The Alaska Legislature passed a bill Friday that would boost per-student education funding by $1,000. The bill now advances to Governor Mike Dunleavy, who has said he plans to veto it.
In an 11 to 9 vote Friday morning, the Senate passed a stripped-down version of House Bill 69, removing all policy items and leaving only the funding increase. Later that day, the House passed the amended bill 21-16. Three Senate majority members, including Sitka Republican Senator Bert Stedman, voted against the bill. Stedman said he supported increasing education funding, but he didn’t see how this funding could fit into a balanced budget.
“We also have to have a balanced budget by the Constitution, and it’s very difficult when we’re already 200 million [dollars] underwater to fit this in and make it work,” he said during Friday’s floor session.
In an interview with KCAW on Monday, Sitka Independent Representative Rebecca Himschoot said funding Alaska’s public schools is also a constitutional obligation.
“The Constitution doesn’t say we should maintain our schools when we have the money to do it,” she said. “We are obligated to maintain our schools.”
Governor Mike Dunleavy called the bill a “joke” and said he will veto it. Himschoot, who sponsored the bill, said that’s not necessarily the end.
“We have the opportunity to override,” she said. “We still have a month of session left. There’s a lot — there’s a lot we can still do.”
The amended version of House Bill 69 now goes to the governor. A veto override would require a two-thirds vote from the legislature.
