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.
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February 22, 2008
EDUCATION FUNDING –
UPDATE
HB 273, a bill implementing recommendations of the Joint
Legislative Education Funding Task Force, was poised for a vote in the House of
Representatives this week when it was pulled from the calendar and returned to
the Finance Committee. The reason?
There was a discrepancy in the level of funding provided to one school
district for transporting students.
Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, chairman of the task force,
said the delay in a House vote on the bill was needed so that questions raised
about transportation funding could be answered. A hearing on the bill was
scheduled late Friday. An aide to Hawker said she anticipated HB 273 would be
back before the full House next week. The measure raises the District Cost
Factor, the Base Student Allocation, funding for Intensive Needs students and
implements a hold-harmless step-down funding formula for districts experiencing
sharp enrollment declines.
Here is a news story about
the issue from earlier this week:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/321434.html
HOUSE BUDGET HEARINGS
SCHEDULED FRIDAY, SATURDAY, MONDAY
The FY 2009 state operating budget and the mental health
appropriation bill go out for public comment this weekend. The House Finance
Committee scheduled hearings over portions of three days to accommodate
testimony from 22 Legislative Information Offices. HB 310, the operating
budget, and HB 312, the mental health budget, appropriate more than $4 billion
for a wide variety of programs. The schedule for testimony was as follows:
Friday, February 22
4:00-5:00
pm Anchorage residents
Saturday, February 23
10:00-11:30
am Kenai, Valdez, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Seward, Matsu, Glennallen, Tok
11:45-1:30
pm Bethel, Kotzebue, Barrow, Nome, Delta Junction, offnets
1:00-2:00
pm Lunch break
2:00-3:15
pm Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Homer, Dillingham, Cordova
3:30-5:00
pm Fairbanks
Monday, February 25
1:30-3:00
pm Juneau
PERS-TRS BILL GOES TO SECOND
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
A bill lowering employer costs for the public sector
retirement programs, PERS and TRS, has been sent to a second conference
committee of the House and Senate to resolve differences. SB 125 enacts a host
of changes to the Public EmployeesÕ Retirement and TeachersÕ Retirement
Systems, including fixing the PERS rate for employer retirement costs at 22
percent and the TRS rate at 12.56 percent. SB 125 is one of the top priority
bills of the session for AASB members.
Senate Chairman Lyman
Hoffman, D-Bethel, said the changes pending for the bill required a second, or
ÒfreeÓ conference committee. Named to the second conference committee were
Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka (chair); Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak; and Gary Wilken,
R-Fairbanks; and Reps. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski (chair); Mike Hawker,
R-Anchorage; and Harry Crawford, D-Anchorage.
EDUCATION BILLS INTRODUCED
THIS WEEK
HB 373 School
Bond Debt (Finance Committee) Extends school debt reimbursement to November,
2010.
HB 375 Textbooks
(Kawasaki) Post-secondary textbook publishers must provide info on new books
before they are purchased, including differences in the substance of the
content; bill prohibits schools from receiving anything of value for purchasing
texts.
HB 384
Electronic records (Keller) Requires EED to establish a "statewide
electronic education records system" and minimum standards for school
districts to comply. Requires districts to develop individual student learning
plans. Phases in by grade level statewide through 2017. Also establishes a
Merit Scholarship Task Force with a report due by December, 2008.
HB 386 Energy
Subsidy for Schools (LeDoux) Requires EED to pay an energy subsidy of 50
percent of the cost of energy for the operation of a public school for FY
2007-09, if school submits a bill that is acceptable.
HB 388 Broadband
Task Force (Guttenberg) Establishes 13-member task force, including
legislators, industry and government experts, to recommend ways to expand
broadband service in Alaska. Initial report due Jan. 2009, with final due
December 2009.
HB 397 Alaska
Achievers Incentive Scholarship Program (Guttenberg) Establishes scholarship
program for students attending in-state colleges.
HB 403 Alaska
Achievers Scholarship Fund (Guttenberg) appropriates $100 million to an
endowment fund for this scholarship program.
SB 285
Intervention in school districts (Gary Stevens) Allows EED to withhold funds
from districts to pay for "improved instructional practices."
SB 288
Pesticides in Schools (Wielechowski) Prohibits the use or storage of pesticides
on school grounds unless other non-chemical methods have failed.
SB 290 School
Construction grants (Hoffman) Amends 14.11 to specify that EED may not
recommend projects for funding based on the type of funding and must follow the
order of priority on the funding list until the projects with higher priority
have received full funding. Specifies that bond reimbursement projects must
also get in line behind projects on the priority list.
SCR 14
Governor's Summit on Early Learning (Wielechowski) Urges governor to work with
legislature to implement the recommendations of the 2007 summit in Alaska,
including a rating system for early childhood education programs, professional
development, and a system of voluntary programs statewide.
For additional
details on these and other bills, click here and follow the links:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp
EDUCATION BILLS UP FOR
HEARINGS NEXT WEEK
Wednesday,
February 27, 8:00 am, Senate Education Committee
SB 285 Intervention in a School District
Wednesday, February 27, 9:00
am Senate Finance Committee
HB 273 Education Funding
Friday, February 29, 1:30 pm
Senate HESS Committee
SB 191 Public Education of Homeless Children