AKLEG Day 63: 39-20

While Republicans claimed there's still time to fund schools, the future is far from certain.

Good afternoon, Alaska.

In this edition: By a single vote, the Alaska Legislature has failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a landmark education bill, dashing hopes of increasing the baseline school funding formula. During nearly two hours of debate, Republicans who had supported the original bill offered various explanations ranging from the need to take a second shoot at the legislation while others said they only voted for it because they were anticipating precisely this veto. In a bleak set of speeches, others questioned if investing in schools is worthwhile, leaving education’s future in limbo.

Current mood: 🤬

39-20

Senate Bill 140 was a good start but could have been better. The governor has the constitutional right to get his way on legislation. Senate Bill 140 is just a priority bill, and the only thing that was ever going to matter anyway was the budget. I never really supported Senate Bill 140; I just supported it to get to the veto faster. Schools should be treated like the failing businesses they are, and we should stop spending so much money on them.

That’s just a sampling of the arguments put forward by the 20 Republicans whose votes ensured Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of what would have been the largest single increase to the state’s school funding formula in state history stood during today’s joint session.

In all, 17 Republicans who had supported SB140 ultimately sided with the governor.

The arguments read as needlessly obsequious toward the governor, dishonest, and, frankly, desperately grim about Alaska’s future. While several Republicans insisted that despite their vote, they care about education—perhaps more than everyone else—some couldn’t help but give away the simmering animosity against schools that have defined many corners of the Republican party.

“How long? How long are we going to continue to throw money at a business — and school districts are a business. How long are we going to throw money at a business and not get a return on investment?” said Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, who took aim at districts that had been banking on the increase to cover multi-million-dollar shortfalls. “How can you use hope as a business strategy?”

The legislation would also have helped rural schools upgrade internet speeds, provided additional help for students struggling with reading, and increased funding for homeschooling. In total, the package would have outlined nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in new education spending in Alaska. That spending would still need to be approved through the budget later this year, which was a reason cited by several Republicans who turned on the legislation.

However, not everything can or will be made whole through the budget.

Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman, who sponsored the original version of Senate Bill 140, pleaded with fellow legislators during the hearing to override the veto so the time-critical provisions dealing with internet upgrades could pass. He said he was appalled that the legislation had been hijacked at the expense of rural kids, warning that failing to override the vote would mean those students go another year with substandard internet speeds.

Republicans like McCabe suggested the internet upgrades, which call for new infrastructure, are a waste of money when satellite internet is on the market.

The path ahead is not clear.

While some Republicans called for a second education bill encompassing much of what was in Senate Bill 140 with enough measures to appease the governor, Dunleavy made it abundantly clear during last week’s news conference that he’s not interested. He said that if legislators wanted to pursue a new education bill, that was “fine,” but his administration was moving on to issues like energy.

It’s also important to note that there’s a reason the governor’s priorities—an $180 million study on the value of paying teachers more and a charter school power grab—weren’t in the budget. They couldn’t even garner majority support in the Republican-controlled House. It’s unlikely that a second shot will change that dynamic.

What’s more likely is that any education funding will be left entirely to the budget. The governor and his allies have made clear that even the funding level dictated by the base student allocation is merely a suggestion, so nothing is guaranteed, not even the status quo funding levels.

For schools, this means that uncertainty will continue to loom over their budgets for much of the remaining session. Many had been banking on a $680 increase to the base student allocation to take the edge off of multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls. Now, districts will have to budget without any certainty over what—if any—funding eventually makes it past Governor Dunleavy and his sycophants.

Stay tuned.

Follow the thread: The legislative joint session on the SB140 override

The no votes

There were 20 Republicans who voted against the override, ensuring the governor’s veto stood. Just three—Reps. Eastman, Prax, and Sen. Shower—originally voted against the measure. The remaining 17 members abandoned the education bill and are marked in bold (with particularly narrow elections noted in parenthesis).

• Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River

• Rep. Thomas Baker, R-Kotzebue

• Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski

• Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage (who won by 112 votes)

• Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok

• Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla

• Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage

• Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer

• Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake

• Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage (who won by just nine votes)

• Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole

• Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River

• Rep. Laddie Shaw, R-Anchorage

• Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla

• Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks

• Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

• Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer

• Sen. Robb Myers, R-North Pole

• Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla

• Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla

The yes votes

Thirty-nine legislators, including all Democrats and independents, voted in favor of the override. House Majority Republican Reps. Will Stapp, Jesse Sumner, Justin Ruffridge, and Stanley Wright broke from their fellow Majority Republicans to support the override.

• Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks

• Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham

• Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome

• Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage

• Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau

• Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka

• Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage

• Rep. CJ McCormick, D-Bethel

• Rep. Donna Mears, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage

• Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan

• Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna

• Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage

• Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks

• Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau

• Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak

• Rep. Jesse Sumner, R-Wasilla

• Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage

• Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks

• Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski

• Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage

• Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage

• Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage

• Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage

• Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel

• Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage

• Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks

• Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau

• Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River

• Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin

• Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka

• Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak

• Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage

• Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage