ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE  April 15, 2026 9:04 a.m. DRAFT MEMBERS PRESENT  Representative Rebecca Himschoot, Co-Chair Representative Maxine Dibert Representative Ted Eischeid Representative Jubilee Underwood Representative Rebecca Schwanke Representative Bill Elam MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative Andi Story, Co-Chair COMMITTEE CALENDAR  CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 143(CRA) "An Act relating to the terms of office of municipal school board members; relating to the size of the city council in second class cities; and providing for an effective date." - HEARD & HELD COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 20(FIN) "An Act relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation education in public schools; and relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development." - BILL HEARING CANCELED HOUSE BILL NO. 12 "An Act relating to free breakfast and lunch in public schools." - BILL HEARING CANCELED PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: SB 143 SHORT TITLE: MUNI SCHOOL BOARD TERMS; CITY COUNCILS SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) YUNDT 03/26/25 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 03/26/25 (S) EDC, CRA 04/09/25 (S) EDC AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 04/09/25 (S) Heard & Held 04/09/25 (S) MINUTE(EDC) 05/05/25 (S) EDC AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 05/05/25 (S) Moved CSSB 143(EDC) Out of Committee 05/05/25 (S) MINUTE(EDC) 05/07/25 (S) EDC RPT CS 4NR 1DP SAME TITLE 05/07/25 (S) NR: TOBIN, BJORKMAN, STEVENS, KIEHL 05/07/25 (S) DP: CRONK 05/15/25 (S) CRA AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 05/15/25 (S) Heard & Held 05/15/25 (S) MINUTE(CRA) 03/17/26 (S) CRA AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg) 03/17/26 (S) Moved CSSB 143(CRA) Out of Committee 03/17/26 (S) MINUTE(CRA) 03/18/26 (S) CRA RPT CS 2NR 3DP NEW TITLE 03/18/26 (S) NR: MERRICK, DUNBAR 03/18/26 (S) DP: OLSON, GRAY-JACKSON, YUNDT 04/01/26 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 04/01/26 (S) VERSION: CSSB 143(CRA) 04/08/26 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 04/08/26 (H) EDC 04/15/26 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 WITNESS REGISTER  RYAN MCGEE, Staff Senator Rob Yundt Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: On behalf of Senator Rob Yundt, prime sponsor, presented CSSB 143(CRA) to the committee. LON GARRISON, Executive Director Association of Alaska School Boards Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of CSSB 143(CRA). ACTION NARRATIVE  9:04:33 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT called the House Education Standing Committee meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. Representatives Schwanke, Eischeid, Elam, Dibert, and Himschoot were present at the call to order. Representative Underwood arrived as the meeting was in progress. SB 143-MUNI SCHOOL BOARD TERMS; CITY COUNCILS  9:05:35 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that the only order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 143(CRA), "An Act relating to the terms of office of municipal school, board members; relating to the size of the city council in second class cities; and providing for an effective date." 9:06:06 AM RYAN MCGEE, Staff, Senator Rob Yundt, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Senator Rob Yundt, prime sponsor, presented CSSB 143 (CRA) to the committee. He paraphrased the sponsor statement to CSSB 143 (CRA) [included in the committee packet] which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Currently Boroughs and Municipalities are allowed to set lengths for Assembly and Mayoral terms but are not granted the same ability to decide the term lengths for School Board seats. SB 143 would grant Municipalities and Boroughs those abilities. The Mat-Su Borough for example have moved their Assembly seats to 4-year terms, which will see a cost savings to the Borough, since they no longer must host elections in the off years. However, this legislation would not mandate that terms are changed, but instead make this an option, should local governments want to change the terms of their school board seats, as they are already allowed to do for Assembly and Mayoral seats. SB 143 would also allow cities with a population under 1,000 people to have 3 or more members on their city council, reducing it from the current requirement of 7 9:07:23 AM MR. MCGEE read from the sectional analysis for CSSB 143 (CRA) [included in the committee packet] which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Section 1. AS 14.12.050 adds a new subsection (d) which gives municipalities by ordinance the ability to alter terms of office. Section 2. Amends AS 29.20.130 by changing the number of city council members required for cities with populations under 1,000 people. Section 3. Amends AS 292.20.300(a) by adding a new subsection (c) to the exceptions in section (a) Section 4. AS 29.20.300 adds a new subsection (c) giving a municipality the ability to alter the terms of office in (a) of this section. Section 5. sets an immediate effective date. 9:08:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE ELAM shared his understanding that the proposed legislation would give municipalities in the state more control over their local elections. MR. MCGEE confirmed Representative Elam's understanding was correct. 9:09:55 AM REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked what the cost of a schoolboard election in the Matanuska-Susitna ("Mat-Su") Borough and asked for an example of communities in the Mat-Su Borough who have had trouble filling their local government bodies. MR. MCGEE said that he did not know the cost of elections in the Mat-Su Borough and explained that the proposed legislation was originally an amendment proposed by a non-governmental organization. 9:12:30 AM REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD opined that the proposed changes in CSSB 143(CRA) could lead to more electoral participation. 9:13:19 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked if CSSB 143(CRA) would allow for ballot initiatives to make changes to local governing boards. She asked what the genesis of the proposed legislation was. 9:15:56 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT opened public testimony on CSSB 143(CRA). 9:16:31 AM LON GARRISON, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB), testified in support of CSSB 143 (CRA). He said the proposed legislation is a governance bill that aligns strongly with the beliefs and long-standing resolutions of AASB, which support local control and governance. He stated that schools boards are comprised of local individuals and carry out a state responsibility. He emphasized the key foundational importance of state responsibility and local control in education, and he said the proposed legislation is "consistent with that structure" and would allow municipalities to determine the value of school board term length adjustments while requiring the approval of voters. He listed the beliefs of AASB: local governance; local control for the operation of school districts; and local control for determining school board term lengths and representation. MR. GARRISON spoke about the practical strengths of CSSB 143(CRA), including that aligning school board terms with other municipal elections could reduce costs and support community governance. Conversely, longer terms may reduce the frequency of elections and opportunities for voter input; and some communities may value that continuity, while others may prefer "more frequent accountability." He cautioned that one other tradeoff could be a reduced number of people willing to commit to a four-year term. 9:20:00 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT, after ascertaining that there was no one else who wished to testify, closed public testimony on CSSB 143(CRA). 9:20:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked if there were any other states that allowed for the sort of flexibility proposed under CSSB 143(CRA). MR. MCGEE answered that most other states have three-year school board terms. He explained that it was the legislative intent of CSSB 143(CRA) to provide municipalities flexibility in their local elections. 9:23:39 AM REPRESENTATIVE ELAM noted the history of the intent behind the length of current school board terms. 9:24:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE shared her appreciation for the conversation and thanked the office of Senator Yundt for bringing the proposed legislation forward. 9:26:06 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that CSSB 143 CRA) was held over. 9:26:23 AM The committee took an at-ease from 9:26 a.m. to 9:28 a.m. 9:28:48 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT delivered committee announcements. 9:29:21 AM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:29 a.m.