Video: Governor explains why he vetoed second education spending package

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Gov. Mike Dunleavy

The controversial education funding package House Bill 57 got the veto pen treatment on Monday, the last day the governor had to axe the $183 million annual expenditure.

The bill would have increased the Base Student Allocation funding by $700 per student and had other provisions. But the funding was the main aspect of the bill that was transmitted to Gov. Mike Dunleavy on May 1.

“Today I vetoed the education funding bill HB 57 because it lacked sufficient education policy reform necessary to improve student outcomes,” Dunleavy said in a video that he released in the early afternoon.

The Legislature is likely to go into an hastily-called joint session to attempt to override the bill before the May 21 constitutional deadline for adjournment.

Earlier this session, Dunleavy vetoed another education package, House Bill 69, for similar reasons, and the House and Senate failed to override his veto.

The liberal members running the Legislature then took parts of HB 69 and shoved it into a different education bill, HB 57, to try to permanently boost education spending.

24 COMMENTS

  1. The educators I work with also don’t like this bill. But then, the educators I work with really care about education. I suggest their unions start caring about the hard workers in education as well.

    • “I suggest their unions start caring about the hard workers in education as well.”

      Never gonna happen. There are too many boondoggles to go on.

  2. It’s good that the District 27 and District 28 Republican Committees have both passed resolutions calling for the veto of HB57 (and that the veto be upheld).

  3. THANK YOU BIG GIANT. HOPEFULLY THE GIANT WILL BECOME THE LION!!!! Fortitūdō in aeternum

  4. Excellent, thank you governor. The unethical uni-party majority has failed the people again.

    • Accountability would actually mean funding cuts. Disclaimer: my spouse has been a teacher for 39 years and approves this statement.

  5. WOOHOO! Thank you Gov!
    Now, whoever tries to override can get booted out next election!
    Remember this in the next election.

  6. Stand tall, Big Mike. Accountability for student outcomes is key. Stop throwing good money after a problem that just keeps getting worse. I’m old enough to remember when Alaska was a top tier state for public education. We can be again, but Dems just love wasting money

  7. It appears as if Senator Rob Yundt and Representative Lexie Moore, both from the MatSu have allied with Senator Loki Tobin to overturn the governor’s veto! according to their FB posts.

    • Alaska thanks you, V, for making Alaska great again. My spouse was homeschooled, then went on to become the salutatorian at college.

  8. It was good to see this news today after last week’s win of HB64 being shut down in committee.

  9. Grateful to all of the Republican Women’s Clubs for holding the line against the drunken sailor Republicans who just want to throw good money after no outcomes— especially my own AWRC here in Anchorage. Major kudos to Portia Erickson and Judy Eledge of AWRC. Thank you for holding the supposed fiscal conservatives and common sense Rs to account. I loved Dunleavy as a senator and I’m thrilled to see him standing tall again as Governor. Enough said.

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