00 SENATE BILL NO. 43 01 "An Act renaming the Alaska performance scholarship and relating to the scholarship 02 and tax credits applicable to contributions to the scholarship; establishing the Alaska 03 performance scholarship investment fund and the Alaska performance scholarship 04 award fund and relating to the funds; making conforming amendments; and providing 05 for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 14.03.113, as enacted by sec. 1, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 08 Sec. 14.03.113. District determination of scholarship eligibility. A school 09 district shall determine whether a student who graduates from a high school in the 10 district is eligible for an award of an Alaska performance [MERIT SCHOLARSHIP 11 PROGRAM] scholarship under AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849. If a student is eligible, the 12 district shall state in the student's permanent record the highest level of funding for 13 which the student is eligible. A district shall provide a student with an opportunity to 01 request that the district correct an error in the eligibility determination. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 14.43.810, as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 03 Sec. 14.43.810. Alaska performance [MERIT] scholarship [PROGRAM] 04 established; regulations. (a) The Alaska performance [MERIT] scholarship 05 [PROGRAM] is established to provide scholarships for high school graduates who are 06 Alaska residents to attend a qualified postsecondary institution in the state. 07 (b) The department shall, in consultation with the commission, adopt 08 regulations necessary to implement the scholarships [PROGRAM]. The commission 09 shall administer the daily operations of the scholarships [PROGRAM] and financing 10 of the scholarships [PROGRAM], including the procedures for applying for the 11 scholarships, establishing standards for and ensuring continuing compliance with 12 programmatic standards, and requiring students to apply for other nonloan financial 13 aid, consistent with federal law. 14 * Sec. 3. AS 14.43.820(a), as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 15 (a) Subject to appropriation, the commission shall award an Alaska 16 performance [MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM] scholarship to an applicant who 17 (1) is a resident of the state as defined in AS 01.10.055; 18 (2) graduated or will graduate within six months from a high school in 19 the state; 20 (3) has completed a core academic curriculum in high school that 21 includes 22 (A) four years of mathematics, four years of language arts, four 23 years of science, and four years of social studies, one year of which may 24 include a foreign language, an Alaska Native language, fine arts, or cultural 25 heritage; or 26 (B) three years of mathematics, four years of language arts, 27 three years of science, four years of social studies, and two years of a foreign 28 language or an Alaska Native language; 29 (4) has a minimum grade-point average in high school of 2.5 or higher; 30 the department shall set by regulation minimum requirements based on a substantially 31 similar standard for districts that do not assign grades; 01 (5) has achieved a minimum score on a 02 (A) college entrance examination; or 03 (B) standardized examination designed to measure a student's 04 level of preparedness to make the transition to work, as selected by the 05 department; and 06 (6) is enrolled in good standing in a course of study at a qualified 07 postsecondary institution in this state that is intended to result in the award of a 08 certificate or degree. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 14.43.825(a), as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 10 (a) The maximum annual awards for the Alaska performance [MERIT 11 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM] scholarships are as follows: 12 (1) the first award level is $4,755 and requires a 3.5 grade-point 13 average or above and a very high minimum score on a college entrance examination; 14 (2) the second award level is $3,566 and requires a 3.0 grade-point 15 average or above and a high minimum score on a college entrance examination; 16 (3) the third award level is $2,378 and requires a 2.5 grade-point 17 average or above and a moderately high minimum score on a college entrance 18 examination. 19 * Sec. 5. AS 14.43.830, as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 20 Sec. 14.43.830. Qualified postsecondary institutions. (a) The following 21 institutions are qualified postsecondary institutions for purposes of awarding an 22 Alaska performance [MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM] scholarship: 23 (1) a university or college physically located in the state that is 24 (A) authorized to operate in the state under AS 14.48.020 or is 25 exempt from authorization under AS 14.48.030(b)(1); and 26 (B) accredited by a regional accreditation association; 27 (2) a career and technical school program physically located in the 28 state that has been included on a list of certified career and technical school programs 29 received from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; the commission 30 shall publish the list on or before June 30 of the year preceding enrollment. 31 (b) The Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall, in 01 consultation with the Department of Education and Early Development, adopt 02 regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) establishing criteria under 03 which the Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall certify career and 04 technical school programs in the state as eligible to participate in the Alaska 05 performance [MERIT] scholarship [PROGRAM]. 06 * Sec. 6. AS 14.43.840, as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is amended to read: 07 Sec. 14.43.840. Report to the legislature. (a) To the extent permitted under 08 law, the department, the commission, the University of Alaska, and the Department of 09 Labor and Workforce Development shall share data necessary to prepare public 10 reports regarding the scholarships [PROGRAM]. 11 (b) Not more than 10 days after the convening of each regular legislative 12 session, the department, the commission, the University of Alaska, and the 13 Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall present an annual report to 14 the public, the governor, and the legislature containing information of public interest 15 regarding the scholarships [PROGRAM], including 16 (1) the number of applicants and number and types of scholarships 17 awarded; 18 (2) the dollar amount of scholarships awarded in past years and the 19 dollar amount expected to be awarded for the next year; and 20 (3) data and trends in the data regarding high school and postsecondary 21 student performance, programmatic changes, and retention and graduation rates over 22 time. 23 * Sec. 7. AS 14.43 is amended by adding a new section to read: 24 Sec. 14.43.845. Alaska performance scholarship award fund. (a) The 25 Alaska performance scholarship award fund is established. The fund consists of 26 appropriations for Alaska performance scholarship awards under AS 37.14.750 - 27 37.14.790. 28 (b) The commission may use money in the fund to pay scholarships to 29 students under AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849. Money appropriated to the fund may be 30 expended without further appropriation. Money appropriated to the fund does not 31 lapse. The money in the fund may be expended only in awarding scholarships under 01 AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849. 02 * Sec. 8. AS 14.45.130(a), as amended by sec. 7, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is further amended to 03 read: 04 (a) A religious or other private school that elects to comply with AS 14.45.100 05 - 14.45.130 shall maintain permanent student records reflecting immunizations, 06 physical examinations, standardized testing, academic achievement, courses taken at 07 the school, and level of eligibility for an Alaska performance [MERIT 08 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM] scholarship under AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849. 09 * Sec. 9. AS 37.14 is amended by adding new sections to read: 10 Article 8A. Alaska Performance Scholarship Investment Fund. 11 Sec. 37.14.750. Alaska performance scholarship investment fund 12 established. (a) The Alaska performance scholarship investment fund is established as 13 a fund of the state. The fund consists of 14 (1) appropriations to the fund; 15 (2) donations to the fund; and 16 (3) income earned on investments of fund assets. 17 (b) The commissioner of revenue shall manage the fund with the goal that the 18 purchasing power of the fund will not diminish over time without regard to additional 19 contributions that may be made to the fund. The commissioner shall invest the assets 20 of the fund in a manner likely to yield at least a five percent real rate of return over 21 time. 22 (c) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 23 Sec. 37.14.755. Powers and duties of the commissioner of revenue. In 24 carrying out the investment duties under AS 37.14.750 - 37.14.790, the commissioner 25 of revenue has the powers and duties set out in AS 37.10.071. The commissioner shall 26 provide reports to the Department of Education and Early Development, the 27 Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Alaska Commission on 28 Postsecondary Education on the condition and investment performance of the fund. 29 Sec. 37.14.760. Use of fund. As soon as practicable after July 1 of each year, 30 the commissioner of revenue shall determine the average month-end market value of 31 the fund for the immediately preceding three fiscal years. The commissioner shall 01 identify five percent of that amount as available for appropriation by the legislature for 02 appropriation to the Alaska performance scholarship award fund created under 03 AS 14.43.845 from which the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education may 04 award scholarships under AS 14.43.810 - 14.43.849. The commissioner shall also 05 report as available for appropriation a running total of amounts previously identified 06 as available for appropriation to the Alaska performance scholarship award fund but 07 not appropriated. 08 Sec. 37.14.790. Definitions. In AS 37.14.750 - 37.14.790, unless the context 09 requires otherwise, 10 (1) "commissioner" means the commissioner of revenue; 11 (2) "fund" means the Alaska performance scholarship investment fund 12 established in AS 37.14.750(a). 13 * Sec. 10. AS 43.20.014(a) is amended to read: 14 (a) A taxpayer is allowed a credit against the tax due under this chapter for 15 cash contributions accepted 16 (1) for direct instruction, research, and educational support purposes, 17 including library and museum acquisitions, and contributions to endowment, by an 18 Alaska university foundation or by a nonprofit, public or private, Alaska two-year or 19 four-year college accredited by a regional accreditation association; 20 (2) for secondary school level vocational education courses, programs, 21 and facilities by a school district in the state; 22 (3) for vocational education courses, programs, and facilities by a 23 state-operated vocational technical education and training school; [AND] 24 (4) for a facility by a nonprofit, public or private, Alaska two-year or 25 four-year college accredited by a regional accreditation association; and 26 (5) for the Alaska performance scholarship investment fund under 27 AS 37.14.750(a). 28 * Sec. 11. AS 43.20.014(a), as amended by sec. 14, ch. 92, SLA 2010, is further amended to 29 read: 30 (a) A taxpayer is allowed a credit against the tax due under this chapter for 31 cash contributions accepted 01 (1) for direct instruction, research, and educational support purposes, 02 including library and museum acquisitions, and contributions to endowment, by an 03 Alaska university foundation or by a nonprofit, public or private, Alaska two-year or 04 four-year college accredited by a regional accreditation association; 05 (2) for secondary school level vocational education courses and 06 programs by a school district in the state; [AND] 07 (3) by a state-operated vocational technical education and training 08 school; and 09 (4) for the Alaska performance scholarship investment fund under 10 AS 37.14.750(a). 11 * Sec. 12. AS 14.43.849(4), as enacted by sec. 5, ch. 14, SLA 2010, is repealed. 12 * Sec. 13. Section 8, ch. 14, SLA 2010 is amended to read: 13 TRANSITION: SCHOLARSHIP [PROGRAM] STANDARDS AND 14 IMPLEMENTATION FOR INITIAL SCHOOL YEARS. Notwithstanding any 15 contrary provision of this Act, the Department of Education and Early Development 16 and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, after consultation with the 17 Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, may adopt regulations under 18 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to implement their respective duties under 19 the Alaska performance [MERIT] scholarship [PROGRAM] established in 20 AS 14.43.810, enacted by sec. 5 of this Act, so that a student 21 (1) may be eligible for the Alaska performance scholarship 22 [PROGRAM] even though the student did not fully meet the required core academic 23 curriculum for the school years beginning July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2014; and 24 (2) who graduated from high school in this state after January 1, 2011, 25 and before July 1, 2011, and meets eligibility requirements for the Alaska 26 performance scholarship [PROGRAM] may apply for a scholarship on or after 27 January 1, 2011, for enrollment in a program of study beginning on or after July 1, 28 2011. 29 * Sec. 14. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 30 read: 31 REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION. The revisor of statutes is instructed to change the 01 heading of 02 (1) Article 12 of AS 14.43 from "Alaska Merit Scholarship Program" to 03 "Alaska Performance Scholarship"; 04 (2) AS 14.43.820 from "Alaska merit scholarship program; eligibility" to 05 "Alaska performance scholarship; eligibility". 06 * Sec. 15. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 07 read: 08 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Education and Early 09 Development, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of 10 Revenue, and the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education may proceed to adopt 11 regulations necessary to implement changes made to their respective authorities by this Act. 12 The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before 13 July 1, 2011. 14 * Sec. 16. Section 15 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 15 * Sec. 17. Section 11 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2014. 16 * Sec. 18. Except as provided in secs. 16 and 17 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 17 2011.