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SCS CSHB 28(EDC): "An Act relating to education; relating to reports regarding correspondence study programs; relating to correspondence study program materials; relating to student transportation funding; relating to reemploying retired members of the teachers' retirement system at regional resource centers; requiring the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee to procure an education funding study; establishing a teachers' student loan repayment pilot program; relating to school energy cost relief payments; relating to reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to the use of tax revenue from highly digitized businesses; relating to secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding; providing for an effective date by amending the effective date of secs. 10, 11, 13, and 15, ch. 5, SLA 2025; and providing for an effective date."

00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 28(EDC) 01 "An Act relating to education; relating to reports regarding correspondence study 02 programs; relating to correspondence study program materials; relating to student 03 transportation funding; relating to reemploying retired members of the teachers' 04 retirement system at regional resource centers; requiring the Legislative Budget and 05 Audit Committee to procure an education funding study; establishing a teachers' 06 student loan repayment pilot program; relating to school energy cost relief payments; 07 relating to reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to the use of tax revenue from 08 highly digitized businesses; relating to secondary school vocational and technical 09 instruction funding; providing for an effective date by amending the effective date of 10 secs. 10, 11, 13, and 15, ch. 5, SLA 2025; and providing for an effective date." 11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 12 * Section 1. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

01 (l) A district shall annually file with the department and make available to the 02 public by November 1 each year, a report regarding correspondence study programs 03 operated by the district during the previous school year that includes 04 (1) the total administrative expenditures for the correspondence study 05 program, including expenditures toward real estate or facility rentals located outside of 06 the school district, promotional materials and services, and personnel information that 07 is disaggregated by classification; 08 (2) the total number of students enrolled in the correspondence study 09 program on May 1 of the year, disaggregated by grade level; 10 (3) the demographic information of enrolled students, including the 11 community of residence for each student; 12 (4) the amount of allotment funding authorized under AS 14.03.310 13 designated for each student, disaggregated by grade; 14 (5) a categorical accounting of allotment expenditures, including 15 curriculum and instructional materials; technology hardware, computer software, and 16 streaming services; tutoring and academic instruction services; tuition and fees to 17 postsecondary education institutions; physical education and extracurricular activities; 18 and travel and cultural activities; 19 (6) the number and disaggregated value of allotment expenditures 20 reviewed and denied by the district, including the reason for denial; 21 (7) the total value of carried forward allotment funds at year-end, 22 including the average carried forward amount for each grade level. 23 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.300 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 24 (c) A student who ceases to be enrolled in a correspondence study program 25 operated by a school district may retain textbooks, equipment, and other curriculum 26 materials provided to the student through the program, including materials purchased 27 through an annual student allotment provided to a parent or guardian of the student 28 under AS 14.03.310, if the textbook, equipment, or material is of the type that a 29 student may retain when the student ceases to be enrolled in a physical school in the 30 district. 31 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.168 is amended to read:

01 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 02 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present in 03 person to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 04 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 05 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 06 bylaws of the board. The report must include 07 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 08 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 09 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 10 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 11 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 12 maintain the public education system; 13 (4) a summary of implementation and utilization of the consortium 14 established under AS 14.30.800, including a review of consortium effectiveness and 15 the participation rates of districts, teachers, and students; 16 (5) information reported to the department regarding 17 correspondence study programs as required under AS 14.03.120(l). 18 * Sec. 4. AS 14.09.010(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the 20 transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to 21 receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation 22 system for students to and from the schools within the student's transportation service 23 area. Subject to appropriation, the amount of funding provided by the state for 24 operating the student transportation system is the amount of a school district's ADM, 25 less the ADM for the district's correspondence programs during the current fiscal year, 26 multiplied by the per student amount for the school district as follows, for the school 27 years beginning July 1, 2026 [2025]: 28 DISTRICT PER STUDENT AMOUNT 29 Alaska Gateway $2,782 [$2,529] 30 Aleutians East 415 [377] 31 Anchorage 582 [529]

01 Annette Island 244 [221] 02 Bering Strait 65 [59] 03 Bristol Bay 3,572 [3,247] 04 Chatham 375 [341] 05 Copper River 2,121 [1,928] 06 Cordova 449 [408] 07 Craig 566 [514] 08 Delta/Greely 2,214 [2,013] 09 Denali 2,417 [2,197] 10 Dillingham 1,628 [1,480] 11 Fairbanks 1,092 [992] 12 Galena 340 [309] 13 Haines 838 [761] 14 Hoonah 399 [363] 15 Iditarod 283 [257] 16 Juneau 806 [733] 17 Kake 363 [330] 18 Kashunamiut 7 [6] 19 Kenai Peninsula 1,224 [1,112[ 20 Ketchikan 971 [833] 21 Klawock 781 [710] 22 Kodiak Island 1,068 [971] 23 Kuspuk 874 [794] 24 Lake and Peninsula 513 [466] 25 Lower Kuskokwim 371 [337] 26 Lower Yukon 1 27 Matanuska-Susitna 1,217 [1,106] 28 Nenana 785 [714] 29 Nome 831 [755] 30 North Slope 1,497 [1,361] 31 Northwest Arctic 33 [30]

01 Pelican 97 [88] 02 Petersburg 501 [455] 03 Saint Mary's 257 [234] 04 Sitka 572 [520] 05 Skagway 48 [44] 06 Southeast Island 1,545 [1,404] 07 Southwest Region 799 [726] 08 Unalaska 867 [788] 09 Valdez 983 [894] 10 Wrangell 937 [851] 11 Yakutat 994 [904] 12 Yukon Flats 354 [321] 13 Yukon/Koyukuk 400 [364] 14 Yupiit 3 [2]. 15 * Sec. 5. AS 14.20.136(a) is amended to read: 16 (a) Subject to (b) - (d) of this section, a school district or regional resource 17 center established under AS 14.12.150 may reemploy a member who is retired under 18 a retirement plan established in AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220, or a member who is retired 19 under a retirement plan established in AS 14.25.310 - 14.25.590. In this subsection, 20 "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 21 * Sec. 6. AS 14.20.136(b) is amended to read: 22 (b) A member who is retired under AS 14.25.110(a) may not be reemployed 23 under (a) of this section unless the member 24 (1) certifies that the member and the school district or regional 25 resource center did not arrange before the member retired from the school district or 26 regional resource center for the member to be reemployed by the school district or 27 regional resource center after the member retired; and 28 (2) has been retired for at least 29 (A) 60 days if the member is at least 62 years of age; or 30 (B) six months if the member is less than 62 years of age. 31 * Sec. 7. AS 14.20.136(c) is amended to read:

01 (c) Before reemploying a retired member under (a) of this section to fill a 02 position, a school district or regional resource center shall 03 (1) by resolution, adopt a policy that describes the circumstances of a 04 shortage or anticipated shortage of applicants, other than retired members, who are 05 qualified for particular positions and permits rehiring that complies with the 06 requirements of this section; and 07 (2) publicly advertise the position for 10 business days and actively 08 recruit to fill the position by hiring a person other than a member who is retired. 09 * Sec. 8. AS 14.20.136(e) is amended to read: 10 (e) A school district or regional resource center that reemploys a member 11 under this section who is retired under the defined benefit retirement plan established 12 in AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220 is required to 13 (1) provide the administrator with 14 (A) a copy of the resolution and policy adopted under (c) of 15 this section; and 16 (B) for every retired member who is rehired, a report 17 identifying the member by name and describing the 18 (i) circumstances of the shortage that necessitated the 19 rehire; and 20 (ii) actions taken by the school district or regional 21 resource center to comply with [SCHOOL DISTRICT] policy adopted 22 under (c) of this section and the requirements of this section; and 23 (2) make contributions under AS 14.25.070. 24 * Sec. 9. AS 14.25.043(f) is amended to read: 25 (f) If a member who retired under AS 14.25.110(a) is reemployed by a school 26 district or regional resource center under AS 14.20.136, 27 (1) the member does not become an active member; 28 (2) the member shall continue to receive retirement benefits from the 29 plan as though the member were not reemployed by the school district or regional 30 resource center; 31 (3) deductions from the member's salary may not be made under

01 AS 14.25.050; and 02 (4) the member may not receive credited service in the plan during the 03 period of reemployment. 04 * Sec. 10. AS 14.25.043(g) is amended to read: 05 (g) Notwithstanding (f) of this section, a member who is retired under 06 AS 14.25.110(a) and reemployed by a school district or regional resource center 07 under AS 14.20.136 is eligible to receive the group health plan coverage provided to 08 active members employed by that school district or regional resource center. 09 * Sec. 11. Section 19, ch. 5, SLA 2025, is repealed. 10 * Sec. 12. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11 read: 12 LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE STUDY OF PUBLIC 13 SCHOOL FUNDING. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee shall procure a study to 14 be completed not later than January 1, 2027, by an entity or entities with expertise in school 15 finance to evaluate the current education funding provisions and either recommend changes to 16 the current funding provisions or recommend alternative methods of education funding. The 17 study must 18 (1) be produced in consultation with the Institute of Social and Economic 19 Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage; and 20 (2) include consideration of 21 (A) stable and predictable funding for basic education needs and an 22 ancillary system of providing funding above basic education needs; 23 (B) geographic location and specific student subpopulations, as 24 appropriate; 25 (C) appropriate proportions and mechanisms for state and local 26 contributions to public school funding; and 27 (D) methods for funding alternative public school options, including 28 charter schools, residential schools, and correspondence programs. 29 * Sec. 13. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 30 read: 31 STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The Alaska Commission

01 on Postsecondary Education shall develop and administer a teachers' student loan repayment 02 pilot program. A person applying for a grant must submit the application to the commission 03 by a deadline established by the commission, on a form provided by the commission. Subject 04 to appropriation, the commission may award a grant to a person who 05 (1) is employed as a full-time certificated teacher in a public school to teach 06 special education, English as a second language, science, technology, engineering, or 07 mathematics; 08 (2) has completed a postsecondary degree or certificate program; 09 (3) has an outstanding student loan as described in 26 U.S.C. 108(f)(2) 10 incurred by the person for the degree or certificate program; and 11 (4) has otherwise exhausted all other federal and state student loan repayment 12 programs for which the person is eligible. 13 (b) The commission shall 14 (1) establish an application process for participation in the program; 15 (2) implement policies to determine the efficacy of the program toward 16 improving the recruitment and retention rates of teachers who receive a grant under this 17 section; and 18 (3) evaluate the effects of the program on employee recruitment and retention 19 for the purpose of preparing the report required under sec. 2 of this Act. 20 (c) The commission may require a person to refinance the outstanding student loan 21 described in (a) of this section with the commission in order to participate in the program. 22 (d) Grants awarded under this section are payable upon completion of the person's 23 contract term. 24 (e) The commission may award a grant to a person each year in an amount equal to 25 one-third of the balance of the outstanding student loan owed by the person. A grant awarded 26 to a person under this section may not exceed $5,000 each year and may not be awarded for 27 more than three years. 28 (f) Grants may be awarded under this section each fiscal year. The total dollar amount 29 of grants awarded under this section may not exceed $1,000,000 in a fiscal year. If the amount 30 appropriated in a fiscal year is insufficient to meet the amounts awarded under (a) of this 31 section, the commission shall reduce pro rata the amounts awarded by the necessary

01 percentage as determined by the commission. 02 (g) The commission may adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. 03 (h) In this section, "commission" means the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 04 Education. 05 * Sec. 14. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 06 read: 07 PILOT PROGRAM: REPORT. On or before December 31, 2028, the Alaska 08 Commission on Postsecondary Education shall submit a report to the senate secretary and the 09 chief clerk of the house of representatives and notify the legislature that the report is 10 available. The report must include the effects of the student loan repayment pilot program 11 under sec. 13 of this Act on teacher recruitment and retention and an analysis of the overall 12 success rate and effectiveness of the student loan repayment pilot program thus far. 13 * Sec. 15. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 14 read: 15 ONE-TIME SCHOOL ENERGY COST RELIEF PAYMENT. (a) Subject to 16 appropriation, the Department of Education and Early Development shall distribute up to 17 $43,874,000 among school districts. A school district may use a distribution for any operating 18 purpose. The amount the department distributes to a school district shall be proportional to the 19 school district's share of total statewide reported energy expenditures. The department shall 20 calculate the share by determining the quotient of the school district's actual expenditures for 21 heating fuel and electricity for fiscal year 2025, as reflected in the Department of Education 22 and Early Development's records, divided by the total actual expenditures of all school 23 districts for heating fuel and electricity for fiscal year 2025, as reflected in the Department of 24 Education and Early Development's records, multiplied by the total amount appropriated for 25 payments under this section. 26 (b) The department shall distribute funds appropriated for payments under this section 27 not later than 30 days after the funds become available. 28 * Sec. 16. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 APPLICABILITY. Sections 5 - 10 of this Act apply to contracts made on or after the 31 effective date of this Act.

01 * Sec. 17. Section 13 of this Act is repealed June 1, 2030. 02 * Sec. 18. Section 14 of this Act is repealed January 1, 2029. 03 * Sec. 19. Section 20, ch. 5, SLA 2025, is amended to read: 04 Sec. 20. Sections [IF SECS.] 10, 11, 13, and 15, ch. 5, SLA 2025, [OF THIS 05 ACT] take effect July 1, 2026 [, THEY TAKE EFFECT 181 DAYS AFTER THE 06 EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE SECTION OF SB 113 OR A SUBSTANTIALLY 07 SIMILAR BILL THAT EFFECTUATES THE SALES FACTOR, AS 08 DETERMINED UNDER AS 43.19 (MULTISTATE TAX COMPACT), AS THE 09 APPORTIONMENT FACTOR FOR HIGHLY DIGITIZED BUSINESSES]. 10 * Sec. 20. Section 4 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 11 * Sec. 21. Except as provided in sec. 20 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under 12 AS 01.10.070(c).