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.

The Biggest News Item from Wednesday!

At the beginning of Wednesday's House Education Committee hearing, Chairman Seaton presented Eddy Jeans, director, School Finance & Facilities, Dept. of Education & Early Development, with a legislative citation honoring him for his 30 years of state service, his expertise, his dedication, and his good humor.

Mr. Jeans said he plans to retire sometime this summer, but he will remain in Juneau, and will remain involved in some capacity. 

Hopefully Eddy will continue to make himself available to initiate rookie legislators on the intricacies of the foundation formula!

Senate Floor Debate on SB 230 - Capital Budget

So much for posting every day until the end of session!  Oh dear!  How about a posting on yesterday's floor debate on the capital budget?

SB 230 – Budget: Capital, Supplemental, & Other Appropriations

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20230&session=26

The Senate passed CSSB 230(FIN) 19 yeas, 1 nay. Sen. Bunde voted against the bill. SB 230 has been transmitted to the House and was referred to the House Finance Committee. It is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, April 14 at 8:30 a.m. (See the “Saturday, April 10, 2010 CSSB 230(FIN) AKEDUPDATE” for a list of education-related projects.)

Sen. Bunde offered an amendment to remove many of the projects in SB 230. He thought a more appropriate place for the projects was in a bond package. The Finance Committee co-chairmen disagreed. Sen. Stedman said.....

SB 230 - Capital Budget Update

Senate Finance adopted a new committee substitute for SB 230 and passed the bill out of committee Saturday evening.  The biggest change in the new cs is a new section adding $380 million in G.O. bond projects, $360 million of which are for education projects. 

G.O. Bond Education Projects:.....

Education-Related Items in CSSB 230(FIN)

Major Maintenance:
• $1,700,000 – Mt. Edgecumbe deferred maintenance
• $84,337 – Nome Beltz Jr./Sr. fire alarm replacement
• $29,807 – Nome Beltz Jr./Sr. emergency generator auto switch replacement
• $1,202,914 – Metlakatla High School Renovation Alternates
• $1,762,541 – Whittier K-12 sprinkler install & interior renovations
• $123,701 – Yup’ik Voc Ed Building water service & boiler replacement
• $80,729 – Yup’ik Voc Ed Building roof replacement
• $21,306,131 – Service High School renovation
• $180,491 – Mosquito Lake Elementary mechanical upgrades

DOT/PF:
• $200,000 – Debarr Road school zone
• $1,100,000 – Fritz Cove to Auke Bay, including school intersection improvements
• $1,000,000 – Safe Routes to Schools (statewide)
• $4,000,000 – Sand Point: School Loop Road Rehabilitation
• $800,000 – Sitka: Cross Trail construction – High School to Baranof, Charles, Yaw, and Pherson Streets

DCCED Grants to Recipients:
• $300,000 – Copper River School District – Copper River Connects
• $800,000 – Toksook Bay Early Learning Center
• $140,000 – Yukon-Koyukuk School District – Jimmy Huntington High School Mold Remediation
• $520,000 – Mears Middle School Locker Replacement
• $1,140,000 – Salcha Elementary School Exterior Envelope Replacement & Upgrade
• $430,000 – Ticasuk Brown Elementary School Septic System Replacement
• $990,000 – Galena City School District Central Steam Plant Upgrade
• $100,000 – Trapper Creek Elementary School Roof Replacement
• $1,000,000 – Valdez High School Fire Alarm/Sprinkler Replacement

NPRA Impact Grants:
• $251,243 – North Slope Borough School Counselor Grant

Reappropriations:
• $12,000 – Chatham School District, for equipment purchases and upgrades (reappropriated from Chatham School District van purchase)
• $37,500 – Chatham School District, for projects, equipment, and improvements for Angoon Schools (reappropriated from Angoon road grader)

Other:
• $500,000 – Service High School Football Field Turf Design and Construction
• $500,000 – South High School Artificial Turf Field Design and Construction
• $20,000 – Central Middle School Stage Floor Refinishing, and Projector Screen, Sound System, and Curtains Replacement and Installation

HB 424 - G.O. Bonds for Education Projects

HB 424 – G.O. Bonds for Education Projects, By the House Finance Committee

Introduced today, HB 424 provides for the issuance of general obligation bonds in a principal amount of not more than $1,000,000 for the purpose of paying the cost of education projects for public schools and the University of Alaska. The bill specifies that $500,000 will be appropriated to DEED for public school projects, and $500,000 will be appropriated to the University of Alaska for university projects.

During the afternoon portion of today’s House Finance Committee meeting, Chairman Stoltze said that the $1,000,000 in HB 424 is just a place-holder amount, and will not necessarily be the final amount in the bill.

HB 424 was referred to the House Finance Committee, and is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, April 8 at 9:00 a.m.

Moore vs. State Documents posted in BASIS

The three court orders in the Moore vs. State case have been posted on BASIS.  I am not sure they are available anywhere else online, so thought I would post a link (click on the title above to go to the documents).

MOORE vs. STATE, March 31 2010 Court Order

On Wednesday, April 7th the House and Senate Education Committees will be holding a hearing on Moore vs. State. The committees will be hearing from the plaintiffs' attorney, the state's attorney, a legislative attorney, and the administration to discuss the case.

During the Monday, April 6th House Education Committee hearing, Dept. of Education & Early Development Deputy Commissioner Les Morse said the department thought this most recent court order was going to go their way. 

But looking at the order, it appears that the judge still feels the state has some work to do.  In her 2007 decision and again in the Order on Review of 2009 Submissions, Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason said....

House Conference Committee Members Appointed, HB 300

Conference committee members have been appointed from the House for HB 300 – Operating Budget. They are Reps. Hawker, Stoltze, and Gara.

The Senate has not yet appointed conference committee members, so the Legislature is not yet under the 24-Hour Rule for hearing bills. However, any bill that has had a previous hearing in a committee can be brought up without notice under “Bills previously heard/scheduled.” So you will see committees bringing up a lot of bills for perfunctory hearings at this time. That way they can bring them up later without having to give any additional notice.

Gathering of Attorneys - April 7 in the House & Senate Education Committees

At the end of Friday's Senate Education Committee hearing, committee staff said that Judge Gleason said in her most recent ruling on Moore vs. Alaska that the legislature is responsible for the five school districts in the case. On Wednesday, April 7 at 8:00 a.m. the Education Committees will be hearing from the plaintiffs' attorney, the state's attorney, a legislative attorney, and the administration to discuss what that means.  So we should get a pretty wide-viewpoint of what that means for everyone - the state, the schools, and the kids.