CSHJR 29(FIN)-REAUTHORIZE SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS ACT  3:43:48 PM CHAIR GIESSEL announced consideration of HJR 29. [CSHJR 29(FIN) was before the committee.] 3:44:35 PM DARRELL BREESE, staff to Representative Rauscher, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced HJR 29 for the sponsor. He said this resolution simply calls for the U.S. Congress and the Administration to enact a permanent resolution and authorization for the Secure Rural Schools and Self- Determination Act of 2000. He explained that the Secure Rural Schools Act was started in the early 1900s and provided a portion of the timber receipts from national forests to communities neighboring, adjacent to, or inside the national forests throughout the country. Nationwide, this bill affects over 700 communities; in Alaska it provides funding for 33 communities and 33 school districts. The funding expired in 2017, but the recently passed federal omnibus spending package extended this program for two-years. This resolution simply calls for a permanent extension to this program, which helps schools throughout the State of Alaska. SENATOR STEDMAN said this resolution is a good idea and asked if the committee should have a conversation about this form of revenue sharing off of federal land and the need for more economic development in those areas like an increased timber supply. What is the use of asking for revenue when some folks want to shut down all the commercial access, which generates the revenue, he exclaimed. MR. BREESE replied the sponsor thought of proposing that but thought the first step should be reauthorization of the funding first. Once that is established, having something for development of forest resources could happen at a later date. Forestry is an important part of development and economic growth in several communities and it's a shame that it doesn't exist like it used to. SENATOR STEDMAN said they might get a little different list of interested parties if on one hand you can have no development and get a check and on the other hand, you have to have development to get some revenue sharing. These western lands in the United States should be producing more revenue, particularly in the Tongass. CHAIR GIESSEL listed the letters of support from schools in Sitka, Yakutat, and Angoon. 3:49:25 PM ALAN SORUM, Clerk, Valdez School Board, Valdez, Alaska, supported HJR 29. He is also on the Board of the Forested Counties and Schools Coalition and has been working with the sponsors of this resolution for a while. The Secure Rural Schools Program (SRS) within the Tongass and Chugach forests is a real important program and they have often spoken of timber/forest reorganization. The fear is that this is an ongoing effort and the schools will suffer in the eight or nine years it will take to do any kind of forest reform. He explained that the timber receipts program operated on auto pilot for many years, because they came in every year and were distributed to the schools. The SRS program came out of the federal government's decision to pull back from resource development. So, whatever resource development effort takes place, it will take a lot longer than the schools have. He has talked personally with the federal delegation and they are all co-sponsors of legislation to reauthorize and fund this program. The omnibus bill passed a little while ago, but that is only a stop gap; it doesn't address the long-term viability of the program. He thanked them for support of this resolution. 3:52:34 PM RUTHIE KNIGHT, Mayor, City of Valdez, Valdez, Alaska, supported HJR 29. She said in the 29 years she has lived in Alaska, she has lived in both the Tongass and the Chugach National Forests. She was on the Wrangell City Council and is now the sitting mayor of Valdez. When you see the funds come through the "timber receipts" funding into the city budgets, it really does help them figure out ways to fund the schools with what they need. Every little bit helps, she said. CHAIR GIESSEL thanked Ms. Knight for her testimony and remarked that hopefully the kids are aware that some school revenue comes from timber development. She commented that the state needs to keep "gardening" and "harvesting" the forest, because it is a renewable resource. Finding no further comments, she closed public testimony on CSHJR 29(FIN). 3:55:15 PM SENATOR STEDMAN commented that 20-some years ago when the state was facing the termination of the two 50-year timber contracts for the pulp mill, there was a lot of debate, and support was pretty clear in different regions. Obviously, the politics of the time dictated the results. He observed that most of the communities on the list are sitting in his district, and assured them that the Ketchikan Gateway Borough supports jobs in the timber industry and supports extension of this program. Tourism jobs pale in comparison. He pointed out that you need an industry to create the economy to write the checks. SENATOR BISHOP emphasized that key word is "renewable" resource. 3:59:36 PM SENATOR COGHILL moved to report CSHJR 29(FIN) from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and it was so ordered.