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 and details on the press conference.....

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.....

Senate Passes SB 84 to increase the BSA by $110 for FY 12

The big news today is the senate passed 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 Finance Committee substitute includes a one-year increase to the BSA of $110 for FY 12 and a vocational funding factor of 1 percent. The Finance Committee removed BSA increases for FY 13 and FY 14. The bill also extends the sunset period for the educational tax credits that were passed last year.

Also, Sen. French introduced a Parents as Teachers bill in the senate. That's a good indication that he is trying to give HB 49, the house version (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2049&session=27), a better chance of passing this session. If senate committees hear the senate version of the bill, the house bill's senate committee referrals may be waived when it gets to the senate.

Shameless Plug for my Fantastic Father!

Solo exhibition by Jay Crondahl, Franklin Street Gallery, Baranof Hotel, Juneau, Reception: Friday, April 1, 4:30-7:00 p.m.

Lifelong Alaskan Jay Crondahl will show recent work covering an array of eclectic styles, from free-form and geometric abstracts to stylized and realistic landscapes. Crondahl has exhibited in many group shows in Juneau but this will be only his second solo exhibition.
 

Pump house, Sandy Beach, Juneau

If you're in Juneau, be sure to stop by the Baranof Hotel and check out my dad's recent work, as well as visting other First Friday venues around town.  My dad is 76 years old and has been an artist his entire life.  He is a super nice, friendly, creative guy, and I am lucky to have him as my dad!

My brother and I, giving a critique, 1970

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.

Worth Their Weight in Gold

One of this year's newly announced MacArthur Foundation winners is economist Emmanuel Saez, who helped calculate the worth of outstanding kindergarten teachers.

A link to Mr. Saez's homepage: http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/

A New York Times article on this year's awardees: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/arts/28macarthur.html?src=twr

Legislature Addresses Moore vs. State in Conference Committee

The Conference Committee met Thursday to consider open items in HB 300 and HB 302. During the last hearing on Monday, April 12, the committee dealt with all open items in the Dept. of Education & Early Development’s budget, so there are no items open in that department. Sen. Hoffman said the next meeting would address the last two open items (one in the Governor’s Office and one in the Dept. of Revenue) and any fiscal notes.

A language adoption was made for Item 3 (Conditional Language, K-12 Support) on the DEED motion sheet. The language states that it is the intent of the legislature that up to $7,000,000 of the amount appropriated from the public school trust fund, AS 37.14.110, for public school programs may be used to address issues raised in Moore vs. Alaska. Those issues include curriculum design, professional training and retention, pre-kindergarten and other intensive early learning, and remediation plans for individual students. Affected school districts include the Yupiit, Lower Yukon, Yukon Flats, Yukon Koyukuk, and Northwest Arctic.

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.....

Operating Budget Amendments

Wow, I am really impressed with how smoothly the amendments on the operating budget went in the House Finance Committee this afternoon. Most amendments were sponsored by the full committee. Several minority members carried a couple of amendments (sponsored by the full committee). Those included several of Rep. Gara's issues of high concern, including support for foster children and early childhood education. Only a few amendments were sponsored by individual members. Most of the amendments sponsored by individual members failed.

Amendments 1 through 23 were offered by all members of the House Finance Committee, and were adopted unanimous consent.

Amendment 2 was adopted unanimous consent. This amendment changes the “fuel trigger” for appropriations to departments for high fuel prices. The trigger is changed from $36 per barrel to.....