Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
03/29/2019 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB74 | |
| SJR9 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 74 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SJR 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 29, 2019
9:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes, Vice Chair
Senator Chris Birch
Senator Mia Costello
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Tom Begich
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 74
"An Act relating to funding for Internet services for school
districts."
- MOVED CSSB 74(EDC) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9
Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska
relating to an appropriation bill funding public education for
grades kindergarten through 12.
- MOVED SJR 9 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 74
SHORT TITLE: INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) HOFFMAN
03/06/19 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/06/19 (S) EDC, FIN
03/19/19 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/19/19 (S) Heard & Held
03/19/19 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/29/19 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SJR 9
SHORT TITLE: CONST.AM: APPROP. BILL FOR PUBL EDUCATION
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COSTELLO
03/06/19 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/06/19 (S) EDC, JUD, FIN
03/14/19 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/14/19 (S) Heard & Held
03/14/19 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/29/19 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR LYMAN HOFFMAN
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 74.
PATIENCE FREDERICKSEN, Director
Division of Library, Archives, and Museums
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested a change to SB 74 and reviewed the
fiscal note.
DAVID GUTTENBERG, representing self
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 74 and spoke about the lack of
Internet infrastructure in Alaska.
DAVID NEES, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the need for Internet
infrastructure.
ELWIN BLACKWELL, School Finance Manager
School Finance and Facilities Section
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Reviewed the fiscal notes for SJR 9.
JUDY ELEDGE, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed SJR 9.
DAVID BOYLE, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed SJR 9.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:00:00 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Costello, Birch, Hughes, and Chair Stevens.
SB 74-INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS
9:00:17 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SB 74, Version M.
9:00:20 AM
SENATOR LYMAN HOFFMAN, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 74, stated that he was available to answer any
additional questions that the committee may have.
9:00:53 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said that this is an important bill that will
help students across the state. The committee learned at the
last meeting that the ideal speed is 100 megabits of download
per second (Mbps). She expressed hope that as the bill moves
forward there would be consideration for stair stepping so that
over time as schools are ready and as the legislature has the
funding, they could increase their speed to 100 Mbps. This would
free the legislature of annual review of similar bills.
9:02:01 AM
PATIENCE FREDERICKSEN, Director, Division of Library, Archives,
and Museums, Department of Education and Early Development
(DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said the division would suggest
eliminating the proposed new text "a minimum of" because it is
vague and open to interpretation. For clarity it would be most
helpful to say, "bring the applicant's share to 25 megabits of
download a second [of the Internet services.]"
CHAIR STEVENS asked where that was located in the bill.
MS. FREDERICKSEN said the underlined phrase "a minimum of" is on
page 1, line 7. She explained that the phrase is problematic for
administration of the program and that it would be much clearer
to identify the applicant's share as 25 megabits a second.
CHAIR STEVENS said the committee will ask the sponsor to comment
on the suggestion. He asked if she had any comments about the
fiscal note.
MS. FREDERICKSEN replied that the fiscal note is written as
though the division could start the program right away but they
would suggest an effective date of September. She explained that
school districts have an E-rate filing window in the spring and
then they submit a grant application to the School Broadband
Assistance Grant (BAG) program. Those two applications have to
agree. The E-rate filing window closed two days ago. Therefore,
an effective date of September 2019 will give the division one
more year of School BAG program at 10 Mbps. Then July next year
the School BAG program would be 25 Mbps. If the effective date
is September, the $8,676,300 for the FY 2020 appropriation
request would not be needed. The governor's budget has
$1,487,500 for School BAG now and that will cover the cost for
FY 20 if the program is run at 10 Mbps. In FY 2021, the division
would need what is shown in the fiscal note. She explained that
starting the program is somewhat complicated and entails
revising regulations and grant applications and benchmarking
what schools pay for Internet to ensure equity among school
districts.
MS. FREDERICKSEN explained that for the fiscal note, DEED used a
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) list that shows that 245
schools had less than 25 Mbps at the end of February. The
average FY 2019 School BAG cost per school was $16,594. The
School Bag cost for 245 schools at 10 Mbps is $4,065,530 and the
proportional increase from 10 to 25 Mbps is just over $10
million. There are no positions associated with this program but
the cost of the E-rate consultant is added onto the contract.
That person does the lion's share of the review of the grant
applications and works with the school districts to ensure they
are eligible.
9:07:22 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO commented that the effective date issue seems
to be more programmatic than fiscal and could be left to the
Finance Committee to decide. The official record of this
conversation could include the legislative intent of how it
would best work for the program to go into effect.
CHAIR STEVENS asked the sponsor if he had any comment on DEED's
suggestion to strike the language "a minimum of" and instead
identify an applicant's share as 25 megabits of download a
second.
SENATOR HOFFMAN replied that he did not object to the conceptual
amendment.
SENATOR COSTELLO offered a conceptual amendment to SB 74,
Version M, to strike the words "a minimum of" on [page 1,] line
7.
CHAIR STEVENS found no objection and the conceptual amendment to
SB 74 was adopted.
9:09:11 AM
CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony.
9:09:32 AM
DAVID GUTTENBERG, representing self, Fairbanks, Alaska, said the
committee heard quite a bit from education experts when SB 74
was introduced, but he believes that they minimized the impact
of bringing broadband to Alaska schools. He highlighted that the
bill seeks to bring broadband to students across the state, not
just rural schools. He pointed out that if more communities had
connectivity and sustainable high-speed broadband, then all of
Alaska would have significant increases in quality of life and
educational opportunities. Diversifying the economy would also
be more likely.
MR. GUTTENBERG referenced Senator Hughes' question about
industry regulation and said he doesn't understand why the
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) refuses to recognize that
the Internet is a telecommunication. The universal service fund
is a tax and the Alaska universal service fund is a tax, all of
which flows into a specific fund. But what's disturbing about
the situation in Alaska is that the demand for Internet is
escalating but there is no control of cost. Ms. Fredericksen
testified during the previous hearing that schools spend about
$145 million a year for Internet. He said the reports the
legislature told the RCA to produce on Internet are significant
with regard to broadband in Alaska. Billions of dollars of tax
money are going into Alaska for Internet infrastructure but
there is no infrastructure or no guiding hand that says Alaska
needs infrastructure, not just escalating costs. All the
reports, including the state's broadband task force, recommended
that there be a quasigovernmental entity to point out where the
efficiencies are to build out an infrastructure. Part of the
broadband task force report is that the estimated cost is $1.3
billion. That was about eight years ago, so it's probably higher
now. The point is that the billions of dollars in public funds
coming into Alaska now could pay for infrastructure if an entity
pointed out where Alaska lacks infrastructure not just for
schools but for telemedicine and public safety too. He
emphasized the need for the legislature to address this issue.
9:17:46 AM
DAVID NEES, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said the House
education task force discussed Internet broadband speed and the
concern that schools are just paying for operations and there is
no incentive to upgrade facilities. He cited several failed
efforts to improve Internet service in Alaska and agreed with
Mr. Guttenberg that the issue is lack of infrastructure, not
connectivity speed. He said no one has presented a proposal
about what would happen if fiber optics were installed in
schools. If it is going to be the schools' mission to do
distance delivery, it is a good idea to look at the broadband
report and decide on a way to do this. He suggested that this is
a basic unmet need that should be addressed by [the department
of] commerce or a similar entity. Increasing speed alone is not
the solution. He pointed out that a number of schools do not
meet the current minimum and raising that minimum won't change
anything. The access point is the problem. He said people are
subsidizing this and everyone would benefit from faster access.
That will take infrastructure.
9:20:11 AM
CHAIR STEVENS closed public testimony.
9:20:20 AM
SENATOR HUGHES moved to report SB 74, Version M as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and accompanying
fiscal notes.
There was no objection and CSSB 74(EDC) moved from the Senate
Education Standing Committee.
9:20:31 AM
At ease
SJR 9-CONST.AM: APPROP. BILL FOR PUBL EDUCATION
9:22:11 AM
CHAIR STEVENS reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of SJR 9. He asked the sponsor if she had
additional comments.
9:22:21 AM
SENATOR MIA COSTELLO, speaking as prime sponsor of SJR 9, said
the original testimony highlighted that it creates havoc for
school districts to pass education funding later in the session.
She summarized that last session the legislature forward funded
education with $50 million, which districts appreciated. Another
issue in testimony was that Alaska needs certainty for the
economy and that extends to the education community. She opined
that forward funding will benefit students because their
teachers will be there for the long haul and administrators
won't be required to issue pink slips to teachers every year.
She explained that it is preferable to address forward funding
education with a constitutional amendment, not a statute change,
because one legislature is not allowed to encumber another.
9:24:25 AM
SENATOR BIRCH said he appreciates the intent and is comfortable
with forward funding but is concerned about compelling the
legislature to commit such significant financial resources by
the 45th day of the session. Education is just one of a myriad
of vital issues the legislature needs to balance. He summarized
that he supports the intent but is concerned about how this
might impact the budget process.
9:26:18 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she too appreciates the intent because it is
a real problem for school districts but she also shares Senator
Birch's concern. She offered an outside the box suggestion to
convene the legislature in October or November, take a Christmas
break, and return in January.
9:26:51 AM
CHAIR STEVENS commented that the suggestion is outside the box,
but he appreciates the thought.
9:27:09 AM
ELWIN BLACKWELL, School Finance Manager, School Finance and
Facilities Section, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED) said the fiscal notes associated with SJR 9
are zero. There is no expectation that this would impact DEED's
budget processes and procedures. But it would require the
governor's office to submit a separate, K-12 education budget
for public schools to be presented to the legislature.
9:28:24 AM
CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony.
9:28:29 AM
JUDY ELEDGE, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated
opposition to the constitutional amendment proposed in SJR 9.
She argued that constitutional amendments must only be used for
great policy changes, not as a budget process. As a retired
educator who has received pink slips in the past, she said she
agrees that change is needed, but not as proposed in SJR 9.
Rather, the pink slip issue can be corrected by changing the
budget deadline in AS 14.14.060 from May 1 to June 1. She opined
that constitutionally mandating that K-12 education be funded
first is unfair and it reduces the power of appropriation for
the legislature. She expressed concern about unintended
consequences if education gets a bigger piece of the budget pie
early on and suggested the committee consider creative solutions
such as a three-year pilot program of forward funding if all
districts agree to keep their funding at the same level.
9:31:06 AM
DAVID BOYLE, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, described SJR
9 as a solution for a problem caused by the legislature and
local taxing entities. He said AS 14.14.060 requires school
districts to submit their budget for the following school year
by May 1, but the legislature's budget work is not done timely.
He said this is a process issue and a calendar issue that can be
corrected by changing the date in the statute from May 1 to
sometime in June. He posited that constitutional amendments
should not be used for budget process issues. If this resolution
were to pass, K-12 education would be first in line for funding
and would not compete on an equal basis with public safety,
transportation, and health and social services. He concluded
that putting K-12 funding in the Alaska constitution will not
improve student achievement or ensure that public funds are
spent wisely.
9:36:45 AM
CHAIR STEVENS closed public testimony. He noted that SJR 9 had
referrals to Judiciary and Finance and solicited a motion.
9:37:09 AM
SENATOR HUGHES moved to report SJR 9, Version S, from committee
with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.
There being no objection, SJR 9 moved from the Senate Education
Standing Committee.
9:37:18 AM
At ease
9:38:53 AM
CHAIR STEVENS reconvened the committee.
SENATOR COSTELLO expressed appreciation to the individuals who
called in to testify.
9:39:34 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stevens adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting at 9:39 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01_SB074_InternetBroadband_BillText_VersionM.PDF |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 02_SB074_InternetBroadband_SponsorStatement_VersionM.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 03_SB074_InternetBroadband_Sectional_VersionM.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 04_SB074_InternetBroadband_FiscalNote01_DEED_Libraries.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 05_SB074_InternetBroadband_Research_AlaskaStateLibrary_Broadband_Summary.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 06_SB074_InternetBroadband_Research_BroadbandGrantApplication.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 07_SB074_InternetBroadband_Research_Article_28Jan2019.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 08_SB074_InternetBroadband_Research_DistrictsUnder25mbs_2018-2019.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 09_SB074_InternetBroadband_Support_LPSD_28March2019.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |
| 10_SB074_InternetBroadband_Support_GCI_28March2019.pdf |
SEDC 3/29/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 74 |