Legislature(1993 - 1994)
1994-07-15 House Journal
Full Journal pdf1994-07-15 House Journal Page 4527 HB 441 The following letter dated June 29, 1994, was received: "Dear Speaker Barnes: On this date I have signed the following bill with line item vetoes and am transmitting the engrossed and enrolled copies to the Lieutenant Governor's Office for permanent filing: SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 441 (FIN) am S "An Act making, amending, and repealing capital and operating appropriations; and providing for an effective date." Chapter No. 8, FSSLA 1994 [Effective Date: See Chapter] I have made the following vetoes: Section 60: This section re-appropriates $150,000 from the Governor's ANWR education effort to purchase equipment for public broadcasting stations. It also re-appropriates $250,000 to Arctic Power, Inc. to continue its grassroots organizational efforts in support of opening up ANWR. I recognize the politically-expedient option would be to approve the broadcasting grants because I support the important role these stations play in serving communities around the state. However, I made the difficult decision to veto them. There are times when it is more important to make decisions that put all of Alaska first. Opening up ANWR continues to be one of the brightest hopes for 1994-07-15 House Journal Page 4528 HB 441 Alaska's oil and gas future. To use ANWR funds now to buy radio station equipment would be at the expense of future efforts to open ANWR. We no longer can afford to make decisions that bring short-term political reward at the expense of the state's future. I am sensitive to the efforts of these radio stations to capture federal funds, and applaud them. However, the state already provides nearly $6 million in grants to stations around the state. In addition, $20 million has been made available to local communities through the Capital Matching Grants program in which local communities chose projects for state funding. With the state's recurring revenues in decline, we no longer can afford to simply add more money to what we are already doing. Instead, priorities have to be set and choices made. I encourage these radio stations to work with the Alaska Public Broadcasting Commission on how existing grant funding might be used to meet these needs. I also encourage the radio stations to work with their community's local governments to secure capital matching grant funds Section 78: This section appropriates $5 million to the Lower Kuskokwim School District for design and construction of the Newtok School. This appropriation would not be effective until June 30, 1995, and was to come from the interest earnings of the Public School Fund. The Newtok high school was destroyed by fire in late Spring and this appropriation, coupled with the insurance money, would provide an opportunity to combine the high school and elementary school in a new facility. While building one school in Newtok may make sense, I am concerned that doing so would be at the expense of all the school districts throughout the state. In addition to this $5 million, the Legislature also appropriated nearly $7 million from the Public School Fund for the K-12 foundation program. The anticipated balance in the Public School Fund is not enough to cover both appropriations. This could mean either the foundation funding for all school districts could be cut to make $5 million available for this grant or the grant could be significantly reduced based on the 1994-07-15 House Journal Page 4529 HB 441 actual amount of earnings that remain in the fund at the end of the fiscal year. Because the Legislature did not intend for Newtok's grant funds to be available for another year, I decided to veto the appropriation at this time. The Legislature will have sufficient time to again consider funding the Newtok school project next legislative session. This ensures there is enough funding to cover the state's share of the operating costs of the state's public school system. Section 82: This section reappropriates $800,000 from Fiscal Year 1994 appropriations to the Legislature and more than $2,800,000 in unspent balances from prior year capital appropriations to supplement Fiscal Year 1995 funding for municipal assistance and revenue sharing by about five percent. While I appreciate the Legislature's goal, this solution comes at the expense of needed capital projects. This appropriation was added during the last days of the legislative session to resolve a legislative dispute. Many prior year appropriations were targeted for repeal without adequate discussion of the impact to ongoing projects. These projects range from providing necessary repairs to correctional facilities, to grants to nonprofit organizations such as Challenge Alaska, to municipal water and sewer projects. The need for many of these capital appropriations has not diminished. If this section was left to stand, many worthwhile projects would have to be stopped prior to completion. Accordingly, I have vetoed the portions of this section that deal with prior year capital appropriations. However, I have left intact the reappropriation from the Legislature's budget because it was the Legislature's expressed wish that some of its funding be redirected to municipal governments. Sincerely, /s/ Walter J. Hickel Governor"