Association of Alaska School
Boards
Legislative Bulletin
A weekly digest of activity
by the Alaska Legislature and U.S. Congress for AlaskaÕs School Board Members.
AASB Tel. 907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995. Executive Director, Carl Rose, crose@aasb.org; Editor, John Greely, Review
past issues of the Bulletin on the AASB website at http://www.aasb.org.
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This bulletin is distributed
by email only. School districts should copy for board members not online.
March 14, 2008
THE ÒBIG THREEÓ ALMOST
COMPLETED
Unanimous votes in the
Senate today approved two of the final three bills needed to complete a
remarkable redistribution of state wealth to local communities. The Senate
voted 19 to 0 for SB 72, re-establishing the Alaska Community Revenue Sharing
Program, and 19 to 0 for SB 125, providing relief from higher retirement system
costs for public employees and school teachers. The combined effect of these
two bills will be to distribute more than $500 million to local governments,
school districts and other public employers next fiscal year alone.
SB 72 and SB 125 combine
with HB 273, the major education funding bill of the session, to break a
political stalemate in the 25th Alaska Legislature. The inability of
the House and Senate to agree on the three major budget issues last May
resulted in appointment of a special task force to address school funding. The
Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force then met over the summer to
develop HB 273. That bill makes the first major changes in a decade in the
formula used to fund K-12.
HB 273 passed last week and
is now on Governor PalinÕs desk. She has until March 28 to sign it.
The House must still vote on
the final version of SB 125, the retirement subsidies legislation. That vote is
expected on Monday.
Today (Friday) was the 60th
day of the regular session. Adjournment is scheduled by the 90th
day, April 13.
AASB AUDIO CONFERENCE
PODCAST IS AVAILABLE NOW
Executive Director Carl Rose
briefed member districts on developments in the Alaska Legislature on
Wednesday, March 12. If you missed the hour-long teleconference, Rose provides
a 16-minute summary of his legislative update with a podcast. It is available
here:
http://www.aasb.org/Frontpage/audioconf.html
AASB SPRING BOARDSMANSHIP
ACADEMY AND LEGISLATIVE FLY-IN
The 2008 AASB Spring Boardsmanship
Academy & Legislative Fly In is scheduled for April 5th-8th, in Juneau at
the Baranof Hotel. The academy begins on Saturday, the 5th, and
includes workshops on school accountability; Medicaid and how it can work for
your district; WorkKeys, a state program to prepare students for work or
college; and afternoon sessions on Positive Youth Development, featuring staff
of the Alaska ICE program.
The Legislative
Fly-in on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday includes special briefings by AASB staff
and remarks by legislative leaders, followed by opportunities to take your
districtÕs story to the Capitol before the scheduled adjournment of the
Legislature on April 13.
You can register
via mail or fax, using the brochure or you can register online at, http://www.aasb.org/FORMS/Sprflyin.html.
BUSY SATURDAY PLANNED AT THE
CAPITOL
No fewer than six House and
Senate committees are scheduled to work on Saturday. The hearings that are
relevant to school districts include:
Saturday, March
15, 9:00 House HESS
HB 386 Energy
Subsidy for Schools
SB 119 School
Library Grants
Saturday, March
15, 1:30 pm Senate Education Committee
Workshop on Charter Schools
EDUCATION BILLS UP FOR
HEARINGS NEXT WEEK
Monday, March 17, 9:00 am to
6:30 pm Senate Finance Committee
HB 310 Operating Budget
HB 312 Mental Health Budget
(Teleconference testimony
scheduled all day at various Legislative Information Offices. See schedule here:
Tuesday, March 18, 8:00 am
House Community & Regional Affairs Committee
HB 388 Alaska Broadband Task Force
Tuesday, March 18, 1:30 pm
House Finance Committee
HB 332 Pre-elementary School Programs/Plans
Tuesday, March 18, 3:00 pm
House HESS Committee
HB 306 Pre-elementary School Programs
HB 358 Needy Children/Education/Social Workers