02/01/2024 01:30 PM House FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 148                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act relating to the Alaska performance scholarship                                                                     
     program."                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:24:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   JUSTIN   RUFFRIDGE,   SPONSOR,   introduced                                                                    
himself  and relayed  that  he  appreciated the  committee's                                                                    
time.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Johnson  MOVED  to ADOPT  the  proposed  committee                                                                    
substitute    for   HB    148,   Work    Draft   33-LS0624/U                                                                    
(Marx/Bergerud, 1/30/24).                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster OBJECTED for discussion.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Representative Ruffridge  indicated that his staff  would go                                                                    
through the  summary of changes in  the committee substitute                                                                    
(CS).                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
BUD   SEXTON,   STAFF,  REPRESENTATIVE   JUSTIN   RUFFRIDGE,                                                                    
reviewed the  summary of changes  (copy on file).  The first                                                                    
change was related  to a new subsection within  Section 2 of                                                                    
the  bill  which  would alter  notification  timelines.  The                                                                    
subsection ensured  that students would  receive information                                                                    
about  the  Alaska  Performance  Scholarship  (APS)  program                                                                    
earlier  in high  school, which  could positively  influence                                                                    
students'  decisions to  attend a  postsecondary institution                                                                    
in Alaska.  He continued that  Section 4 and Section  7 were                                                                    
related  and would  ensure that  high schools  that did  not                                                                    
award grades  on a four-point  or five-point scale  would be                                                                    
able to participate in the APS award program.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:28:37 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JANELLE   GRENIER,  NIKISKI   HIGH   SCHOOL,  NIKISKI   (via                                                                    
teleconference),  testified  in  support of  the  bill.  She                                                                    
relayed  that Alaska  needed nurses,  teachers, accountants,                                                                    
biologists,  firefighters, and  many other  professions that                                                                    
required secondary education. She  thought that HB 148 would                                                                    
help support students. She told  kids at Nikiski High School                                                                    
that APS  was one of  the best opportunities  available. She                                                                    
did not think there were  many scholarships available and it                                                                    
was  increasingly hard  for students  to receive  loans, and                                                                    
parents often had  to cosign. She relayed that 20  of the 40                                                                    
high  school seniors  with whom  she  worked were  at a  3.0                                                                    
grade point  average (GPA). Only  one student  had qualified                                                                    
for the highest level of the  SATs. She argued that in order                                                                    
to do  well on  the SATs,  students needed  to have  a solid                                                                    
background  in  math.  There needed  to  be  incentives  for                                                                    
students to go to school in  Alaska in order for there to be                                                                    
a qualified  workforce in the  state. She added that  it was                                                                    
often  difficult to  access the  SAT for  students in  rural                                                                    
areas. College  was expensive  in Alaska  and she  had found                                                                    
cheaper options for her students  outside of the state. Many                                                                    
of her students wanted to go  to college in Alaska but could                                                                    
not afford it.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:33:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PAUL  LAYER, VICE  PRESIDENT  FOR  ACADEMICS, UNIVERSITY  OF                                                                    
ALASKA,  FAIRBANKS  (via  teleconference),  was  calling  in                                                                    
support of  the changes to  the bill  in the CS.  He thought                                                                    
the changes helped students  in Alaska, particularly through                                                                    
the increased accessibility of APS.  The university would be                                                                    
able to put  together more competitive aid  packages to help                                                                    
keep   more  students   in  Alaska.   The  changed   testing                                                                    
requirements  would increase  testing eligibility  and allow                                                                    
for  more  scholarship  packages   to  be  offered  to  more                                                                    
students.  He thought  that the  current APS  process worked                                                                    
for the state and students, but  the changes in the CS would                                                                    
make it more  accessible and help keep more  students in the                                                                    
state.  He relayed  that less  than 25  percent of  students                                                                    
leaving the state  for college would return  to Alaska after                                                                    
completing  schooling,  but  more  than 90  percent  of  APS                                                                    
recipients stayed in Alaska after graduation.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:35:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster  WITHDREW the OBJECTION  to the  adoption of                                                                    
the work draft for HB 148.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
There  being NO  further OBJECTION,  Work Draft  33-LS0624/U                                                                    
was ADOPTED.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Josephson asked about  lines 20 through 23 on                                                                    
page 2 of the bill, which  would delete a portion of the law                                                                    
stating  that  APS  was  for   in-state  students.  The  law                                                                    
currently  required  that  a student  be  in  good  academic                                                                    
standing and  study at a  post-secondary institution  in the                                                                    
state  to  qualify  for APS.  He  asked  why  Representative                                                                    
Ruffridge disliked the  portion of the law  that he proposed                                                                    
to delete.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Representative   Ruffridge  responded   that  much   of  the                                                                    
language was only removed from  the current placement within                                                                    
the law and it was moved to a different section.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Representative Galvin  referred to page 4,  lines 10 through                                                                    
20  of the  committee substitute.  She asked  how the  award                                                                    
level amounts were determined as  the amount did not seem to                                                                    
be   proportionate.  She   also   wondered   if  there   was                                                                    
consideration of the  cost of tuition at the  time the award                                                                    
program was initiated and if inflation had been considered.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Representative Ruffridge  responded that  the intent  of the                                                                    
bill was to  drive an incentive for  performance. He relayed                                                                    
that the  step-up provisions  were in  place to  ensure that                                                                    
students would  continue to strive for  the highest possible                                                                    
performance  award  amount.  He added  that  rising  tuition                                                                    
costs  were the  impotence to  raising scholarship  costs in                                                                    
general.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:40:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENA  EFFIRD,  EXECUTIVE   DIRECTOR,  ALASKA  COMMISSION  ON                                                                    
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION,  DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION  AND EARLY                                                                    
DEVELOPMENT,  responded to  Representative  Galvin that  she                                                                    
understood  that  the dollar  amounts  for  the awards  were                                                                    
proportionate.  She referred  to  a PowerPoint  presentation                                                                    
"House Education  Committee Bill  HB 148" dated  January 26,                                                                    
2024 (copy  on file) and moved  to slide 9 to  show the cost                                                                    
of  attendance  changes  from 2010  through  2023.  The  APS                                                                    
increase of  47 percent aimed  to mitigate the  increases in                                                                    
cost of attendance. She reiterated  that about 96 percent of                                                                    
APS recipients  attended a university campus.  The intention                                                                    
was  to  arrive at  a  dollar  amount  that would  keep  the                                                                    
scholarship  as level  as possible.  If a  student was  in a                                                                    
post-secondary   program   and    reached   the   continuing                                                                    
eligibility GPA, the student would  have the ability to step                                                                    
up to a higher level of the scholarship.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Representative Galvin  asked if  there was  consideration of                                                                    
the current  students through a survey  to determine whether                                                                    
there  was a  trigger-point  to encourage  more students  to                                                                    
participate.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative   Ruffridge   responded   that   the   Alaska                                                                    
Commission  on Postsecondary  Education (ACPE)  report (copy                                                                    
on  file)  highlighted the  issue  of  students choosing  to                                                                    
leave Alaska. He  thought APS was not being  utilized at its                                                                    
highest  level. There  was  more  information from  students                                                                    
inside  the  report.   Vocational  and  technical  education                                                                    
students  were currently  ineligible for  APS, but  the bill                                                                    
proposed to change the eligibility requirements.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Effird responded  that all  of the  anecdotal responses                                                                    
received  by DEED  were  included in  the  ACPE report.  The                                                                    
department generally  did not hear from  students that there                                                                    
was a  specific dollar  amount that  would keep  students in                                                                    
the state,  but students  reported there were  many barriers                                                                    
to becoming  eligible for APS.  The testing  requirement had                                                                    
been  a   particular  barrier  to  rural   students  because                                                                    
students  were required  to  take the  test  in person  with                                                                    
qualified  proctors.   The  APCE  report  showed   that  the                                                                    
department waived the testing  requirement from 2020 through                                                                    
2021  during  the  COVID-19  pandemic  and  the  eligibility                                                                    
numbers  jumped dramatically.  Unfortunately,  the usage  of                                                                    
APS did  not experience a similar  increase because students                                                                    
were  not going  to secondary  education school  due to  the                                                                    
pandemic.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:45:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster  explained how  to submit  written testimony                                                                    
for the bill.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Foster  WITHDREW  the OBJECTION.  There  being  no                                                                    
further objection, Work Draft 33-LS0624/U was ADOPTED.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
HB  148  was  HEARD  and   HELD  in  committee  for  further                                                                    
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster reviewed the agenda for the following day's                                                                     
meeting.