On Wednesday, May 1st, the Senate released a version of the proposed state operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes $175 million dollar in one-time funding for Alaska’s K-12 schools.
This new budget passed by Senators showcases a $680 increase to the state’s base per-student funding formula, which is around an 11% increase for the next fiscal year.
Proposed earlier in the legislative session, SB 140 was originally created to fund internet services and transportation for school districts, improve the reading plan, and potentially increase the BSA.
On March 15th, Governor Mike Dunleavy chose to veto the proposed bill. Before his veto, he said it “falls short” of improving outcomes for students.”
During a two-hour joint session on March 18th, the Alaska legislature voted to sustain the Governor’s veto of SB 140 by a difference of one vote, which came from Representative George Rauscher (R-District 29).
Thus, it sent the legislature back to the drawing board to develop a newly proposed concept of how to fund schools regarding the Base-Student allocation.
Similarly, During last year’s session, lawmakers approved one-time funding of $680 per student, but Dunleavy vetoed half of the money for school districts. As a result, $87.5 million was given to the districts, which amounted to around $430 per BSA increase. The KPBSD did have the opportunity to bring back programs it originally had to cut to balance its budget.
However, even if the Legislature succeeds in passing the intended $680 per-student increase in the final budget, the governor still has the power to veto part, if not all, of the funding.
A final decision will have to be made before Dunleavy signs the budget for the fiscal year that starts on July 1st.
More information about the budget bills lawmakers are considering can be found at akleg.gov.
