04/13/2022 01:30 PM House FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 273                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act relating to education; increasing the base                                                                         
     student allocation; and providing for an effective                                                                         
     date."                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:34:46 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Merrick indicated there  were no amendments offered                                                                    
for HB 273.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE ANDI  STORY, SPONSOR, relayed the  purpose of                                                                    
the  bill.  She  voiced  that  the HB  273  linked  the  BSA                                                                    
directly to the Consumer Price  Index (CPI) for urban Alaska                                                                    
over a three  year rolling average with a gap  year. The gap                                                                    
year was  necessary because  the official  inflation figures                                                                    
from the US  Census Bureau arrived after  districts sent its                                                                    
budgets  to  its  municipalities. She  delineated  that  the                                                                    
effective date of  the bill was on July 1,  2024. Passage of                                                                    
the bill  would signal  to communities that  the legislature                                                                    
realized that  school districts faced fixed  costs. The bill                                                                    
also created a  steady and predictable budget  for the whole                                                                    
school community and  system. She felt that it  was a modest                                                                    
amount  that  allowed the  legislature  to  invest in  other                                                                    
educational initiatives as well.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Foster  MOVED  to  report  CSHB  273(EDC)  out  of                                                                    
Committee   with   individual    recommendations   and   the                                                                    
accompanying fiscal notes.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CSHB 273(EDC)  was REPORTED out  of committee with  five "do                                                                    
pass" recommendations, three  "do not pass" recommendations,                                                                    
and  one "no  recommendation"  recommendation  and with  one                                                                    
previously published  zero fiscal  note: FN1 (EED);  and one                                                                    
previously published fiscal impact note: FN2 (EED).                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
3:37:54 PM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:38:34 PM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Merrick reviewed the agenda for the following                                                                          
morning meeting.