A new bill that seeks to tackle backlogs in repairs on the University of Alaska will be on the table when lawmakers are expected to return to Capitol on Tuesday. It is expected that the bill will set aside around $35 million to tackle some of the most pressing issues of the $1.5 billion of backlog.
The Chief Financial Officer, Luke Fulp, said in a recent phone interview that catching up with delayed maintenance has been the top priority in capital for the UA’s ruling Board of Regents for more than two decades.
“This law is our way to tackle that issue not just deal with it by providing one-time funding instead, we’ll look at the possibility of being able to take part the long-term plan of meeting the maintenance requirements of our facilities as well as ensuring that we avoid expensive repairs and critical failures because we’re not meeting the needs of maintenance promptly,” Fulp said.
Fulp claimed that it’s a fresh way to run the system of universities. Instead of soliciting the Legislature to finance a particular list of projects every calendar year, this bill will provide a six-year schedule of modernization and maintenance projects.
Unused funds would carry into the following year, and the regents would make changes to the list when the projects have been completed. The Legislature is in charge of particularly large-scale projects that need greater than $2.5 million annually lawmakers would also have the authority to approve or de-administer initiatives from the schedule.
In the last three years, Fulp said UA has received about $15 million per year, despite receiving between $60 and 70 million annual request.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has issued line-item vetoes for a variety of projects for maintenance at universities, including around $35 million in the last fiscal year which would have been used to pay for upgrades to campus facilities across the state. In the year 2019, during Dunleavy’s first term as governor in office, he cut around $130 million of the funding for universities.
In the new legislation, Fulp said the university is focusing on what he refers to as “attainable goals” which means not removing the backlog completely but strengthening some buildings that are at risk of deterioration and modernizing other facilities. According to the proposed plan the university will contribute the funds it has earned to the modernization and maintenance fund beginning in 2028. The fund would grow to $10 million per year in 2034.
The UA system accounts for 40 percent of the capital infrastructure in the state The bill would ensure the security of state investments, Fulp said. Rep. Will Stapp, who is a Republican from Fairbanks, sponsor of the bill in the House and the House of Representatives, believes it’s the best way to stay ahead of any crisis before they begin.
“The university should be able to and say, ‘Hey We have an overall strategic plan for the future that we’re going to begin replacing roofs or boilers on these buildings and other things similar to this,” Stapp said by telephone at his residence in Fairbanks.
“It is really the”pay now, or pay later issue,” he added.
Although the bill includes provisions that say that the Legislature plans to increase the amount by $35 million in the fund every year, the annual contribution will be determined by governor, House, Senate and governor. However, Stapp is who is a participant in the House majority caucus, says he’s willing to discussing different ways to ensure stability in the long run with his fellow members in Juneau.
The UA’s director of state relations, Chad Hutchison, said in an email that UA officials have met with Senate staff and the Senate’s leadership regarding a possible companion bill. Hutchison says they’ve also discussed questions about the “principles” in the legislation with Dunleavy’s office, and received “no concerns.”
The communications director for Governor, Jeff Turner, said in an email to the governor that he does not have a stance on bills in the pending process, but noted that they may change dramatically in the course of legislative proceedings.
Lawmakers are heading for their respective Capitol to begin the 2nd session of the 33rd Alaska Legislature on Jan. 16.
