Facing looming veto threat, Alaska lawmakers begin debate on governor's education priorities

JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature has begun debating a potential education compact to meet the governor's ultimatum issued last week on school funding.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Tuesday threatened to veto the education package that passed the Legislature with an overwhelming majority unless the Legislature adopts some of his top education priorities. The Republican governor said last week that his priorities include bonuses for teachers and measures to expand access to charter schools in Alaska.

Under state law, the governor has until March 14 to sign the bill or veto it, or it will become law without a signature.

On Monday, legislative leaders met with Dunleavy in Juneau for the first time to discuss education priorities. But some lawmakers expressed concern that the governor could veto school funding in the budget regardless of whether a new deal is reached.

The governor's office said Dunleavy is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., this week for a long-planned trip, but will remain in constant contact with lawmakers.

“From what I understand after leaving the meeting, the plan was to continue working this week while the governor was out of office,” said House Speaker Kathy Tilton, R-Wasilla.

Senate Bill 140, which passed the Assembly last week by a combined vote of 56-3, includes the largest nominal school funding increase in state history at $175 million annually. The bill also included increased funding for a statewide coordinator position to help homeschool students and parents navigate the charter school application process.

House Minority Leader Rep. Calvin Schrage, an Anchorage independent, promised Monday's meeting to continue discussing a path forward to address concerns about Dunleavy's education, but the new agreement was not approved. He said that it had not been reached.

“I continue to support the good work we have done with Senate Bill 140,” he continued. “I think this was a bipartisan success story that met the needs of Alaskan students, no matter where they are or where they attend school.”

Dunleavy said last week that lawmakers should pass a new set of education policies now and discuss how to fund them later. Supporters of SB140 are concerned that Dunleavy could veto school funding in the budget regardless of whether he approves of the governor's education priorities.

Base student allocations, the state's per-student funding formula, are used by school districts to create budgets, often months before Congress approves them. The governor said last Tuesday that there would be a “substantial” BSA, but did not provide numbers to back it up.

Senate President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) said Friday that the lack of funding certainty for school districts is a concern and could slow progress on the governor's priorities. .

“Unless I have a guarantee that he won't veto the budget, I'm not willing to move forward on the education bill any further,” Stevens said.

The governor's office did not respond to a Daily News question Monday about whether Dunleavy would allow school funding to be distributed even if he was satisfied with the education agreement. or whether the governor was prepared to use a line-item veto to reduce the BSA in the budget.

Schrage said the threat of a possible veto on education funding was not resolved at Monday's meeting.

During a hearing Monday, the Senate Education Committee heard from school districts that host charter schools about how charter schools are approved and operated.

Dunleavy has repeatedly spoken out in support of charter schools since a thorough investigation found that Alaska's charter schools ranked No. 1 in the nation. The governor proposed creating a self-appointed statewide commission to authorize new charter schools, but the proposal did not receive enough support to be included in the Legislature's bipartisan education package.

Education advocates say the governor's proposed changes could erode local control if charter schools are authorized over the objections of local school districts, especially if districts are required to fund charter schools. I am concerned that there is.

Anchorage School Board President Margo Bellamy joined school administrators across the state in expressing opposition to the governor's proposed changes, saying that if the school board were to authorize a new charter school, the current He said the licensing system is working.

“Honestly, I’m perplexed by this,” she said of the governor’s proposed changes.

Sen. Loki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat and co-chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said Friday that several charter school proposals are being discussed with the governor's office, but that one proposed by the Senate Education Committee on Monday. said there was nothing.

Wednesday's hearing before the same committee will focus on Dunleavy's $55 million teacher bonus proposal, which will be heard over three years.

Senators are particularly concerned about Dunleavy's teacher bonus payments as state finances tighten. The House rejected the governor's teacher bonus payments last month by a 20-20 vote.

As of Monday, it was unclear whether the state Legislature had the will or desire to approve the governor's education provision, or whether lawmakers would simply seek to override a potential veto of SB140.

Two-thirds of lawmakers would need to vote in a joint session to override Dunleavy's veto of the education package. As of Monday, it was also unclear whether there were 40 senators who would support overriding the veto.

Tilton said he hopes lawmakers can reach an agreement because veto override sessions are “never fun.” “I can't speak for anyone else, and I'm fully committed to reaching an agreement in the end,” Tobin said.

Veto overrides are rare in Alaska. According to the Legislative Reference Library, the last time lawmakers successfully overrode a governor's veto of a bill was in 2002 on an election-related bill.

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