02/12/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

              HJR  5-SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS PROGRAM                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
8:04:34 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  HIMSCHOOT announced  that the  first order  of business                                                               
would be HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION  NO. 5, "Urging the United States                                                               
Congress and the President of  the United States to reinstate the                                                               
Secure  Rural Schools  and  Community  Self-Determination Act  of                                                               
2000 and make the funding mechanism in the Act permanent."                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:04:57 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JEREMY  BYNUM, Alaska State Legislature,  as prime                                                               
sponsor, presented  HJR 5  to the  committee.   He said  that the                                                               
resolution  before the  committee  would urge  the United  States                                                               
Congress  and the  president of  the United  States to  reinstate                                                               
Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funding.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
8:06:23 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SCHWANKE asked  Representative Bynum  to describe                                                               
what  portion  of  Southeast Alaska  communities'  public  school                                                               
funding are coming from local property taxes.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
8:07:27 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
TREVOR  SHAW, Staff,  Representative Jeremy  Bynum, Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  On behalf  of  Representative  Jeremy Bynum,  prime                                                               
sponsor, answered  committee questions  on HJR 5.   He  said that                                                               
the amount of property taxes  that are directed to public schools                                                               
varies  between  different  school  districts.    He  pointed  to                                                               
Yakutat  as a  strong example  of  a local  school district  that                                                               
depends on SRS funding.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
8:08:45 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT opened public testimony on HJR 5.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
8:09:06 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RODNEY  DIAL,  Mayor,  Ketchikan Gateway  Borough,  Testified  in                                                               
support of  HJR 5.   He said  that the Ketchikan  Gateway Borough                                                               
(KGB) has  relied on  SRS funding  for decades  and said  that it                                                               
provides  essential  financial  support  for  KGB  schools  which                                                               
ensure that its students have access to a quality education.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:11:59 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CYNNA  GUBATAYAO, Assistant  Borough  Manager, Ketchikan  Gateway                                                               
Borough, Testified  in support of  HJR 5.   She said that  only 1                                                               
quarter of 1 percent of the  land within the KGB boundaries is in                                                               
private  ownership and  said  that  the SRS  program  is "not  an                                                               
entitlement".    She  explained  that SRS  funding  is  meant  to                                                               
compensate for  a loss of income  from not being able  to utilize                                                               
the revenue from  the development of federal  lands that surround                                                               
the KGB.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:13:33 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took an at-ease from 8:13 a.m. to 8:16 a.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
8:16:28 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
LON  GARRISON,  Improvement  Coordinator, Association  of  Alaska                                                               
School Boards, Testified  in support of HJR 5.   He said that the                                                               
Alaska  Association of  School Boards  (AASB) has  long supported                                                               
the SRS program  and explained that SRS was  initially created to                                                               
help communities that were located  on national forest lands.  He                                                               
emphasized the  AASB's "strong support"  for HJR 5 and  urged the                                                               
committee to pass HJR 5.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:18:45 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
BILL BURR, Superintendent, Wrangell  Public Schools, Testified in                                                               
support of HJR 5.   He said that the SRS  program is essential to                                                               
the  funding  in his  school  district  due  to its  location  on                                                               
untaxable  federal  lands.   He  explained  that Wrangell  Public                                                               
Schools is  generally funded by  the SRS and emphasized  that the                                                               
funding  deficit   created  by  the   lack  of  SRS   funding  is                                                               
unsustainable for the school district.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
8:21:16 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  HIMSCHOOT  asked  Mr.  Burr  how  the  Wrangell  Public                                                               
Schools would be affected by a lack of SRS funding.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. BURR said that Wrangell  Public Schools is currently facing a                                                               
deficit  of $800,000  and said  that the  SRS program  represents                                                               
another $800,000 loss if the program is not reinstated.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
8:22:54 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT closed public testimony on HJR 5.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
[HJR 5 was held over].