Legislature(2009 - 2010)HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/06/2010 09:00 AM House FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB168 | |
| HB413 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 168 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 413 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE BILL NO. 413
"An Act relating to the Alaska Challenge Youth
Academy."
10:10:02 AM
KATIE KOESTER, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE PAUL SEATON, SPONSOR,
explained that the bill would restructure the funding
formula for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy [also called
the Alaska Military Youth Academy (AMYA)], a highly
successful residential program for high-school drop-outs.
Based on a national challenge model, the academy serves an
important population that struggles in regular school. The
academy has a 70 percent graduation rate; graduates receive
a GED or diploma over an intensive 22-week course. The
students are then followed for another year and are
considered a success if at the end of the year they are in
college or the military, attending vocational education
school, or employed at least 30 hours per week; the success
rate for the program is 93 percent.
Ms. Koester explained that the education committee had been
tasked with finding a more realistic formula for funding
the academy. The current funding formula for AMYA is 7
times the base student allocation (BSA) for residential
students, 0.6 times the BSA for non-residential students,
less any federal funds received. For the current year, the
numbers were 7 times $5,680, 0.6 times $5,680, minus $2.7
million in federal funding, or $5.8 million in general fund
dollars. The committee was concerned that the increases in
the BSA do not necessarily correlate with the increased
costs at the academy. She explained that HB 413 would
address the formula problem by taking a number ($11,990)
and setting it in statute and multiplying that by the
number of residential and non-residential students. The
result would be approximately the same figure, $5.8
million. The number would be set in statute, and the
academy would need to come to the legislature when they
needed more funding.
10:13:18 AM
Co-Chair Stoltze asked for more information. Ms. Koester
replied that Mt. Edgecumbe is funded through the BSA for
the instructional component and funded under the Department
of Education and Early Development (DEED) budget for the
residential component. She noted that the population served
by the academy requires 100 percent supervision and is more
high-needs than the Mt. Edgecumbe population, which is more
high-achieving.
Representative Gara asked whether the number was currently
tied to the BSA. Ms. Koester answered yes.
Representative Gara asked whether implementing the change
would cause a lag in funding, since the BSA tends to
increase each year. Ms. Koester responded that the
legislature has shown commitment to the program and the
academy would be able to get increases when needed. She
acknowledged concerns that had been expressed that it may
not increase at the same rate as 7 times the BSA. When
Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers
Retirement System (TRS) costs were rolled into the BSA, the
academy received larger funding.
Ms. Koester noted that the Department of Military and
Veterans Affairs (DMVA) was in favor of the legislation.
Co-Chair Hawker stated strong support for the "innovative
and successful" program. He noted discussion of the issue
three years prior in the joint legislative educational task
force; the issue of the correlation between the BSA and the
needs of the academy was discussed and deferred to the
education committee.
Co-Chair Hawker stated concerns about putting a set number
into statute when the number was inherently not durable. He
pointed out an alternative to the formulaic programs fixed
at 7 times the BSA was to disconnect the academy from a
formula and have it come back each year and get into the
operating budget based on actual annual needs.
Co-Chair Hawker believed the fixed number was inflated,
resulting in the mentioned windfall. He reiterated
concerns.
10:18:47 AM
Co-Chair Hawker questioned the number chosen and whether it
accomplished the greatest good.
Representative Austerman echoed support for the program for
young people with problems. He asked whether there would be
federal funds for the program in the future. Ms. Koester
replied that there would still be federal funds.
Representative Austerman thought the numbers would
represent a substantial increase based on a flat figure
plus the federal funds. Ms. Koester clarified how the
figure was arrived at and explained that the general fund
number would be the same.
EDDY JEANS, DIRECTOR, SCHOOL FINANCES AND FACILITIES,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT, explained
that the department was supportive of the academy program
and was simply a conduit for the program's revenue. His
direction working with the education committee was to keep
the state general funds at the same level as the FY 11
budget. He mentioned a $600,000 state general funds
reduction in the department's FY 11 budget request because
of a federal fund increase anticipated by the academy.
Co-Chair Hawker reiterated concerns regarding the number.
The federal funding fluctuates.
10:23:38 AM
Representative Gara suggested pegging the annual student
allocation to a multiple of the BSA. Ms. Koester responded
that pegging the number to the BSA has not worked in the
past because of the volatility of the number and because
the needs addressed are different. The education committee
wanted to get away from the formula. She noted that the
number ($11,990) was the number that DMVA said they needed
and could work with to deliver the same level of services.
Co-Chair Stoltze hoped to talk to DMVA to check the
numbers.
Representative Kelly referred to concerns, including that a
different multiplier (five times) had been looked at. He
queried how the bill would address the perennial problem of
the count at the academy. Mr. Jeans replied that tying the
funding to the BSA did not work because of the increased
TRS costs, which raised the BSA; the employees at the
academy are PERS employees. The PERS increase was not as
large, resulting in an unintended windfall to the youth
academy. He stated that DEED was comfortable with moving
away from tying to the BSA. He believed DMVA was also
comfortable with the approach. In terms of the count, he
had considered the number of students served through the
program, both residential and non-residential and found
that the number does not change much over multiple years.
He had not looked at using multiple counts. He pointed out
that annual operating costs would still be needed.
HB 413 was HEARD and HELD in Committee for further
consideration.
10:28:23 AM