HB 152-EDUCATION TAX  4:54:56 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 152, "An Act establishing an education tax on the income of individuals, partners, shareholders in S corporations, trusts, and estates; repealing tax credits applied against the tax on individuals under the Alaska Net Income Tax Act; and providing for an effective date." 4:56:07 PM The committee took an at-ease at 4:56 p.m. 4:56:33 PM ALYSE GALVIN, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, reintroduced HB 152. 4:57:36 PM DAVID JIANG, Staff, Representative Alyse Galvin, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Galvin, prime sponsor, began a PowerPoint presentation [hard copy included in the committee file] on HB 152. He provided a brief overview of "Relative Contributions to Total State Revenue: FY 2025" on slide 2 and discussed what HB 152 would do. Under the proposed bill, Alaskans could pay the head tax with a portion of the permanent fund dividend (PFD). On slide 4, he addressed current structure at different income levels. 5:00:14 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced the committee would hear invited testimony. 5:00:33 PM MIKE BRONSON, Volunteer, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), began his invited testimony on HB 152 via a PowerPoint presentation [hard copy included in the committee file]. He said the proposed legislation is a step toward compliance with the state constitutional. On slide 2, he reviewed Moore v. Alaska 2004 to 2012, and all children must be given an opportunity to meet the standards. On slide 3, Alaska students are one year behind the rest of the nation in reading grade 4. Slide 4 shows the eighth grade reading versus the Base Student Allocation (BSA). Slide 5 shows the BSA's buying power dropped and class size increased. Slide 6 shows that as class size climbed, eighth grade reading fell. On slide 7, he said in USA, school spending beats inflation. Slide 8 shows the "Mississippi Miracle" [the state's rise in fourth-grade reading proficiency] was costly. Slide 9 shows Alaska's spending is stingy, below the level of inflation. The governor's study showed that Alaska ranked high in generosity to schools, but it didn't include the PFD. Alaska spends 15 percent less than the national average on per pupil student costs as shown on slide 11. The education funding comes from the general fund (GF), which mostly comes from the permanent fund, as shown on slide 12. Schools will cost $600 million per year more as shown on slide 13. On slide 14 is the rough calculation for the Anchorage School District (ASD). He said HB 152 would make up half of these funds needed. 5:09:52 PM REPRESENTATIVE GALVIN offered additional remarks. The numbers in the packets are likely low. She stated $350 million is based on former years of data. 5:11:10 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that HB 152 was held over.