HOUSE BILL NO. 174 "An Act relating to the regional educational attendance area and small municipal school district fund; relating to Mt. Edgecumbe High School; and relating to teacher housing." 3:08:46 PM AT EASE 3:11:24 PM RECONVENED Co-Chair Foster asked for an introduction of the bill. REPRESENTATIVE ROBYN NIAYUQ BURKE, SPONSOR, thanked the committee for hearing the bill. She relayed that the bill would amend Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) fund language to include both major maintenance and construction at Mt. Edgecumbe High School; and major maintenance for teacher housing in regional education areas and small municipal areas as allowable uses for the fund. The legislation would remove the $70 million cap on funding value. 3:14:40 PM Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony. Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal note. PAUL LABOLLE, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE NEAL FOSTER, reviewed the Department of Education and Early Development fiscal note, OMB component 2737. Co-Chair Foster clarified the control code and noted the fund source is general funds. Co-Chair Foster moved to questions from the committee. Representative Stapp thanked the sponsor for bringing the bill forward. He supported the bill. Representative Tomaszewski asked if there were any requirements to attend Mt. Edgecumbe. Representative Burke replied that anyone was welcome to attend. Mt. Edgecumbe was a public boarding school. 3:18:16 PM Representative Tomaszewski asked if there was a maximum number of students. He asked if there was a waiting list. Representative Burke replied that there were about 400 students in attendance, because there was limited dorm space. She believed the department said they received around 600 applicants per year. She deferred to the department for detail. Representative Hannan stated that working at Mt. Edgecumbe was her first job out of college. Representative Bynum appreciated the bill. He agreed with Representative Stapp. He recognized it was a state school and the responsibility of maintaining the school fell directly on the state. He asked for verification that the bill did not take away the state's responsibility for maintenance. Representative Burke replied affirmatively. 3:21:57 PM Representative Jimmie stated that Mt. Edgecumbe seemed like a prestigious school, and felt that it was important to maintain the school. She queried the year that Representative Burke graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe. Representative Burke replied that she graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe in 2009. Representative Allard commented on the generations of those in attendance of Mt. Edgecumbe related to Representative Burke. Representative Burke stated once an Edgecumbe brave always an Edgecumbe brave. She shared information about her family. 3:23:53 PM Representative Bynum looked at the FY 26 cost in the fiscal note. He noted the building maintenance facility specialist, and whether it was connected with residential design and construction. He asked if it was a worst case fiscal note. Representative Burke noted that an individual from the department was on the line, but the intent was to figure out how to include housing under major maintenance for REAAs. She remarked that there was a number of rural districts had housing, but the question was whether the expertise needed for the future. Representative Bynum remarked that being state owned it seemed there were resources available that may not be available. 3:27:17 PM HEATHER HEINEKEN, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT (via teleconference), relayed there were two parts to the bill one position was specific, but the other did not have any technical expertise. Representative Bynum stated that the explanation made sense to him. Representative Stapp MOVED to REPORT HB 174 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. HB 174 was REPORTED out of committee with six "do pass" recommendations and three "no recommendation" recommendations and with one previously published fiscal impact note: FN1 (EED).