdez will see a supplement of $46,610 for FY 12, and $61,845 for FY 13. 

 

The estimates in the above two fiscal notes are estimates, and numbers will have to be firmed up by the Dept. of Education & Early Development. 

 

Also attached is a spreadsheet from DEED showing how much each district will get for the $25 million in one-time funding and the CTE factor of 1.015.  As several examples of the increases from that funding, Fairbanks would get an additional total of $3,281,279 from those two items, the Northwest Arctic Borough would get $843,875, and Valdez would get $176,744. 

 

As you can see, there is a wide disparity in benefits to individual districts among the different provisions of SB 182.  

HB 284 - Conference Committee Appointed, House & Senate

The conference committee for HB 284 - Operating Budget has been appointed in both the house and the senate:

House: Rep. Thomas is the house chair, with Reps. Stoltze and Gara as the other house members

Senate: Sen. Hoffman is the senate chair, with Senators Stedman and Thomas as the other senate members

HB 284: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20284&session=27 

Senate Action on FY 13 Operating Budget

This next week or so will be pivotal to what ultimately ends up in HB 284 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=HB284, the FY 13 operating budget.  The house has passed one version of HB 284, and the senate is now finishing their deliberations on the bill (the Senate Finance DEED Subcommittee will be doing their closeout this week).  After the senate passes their version, the house and senate will meet in conference committee to choose which portions of each bill will ultimately be voted on in the conference committee substitute. 

 

The main point of the conference committee process to remember is:

1.  If an item was not in either the version passed by the house or the version passed by the senate, it cannot be considered in conference committee;

 

So at this point, if there is something you are concerned about in the version of HB 284 passed by the house, then you should contact your senator's office to discuss your concern with them.  If you would like to read up in more detail on the conference committee process, it is outlined in Rule 42 of the Uniform Rules: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/docs/pdf/uniform_rules.pdf 

House Finance Committee taking public testimony on operating & mental health budgets next week

The House Finance Committee will be taking public testimony on the operating and mental health budgets next week.  There is a two-minute time limit on testimony.  Here is the schedule on when you can testify from your community:
Tuesday: 

Rm. 519, Capital Bldg.

1:30 p.m. – Juneau

2:45 p.m.  – Bethel, Kotzebue, Barrow, Nome, Delta Junction, Offnets

4:00 p.m. – Anchorage

Wednesday: 

Rm. 519, Capital Bldg.

1:30 p.m. – Fairbanks

3:00 p.m.  – Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Dillingham, Cordova, Unalaska

4:15 p.m. – Homer, Kenai, Valdez, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Matsu, Glennallen, Tok, Seward

HB 284 – Operating Budget

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20284&session=27

HB 285 – Mental Health Budget

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20285&session=27

Follow me on Twitter

Hey, I've kind of moved to Twitter for instant news.  Today my two posts were:

HB 242 moved out of H. Education cmte; provides funding for technology equipment in schools

and

Fairclough says she will be offering amendments to increase funding for#UA advisory programs and #ANSEP

Follow me on Twitter for occasional breaking tidbits. Once in a while I will post something longer on the blog.  But really, you should subscribe to my reports if you want all the details!

https://twitter.com/#!/AKEDUPDATE

Correction: Advisory Programs NOT YET Required for Postsecondary Institutions to Accept APS Awards

I need to retract my statement that advisory programs are required at postsecondary institutions in order for them to accept Alaska Performance Scholarship awards.  The original legislation passed to establish the program does not contain a requirement that postsecondary institutions have advisory programs (SB 221, passed in 2010 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=26&bill=SB221). 

 

However, both HB 104 (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=HB104) and SB 43 (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB43) which establish a funding mechanism for the scholarship program require advisory programs at postsecondary institutions in order for them to accept Alaska Performance Scholarship awards.  So that legislation, if passed, will either have to have that provision removed, or funding will have to be reinstated for advisory programs at the University of Alaska in order for them to receive Alaska Performance Scholarship awards on behalf of recipients.

Governor Parnell Zeroes Out Funding for University of Alaska Advisory Programs, Putting Performance Scholarship Awards at Risk

On Wednesday, University of Alaska President Patrick Gamble testified at the end of the House Education Committee, telling the committee that Governor Parnell's proposed FY 13 operating budget left out ALL of the funding (every single cent, zeroed the whole program out - even funding originating from the university) for student advisory programs at the university.  


Those are the same advisory programs that post-secondary institutions will be required to have in order to accept Alaska Performance Scholarship awards if the legislation establishing a funding mechanism for the program is passed.  Both HB 104 (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=HB104) and SB 43 (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB43) require advisory programs at postsecondary institutions in order for them to accept Alaska Performance Scholarship awards.  So that legislation, if passed, will either have to have that provision removed, or funding will have to be reinstated for advisory programs at the University of Alaska in order for them to receive Alaska Performance Scholarship awards on behalf of recipients.

President Gamble also made the point during his testimony that every career he could think of starts at a higher salary than teachers, and that teacher pay is an issue they can't ignore. 

All the funding for the Institute for Social & Economic Research (ISER) was also zeroed out from the governor's proposed budget.  George Rogers is likely rolling in his grave (or was he cremated?  I don't know). 

Lots of testimony Wednesday in the Senate Finance Committee on SB 171.  Sen. Hoffman got a little testy about people discussing pink slipping.  He said he was under the impression that forward funding education would remove that issue (which it largely has).  However, as pointed out by John Alcantra, flat funding still creates pink slipping issues, due to budget deficits.  I think Hoffman would have appreciated recognition of SB 97, which establishes a fuel supplement for school districts and municipalities when fuel prices are high.  

Rep. Eric Feige: It's OK for Private Schools to Discriminate Against Special Education Students

The House Education Committee moved HB 145, the private school voucher bill (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20145&session=27)  out of committee on Wednesday, February 1, after hours and hours of testimony over the last two sessions.  The bill requires the state to pay up to 100 percent of both the state and local contribution for education funding to a private school.  


Private schools would not be subject to AS 14.07.070, which withholds funds to districts and teachers that fail to comply with state laws and regulations relating to education, basically giving private schools carte blanche to do anything they want with the funding and not be constrained by the same rules governing public schools.   


Included in the funding for private schools is funding that a student would receive if they were attending the public school district in which the private school is located, including: 

• School Size Factor funding, which is based on the size of the public school, without regard to the size of the private school that the student is attending;
• District Cost Factor funding;
• Quality School Funding Factor that was earned by the performance of the public school, without regard to the actual performance of the private school;
• 20 Percent Block Grant Funding Factor for serving special education, gifted and talented, vocational education,  and bilingual services - but private schools won't be required to provide any of these services, even though they will be receiving funding for them;
• 1 Percent Block Grant Funding Factor for serving High School vocational and technical education needs - but private schools won't be required to provide this service.  

Under HB 145, private schools reserve the right to choose to enroll or not enroll any student for any reason.   An amendment offered by Rep. Peggy Wilson in the House Education Committee that would have prohibited private schools from discriminating based on race, religion, disability, or any other reason failed.  


Even sponsor Rep. Wes Keller agreed that HB 145 will allow private schools to choose which students they admit, for any reason.  A Baptist school could choose not to admit a Catholic student, a Norwegian school could choose not to admit a Swede, An Aleut school could choose not to admit a Tlingit, and they could all choose not to admit any special education students.  


Rep. Eric Feige said that's fine though, because special education students already have the option to attend public schools.  


Rep. Paul Seaton objected to the fact that they were spending so much time on a bill that wasn't even constitutional.

Photo: Signing of Moore Case Settlement Agreement

Plaintiffs' Attorney Howard Trickey, Dept. of Education & Early Development Commissioner Mike Hanley, and CEAAC Executive Director Charles Wohlforth, signing the Moore Case Settlement Agreement on Thursday, January 26, 2012 in the Attorney General's Office in the Dimond Court House

Moore vs. State of Alaska Settlement

There was a press conference on the settlement of the Moore case on Thursday, January 26, 2012 in the attorney general's office in Juneau.  The basic details of the settlement are that there will be a one-time appropriation of $18 million, subject to legislative approval.  Four programs addressing low achievement in struggling schools will be created with that funding:

    1.  Two-year kindergarten and related pre-literacy programs,

    2.  Targeted resources grant fund,

    3.  Teacher retention grant fund,

    4.  HSGQE remediation reimbursement program

Schools eligible to participate in numbers 1, 2, and 4 are the forty schools with the lowest scores on the Modified School Growth Index for the previous three years.  A school is eligible regardless of whether it is located in an intervention district or not.  Number three is not limited to the forty lowest scoring schools, but those schools shall have preference. 

The four programs established by the settlement will initially be funded by the $18 million settlement.  At least $6 million of the $18 million will be used for two-year kindergarten and pre-literacy programs.  

Here is a link to the press conference video and audio: http://gavelalaska.org/media/?media_id=PCON120126A 

Announcement of Moore Case Settlement

The Moore case has been settled, and a press conference on the details is scheduled for Thursday, January 26 at 2:00 p.m. in the Attorney General's Office at the Dimond Court Building.

What a Day!

Wow, what a long day!  I don't know where to even start.  Chairman Dick said at the beginning of the House Education Committee hearing that this session education funding will be a huge issue.  They will also discuss intervention, state standards, the school maintenance priority process, distance delivery, the manner in which districts and students are assessed, and the 70/30 split for instruction/administrative costs. 

The House Education Committee heard and held HB 145.  A committee substitute was moved, but not adopted, and the committee also has amendments that weren't moved or adopted.  During discussion on whether private schools would serve special education students there was a lot of debate.  I foresee long discussions every time HB 145 is heard, if history is any indication of the future. 

The Senate Education Committee heard and moved SB 137 - Suicide Awareness & Prevention.  There was only support for the bill, and very little cost.  The legislation has had positive effect in other states, and it is hoped it will have positive effect in Alaska as well. 

During the House Majority Press Conference I asked Rep. Herron about HB 256 - Repeal State Intervention in Schools, and he said he co-sponsored the bill because he believes the only tool the state has been using in intervention is a hammer, and he wants them to use other tools.  Other than that, there was no discussion of education issues during the press conference.  

HB 256: Serious Proposition or Conversation Opener?

The first prefiled bills for the second session of the 27th Alaska State Legislature were released today (full list of prefiled bills: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/action_by_date.asp?session=27&Date1=01%2F06%2F2012&body=B ).  There are half a dozen bills that are probably of interest to the education community; a review of those is in today's Alaska Education Update.   

One bill that will perhaps raise some eyebrows is HB 256 - Repeal State Intervention in Schools.  Judge Gleason wrote in the 2007 Moore decision that, "In addition to delegating the operation of schools to the local school districts, the Legislature has delegated supervision on education to the executive branch, through the creation of the State Board of Education and the Department of Education and Early Development." 

If the ability of the department to intervene in schools is removed, what oversight will the state and the legislature have of schools?  Or does the sponsor intend there to be only local oversight of schools?  What effect might this have on federal funding requirements, and would it put federal education funding in jeopardy?  Would the state make up those lost funds to districts? 

I'm not sure yet if the sponsor intends HB 256 to be a serious proposition, or a conversation starter for reviewing intervention, but we will find out shortly.  Session begins on Tuesday, January 17, and those are some of the questions that will be raised.  

Pre-Session News

I was in Anchorage last week and was able to meet with Paula Pawlowski of the Alaska PTA and Senator Kevin Meyer, Co-Chairman of the Senate Education Committee. 


A few items of interest from those two meetings:

Paula Pawlowski told me that the grant that the Alaska PTA has for parent engagement wraps up in 2012, and they will not be seeking another grant to extend the program.  The Alaska PTA feels that since the State Board of Education & Early Development endorsed the Family Engagement Plan developed by DEED's Family Engagement Working Group, that plan should be implemented by and facilitated through DEED.  (The State Board of Education & Early Development voted unanimously to endorse the Family Engagement Plan at their January 24, 2011 board meeting.)

Sen. Meyer said that with the continuing high cost of fuel and other utilities, there will probably be either an increase to the BSA or another fuel/utility supplement for districts. 

I also asked Sen. Meyer if he thought the sunset date for standing legislative committees on education would be extended or removed, or if the education committees would revert to being part of the health & social services standing committees.   Sen. Meyer said he would like to see the education committees continue as standing  committees separate from the health and social services committees.  

(Standing committees on education were established with SCR 15, passed in 2008 as one of the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=25&bill=SCR15.  Currently the standing committees on education will sunset on the first day of session in 2013.)  

Hearing: Task Force on Theme-Based Education

The Task force on Theme-Based Education is having a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, October 5 from 8:00 a.m. - noon in Room 220, Anchorage LIO.

Agenda: There will be presentations on theme-based learning and culturally relevant standards, with testimony from invited witnessess.  If time allows, public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing.

There are several documents related to the hearing on the task force website: http://housemajority.org/coms/tbe/tbe_background_27.php 

You can listen in from your local LIO: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/misc/lios.php or follow the hearing on AK Legislature TV: http://alaskalegislature.tv/ 

Update on SB 84 CTE Funding, Implementation of the Alaska CTE Plan, SBA Test Scores, ESEA Reauthorization, Early Learning RttT, WorkKeys Testing, Terra Nova Replacement, & The Alaska Learning Network

The Dept. of Education & Early Development and the Association of Alaska School Administrators were kind enough to let me attend the second day of their summer meeting at the DEED offices on Monday, August 1.  It was very helpful in keeping up-to-date on issues that schools and the department are working on.

POINTS OF INFORMATION/INTEREST INCLUDE:

SB 84 CTE Funding: there is no reporting requirement for how this funding is spent, but school districts should be proactive in letting the legislature know how funds are being used. The only restriction to how funding may be used is that students must be enrolled in grades 9-12, and none of the funding may be spent on administration costs or general literacy, math, and job skills. Several school districts said their local funding had been cut as a result of the increased CTE and energy funding from the legislature, and they did not end up getting the bottom-line increase that the legislature intended. In the future the legislature may need to look at required local contribution when considering any state increases in education funding.

State CTE Plan Implementation: Almost 3,000 students earned dual high school/college credit last year. Input is needed from teachers and school districts on how to implement the State CTE Plan. The department is trying to support Type M teachers for CTE courses. Superintendents from several school districts said they are concerned because some of the CTE courses should qualify as math and science credit and fulfill math and science requirements for students, but they don't. NCLB requires that teachers be highly qualified, which is a barrier to allowing those courses to meet math and science requirements. A shortage of facilities for CTE courses is an issue; grant funding and corporate tax credits are available to update facilities.

SBA Test Scores: Scores went down this year, and the department is analysing why that occured. August 12th is DEED's AYP release date. Several school districts said that release date is problematic for them, since districts are required to release their data earlier.

ESEA (Elementary & Secondary Education Act, aka NCLB) Reauthorization: The state will probably have the same standards in place for the 2011-12 school year because ESEA may not be reauthorized in August. States can have their own standards if they are equal to or greater than the standards in ESEA. 82% of schools in the U.S. will fail to meet AYP this year. The U.S. Dept. of Education is looking at flexibility and waivers for school districts in meeting the requirements of ESEA/NCLB. Some congressional Republicans say Secretary Duncan has the authority to issue waivers, but no authority to impose conditions for waivers.

Early Learning Race to the Top: the application for this should be out in August, with funds disbursed as early as December. It doesn't appear that states have to adopt the common core standards to participate, unlike RttT.

WorkKeys Testing: The department is trying to streamline what accomodations are allowed for IEP/Disabled/ELP students. DEED should have a list available soon as to which accomodations are allowed.

Terra Nova Testing: the department is looking at possible replacements for the Terra Nova. Amesweb and MAPS are two possiblities.

Alaska Learning Network: (http://aklearn.net/) The state has postponed, for the time being, the idea of districts developing on-line courses and sharing those with other districts, and is instead offering limited enrollment in a limited number of courses developed by K-12, a national, for-profit educational company, through the Wrangell School District. They hope in the future to be able to offer courses from Alaska school districts. Delivery to some communities may not be possible if communities don't have adequate bandwidth. In addition, courses will be cancelled if enrollment is too low. One superintendent said the Alaska Learning Network will not help districts if there is no guarantee of access.

Registration for courses begins August 15th, closes September 1st, and classes will begin on August 25th. Courses are $300 per semester or $600 per year, with the exception of the Alaska Studies course, which is $400 per semester. A limited number of tuition discounts of $150 per student are available on a first-come first-served basis. Registrations are also first-come first-served, and courses may not be offered if enrollment is too low.

The network is offering 9th and 10th grade language arts, math through Algebra II, five science classes, five social studies classes, and the first two years of Spanish and German. Classes will be cancelled if enrollment is not high enough, and they anticipate that Spanish II and German II will probably not be offered. Grades will only be issued on a semester basis, so there will be an issue with student athlete qualification from ASAA, which they are trying to resolve. The network is organizing an advisory board, and they are looking for 15 superintendents to serve on the board.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is quickly becoming a popular site for helping students with specific topics.  Wired Magazine has an article on how one school district is using it to increase student mastery of math:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/1

A link to Khan Academy:

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Chinese will be the dominant language on the internet in a few years

According to this chart (http://visual.ly/chinese-new-dominant-language-internet), Chinese will be the dominant language on the internet in about five years.  Will you be able to read your Google, Firefox, and Mozilla search results when they come up in Chinese?  No, I won't either. 

But, look on the bright side: with technological advances, Google Translate and other translating programs should make it possible for people speaking different languages to read webpages from around the world.

Also, check out visual.ly for making and exploring graphics: http://visual.ly/

Governor Parnell Signs FY 12 Capital & Operating Budgets with Vetoes

Governor Parnell released the final operating and capital budgets and held a press conference to discuss his vetoes on Wednesday, June 29. Budget documents are on the Office of Management & Budget website: http://omb.alaska.gov/html/budget-report/fy-2012-budget/enacted.html  

Governor Parnell made $400 million in vetoes to the capital budget and said declining oil production and unfunded pension liability make fiscal discipline important. He is working on increasing oil production, and said that until someone else has a better plan, he will continue to pursue his plan to increase production. Tax incentives for Cook Inlet are working, and that’s what he wants to do for the North Slope.

Governor Parnell said the capital budget focuses on energy, infrastructure, and job creation. There are lots of good projects, and vetoes made on projects this year may be funded next year. He also looked at regional balance, and said he did not retaliate against legislators in his vetoes. He did not want to spend more this year than was spent last year. Just under $300 million remains in the capital budget for education projects. The top 14 projects on DEED’s major maintenance list made the cut (just under $20 million in funding). Funding for school construction grants was cut from a total of $76.5 million to just under $62 million. Construction funds for the Kivalina School were cut, but that project was contingent upon the community moving to a safer location. There is over $1 billion for energy projects.

Governor Parnell said there is 2.9 percent growth in the operating budget, which is primarily the result of statutorily mandated programs. The operating budget fully funds legal obligations of the state, including school formula funding, Medicaid costs, and unfunded pension liability. The annual payment on the unfunded pension liability escalates yearly, and is an issue the ARM Board will have to address. He said the majority of the vetoes he made in the operating budget related to decreasing debt service. The state is legally mandated to pay for most of the items in the operating budget, so it was harder to make cuts.

In terms of savings, the state will have over $15 billion in various savings accounts with the signing of these budgets, including $400 million in the Alaska Performance Scholarship fund, $400 million in the PCE fund, and $1 billion in forward funding for education.

For full details on education funding, see the Wednesday, June 29 and Thursday, June 30 issues of the Alaska Education Update.

Governor Parnell's Budget Vetoes Imminent; Possible Special Session on Coastal Zone Management

Governor Parnell's budget vetoes are due by Friday, July 1, and his goal is to cut about $400 million from the capital budget, decreasing it from $3.2 billion down to $2.8 billion. I predict he will wait until the deadline to release his vetoes because there is still talk of a last-minute deal and special session on coastal zone management. If he releases his vetoes while the legislature is in special session, they could vote to override the vetoes.

Here's an update of all the education-related legislation that passed:

HB 15 - Student Athlete Concussions: Signed by the governor on Friday, May 27; effective date 8/25/11 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2015&session=27

HB 108 - Operating Budget: Transmitted to the governor on Wednesday, June 8; vetoes due back on Friday, July 1 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20108&session=27

HB 109 - Mental Health Budget: Transmitted to the governor on Wednesday, June 8; vetoes due back on Friday, July 1 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20109&session=27

HB 155 - Public Construction Contracts, awaiting transmittal to the governor (raises the threshold for public works projects from $2,000 to $25,000 for before projects have to pay wages under Alaska's Little Davis-Bacon Act)  http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20155&session=27

SB 1 - Board of Education & Early Development Report/Legislative Task Force, Signed by the governor on Friday, May 27; effective date 8/25/11 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27

SB 46 - Capital Budget: Transmitted to the governor on Wednesday, June 8; vetoes due back on Friday, July 1 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB46

SB 76 - Supplemental Budget, Signed by the governor on Tuesday, May 17; see bill for effective dates 
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2076&session=27

SB 84 - Vocational Education/Tax Credits/Pilot, awaiting transmittal to the governor
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

An Update on Education-Related Legislation Passed by the Alaska State Legislature

HB 15 - Student Athlete Concussions: Signed by the governor on Friday, May 27; effective date 8/25/11 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2015&session=27

HB 108 - Operating Budget, awaiting transmittal to the governor http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20108&session=27 

HB 109 - Mental Health Budget, awaiting transmittal to the governor http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20109&session=27

HB 155 - Public Construction Contracts, awaiting transmittal to the governor (raises the threshold for public works projects from $2,000 to $25,000 for before projects have to pay wages under Alaska's Little Davis-Bacon Act) http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20155&session=27

SB 1 - Board of Education & Early Development Report/Legislative Task Force, Signed by the governor on Friday, May 27; effective date 8/25/11 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27

SB 46 - Capital Budget, awaiting transmittal to the governor http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB46

SB 76 - Supplemental Budget, Signed by the governor on Tuesday, May 17; see bill for effective dates http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2076&session=27

SB 84 - Vocational Education/Tax Credits/Pilot, awaiting transmittal to the governor http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

SB 76 - FY 11 Supplemental Budget Transmitted to Governor Parnell

The FY 11 supplemental budget was transmitted to Governor Parnell on Monday, May 16, 2011. The governor has 20 days, not including Sundays, to review the bill and make any line-item vetoes he wishes to make. His vetoes are due by Wednesday, June 8. Education-related items in SB 76 are:

Dept. of Education & Early Development
Education Support Services:
Executive Administration ($1,700)
Administrative Services ($1,700)
Information Services ($5,200)
School Finance & Facilities $195,100

Teaching & Learning Support:
Student & School Achievement ($49,500)
Teacher Certification ($1,800)
Child Nutrition ($3,500)

Mt. Edgecumbe Boarding School ($2,500)

Alaska Library & Museums:
Library Operations ($16,600)
Archives ($6,000)
Museum Operations ($7,900)

Dept. of Health & Social Services
Children’s Services:
Infant Learning Program Grants ($3,000)

Senior & Disabilities Services:
Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education ($2,400)

Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development
AVTEC $80,800

Dept. of Military & Veterans’ Affairs
Alaska Military Youth Academy ($22,800)

University of Alaska
UAA Anchorage Campus $4,500,000
(Federal receipts)

Language Sections
The unexpended and unobligated balance of the appropriation made in sec. 9, ch. 139, SLA 1998 (DNR appraisal of public school lands - $432,525) is reappropriated for fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2013 to the Dept. of Natural Resources for an appraisal of public school lands to determine the fair market value of the public school trust land where the land was redesignated as general grant land in 1978.

The sum of $305,000 is appropriated from the public school trust fund (AS 37.14.110) to the Dept. of Natural Resources for fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2013 for an appraisal of public school lands to determine the fair market value of the public school trust land where the land was redesignated as general grant land in 1978.

The amount necessary for the purpose, estimated to be $4,766,400, is appropriated from the general fund to the Dept. of Revenue, State Bond Committee, to pay expenses incident to the sale and issuance of general obligation bonds for library, education, and educational research facilities for the fiscal years [YEAR] ending June 30, 2011, June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013.

Link to Bill: SB 76 - FY 11 Supplemental Budget http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2076&session=27 

No News/Nothing New

Okay, I have pretty much stopped posting since the end of the regular session.  Sorry.  Lost my momentum.  I really can't tell you if special session is going to wrap up by sometime next week (best case scenario), or will go thirty days with no resolution (worst case scenario). However, I find it almost unimaginable that they wouldn't reach consensus within the special session. I just can't imagine that occuring. That would be some sort of a major breakdown of government. 

According to the House Minority, one thing there may not be resolution on during the special session is long-term funding for merit scholarships, since there are so many differing positions on HB 104, the bill establishing a funding mechansim for the scholarship program (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20104&session=27).

It is always interesting to watch the process. Sen. Paskvan brought up an interesting point on the floor Thursday, and that was that Alaska is a young state, and there is not yet a lot of legal precedent. At some point earlier in the special session, someone referred to the governor as having a big stick. So I imagine the governor with his big stick, 20 senators with 20 smaller sticks, and 40 house members with yet 40 smaller sticks, and that the total mass of each group's sticks was equal to the mass of the next group's sticks, even though they weren't equal in number. And the supreme court has a ruler, a saw, and bits of wood and glue, and when asked, can measure the different sticks, and add to or take away from them.

Okay, my imagination is getting the best of me. I liked Steve Haycox's recent editorial in the Anchorage Daily News explaining the process better than my visualization: http://www.adn.com/2011/04/28/1834699/juneau-struggle-an-excellent-civics.html  

SB 42 - AEA Susitna Hydro Project is now being heard in the House Finance Committee

Hanging out waiting for House Finance to start....

Holmes & Watson (Holmes is the pretty one)

In the time it took to upload this picture, taken today during a lunch break, the House Finance Committee began hearing SB 42: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2042&session=27 

SB 84 Passes the Legislature on Monday, April 18, 2011

SB 84 – Vocational Education/Basic Funding/Tax Credits
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

The senate concurred with the changes made by the house by a vote of 19 yeas, 1 absent. SB 84 is awaiting transmittal to the governor.

SB 84 includes:
• $500,000 per year for three years for a theme-based pilot program development for the Iditarod School District
• A doubling of the residential boarding home stipends for FY 12 and FY 13 for the Nenana, Galena, and Lower Kuskokwim School Districts
• A vocational education factor of 1.01 (estimated to be $11,731,500 for FY 12) in the foundation formula to assist districts in providing vocational and technical instruction for students enrolled in 9th – 12th grade
• A sunset extension for certain corporate tax credits for educational contributions

SB 84 does not include a BSA increase.

Sen. French said he is a reluctant “yes” vote. He thinks the senate did a great job on the version of SB 84 that they passed. The bill came back from the house with just the vocational education component. That’s disappointing, given the strong financial situation of the state. He hopes next year they are a little more bold in funding education.

Sen. Huggins said it pleases him that they have come to a compromise on the bill. He hopes they can continue that.

Special Session Agenda

Governor Parnell called for a special session starting Monday, April 18, with ten bills on the agenda:

1. HB 108 – Operating Budget http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20108&session=27  

2. HB 109 – Mental Health Budget http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20109&session=27  

3. SB 46 – Capital Budget http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2046&session=27  

4. SB 76 – Supplemental Budget http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2076&session=27  

5. HB 104 – Performance Scholarships http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20104&session=27  

6. SB 42 – Power Project; Alaska Energy Authority http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2042&session=27  

7. HB 106 – Coastal Management Program http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20106&session=27  

8. SB 84 – Vocational Education & Basic Funding/Tax Credits http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27  

9. HB 24 – Extend Regulatory Commission of Alaska Sunset http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2024&session=27  

10. HB 126 – Board Extensions: Nurse/Dentist/Barber http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20126&session=27  

Recent Legislative Action (and Inaction) on SB 1, SB 46, SB 84, and SB 97

There wasn't much education action on Saturday. Senate Finance is hearing a lot of bills, but they are not moving very many bills out of committee this morning. There are a lot of bills on today's Senate Calendar.

Education Action Saturday:
The senate concurred with the house changes to SB 1 (DEED report to the legislature; task force on theme-based education), and it goes next to the governor (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27).

The house passed SB 84 (vocational education funding factor; the BSA increase was removed from the bill) by a vote of 40 yeas. SB 84 was returned to the senate. The senate has not yet concurred with the changes made by the house (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27).

That was the only education-related action that occured on Saturday.

Education Action for today, Sunday:
There is no education-related legislation on the House or Senate Calendar today, however, it is the time of session when they may have supplemental calendars later in the day.

There is no education-related legislation scheduled for committee hearings. House Finance has SB 46 - Capital Budget, on their schedule, pending referral (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2046&session=27). However, it will have to move from Senate Finance and pass the senate before they hear it. Budget negotiations between the house, the senate, and the governor remain ongoing.

Most members of the house majority seem opposed to any increase to the BSA this year, but there may yet be some sort of an increase outside the BSA, perhaps through SB 97 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2097&session=27