The Capitol Report: University budget updates

The April 5 edition of The Capitol Report includes several important updates on the university's FY20 budget. Read a condensed version below. To read the entire issue, visit the UA Office of Government Relations website.

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House Finance completes budget work

After a long, two-day session that began Wednesday morning and ended around 11 p.m. April 4, the House Finance Committee concluded its work on the state operating budget. This moves the legislature one step closer to finalizing a spending plan for next year. This was the first serious test of the bi-partisan coalition which governs the House. The philosophical differences that stalemated the organization for the first 30-days of the session were on full-display. While the majority coalition holds both co-chair seats and a theoretical three-vote margin, Republicans occupy eight of eleven seats on the Finance Committee. As a consequence, the committee is ideologically more conservative than the House as a whole. This imbalance potentially positions the upcoming floor debate to be more contentious than normal.

Over 130 individual amendments were proposed and no agency was spared scrutiny. Discussions were often heated, with the underlying question almost always being - is this an appropriate role of state government? Some of the more contentious votes were receded and recast. The decisions were often framed as binary choices between budget items and their potential impact on the Permanent Fund Dividend. In the end, the committee approved a $10.2 billion budget, which includes $4.3 billion Unrestricted General Funds (UGF). That's $114 million below this year's UGF spending level. The amount of the dividend and its funding will be taken up at a later date.

University budget action

Representative Andy Josephson, the UA subcommittee chair, did an exceptional job advocating for us and opposing additional budget reductions. In the end, the committee approved a $10 million cut from current year spending levels, $20 million below the subcommittee recommendation. The subcommittee had concluded its work last Thursday, with a recommendation to increase UA's budget by $10 million-from $327 to $337 million. The $337 million level was the starting point for the eleven member committee's discussion last night.

Six amendments were drafted for submission to the committee. Representative Bart LeBon's amendments contemplated transferring the agricultural development functions of the Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Division of Agriculture to the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Based on preliminary feedback from both DNR and UAF, he decided to withdraw the amendments in favor of doing an in-depth analysis of the programs this summer. Representative Gary Knopp offered an amendment to cut the subcommittee's recommendation by $20 million, bringing UA's funding to $317 million (FY18 funding levels). Recognizing that Knopp's amendment had enough support to pass, Rep. Josephson proposed reducing it by $10 million, which would simply remove the subcommittee's increase and keep our funding at this year's $327 million level. Josephson's proposal failed 3-8 with Josephson, LeBon and Dan Ortiz voting yes. Knopp's amendment then passed on a 9-2 vote with Josephson and Ortiz voting against. Rep. Colleen Sullivan-Leonard then offered an amendment on behalf of Rep. Sarah Vance to cut an additional $36 million. That failed on a 3-8 vote with Sullivan-Leonard, Ben Carpenter and Cathy Tilton voting yes. Rep. Sullivan-Leonard withdraw an amendment that contemplated an additional $67 million reduction. You can watch the full committee debate here.

What's next?

The budget moves to the House floor where members will have another opportunity to propose amendments. Floor debate is expected to extend untilmid-to-late week before the bill passes to the Senate. UA's Senate Subcommittee has met several times, but is holding off on final recommendations until they receive the House bill. Subcommittee closeout in the Senate is expected the week of 15th but they have scheduled public testimony for April 11 and 12.

Budget public testimony in the Senate this week

This week, the Senate Finance Committee will hold public testimony on the Operating Budget. This will be the last opportunity to testify before the committee concludes its work on the budget. We encourage you to visit your local Legislative Information Office and show your support for UA.

Thursday, April 11 9 a.m. - Mat-Su and Fairbanks 1-2:15 p.m. - Juneau 2:15-2:45 p.m. - Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and Unalaska 2:45-4:45 p.m. - Anchorage

Friday, April 12 9-9:45 a.m. - Kenai, Kodiak and Dillingham 9:45-10:30 a.m. - Glennallen, Seward and Homer 1-2 p.m. - Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg 2-2:30 p.m. - Utqiagvik, Tok and Delta Junction 2:30-3:30 p.m. - Sitka, Cordova and Valdez 3:30-5 p.m. - Off-Net Call-In

Remember to arrive 15 minutes early to sign-up to testify. Share your story and tell legislators about the importance UA has for Alaska's future.

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