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.

NY Times: Lawmakers Say Needs of Rural Schools Are Overlooked

By SAM DILLON
Published: March 17, 2010

Federal education rules favor big-city school districts over rural systems, some lawmakers complain.
 
"Lawmakers who represent rural areas told Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a hearing Wednesday that the No Child Left Behind law, as well as the Obama administration’s blueprint for overhauling it, failed to take sufficiently into account the problems of rural schools, and their nine million students....'There are lots of bright people at the Department of Education, and they work very hard,' said John Hill, executive director of the National Rural Education Association, based at Purdue University. 'But because most have not grown up or worked in a rural area, they find it difficult to see how things work in remote districts.'....The administration hopes to shift the focus from credentials to evaluations of teacher effectiveness, based in part on whether their students are learning. Teachers’ colleges could offer special programs to prepare educators for rural challenges.  Mr. Duncan developed some of his ideas last year during a rural tour that took him to the Alaskan village of Hooper Bay on the Bering Sea, a primitive settlement with no flush toilets...."

(To read the complete article, click on the title)

Strong Support in Senate Education for SB 224, But Ambivalence About the Name

The Senate Education Committee heard and held SB 224. Chairman Meyer said the committee would move the bill either Friday or Monday.  Sen. Stevens said he has come to terms with the importance of the bill. They need to move the bill along and figure out the bigger issue of how to pay for the program.  Chairman Meyer said the scholarship program will be a great program, and something he will be proud of voting for and supporting.

At a previous hearing, Legislative Legal Services staff recommended that.....

Senate Finance Working on Capital and Deferred Maintenance All Week

The Senate Finance Committee began hearings on SB 230 and SB 253 this morning. Chairman Stedman announced that the committee will be hearing these two bills in both the morning and the afternoon for the rest of the week. The committee will be hearing one department at a time, beginning with the departments with the largest requests and working down the list. The committee has not heard any Dept. of Education & Early Development projects as of the time of this posting today, and it is unlikely they will get to DEED today, and possibly not even tomorrow. 
Shana

HB 350 - Public School Funding - Required Local Contribution

The House Education Committee heard and moved HB 350 today. The committee did not make any changes to the bill. It moves next to the House Finance Committee.

Chairman Seaton noted that there had been some misunderstanding regarding what HB 350 does. HB 350 does not change basic need. The only thing HB 350 changes is.....