SENATE BILL NO. 131 "An Act relating to a separate appropriation bill for operating expenses for public education and establishing a date by which the bill must be passed by the legislature and transmitted to the governor each year; relating to the budget responsibilities of the governor; and providing for an effective date." 9:02:17 AM SENATOR GARY STEVENS, SPONSOR, introduced the bill. 9:03:05 AM TIM LAMKIN, STAFF, SENATOR GARY STEVENS, explained that the bill would early fund the formula program that was currently set in statute. He thought that the creation of the formula had been an attempt to depoliticize education funding in the state. He noted that education had been very important to the founders of the state and had been one of the first major policy issues they put forward. 9:04:48 AM Mr. Lamkin outlined the Sectional Analysis (copy on file): Section 1: Requires the governor to submit to the legislature a separate appropriation bill for public education, formula funding for schools. The legislature is directed to pass and transmit to the governor by April 1 a bill making appropriations for formula funding for the following fiscal year. Section 2: Is a technical change to the Executive Budget Act, to accommodate the provision for a separate appropriations bill for formula funding public education. Section 3: The effective date of the Is July 1, 2018, so a separate appropriations bill for formula funding public education would be first required for the FY 2020 budget. 9:05:43 AM Co-Chair MacKinnon understood that the concept of the legislation had been heard before. Senator Stevens said that he had introduced it in 2002 but that at that time districts had not been interested. He hoped that the legislation would be effective in solving the issue of teachers in the state receiving pink slips and the overall uncertainty faced by school districts regarding funding for education. 9:06:44 AM Co-Chair MacKinnon expressed concern that an early funding of education appropriation bill could be used to fund thing outside of education. She was also concerned that once education was taken care of in the basic formula, there remained the fight for additional money in the Operating Budget. 9:07:39 AM Co-Chair MacKinnon asked how the school at Mount Edgecumbe and pupil transportation would be addressed. Mr. Lamkin said that the bill focused on the statutes that pertained directly to the foundation formula. He said that opening the formula to allow for inclusion was not out of the question but could be difficult. 9:08:55 AM Senator Olson asked about early childhood program outside of basic school funding. He wondered whether the bill would affect teachers in early childhood education. Mr. Lamkin reiterated that inclusivity of programs outside of K-12 could be challenging but was not impossible. SB 131 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration. 9:10:40 AM AT EASE 9:12:38 AM RECONVENED Co-Chair MacKinnon handed the gavel to Co-Chair Hoffman.