Alaska
Capitol update: James Brooks does the math on school funding and Alaska Permanent Fund dividends
Legislators are six weeks into their session in Juneau. The massive controversies to this point are training funding and worker pensions and as at all times the dimensions of the everlasting fund dividend.
Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin interviews Alaska Beacon reporter James Brooks to get a progress report.
This interview was flippantly edited for readability.
Liz Ruskin: James, is something occurring there on the Capitol? And the way is the temper?
James Brooks: It’s truly fairly quiet within the Capitol this week. There’s a good variety of legislators who’re headed out to Washington, D.C. this week with the intention to foyer help for the Willow oil venture. It appears like we’re in the course of the session. Legislators have had about 45 days now to get to know one another to stand up to hurry. As a result of keep in mind: there’s lots of new faces. Greater than a 3rd of the legislators are new this yr.
Liz Ruskin: Let’s focus on what the governor desires. Gov. Mike Dunleavy revealed a brand new price range plan in mid-February. What are the key components there?
James Brooks: Yeah, the governor has proposed a couple of budgetary options for a number of the issues that Alaskans are seeing now. For instance, the meals stamp points. There’s lots of people who’re going hungry proper now, as a result of they haven’t been capable of get entry to meals stamp (SNAP) advantages. The governor has proposed funding for brand new employees to course of these meals stamp purposes and transfer extra rapidly on that. He’s additionally proposing extra funding for public defenders. (Offering attorneys for indigent defendants) is a constitutional requirement. However proper now, it looks like a few of these businesses could be falling quick. He’s additionally proposed a Everlasting Fund dividend of about $3,900 per individual. At $2.5 billion, that’s the biggest single merchandise within the price range.
Liz Ruskin: Inform me concerning the proposed improve in per-student spending. The place’s that coming from?
James Brooks: Within the Capitol, we’ve heard lots of shows from college district officers, college superintendents, abnormal dad and mom and lecturers who’ve mentioned that native colleges are actually struggling proper now from the consequences of inflation. College provides, gas and electrical energy, primary prices have gone up enormously for college districts. The state of Alaska pays a lot of the price to run Okay-12 colleges all through the state, and one of many key parts of that funding is what’s known as the bottom pupil allocation. It’s how a lot the state pays college districts per pupil. There’s been lots of discuss rising that BSA, because it’s recognized, with the intention to compensate for inflation. We heard earlier this yr that to match what colleges acquired in 2015, the BSA would want to rise about $1,300. And that works out to greater than $260 million statewide. In order that’s a reasonably large ask. There’s been some questions on whether or not the state is getting a adequate return on its cash, significantly from Republican lawmakers who need extra accountability measures. However we additionally heard immediately from Democrats and independents who famous that final yr, the Legislature, on the urging of the governor, handed the Alaska Reads Act, which does impose a few of these accountability measures however didn’t embody a lot further funding. And they also’re contemplating the BSA improve to be the second half of what’s wanted.
Liz Ruskin: Should you needed to guess, the place do you suppose the BSA improve will find yourself? Do you suppose a major improve is real looking?
James Brooks: I feel the most probably state of affairs proper now’s that the Legislature features a one-time bump within the price range, and any everlasting improve looks like it might be a problem for subsequent yr.
Liz Ruskin: I used to be actually struck by one thing Senate Finance co-chair Bert Stedman mentioned when arguing that the state can’t afford a dividend of the dimensions of the governor desires. He mentioned: “We’re going to have to select. Will we wish to educate our youngsters to money checks? Or will we wish to educate them to learn and write and do arithmetic?” Is that how it’s, that elevated training spending or some other big-ticket merchandise will come on the expense of the dividend?
James Brooks: It’s actually was a tug-of-war. And also you’re not unsuitable, as a result of legislators to this point have been unwilling to contemplate tax will increase or new income that could possibly be achieved rapidly. So when you’re wanting on the drawback for this yr, it’s a tug-of-war between the dividend and each different precedence the state has. So when you, for instance, had been to take the governor’s proposed $3,800 dividend and reduce $1,000 off of that, you could possibly have a reasonably large dividend and canopy each the BSA improve and the spending that’s been proposed already.
Liz Ruskin: Do you’ve a way of whether or not lawmakers have made progress on resolving these large points?
James Brooks: I feel for the primary a part of the session, the weeks that we’ve seen to this point, legislators are getting their fingers across the issues. I feel within the days to come back we’ll begin to see them grapple with options, what concepts will work finest to repair the issues that they now have a greater understanding of.