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

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 .....

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 

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

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.)  

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 

Legislative Action, Friday, April 15

The house passed two bills:
HB 104 – Alaska Performance Scholarships - Passed by a vote of 40 yeas
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20104&session=27

SB 1 – Board of Education & Early Development Annual Report - Passed by a vote of 39 yeas, 1 nay
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27

The Senate Passed:
HB 15 – Student Athlete Concussions - Passed by a vote of 20 yeas
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2015&session=27

The House Education Committee heard a presentation from the Bristol Bay Borough School District and heard and held:
HB 143 – Adjust Base Student Allocation: Inflation
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20143&session=27

There is still a bottleneck right now with the senate and the house negotiating on a few issues. It appears they've got Coastal Zone Managment taken care of just now. The house was in session until late Friday night with their first supplemental calendar, passing a coastal zone management bill: HB 106 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20106&session=27 . I know that's an important issue to a lot of people.

I have been told by several legislators that there is still hope for some sort of funding increase for education. Carl Rose said in the House Education Committee Friday morning that since 1978, the money spent on education has lost 65 percent of it's value due to inflation. That's an astonishing amount of value, and it's no wonder schools are struggling. When I think back to my kindergarten days in the early 70's in Juneau, there were perhaps 14 children in my class, with both a teacher and a teacher's aide. I know kindergarten classes are up in the low 20's in many areas now.

It is up in the air when SB 46 - the capital budget and SB 97 - aid for municipalities and school districts might be heard. SB 97 has been noticed in House Finance, so they could, if they choose, bring it up at any time. SB 46 has been noticed in both the Senate and House Finance Committees, so it could be brought up at any time as well.

I have no idea whether the legislature will adjourn by Sunday evening or not. They would have to reach agreement very quickly, and suspend a Uniform Rule, so it looks unlikely.

A quick update of what occured today (fyi, I will never post anything on the blog before my subscribers receive it):

Speaker Chenault left the dias to give a speech from the floor (link to text and video: http://www.mikechenault.com/ ).  He is very unhappy that the senate is still holding on to the capital budget, and feels that the proper legislative process isn't being followed.  Several legislators have said just today that they don't think the legislature will adjourn by Sunday evening.

I would be willing to guess that the senate is holding on to the capital budget not because it is dilly dallying around, but because it hasn't gotten things it wants from the house yet.  Once the house has possession of the capital budget, the senate loses some of its influence over the outcome, and they need to ensure that their priorities will be met before they release the capital budget to the house.

In addition, many senators feel very strongly that there needs to be some sort of additional funding for education.  SB 84 and SB 97 were both passed and sent to the house, and senators hope the house will act on either one or the other.  Just today there has been movement on SB 84, with the bill passing out of the House Finance Committee earlier this evening.

SB 97 is in House Finance, and scheduled for a hearing Friday.  However, Chairman Stoltze said the House Finance Committee may or may not meet, depending on negotiations.

The Conference Committee on the operating budget met late this afternoon.  Many items in the DEED operating budget are still not agreed upon, including the statewide mentoring program, the Pilot Pre-K Program and early learning in the intervention districts, Best Beginnings, the unallocated reduction of $2 million in federal receipts to Teaching & Learning Support, Alaska State Council on the Arts funding, the College Access Challenge Grant, and funding for the Alaska Performance Scholarship Program and the AlaskAdvantage Education Grant program.

Chenault Supports Increased Funding for Education, and Legislators Continue to be Concerned with how the Current DEED Commissioner was Appointed

Two big items from Monday, March 28  are:
1. During the House Majority press conference Speaker Chenault expressed support for increased funding for education.

2. During the joint hearing of the House and Senate Education Committees to hear board confirmations, one legislator said that since the commissioner of DEED is not confirmed by the legislature, the only way the legislature has to express their displeasure with the DEED board just accepting the choice of the governor for commissioner is to vote against appointees to the Board of Education & Early Development.

A Few Tidbits from the Past Week

The Senate Finance chairmen have emphasized several times lately that they anticipate a healthy capital budget this year. Among the items they suggested may be considerd for increased funding are deferred maintenance and DEED items and energy projects in both urban and rural Alaska to decrease the cost of energy and increase dependability.

I've also got a new bill I'm following that could affect school districts. SB 100 would require employers who terminate some or all positions in PERS to pay termination costs, and the bill is retroactive. I think the intent is to make sure the PERS unfunded liability does not increase due to the actions of any one employer.

I've been in communication with Michael Lamb of the Fairbanks North Star Borough about the bill, and he wrote, "The whole district doesn’t have to withdraw to be impacted, a single position could cause an impact. If a smaller district only had one nurse, as a real example, and they had to cut that position, they’d be subject to a termination study. If they accepted some grant funds that they then hired some classroom aides, that weren’t certified TRS teachers, but simply PERS employees, when those aides went away because the grant money was gone then those salaries not being paid any longer could be subject to termination study impacts. Districts are not only TRS employers, they are also clearly PERS employers and there is no exception in the law for them. I think they simply do not understand the potential peril they are in. If a district never makes an adjustment to their employee structure then perhaps they’ll never be impacted, but if they do, they are not exempted." The bill is up for a hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on Tuesday, March 29.

There was some discussion about education issues during the press conferences on Thursday, March 24, but it was just a recap of stuff that's happened in committee hearings. The big issue during the two press conferences, in my opinion, is the governor's proposal for cutting oil taxes. There seems to be mixed opinion on whether the governor's proposal will actually lead to any new development or not, with opinion leaning toward the side that there does not seem to be much guarantee of new development with the governor's plan. Considering the state would lose up to $2 billion in revenue annually, the governor's plan is causing concern for many people.

Also, in Senate Finance on Thursday, $380,000 in additional funding was added to Best Beginnings, so the total funding for that program is now at $980,000, which is what the program was funded at for FY11.

Senate Finance DEED Budget Closeout

Chairman Egan, and Sens. Stevens, Davis, and Paskvan were all present for the budget closeout on Tuesday, March 15. The subcommittee accepted the governor’s budget for the most part. This is good news for people concerned about reductions made in the house. If this budget passes the senate, then it sets the ceiling for the conference committee. The conference committee will settle on numbers somewhere between what the house passes and what the senate passes. They cannot exceed the highest amount passed. In addition to funding in the operating budget, any legislation passed with fiscal notes that have operating expenses will have those fiscal notes tacked onto the operating budget. So for instance, If HB 49, Rep. Tuck’s Parents as Teachers bill passes the legislature, the DEED fiscal note, which is currently $3.9 million, will be tacked onto the operating budget. And then it has to pass the red pen gauntlet, along with all the other line items in the budget.

Chairman Egan said the administration presented them with a responsible budget, but they made a few changes.

Jesse Kiehl, aide to Chairman Egan, reviewed those changes:

• Add $87,500 in general funds to the Alaska State Council on the Arts to fully fund the required National Endowment for the Arts match. Additional funding will be used to expand the Artists in the Schools Program to reach more Alaska children.

• Remove $8,000 in general funds from travel for the Compact for the Education of Military Children. When the legislature first passed the bill joining the compact, the fiscal note was zero, with instruction to DEED that costs were to be absorbed.

• Remove $18,300 in general funds from the adjusted base in the travel line for travel for the state board, the commissioner, and the deputy commissioner. Travel spending actuals have exceeded the budgeted amount. This level of funding is approximately $40,000-50,000 less than recent years' actuals. The department says they can operate at this funding level without shifting other funding.

Mr. Kiehl said one other important change is a net zero reallocation from the governor’s request. There is consistently unmet need in the AlaskAdvantage Grant Program. There has been significant discussion in the subcommittee about equal opportunity for students across the state, and for actual Alaska data, not data based on other states’ scholarship programs. The subcommittee report includes a memorandum prepared by Sen. Paskvan that discusses the issue. The subcommittee recommends funding the Alaska Performance Scholarship with $1.1 million to enable DEED to move forward on collecting Alaska data and with pro-rata reduced awards. The recommendation on those two counts is:

• Increase general funds of $7,121,900 to the AlaskAdvantage Grant Program

• Reduce general funds of $7,121,900 from the Alaska Performance Scholarship Program

Sen. Davis asked if there was grant funding for Best Beginnings. Mr. Kiehl said yes. In FY 11 the legislature provided $600,000 for early education grants to DEED. The department split that equally between Best Beginnings and Parents as Teachers, and will continue to do so. The teacher mentoring program is funded at the governor's request level. He said $380,000 in additional funding was added to that amount last year, but this year it is just funded at $600,000.

Sen. Davis said she would like to see that extra money put back in the budget. They need to do everything possible for Pre-K. She said she would propose an amendment if anyone would agree to it.

Chairman Egan asked the department to comment on the proposed amendment. Anna Kim, director, Div. of Administrative Services, DEED, said it's an interesting proposal, but they support the governor's original budget.

Sen. Stevens said he was concerned about Pre-K funding and the teacher mentoring program, and the subcommittee has addressed his main concerns.

The other subcommittee members did not agree to Sen. Davis’ amendment. Sen. Davis said she’s okay with what they've advocated, and that her concerns will be addressed further down the line.

House Minority Press Conference, Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Reps. Mike Doogan, Berta Gardner, & Chris Tuck

During Tuesday's House Minority Press Conference, Rep. Doogan said so far the discussions in the House Finance operating budget subcommittees that he is a member of have been pretty well put together and to the point.  It’s his understanding that subcommittees will not really be making changes to the operating budget; changes will be made at the full Finance Committee level.  He thinks that will eliminate some of the potential problems that could occur as a result of having new members chairing subcommittees.  However, there haven’t been any problems in subcommittees he serves on.  Subcommittees just produce a draft budget for the Finance Committee. 

Reps. Bryce Edgmon & Paul Seaton

(background: Reps. Eric Feige & Anna Fairclough)

The House Majority held a press conference today with most or all of the majority members present. Speaker Mike Chenault said the caucus is beginning the process of developing guiding principles, and has agreed upon five guiding principles they’d like to follow for the next two years:
• Fiscal Responsibility
• Responsible Resource Development
• Access to Affordable Energy
• Excellent Schools & Workforce Development
• Safe & Healthy Communities

Rep. Austerman said there is no legislation tied to the guiding principles; it is a roadmap to improve transparency and accountability and to commit to a meaningful conversation with Alaskans about fiscal priorities. It will help control budget growth and ensure sustainability.

Included in the guiding principle for Excellent Schools and Workforce Development are:
• Preparing Every Child to Succeed
• Ensuring Accountability, Innovation, and Student-Focused Funding
• Developing Statewide Consistency on Curriculum and Standards
• “Foundation Up” - Revisiting Standards, Starting Early, and Establishing Benchmarks for Advancement (3rd Grade)
• Putting Greater Emphasis on Workforce Development to Ensure Educational Relevance and the Opportunity for Alaskans to Get Alaska’s Jobs

Information on the Alaska State Legislature

The legislature’s website is a great source of information. Their homepage is: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/index.php . The homepage always lists floor sessions and committee hearings scheduled for whatever day you happen to be viewing it.

At the top of the homepage on the fourth tab over is a tab called “BILLS & LAWS,” also referred to as BASIS, which links to legislation, committees, hearings, and many ways to sort and find information on legislation. Here is a link to that page: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp

Some of the many helpful links on the BASIS page are “Bills in Committee,” “Subject Summary,” “Member Information,” “Hearing Schedules,” and “Bill Tracking Management Facility (BTMF).” BTMF is one of my favorite pages. Here is a link: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/btmf_login.asp?session=26 . On BTMF, anyone can set up an account and select bills to receive notification of any action on those bills, including being scheduled for a hearing or a floor vote. It’s very helpful if you’re tracking a particular bill and don’t want to keep checking the website.

Another helpful page has links to all legislators and committee members:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/commbr_info.asp?session=26 

First Day, 27th Alaska State Legislature

Greetings on this first day of the first session of the 27th Alaska State Legislature. 

I will be posting a little more regularly now that session is beginning.  However, what you see on this blog are just snippets of the full daily and weekly reports.  For instance, what you will miss this week by not being a subscriber are summaries of all education-related legislation, a House Education Committee hearing, a Senate Majority press conference, a House Minority press conference, committee member and contact information for the House and Senate Education and Finance Committees, and an explanation of how to use the legislative website to track legislation. 

If you would like to see what you're missing, I'm offering open access to reports for the first two weeks of session for anyone interested.  Call (907) 500-7069 or email akedupdate@gci.net to get on my email list for reports, or for information on subscribing. 

Thanks!
Shana

27th Alaska State Legislature, House & Senate Leadership, Chairmen, Finance Committee Members

House Leadership
Speaker: Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski
Majority Leader: Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak
Majority Whip: Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell
Bush Caucus: Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue
Minority Leader: Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau
Minority Whip: Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage
Minority Floor Leader: Max Gruenberg, D-Anchorage

House Standing Committees
Community & Regional Affairs: Cathy Muñoz, R-Juneau
Education: Alan Dick, R-Stony River
Finance Co-Chairmen: Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak/Mat-Su (Capital Budget) & Bill Thomas, R-Haines (Operating Budget); Other Members: Anna Fairclough, R-Eagle River (Vice-Chair); Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue; Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham; Mark Neuman, R-Mat-Su Valley; Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole; Mia Costello, R-Anchorage; Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage; Les Gara, D-Anchorage; David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks
Health & Social Services: Wes Keller, R-Wasilla
Judiciary: Carl Gatto, R-Palmer
Labor & Commerce: Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna
Resources Co-Chairmen: Paul Seaton, R-Homer & Eric Feige, R-Chickaloon
Rules: Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage
State Affairs: Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage
Transportation: Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell

House Special & Joint Committees
Administrative Regulation Review: Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna
Economic Development, Trade, & Tourism: Bob Herron, D-Bethel
Energy Co-Chairmen: Neal Foster, D-Nome & Lance Pruitt, R-Anchorage
Fisheries: Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks
Joint Armed Services House Co-Chairman: Dan Saddler, R-Anchorage
Legislative Budget & Audit Committee: Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage
Legislative Council Vice-Chairman: Bob Herren, D-Bethel
Military & Veterans' Affairs Co-Chairmen: Dan Sadler, R-Anchorage & Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks

Senate Leadership
President: Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak
Majority Leader: Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage
Minority Leader: Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla

Senate Standing Committees
Community & Regional Affairs: Donny Olson, D-Nome
Education Co-Chairmen: Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks & Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage
Finance Co-Chairmen: Bert Stedman, R-Sitka (Capital Budget) & Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel (Operating Budget) (Other Finance Committee members are Donny Olson, D-Nome; Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks; Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage; Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorge; & Dennis Egan, D-Juneau)
Health & Social Services: Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage
Judiciary: Hollis French, D-Anchorage
Labor & Commerce: Dennis Egan, D-Juneau
Resources Co-Chairmen: Joe Paskvan, D-Fairbanks & Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai
Rules: Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage
State Affairs: Bill Wielechowski
Transportation: Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon

Senate Special & Joint Committees
Joint Armed Services: Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage
Legislative Council: Linda Menard, R-Wasilla
World Trade: Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak

Moore v. State: who has control, the Alaska Legislature, the Dept. of Education & Early Development, or Local School Boards?

During the July 30 Legislative Budget & Audit hearing the agenda was a request for a DEED audit and testimony from the plaintiffs' attorneys in the Moore vs. State of Alaska case. It was a very interesting discussion of legislative versus departmental versus local control of education.

Judge Gleason’s 2007 Decision, pages 173-174, says:
1. “The Alaska Constitution requires that the Legislature.....

Review of the Alaska Constitution's Education Clause in Moore v. State 2007 Decision

Pages 147-154 of the Moore vs. State of Alaska 2007 Decision contain a summary of Alaska court interpretations of the Alaska Constitution's Education Clause.  They are very interesting.  Follow the title link above to access documents related to the case, including the pages referenced above.

House Members appointed to Higher Education Task Forces

House members have been named to the Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task Force and the Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness (established by SB 221 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20221&session=26 ). No word yet on when the task forces will begin meeting.

Members of the task forces include:
The Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task Force (15 members):
Five senators: Senate President Stevens and Sens. Elllis, Hoffman, Meyer, & Thomas;
Five representatives: Reps. Seaton, P. Wilson.....

August 24, 2010 Alaska Primary Election Candidates

Spring Alder, Juneau, May 8, 2010

Here's a link to the Div. of Elections webpage listing candidates for the August primary, if you're wondering who's running: http://www.elections.alaska.gov/ci_pg_cl_2010_prim.php

The deadline for filing is 5:00 p.m., June 1.  Several districts haven't had anyone file yet, and many have only one candidate who's filed, so there will certainly be additions to the list of candidates.  So far there is no one registered to run in: