Legislature(1999 - 2000)
2000-07-14 Senate Journal
Full Journal pdf2000-07-14 Senate Journal Page 3838 SB 192 Message dated and received June 30, stating: Dear President Pearce: On this date I have signed with line item vetoes the following budget bill, passed by the second session of the Twenty-first Alaska State Legislature, and am transmitting the engrossed and enrolled copies to the Lieutenant Governor's Office for permanent filing: HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 192(FIN) am H An Act making and amending appropriations and reappropriations; making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c), Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for an effective date. Chapter 135, SLA 2000 Effective Date: 7/1/00 2000-07-14 Senate Journal Page 3839 SB 192 The capital budget for FY2001 will be $1.176 billion which is $100 million more than the current years budget. This amount includes the projects in this bill and $164.9 million of bonds appropriated in separate legislation. Between the FY2000 and FY2001 capital budgets, there is a $9.4 million reduction in general purpose expenditures, a $40.2 million reduction in federal funds and a $149.7 increase in other funds. The capital budget will help fuel one of the healthiest construction seasons in recent years, particularly for transportation improvements across the state. It makes continued investments in the $350 million Gateway Alaska project, which includes the major reconstruction of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and the transportation links serving it. The capital budget also includes some $90 million worth of water and sewer projects, which will bring to 84 percent the number of rural households served by piped or enclosed haul water and sewer systems. This funding level will serve rural Alaska well in meeting a very basic infrastructure need. Schools are also clearly part of any communitys essential infrastructure, but in this case much work remains to meet the needs in rural Alaska. Although the bond projects are not part of this bill, I would note my disappointment that the Legislature funded only 10 of the 86 statewide priority school maintenance projects - only one of which is in rural Alaska - and only six new rural schools. Following a precedent of Alaska governors before me, I made technical vetoes of intent language provisions inserted in the budget bills since they do not meet the constitutional requirement that budget bills be limited to appropriations. Governors have routinely done this even if they are planning to implement some of the legislative suggestions. Ironically, two of the intent provisions in this bill suggest shifting operating-type expenditures from the capital budget back into the operating budget, something I proposed several years ago which was mostly turned down by the legislature. 2000-07-14 Senate Journal Page 3840 SB 192 I also did a technical veto of language on pages 15-16 which attempted to make the Tudor Road maintenance site clean-up appropriation contingent on entering into a memorandum of agreement with the Municipality of Anchorage for shared use of the site. This language attempts to incorporate a substantive requirement in an appropriation, thus violating the confinement clause of article II, section 13 of the state constitution. I would point out that the site has friable asbestos and peeling lead paint which are health and safety hazards and should be removed whether or not the state and municipality enter into such an agreement. This spring I announced that we would not pursue the Juneau access road at this time. We must turn our attention to meeting todays transportation needs which communities have expressed in the Southeast Transportation Plan and pursuing the opportunities that fast ferries provide. The federal Highway Administration has confirmed in writing that we are not in danger of losing the value of environmental impact work that has been done to date. For these reasons, I vetoed the allocation titled Juneau Access Environmental Impact Statement Completion by July 1, 2002 on pages 32-33. This will in no way reduce the total amount of federal transportation dollars in Alaska next year. Two identical modifications to a prior year reappropriation were inadvertently included in the bill. To avoid duplication and possible confusion, I retained section 11 and made a technical veto of section 58(a) on page 90. Sincerely, /s/ Tony Knowles Governor