2000-02-09                     House Journal                      Page 2145
HB 343                                                                        
HOUSE BILL NO. 343 by the House Rules Committee by request of                 
the Governor, entitled:                                                        
                                                                               
"An Act making and amending capital, supplemental, and other                  
appropriations and reappropriations; making a reappropriation                  
under art. IX, sec. 17(c), Constitution of the State of Alaska, from           
the constitutional budget reserve fund; making appropriations to               
capitalize funds; ratifying certain expenditures; and providing for            
an effective date."                                                            
                                                                               
was read the first time and referred to the Finance Committee.                 
                                                                               
A sectional analysis from the Office of the Governor was attached and          
is on file in the Chief Clerk's office.                                        
                                                                               
The Governor's transmittal letter dated February 7, 2000, appears              
below:                                                                         
                                                                               

2000-02-09                     House Journal                      Page 2146
HB 343                                                                       
"Dear Speaker Porter:                                                          
                                                                               
Today I transmit to you the FY2000 supplemental appropriation bill.            
As you know, several formula programs such as the Longevity Bonus,             
Foster Care and Medicaid were significantly underfunded in the budget          
passed by the legislature last May.  Since these are statutory                 
obligations, we must fulfill them in this supplemental.  I want to             
express my concern that the legislature is returning to a pattern of           
initially underfunding certain state obligations such as formula               
programs and lease payments, and not providing any up-front deposits           
to the fire suppression and disaster relief funds.  Over the past few          
years, we made considerable progress together toward more complete             
budgeting up front and less reliance on supplementals.  I regret seeing        
the return to old habits.                                                      
                                                                               
Despite the need to fully fund these obligations, the general fund             
amount in this bill is within the $16.5 million supplemental "place            
holder."  This is in part due to a sizeable reduction in the general fund      
needed to meet the statutory commitment for full funding of the K-12           
foundation formula and use of excess Y2K funds.                                
                                                                               
This supplemental bill includes a section for the ongoing Central Gulf         
Coast storm disaster even though, as I noted in my transmittal of the          
disaster declaration, we do not yet have an idea of how much will be           
required to address it.  Since I am optimistic that a federal disaster will    
be declared, federal financial support is included in that section.  As        
soon as we have disaster cost estimates, we will forward them to you           
immediately.                                                                   
                                                                               
							Sincerely,                                                              
							/s/                                                                     
							Tony Knowles                                                            
							Governor"