SB 159-TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT PROG: CONTRIBUTIONS                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:43:59 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  BJORKMAN   reconvened  the   meeting  and   announced  the                                                               
consideration  of   SENATE  BILL  NO.  159   "An  Act  increasing                                                               
contributions   to  the   Department  of   Labor  and   Workforce                                                               
Development for the State Training and Employment Program."                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:44:20 PM                                                                                                                    
LAURA  ACHEE,   Staff,  Senator  Jesse  Bjorkman,   Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, Juneau,  Alaska, presented a  summary on SB  159 and                                                               
read the following:                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
[Original punctuation provided.]                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     Senate Bill  159 was introduced  at the request  of the                                                                    
     Alaska Department  of Labor to better  address the need                                                                    
     for workforce development programs in Alaska.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     The bill  would redirect  a portion  of the  taxes that                                                                    
     Alaska   workers   already   pay   into   the   state's                                                                    
     unemployment trust  fund to  funding for  technical and                                                                    
     vocational education.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Alaska workers  would not see  any change in  the taxes                                                                    
     they pay, and the  unemployment insurance trust fund is                                                                    
     more  than healthy  enough  to  withstand lowering  the                                                                    
     inflow of revenue.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:45:28 PM                                                                                                                    
PALOMA  HARBOUR, Director,  Division of  Employment and  Training                                                               
Services, Department of Labor  and Workforce Development (DOLWD),                                                               
Anchorage, Alaska,  testified by  invitation on  SB 159  and read                                                               
the following:                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
[Original punctuation provided.]                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     SB 159  would double the State  Training and Employment                                                                    
     Program,   or  STEP,   funding  available   to  support                                                                    
     eligible training grants to  prepare Alaskans for high-                                                                    
     demand  high-wage occupations  and help  meet the  need                                                                    
     for a trained Alaskan workforce.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     In the  current fiscal year,  FY 2025 grant  cycle, the                                                                    
     Alaska  Workforce Investment  Board  (AWIB) received  a                                                                    
     total of $11 million in  STEP applications and was only                                                                    
     able to award $7.1 million.  In addition, AWIB has seen                                                                    
     in  applications that  costs  are going  up across  the                                                                    
     board for  grantees, which means  STEP dollars  are not                                                                    
     going as far  as they used to. With  so many responsive                                                                    
     and  important projects  across the  state, the  FY2025                                                                    
     funding cycle  resulted in some tough  decisions and no                                                                    
     applicant   receiving  the   full  amount   of  funding                                                                    
     requested.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:46:50 PM                                                                                                                    
MS. HARBOUR continued with her testimony of SB 159:                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Also,  in  FY  2025,  the Division  of  Employment  and                                                                    
     Training  Services  (DETS)  received a  one-time  State                                                                    
     Training and  Employment Program appropriation  of over                                                                    
     $1.3 million  to support  direct grants  to individuals                                                                    
     to  assist  in  the  training of  Alaskans.  With  this                                                                    
     increased   funding  we   were   able   to  grow   STEP                                                                    
     enrollments by 75  percent year to date  as compared to                                                                    
     this same timeframe last year.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     With  the increased  STEP funding  proposed in  SB 159,                                                                    
     DETS  could   maintain  this  growth  in   training  of                                                                    
     Alaskans.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:47:57 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR BJORKMAN held SB 159 in committee.