Prior Updates - Week of:   

 Action necessary:
► Print and distribute this message to colleagues and friends.
► 4/10/08—Senate Finance - 9:00 am—HB 373—School Bond Debt Reimbursement HB 325—Teachers and Healthcare professionals home loans.
► 4/10/08—Senate Finance—4:00 pm—HB 310—Operating Budget.
► 4/12/08—House Chambers—6:00 pm—Confirmation of Governor’s appointees

► Most of the action will now move to the House and Senate floor as we are only 100 hours from adjournment.
► Look for a final LCS/LU report on April 30, 2008.

It’s Over:

Both the House and the Senate Adjourned Sine Die before 1:00 pm today.  While overall it was a good session, there is still the sting of not returning our members to the much needed defined benefit retirement system as spelled out in SB 183 (see story below).

NEA-Alaska is often told “you’re not grateful enough.”  When you advocate for Alaska’s public school children and employees, it is often a difficult task.   When the State of Alaska has the financial wherewithal to do so much more it sometimes is difficult to be effusive about increase that are maintenance increase and one-time funds.  The legislature put about $69 million more into K-12 education.  This is a solid increase and NEA-Alaska Thanks the Governor and the Legislature for all of the work to get to this point!

The other good news form this session was the passage of HB 273 (early K-12 funding and forward funding) and SB 125 (PERS/TRS cost share).  Both of these bills were critical to the well-being of districts and public school employees.

The other bad news besides SB 183 was the incredulous inclusion of $4.8 million in Merit pay for FY 09 for a program that is inherently flawed.  Last year of he 10 schools that made the “outstanding” category earning teachers a $5,500 bonus and ESP’s a $2,500 bonus, eight of them had LESS THAN 20 STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL.

OK, I will say the 90 day session seemed to work.  K-12 education did fairly well and some bad legislation was stopped cold.  That’s all for now!

SB 183— Dies in Senate Finance

SB 183 (Sponsored by Senators Elton, McGuire, Ellis and Wielechowski) moved through three Senate standing committees this year.  Around the building it was dubbed “the little bill that could.”  SB 183 made it to Senate Finance on March 31 and dies when Senate Finance Co-Chair and bill scheduler, Sen. Bert Stedman (Sitka/ Ketchikan, Southeast), deciding not to hear the legislation.

The success of the Alaska Public Pension Coalition was a key ingredient in bringing SB 183 so far.  More Alaskans and more lawmakers are realizing that a system that does not provide a dignified retirement will cost Alaska many qualified teachers, public safety officers, firefighters and other critical public employees.

Contact your Senator (and send an extra message to Sen. Bert Stedman:
senator_bert_stedman@legis.state.ak.us). Ask them to support SB 183 in 2009!  Every month another 400-500 Alaska public employees enter into the worst retirement system in the country.  WE must do all we can to end this travesty and return to a defined benefit pension system that provides a dignified retirement and safety net for Alaska’s public employees.

Confirmation Hearings

On Saturday evening the legislature met to confirm Governor Palin’s appointees to several Boards and Commissions.   All of the individuals below and many more were approved on a vote of 58-0:

Geraldine Benshoof—North Pole—Board of Education and Early Development

Philip Schneider—Anchorage—Board of Education and Early Development

Richard Lum—Eagle River—Professional Teaching Practices Commission

George Troxel—Palmer—Professional Teachers Practices Commission

Of 72 appointees, only three were not unanimous, with the closest vote being 36-22 (Sen. Cowdery and Rep. Guttenberg were excused).  Congratulations to all of the appointees for stepping forward to serve in these important positions.

  If you know anyone who wishes to receive the LCS/Legislative Update, please send us an e-mail with their home e-mail address if possible, and we’ll add them to the growing list of K-12 education advocates.

Let’s talk in Hours, not Days

There are now 101 hours until the scheduled adjournment on Sunday, April 13th! We thought we should wait until we had something to really report.  After the weekend and a few more days we figured something had to break on the capital budget regarding the often mentioned Energy Relief Grants.  Not.  As of right now, SB 221 is hanging around House Finance where they are pumping tens of millions of more dollars into that budget.  The $20.7 million for ERG’s is still intact.

The ERG’s provide slightly less money statewide than Governor Palin’s plan to put $100 more into the Base Student Allocation (BSA).  The more difficult part is ERG’s (Like LOG’s and SIG’s for those who have followed K-12 funding) are indeed one-time money and do not provide districts the stability of putting money into the BSA.

Governor Palin has already signed HB 273 into law.  This bill was the result of the work of the Joint Education Legislative Task Force.  This legislation is solid but certainly not spectacular.  HB 273 provides about $48 million in new money for Alaska’s public schools in FY 09 beginning July 1, 2008.  This bill provides districts with numbers in statute and allows districts to plan.

The ERG money needs to be  spent by June 30, 2008 or carried forward by individual districts.  The amounts range from $6,000 for pelican to about $6.6 million dollars for Anchorage School District.

SB 183— high centered in Senate Finance

SB 183 (Sponsored by Senators Elton, McGuire, Ellis and Wielechowski) has moved through three Senate standing committees and now rests in Senate Finance. Senate Finance Co-Chair and bill scheduler, Sen. Bert Stedman (Sitka/ Ketchikan, Southeast), Must decide whether to give SB 183 a Finance hearing

Contact your Senator (and send an extra message to Sen. Bert Stedman:
senator_bert_stedman@legis.state.ak.us). Ask them to support SB 183 this year!  Every month another 400-500 Alaska public employees enter into the worst retirement system in the country.  WE must do all we can to end this travesty and return to a defined benefit pension system that provides a dignified retirement and safety net for Alaska’s public employees.

IF ANYTHING BREAKS OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS WE WILL SEND OUT AN IMMEDIATE LCS/LU ALERT.

Thanks for all of the efforts on SB 183 this session.  We have come a long way on this journey by making it through three senate committees.  Everyone should be proud of the efforts! 

 If you know anyone who wishes to receive the LCS/Legislative Update, please send us an e-mail with their home e-mail address if possible, and we’ll add them to the growing list of K-12 education advocates.