Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
03/08/2005 03:00 PM House HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB151 | |
| HB16 | |
| HB20 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 151 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 20-EDUCATION FUNDING CHAIR WILSON announced that the next order of business would be SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 20 "An Act relating to a separate appropriation bill for operating expenses for primary and secondary public education and establishing a date by which the bill must be transmitted to the governor each year; relating to notice of nonretention for tenured teachers; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee is CSSSHB 20(EDU).] 4:49:19 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, speaking as the sponsor of HB 20, stated that the purpose of this legislation is to provide early funding of education, and require a separate appropriation budget for the expenses of primary and secondary schools. He highlighted that the governor is required to submit the education budget by the fourth day of the legislative session, thereafter, the legislature completes and resubmits it to the governor by March 5. This legislation was amended from its previous incarnation, HB 19, to include all appropriations including "pupil [transportation and] special schools", but may not include appropriations for things such as "capital projects." The aforementioned separates the contentious issues within each school district. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON specified that the main purpose of HB 20 is to end the disruptive practice of districts [being forced to] send layoff notices to many teachers on March 15 because of the uncertainty of the budget. The aforementioned practice results in the loss of qualified teachers and disrupts morale, he offered. He relayed that HB 20 establishes a process [to complete the budget to avoid the aforementioned consequences] and has the support of numerous school boards, teachers, the National Education Association (NEA), and the Alaska Federation of Teachers (AFT). 4:52:06 PM CHAIR WILSON opined that the schools have been concerned with the aforementioned issues for some time and [hopefully] this will make a difference. 4:52:21 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER moved to report CSSSHB 20(EDU) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE objected, although she said she is willing to let the legislation move out of committee today. She related her belief that although the concept is great, there are also other parts of the budget that deserve equal focus. She expressed concern that HB 20 establishes hard-and-fast rules and dates for the legislature and the governor when it's difficult to know what types of issues the legislature will face. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON related that there has been testimony from the administration stating that the submission of the education budget by the fourth day of the session is very "doable." He reiterated that the goal is to separate education from other issues, such as capital projects, which generally halt progress. He added that it won't interfere with any type of supplemental [budget appropriation]. 4:55:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE again agreed that the notion behind HB 20 is great, but pointed out that often how things play out in reality are more complex. 4:56:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE withdrew her objection. There being no further objection, CSSSHB 20(EDU) was reported from the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.
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