Legislature passes school funding bill, likely averting mass layoff notices to school workers

Rally participants cheer in the rain at the second annual March for Science in Juneau on April 14, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)
Rally participants cheer in the rain at the second annual March for Science in Juneau on April 14, 2018. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)

The Alaska House took a major step Wednesday toward preventing layoff notices from going out to teachers and other school workers this spring.

The House voted to agree with changes the Senate made to House Bill 287 to fund schools separately and before the rest of the budget.

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara voted for the bill. He said it was important to act quickly.

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, expresses his views about House Bill 286, the state operating budget, during the House floor session in the Alaska State Capitol on April 2, 2018. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, expresses his views about the state operating budget, during the House floor session on April 2. On Wednesday, Gara spoke in favor concurring with the Senate’s changes to an early school funding bill.  (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

“By concurring today, we early fund schools and avoid pink slips,” he said. “By fighting with the other house for a week or two weeks over the language, we miss the pink-slip deadline.”

The last two years, many teachers received layoff notices because the Legislature passed the budget later than usual.

Not everyone agreed the bill is a good idea. One part of the legislation raised concerns among some minority-caucus Republicans. Along with funding next school year, it would also fund the year after next. But it would only do that if lawmakers agree on a plan to draw from permanent fund earnings.

All 22 majority-caucus members and nine minority-caucus Republicans voted to concur with the Senate.

But North Pole Rep. Tammie Wilson was one of nine minority-caucus Republicans to vote against the bill. She said tying part of the bill to another piece of legislation is a bad idea.

“I can’t support tying two bills together,” she said. “I wish it just would have been a simple bill, to where we were talking about funding, which is originally what we were doing.”

Lawmakers expect to draw from permanent fund earnings to pay for the state budget for the first time in Alaska history. But they haven’t agreed on what the plan will be to make an earnings draw.

And until there’s an agreement on the permanent fund, one thing that’s not clear is how the Legislature will pay for the school funding.

The school funding bill will go to Gov. Bill Walker. He praised the bill in a statement after the House passed it.

The bill left one other school funding issue unsettled. A separate measure the House passed, House Bill 339, would increase state aid to schools by boosting the base student allocation. The Senate hasn’t voted on the measure.

Andrew Kitchenman

State Government Reporter, Alaska Public Media & KTOO

State government plays an outsized role in the life of Alaskans. As the state continues to go through the painful process of deciding what its priorities are, I bring Alaskans to the scene of a government in transition.

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