The Alaska Senate on Friday voted to add $1,000 per student to the Base Student Allocation, which is the funding formula used to help school districts around the state. It represents a 17% increase that will be locked in going forward.
Except for one little problem. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has already said he will veto House Bill 69, unless the spending amount comes down and some accountability measures on in place. The Senate stripped out every single bit of education policy that had been hoped for by the governor.
The House has concurred with the vote, 21-16.
So why would the Senate pass a bill that it knows is dead on arrival when it reaches the governor’s desk? It’s a chess move.
This vote was about elections and being able to later on say that a conservative legislator voted against education. The vote is meaningless, due to the pending veto, other than how it can be used in the 2026 election cycle by Democrats and their union supporters.
The veto by the governor could be overridden, but then the Legislature would have to find 40 votes to override, and that is a tall order, since the bill barely passed in the Senate.
Democrats Senators Donny Olson and Lyman Hoffman voted against the bill, as did Sen. Bert Stedman, a budget-minded Republican who often sides with Democrats.
Republicans Senators Cathy Giessel, Jesse Bjorkman, Kelly Merrick, and Gary Stevens, who caucus with Democrats, voted in favor of the $1,000 BSA increase.
Sen. Mike Shower, who leads the Republican minority and who urged a “no” vote, said that there is not enough revenue to cover the expenditure this year, with oil prices dropping. He indicated that the amount would have to come from the Permanent Fund dividend of every Alaskan or the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
“One of the reasons Alaskans are so disappointed and frustrated by their legislature is we talk, we debate, and then we do not act. “The READS Act is an example of when our legislature is effective,” Shower said. “We talked, researched, proposed legislation, passed legislation, enacted it, and now we are seeing terrific results for our students.”
“It is time the people of Alaska take back our education system from special interest groups,” said Sen. Mike Cronk. “The BSA number in this bill is not the real number for our school districts and was a political cover vote. It’s imperative that we are honest with all Alaskans and pass legislation that centers on our students.”
The Senate Republican Caucus said its goal is to work with the executive branch, the House, and the Senate Majority to draft bipartisan legislation that is free of ill-intended political motivations.
Gov. Dunleavy issued a statement late Friday:
“The Alaska Senate and House just passed a bill that hands out a blank check to school districts, taking your PFD to increase school funding by $250 million without a single reform or any accountability. While there is consensus that our school districts need additional funding, it was pointed out by a number of legislators that the price tag is way too high with falling oil prices and with no meaningful policy included. Our student test scores put Alaska almost dead last in the country compared to the other states. Alaskans deserve better than last-place outcomes and the same failed approach. The good news is the Legislature still has time to pass meaningful education policy reforms, as well as a reasonable increase in school funding.”
