Association of Alaska School Boards

 

Legislative Bulletin

 

A weekly digest of activity by the Alaska Legislature and U.S. Congress for AlaskaÕs School Board Members. AASB Tel. 907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995. Executive Director, Carl Rose, crose@aasb.org; Editor, John Greely, Review past issues of the Bulletin on the AASB website at http://www.aasb.org. To unsubscribe send an email requesting the same to jgreely@aasb.org

 

This bulletin is distributed by email only. School districts should copy for board members not online.

 

January 12, 2007

 

--25TH LEGISLATURE BEGINS TUESDAY, JAN. 16

--EDUCATION TOPS EARLY LEGISALTIVE BILL FILINGS

--PRE-FILED BILLS INCLUDE FULL DISTRICT COST FACTOR

 

 

25TH ALASKA LEGISLATURE BEGINS TUESDAY, JAN. 16

 The House majority looks much the same, while the Senate is led by a new bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats as the 25th Alaska State Legislature begins its first regular session on Tuesday.  Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will swear in 50 legislators who were elected to new terms in November, when the House convenes at 11 a.m. and the Senate at noon.

 

House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, returns to head a 24-member Republican majority organization he led during the 24th Legislature. He is joined by Majority Leader Ralph Samuels of Anchorage, the co-chairmen of Finance Mike Chenault of Kenai and Kevin Meyer of Anchorage, and Rules Chair John Coghill of North Pole.

 

Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, fashioned a 15-member majority that includes nine Democrats. Green is joined by Majority Leader Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, Finance Co-Chairs Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Rules Chair John Cowdery, R-Anchorage.

 

Although committee assignments are largely pre-ordained, the full roster wonÕt be official until after the presiding officers are seated on Tuesday. The committee list will then be posted on this web page:

http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/home.htm

 

On Wednesday, Jan. 17, Gov. Sarah Palin is scheduled to speak to legislators in a joint session when she delivers her first State of the State address. The remarks are scheduled at 7 p.m. and will be carried by many radio and television stations.

 

EDUCATION TOPS EARLY LEGISLATIVE BILL FILINGS

 

If Fairbanks area lawmakers have their way, the stateÕs public schools will get more money, class sizes will be capped and students will have to stay in school if they want to get a driverÕs license before they turn 18. See full story here:

http://newsminer.com/2007/01/09/4338/

 

PRE-FILED BILLS INCLUDE FULL DISTRICT COST FACTOR

 

Legislators sent a flurry of bills and resolutions into the House and Senate even before the session began. Among the 148 pre-filed bills are 16 related to public schools.  They include:

 

HB 1, by Rep. Carl Gatto, raising the Base Student Allocation by $1 to $5,381 on July 1, 2007.

 

HB 2, by Rep. Mark Neuman, establishing the Vocational Education Account in the state treasury.

 

HB 12, by Rep. Mike Hawker, providing that the employersÕ unfunded liability in the PERS and TRS funds be paid in full by 2015.

 

HB 13, by Hawker, allowing the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority to issue bonds to finance pre-payments of the unfunded liabilities of public employee retirement systems.

 

HB 61, by Neuman, allowing a variety of tax credits for cash contributions to school districts, colleges, libraries and museums.

 

HB 70, by Rep. Scott Kawasaki, establishing at 18 the maximum number of students allowed in each classroom in grades kindergarten through three.

 

HB 72, by Rep. Mike Chenault, adjusting the District Cost Factor to implement in full the recommendations by the University of Alaska Institute for Social and Economic Research.

 

HB 78, by Rep. Beth Kerttula, establishing the maximum number of students who may be placed in most public school classes at 18 for grades kindergarten through three, 20 for grades four through six and 25 in grades seven through 12.

 

SB 1, by Sen. Gary Wilken, raising the Base Student Allocation from $5,380 to $5,810 on July 1, 2007.

 

SB 2, by Wilken, establishing a Natural Gas Revenue Fund in the treasury to capture 25 percent of lease and royalty receipts from natural gas production and allowing the Legislature to appropriate those monies to the Public Education Fund.

 

SB 9, by Sen. Bettye Davis, repealing the secondary student competency exam.

 

SB 10, by Davis, requiring the Department of Education and Early Development to employ at least one truancy officer for every school district with at least 1,000 students.

 

SB 11, by Davis, requiring school districts to establish dress codes for most students in grades kindergarten through eight.

 

SB 14, by Davis, increasing the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 years old.

 

SB 35, by Wilken, appropriating $1 billion in surplus state funds to four accounts, including $250 million each to the Public Education Fund, the Earnings Reserve Account of the Permanent Fund, the Alaska Housing Finance Revolving Fund and the Budget Reserve Fund.

 

SB 42, by Sen. Fred Dyson, increasing penalties for destruction of property by minors.

 

For details of these and other bills, click here and follow the links:

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp