A few notes on current action:

The House is adjourned until Monday, so I guess they are taking an Easter break. Even though the Senate passed HB 300 - Operating Budget on Tuesday, they waited until the House adjourned on Thursday before transmitting the bill back to the house, thereby postponing when the 24-hour rule will kick in. Probably that will happen Monday.

Sen. Hoffman said in floor discussion on SB 237 that there will need to be some minor changes made to the bill in the house in order to accomodate rural areas not in REAA's and not able to fund school facilities through bonding. So I believe the legislature is going to try to cover every possible situation in the state with this bill. That will make a lot of people happy, I am sure!

Rep. Doogan said in his weekly newsletter today that there is rumored to be a bond proposition in the works. Projects supposedly under consideration for the proposition include the UAF Life Sciences Facility, a gym in Anchorage (The UAA Sports Arena?), a new state library/archives/museum facility in Juneau, and several schools in rural Alaska. I'm guessing those would be schools in Alakanuk, Kipnuk, and Napaskiak.

I will try to post updates every day between now and the end of session.
Shana

SB 237 - School Construction Debt Reimbursement on Senate Calendar Thursday, April 1

Big news, an important bill is moving: SB 237 is on the Senate Calendar for tomorrow, Thursday, April 1. 
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20237&session=26

Senate Bipartisan Working Group Press Availability

Scholarship Proposal
Sen. President Gary Stevens said the Senate has been meeting with the House leadership and the Governor. Stevens said that one of the big issues the legislature is working on as the session comes to a close is.....

KINY Website Back Online

And, KINY, my favorite place to go for up-to-date Alaska news briefs is back online.  I have added a link to that site.  It is under the "Friends, Family, and Favorites" links.

House Passes Supplemental Budget

The House passed CSHB 326(FIN) on Monday, March 29, with all 40 representatives voting in favor of passage. No changes were made to the bill on the floor. It has been transmitted to the Senate, and will be referred to the Senate Finance Committee. It is scheduled for a hearing in that committee on Thursday, April 1 at 9:00 a.m.

House Finance Committee Co-Chairman Mike Hawker said HB 326 contains only operating supplemental costs, and authorizes $1.7 billion in additional spending. Of that amount, $1.1 billion forward funds education, $401 million is appropriated to repay the Constitutional Budget Reserve, $600,000 is appropriated to the Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund, there is $125 million for the Marine Highway Stabilization Fund, and $79,000 goes into the Small Business Development Revolving Loan Fund. HB 326 also re-appropriates excess Marine Highway funds for ferry service for the Aleutians for the remainder of FY10 and for all of FY11.

Rep. Woody Salmon noted that HB 326 is made possible by the 2007 oil tax reform.

24-Hour Rule

The operating budget, HB 300 is on the floor of the Senate on Monday, March 29. When it passes, it will be returned to the House for concurrence (a fancy way to say they agree with the changes the Senate has made to the bill). I can guarantee you the House will not concur with the Senate amendments to the bill.

The House will then send a message to the Senate asking them to recede from their amendments (a fancy way to ask the Senate to accept the House version of the operating budget). I can guarantee you that will not happen either.

At that point, a conference committee consisting of three members of the House and three members of the Senate will be appointed. Once the conference committee for the operating budget is appointed, under Uniform Rule 23 (d) committee chairmen are only required to give 24-hour notice to hear a bill. That is the 24-hour rule, and things will speed up considerably at that point.

KINY Online News is Gone :(

I had to remove the link to KINY online news, since the website seems to have disappeared.  Very sad, as it was my favorite place to go for short updates on local and state news.  Hopefully they will get the site back up.

UPDATE: The KINY site was only down for a short time.

Bush Caucus Education Forum Location Change

The location of the Bush Caucus Education Forum scheduled for today at 4:00 p.m. has been changed from the House Finance Committee Room (Capitol Building, Room 519) to the House Education Committee Room (Capitol Building, Room 106).

Cook Inlet Tribal Council President Gloria O’Neill and Best Beginnings Director Abbe Hensley will give presentations.

Senate Finance and the FY11 Operating Budget

The Senate Finance Committee heard subcommittee reports during today’s hearing. The committee adopted the subcommittee reports and a committee substitute incorporating the subcommittee reports. Chairman Lyman Hoffman said the goal is to live within the state’s means, but still deliver the services Alaskans expect.

Amendments from committee members are due by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. During the amendment process, Hoffman said the committee will.....

Senate Finance Proposes Major Policy Shift for Funding School Construction

The Senate Finance Committee proposed a major change today in how school facilities across the state should be funded.  The committee heard and held SB 237, and adopted a committee substitute for the bill.  

Jay Livey, staff to Sen. Hoffman, reviewed the committee substitute for SB 237. The bill will provide a more predictable method of funding for both REAA’s and municipal school districts.