The Alaska House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 169, which would prevent teacher layoffs for the next two fiscal years. Yesterday, Rep. Sara Rasmussen introduced an amendment to the bill that would fund public education through 2023 stating that students and teachers have had plenty of disruption in the classroom. She stated that with students returning to in-person learning, teachers need to be ensured that their jobs are secure to support the students when they return.
According to the legislation, the amount necessary to fund the total amount for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2022 of state aid calculated under the public school funding formula is estimated to be $1.19 billion. The legislation states that it would be appropriated to the public education fund through the public school trust fund and from the general fund.
District 29 Rep. Ben Carpenter, “I have to draw our attention to the, like the previous speakers have talked about, which is our budget deficit. I don’t know how this bill or the amendment that was passed to it impact that budget deficit. We haven’t had that conversation. I can read the bill and I can say we are taking roughly $31 million from the public school trust fund in this budget year and we’re taking rounded $1.2 billion from the general fund this year. That was discussed in finance and I sit on finance. This is the amendment that was added to it madam speaker. The dollar figure that’s coming out in the following budget year is not on here. It’s a number that we will learn later, I guess. It’s going to come from the general fund and from the general fund. What concerns me is that while this bill was discussed in finance and where we’re getting the money was discussed there, this portion for the following budget year was not discussed in any finance.”
The amendment was adopted by the House with a vote of 25-14. The final bill passed, as amended, by a vote of 26-14. House Bill 169 now goes to the Senate for consideration.
(Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360 TV)
