Legislators have just six weeks to go into their session beginning in Juneau. The biggest issues to date are the funding of education and pensions for employees, and of course the amount of the dividend from the permanent fund.
The Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin interviews Alaska Beacon reporter James Brooks to receive a status report.
This video interview was edited lightly for clarity.
Liz Ruskin James Do you know if there is something happening in the Capitol? What’s the mood?
James Brooks: It’s been pretty quiet at the Capitol this week. There are a lot of lawmakers heading into Washington, D.C. this week to solicit for support for The Willow project to extract oil. It’s like we’re just in mid-session. Legislators have just 45 days to get acquainted with one another and get to level. Remember: there are many new faces. More than a third legislators are brand fresh this year.
Liz RuskinLet’s talk about what governor would like to see. Gov. Mike Dunleavy revealed a new budget in mid-February. What are the main components?
James Brooks: The governor has offered some budgetary solutions for certain problems Alaskans are facing right today. For instance, food stamp issue. There are many people going hungry at the moment, as they’ve not been able to avail the food stamp (SNAP) benefit. Governor Brown has suggested funds for new workers to process food stamp applications and move quickly with the process. In addition, he’s proposed more funds for public defense lawyers. (Providing lawyers for defendants who are indigent) is an obligation of the Constitution. It appears that some agencies may be failing to meet the requirement. The president has also proposed the possibility of a Permanent Fund dividend of about $3,900 per individual. With $2.5 billion, it’s the biggest single item in the budget.
Liz Ruskin Let me know about the increase in spending per student. Where is that money coming from?
James Brooks: In the Capitol We’ve seen a number of talks by school officials superintendents of schools as well as ordinary parents and teachers who’ve said that schools in the local area are being hit by the consequences of inflation. Fuel, school supplies, and electricity, which are the basics of school, have increased dramatically for schools. State of Alaska is responsible for a significant portion of the expenses for running K-12 schools across the state. One of the most important components of that funding is known as the base allocation for students. It’s the amount that the state will pay school districts per pupil. There’s been plenty of talk about increasing the BSA which is also known as in order to make up for the rising cost of inflation. We learned earlier in the year that in order to be able to compete with what schools got in 2015, the BSA will need to increase by around $1300. That’s around $260 million in the entire state. That’s quite an demand. There have been some concerns about whether Alaska has a sufficient return on its investments especially from Republican lawmakers who are seeking greater accountability. However, we also heard about Democrats or independents that pointed out that in the past the Legislature on the advice of Governor Scott and the governor’s office, passed the Alaska Reads Act, which has imposed some of the accountability measures, but doesn’t provide the funds needed to support them. They’re now considering the BSA increase as the second part of the amount required.
Liz Ruskin If we had the chance to speculate which direction the BSA increase would end up? Do you think a substantial increase is feasible?
James Brooks: I think that the most likely scenario at the moment could be the Legislature will include a one-time increase to the annual budget. A long-term rise is likely to be a concern for next year.
Liz Ruskin Really amazed by something Senate Finance co-chair Bert Stedman stated when he argued that the state isn’t able to pay a dividend in the amount of what Governor Romney wants. He stated: “We’re going to have to decide. Would we like to train our kids how to cash checks? Or , do we wish to teach them how to write and read, and also perform math?” Is that how it’s going to be, that the increase in expenditure on education or any other large-ticket item will come at the expense of dividend?
James Brooks: It’s been become a tug-of-war. You’re right since legislators haven’t been willing to think about tax hikes or other revenue sources that could be enacted quickly. Therefore, if you’re thinking about the issue with regard to this fiscal year there’s an ongoing battle with regards to the distribution and any other priority that the state has. For instance, took the governor’s $3,800 dividend and cut a portion of $1,000 off then you’d have quite a large amount of money to be able to cover equally the BSA increase as well as the expenditure which has been suggested already.
Liz Ruskin Are you able to get an idea of whether legislators have made progress in solving these major problems?
James Brooks: I think that in the beginning portion of the session, the time we’ve had thus far, legislators are beginning to understand the challenges. In the next few days we’ll be seeing them wrestle with solutions, examining the most effective ideas to address the issues they have an grasp of.
