Legislature(2023 - 2024)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/21/2024 01:00 PM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB186 || SB187 || SB188 | |
| Public Testimony: Fairbanks, Interior, Copper River Valley, Delta Junction, Glennallen, Tok and Offnets | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 186 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 188 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE BILL NO. 186
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
loan program expenses of state government and for
certain programs; capitalizing funds; amending
appropriations; making capital appropriations; making
supplemental appropriations; making reappropriations;
making appropriations under art. IX, sec. 17(c),
Constitution of the State of Alaska, from the
constitutional budget reserve fund; and providing for
an effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 187
"An Act making appropriations, including capital
appropriations and other appropriations; making
reappropriations; making appropriations to capitalize
funds; and providing for an effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 188
"An Act making appropriations for the operating and
capital expenses of the state's integrated
comprehensive mental health program; and providing for
an effective date."
1:03:33 PM
^PUBLIC TESTIMONY: FAIRBANKS, INTERIOR, COPPER RIVER
VALLEY, DELTA JUNCTION, GLENNALLEN, TOK and OFFNETS
Co-Chair Stedman handed the gavel to Senator Bishop.
1:04:45 PM
RECESSED
1:05:36 PM
RECONVENED
}Chris Noel, Mayor, Denali Borough{ testified in favor of
increased funding for public education, a significant
increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA), automatic
inflation increases for the BSA, $30 million in re-
capitalization of the Community Assistance Fund, and the
major school maintenance grant fund. He thanked committee
members and staff for their work. He noted that there were
several members of the Denali Borough Assembly in the
gallery. He cited that anything less than an $1,100
increase to the BSA would force the borough to make
difficult decisions. He listed items funded through the
Community Assistance Fund.
1:08:32 PM
}Josh Verhagen, Mayor, City of Nenana{ spoke in support of
increased funding for the BSA. He mentioned meeting with
the Nenana Superintendent the previous day. He mentioned an
increase of $600 in the BSA in order to balance the school
district budget. The district had an estimated $7,800 per
student. He advocated for public safety funding. He
mentioned that the Nenana Fire Department was consistently
underfunded, and lacked resources needed to provide
services. He mentioned funding for the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT) road
maintenance. He encouraged support for a road re-surfacing
and improvement project for mile 303 to mile 306 of the
Parks Highway. He supported funding for the Alaska Long
Trail Project, and mentioned working with the Fairbanks
North Star Borough to connect the two communities.
1:11:00 PM
}Bryce Ward, Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough{ testified
in support of increased education funding. He relayed that
his school district was facing tens of millions of dollars
in budget shortfalls, partly due to drops in enrollment,
flat funding, and lack of increases to the BSA. He
mentioned two school closures and a potential tax increase
proposed to voters to help fund education. He mentioned
success with recapitalization of infrastructure. He thought
the education funding was a statewide issue. He noted that
the district put about $10 million per year into the
capital program. He mentioned support of UAFs childcare
facility, which was utilizing a federal funding package but
needed a $3 million increase to expand capacity for the
community.
Senator Bishop complimented the borough for matching
capital projects for deferred maintenance.
1:13:33 PM
}David Pruhs, Mayor, City of Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of
robust hiring strategies for DOT. He thanked the committee
for a 2023 capital appropriation of $3 million to knock
down the Polaris building. He noted that the project was on
schedule and under budget. He relayed that he had looked at
the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) and
stressed how much the Interior depended upon DOT for road
services, plowing, maintenance, paving, and contracts. He
thought Fairbanks had to be aggressive in filling its ranks
in the Public Works Department. He mentioned the
constraints of competition with Willow, and thought the
city needed to get aggressive with sign-on bonuses. He
thought the state should do the same with DOT.
Senator Bishop complimented the public works department and
the Northern Region DOT, which he thought did an
outstanding job with snow removal.
1:15:53 PM
~Bryana Garcia Delacruz, ThrivAlaska and Northern Interior
Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children,
Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of additional funding for early
childhood education programs. She cited that over 148
childcare businesses had closed in the state since 2019,
representing a 20 percent loss in childcare programs. She
cited that over 51 percent of families in the state could
not fully participate in the labor workforce due to lack of
services, and currently only 47 percent of families had
access to early childhood education services in Fairbanks.
She requested a $30.5 million increase in the state's
funding of childcare programs, which was the amount
stakeholders had identified as needed to stabilize the
childcare sector. She explained that the funding would be
used to support recommendations from the governor's
childcare task force and would increase funding for
childcare assistance and the childcare grant program.
Additionally, she requested an additional $5.1 million for
Alaskas Head Start programs, which would serve as the 20
percent federal match requirement.
1:18:37 PM
~Brook Freeburg, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in support of
increased education funding. She had three children and
recounted moving to Alaska. She recalled seeing a steady
decline and school offerings and increased class sizes due
to lack of funding. She thought the states most important
resource was its children. She asserted that inadequate
education funding caused outmigration and suppressed
population growth. She considered the decreased value of
education due to inflation and supported a BSA increase of
$1,413.
1:20:01 PM
~Marsha Oss, Self, Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of $1 million
in general funds to support mobile crisis teams, local
system of care development, and referral support for people
experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
She mentioned the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
(AMHTA) and the Crisis Now model. She supported an
additional $250,000 for crisis services grants in the
Division of Public Health. She supported the allocation of
$1.5 million for Alaskas food banks and food pantries. She
noted that the primary concern for most re-entrants was
food security. She supported $2.85 million in GF for the
Homeless Assistance Program.
1:22:13 PM
~Christina Turman, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in support of
raising the BSA by at least $1,000. She referenced the
constitutional obligation to establish and maintain a
public school system. She referenced the governor's idea to
provide more funding to charter schools and home schooling,
while not supporting the BSA for all students. She cited
studies that indicated socioeconomic and parental
involvement factors affected student success. She
considered that charter schools were not an option for all
students. She wanted to call attention to families with
less resources that would not be able to participate in
charter schools.
1:24:42 PM
~Matt Nunnely, Self, Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of funding
for the Division of Forestry to increase wildland
firefighter wages. He relayed that he was a state-employed
wildland firefighter and had been a wildland firefighter
for a decade. He mentioned the loss of experienced
firefighters in the Northern Region due to lack of
competitive wages and benefits. He cited that Alaska's
wages were 42 percent behind fair compensation in other
parts of the country, which led to experienced and well-
trained firefighters leaving the state. He discussed
bringing in out-of-state firefighters at a much higher cost
during times of high fire danger. He thought vacancy levels
left the state without enough firefighters in the state to
control new fires. He discussed the high number of
wildfires in the state.
1:26:56 PM
~Dr. Laura Haag, Self and Alaska Disability Advocates, ADA
Litigation LCC, North Pole{ supported funding for
behavioral health startup Crisis Now grants. She was a 30-
year resident of Interior Alaska. She thoguht behavioral
health services were particularly needed in the Interior.
She considered that the mental health issues in the state
were different than in other areas. She thought there was a
great number of undiagnosed people with autism in the
state. She thought the services would prevent people from
being incarcerated. She thought many had their civil rights
violated because of lack of services. She supported any
grant funding that would help with homelessness and
recidivism, which were linked to mental or physical health
decline. She mentioned comments by United States Senator
Dan Sullivan that had indicated that 30 percent of females
were contemplating suicide after the Covid-19 pandemic.
She urged members to address mental health and consider
civil rights.
1:30:36 PM
~Jen Gunderson, Self, North Pole{ testified in support of
increasing the BSA by at least $1,413. She referenced a
school board meeting in which parents, teachers, and
community members had advocated for keeping schools open.
She thought the Fairbanks area could lose as many as four
schools. She thought it was important to share that a
potential closure was a school on Eielson Air Force Base.
She thought the closures were not due to mismanagement but
rather to inadequate funding.
1:32:27 PM
~Kristen Schupp, Self, Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of an
increase to the BSA of at least $1,400. She thought the
future of the state would be compromised without a BSA
increase. She discussed school closures in her area. She
referenced testimony from a recent Fairbanks School Board
meeting. She emphasized the importance of the lives of
children that would be the future workforce of the state.
She stressed the importance of a functional, thriving
school system.
1:33:52 PM
~Madeline Handley, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in support of
funding for increased pay for wildland fire crews. She
mentioned that she was part of a wildland fire crew in the
Division of Forestry and Fire Protection. She discussed the
resignation of fire crew members due to low pay, most of
whom were later employed with federal fire crews or other
states. She discussed challenges with recruiting
firefighters at a low rate of pay, and subsequent
challenges with training and certification. She mentioned
the consequence of the crew being unable to meet national
qualification standards, and the lack of experienced fire
crews. She recounted that the previous summer there was a
low rate of fire, and after an increase the state was
forced to hire more costly fire crews from out of state
that lacked local knowledge.
1:36:09 PM
~Laona DeWilde, Self, Fairbanks{ spoke in favor of funding
for wildland fire crews. She had been a wildland
firefighter since 1992. She was a smoke jumper and hot shot
for Alaska Fire Service and had worked for the state since
2013. She recounted other services provided for hurricanes,
floods, terrorist attacks, eradication of beetles in
hardwoods. She discussed the fire response to the Chena Hot
Springs fire, which had been crucial and had prevented
homes from being burned. She discussed low pay and high
turnover rates. She discussed the need for more crew
members. She expressed concern about inexperienced
firefighters. She discussed the need for training and the
teams necessary to manage large fires. She discussed the
lack of experienced firefighters and the state's need to
pay out-of-state firefighters. She contended that
increasing wildland firefighter pay was a positive
investment for the state.
1:39:16 PM
~Elisabeth Nadin, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in support of
increased funding for public education. She had moved to
Fairbanks in 2010 and had two kids in the public school
system. She discussed decreased funding to schools and the
increase in class sizes. She shared concerns about the
level of education not keeping pace with national
standards. She wanted an increase to the BSA so Alaska
could continue to offer the level of education to ensure
childrens futures.
1:41:02 PM
~Elena Sudduth, General Manager, Interior Gas Utility,
Fairbanks{ supported a $20 million capital budget request
for Interior Gas Utilitys (IGU) extension of mainline. She
noted that IGU was a publicly owned utility that did not
recoup returns through rates and did not have shareholders
or owners. She explained that IGU was owned by the
Fairbanks North Star Borough and had a mission to bring
clean-burning natural gas to as many people as possible as
soon as possible. She noted that the area was challenged
with high energy costs. She mentioned that IGUs partner
was building a liquefaction facility near Deadhorse, which
would provide security of supply. She discussed costs
related to liquefaction. She asserted that the best means
to be equitable to Interior Alaska was to allocate funds
for mainline extension, which would allow IGU to continue
to add customers and spread the fixed cost further.
1:43:28 PM
~Maria Legend, Self, Alaska Native Community, Anchorage{
testified in support of continued funding for Division of
Public Health crisis services, homeless assistance programs
and special needs housing. She shared that she had a son
with mental illness and lived in an assisted living home.
1:45:12 PM
~Nicky Eiseman, Self, Ester{ spoke in support of public
education funding. She thanked the Senate and Senator
Bishop for being supportive of education. She had moved to
Fairbanks 50 years previously and had four grandchildren
entering the education system. She thought the education
system was in decline due to lack of support. She stressed
the importance of keeping young families in the state and
mentioned outmigration. She discussed a potential school
closure on the base.
1:48:17 PM
~Heidi Hatcher, Self, Gakona{ testified in support of
increased funding for early childhood education and pre-K
grants. She had two small children. She discussed the
challenge of living and working in rural Alaska without
childcare resources. She conveyed that there were no
daycare facilities in her area. She supported Head Start
programs.
1:49:29 PM
RECESSED
2:12:05 PM
RECONVENED
~Jacqueline Muehlbauer, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in
support of increased funding for public education. She
considered that there was a school funding crisis, and
referenced two school closures the previous year. She
discussed moving to Fairbanks two years previously. She was
concerned about further school closures. She discussed lack
of education funding in Arizona.
2:14:28 PM
~Brandy Harty, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in favor of
increased funding for public education. She relayed that
she was a member of the Fairbanks School Board. She
referenced hours of public testimony at a recent school
board meeting. She referenced a chart that depicted school
funding over time, which showed the most recent BSA
increase in 2017. She discussed increased spending in other
areas of state government. She referenced high inflation
and the need to prioritize the future of the state. She
noted that she was a military spouse and was born and
raised in Alaska. She thought the state was not
prioritizing the education of its children.
2:16:52 PM
RECESSED
2:31:55 PM
RECONVENED
~Iris Sutton, Self, Fairbanks{ testified in support of
increased funding for public education. She mentioned Pearl
Creek Elementary School, which she and her children had
both attended. She noted that the school was being
considered for closure. She though there had been a decline
in the quality of school programs due to lack of funding.
She shared that she was a lifelong Alaskan. She supported
funding for music education. She thought education was the
most important item to fund in the state.
Senator Bishop discussed the agenda for the following day.
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