A school bus drives in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House of Representatives is planning to vote next week on a bill that would significantly increase funding for the state’s public schools.
As currently written, House Bill 69 would raise the base student allocation, the core of the state’s per-student public school funding formula. Proponents of the bill say the state has failed to keep up with inflation, while opponents argue that the proposed increase is unaffordable and brings no guarantee that school performance will improve.
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and House Rules Chair Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, said HB 69 will be amended in the House Rules Committee on Wednesday morning and advance to a vote of the full House afterward.
“It’s just going to depend on what kind of amendments there are, and if we can get it engrossed or not, but we’re hoping that it will be mid to latter part of next week,” Stutes said. Engrossment is the legal process of incorporating amendment language into bills.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has expressed his opposition to the current form of HB 69, and members of the Legislature have been in closed-door negotiations with administration officials about possible changes to the bill.
Dunleavy has repeatedly sought education policy changes, including making it easier to expand the number of charter schools and providing more support for correspondence programs, the primary form of homeschooling in Alaska.
“We’re trying to come out with a win-win-win document where everybody gets a little bit of a win — with the House, the Senate, the administration, the governor,” Stutes said.
Members of the House’s Republican minority caucus have expressed objections about the bill’s course, saying they feel locked out of negotiations.
Wednesday’s meeting will offer the chance for members of the minority to offer their suggestions, and when the bill reaches the House floor, every member of the House will have a chance to propose changes.
“I guess we’ll see what’s up,” said House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, speaking in an interview about the week ahead. “On the floor, we definitely will be having amendments and talking to our amendments.”
Edgmon and Stutes implied that the next version of the bill could include changes to education policy. While Dunleavy has pushed for changes, until now members of the House majority have sought to limit HB 69 to funding issues alone.
In addition, HB 69 could have less of a funding increase than originally proposed. As currently written, it calls for a $1,000 boost to the base student allocation next year, plus another $800 spread over the following two years.
“Our anticipation is that the bill will leave the house with $1,000, or at least we’ll go to the floor with $1,000 BSA,” Stutes said, but she and Edgmon were less firm on the additional $800.
“You know, getting through the house is one step, to the Senate is another step, and then negotiating with the governor along the way is an additional sort of element of it all. … In many school districts, $1,000 in terms of a permanent BSA increase is simply not enough, but it’s the best we could do at this point. And, you know, stay tuned at the rules committee to see what happens next,” Edgmon said.
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