Juneau’s three state lawmakers are asking locals to weigh in on what issues matter most to them ahead of this year’s fast-approaching legislative session.
At a town hall meeting on Wednesday, public education dominated the discussion. The conversation follows the recent news that the Juneau School District faces a projected $9.5 million budget deficit.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl said the city and district need to find out what happened that led to the deficit, and to work together to get out of the red — a task that he said won’t be easy.
“The news about the school district — it is shocking. And we have a lot of work to do,” he said. “There is a very limited amount that the state can do, that we as state legislators can do.”
Juneau’s deficit was caused in part by accounting errors and declining enrollment. But Rep. Andi Story said that across Alaska, districts are facing strained finances after years of flat funding from the state — funding per student hasn’t increased significantly since 2017, despite rising inflation.
Story, who represents the Mendenhall Valley, Haines, Skagway and Gustavus, said public education funding continues to be a priority for her.
“We have been flat-funded in education for eight years now, so it is something that’s got everyone’s attention — not just in Juneau but across the state,” she said.
Heading into the session, she said there are bills currently sitting in both the House and Senate that would increase Alaska’s per-student funding. The Senate bill also seeks to fund stronger internet access in public schools.
Story filed two pre-session bills that were released earlier this week. One seeks to provide additional state funding to students with reading deficiencies and another bill seeks to allow youth to pre-register to vote before they turn 18.
All three of Juneau’s legislators are Democrats. Last spring, lawmakers passed a one-time funding boost of $680 per student, but Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy later vetoed half of it.
Representative Sara Hannan represents downtown Juneau and Douglas. During the town hall, she criticized Dunleavy’s veto and said the Juneau delegation still want to override it.
“We’ve been working on that goal, we are united in that goal, we want to see that veto of the BSA allocation overridden,” she said.
A legislative override must take place in the first five days of the session and requires a two-thirds vote by both chambers. If the override does occur – which many lawmakers have expressed doubt will happen – that would mean an extra $2.8 million for the Juneau School District.
Another round of pre-filed bills is scheduled to be released on Friday. This year’s legislative session starts next Tuesday, Jan. 16.
