By Chris Christensen

Associate Vice President for State Relations

Today is the 74th day of the legislative session. While adjournment is
scheduled for April 17, people in Juneau are assuming that the regular
session will be extended, and following the extension there will probably
be a special session. Legislators don’t like special sessions during
election years, because they can’t campaign when they are away from their
home districts, and the law prohibits them (but not their opponents) from
raising campaign contributions.

Operating Budget
The legislature is still delaying the appointment of a conference committee
to resolve the differences between the House and Senate operating budgets.
In the meantime, the Senate has introduced new bills that will reduce the
deficit by shifting costs from the state to school districts,
municipalities, students, and the university (see below).Capital Budget
The Senate Finance Committee will have a hearing on the capital budget (SB
138) next Wednesday from 9-11 a.m. Like last year, the governor’s
proposed capital budget is very small and primarily contains projects for
which there are federal matching dollars. The university has only $10
million for deferred maintenance in the proposal.

Bills
The Senate Finance Committee has sponsored three bills that affect the
university and its students; they were introduced last Monday, had a brief
hearing on Wednesday, and may be heard again next week. Because these bills
are part of the Senate majority’s budget plan, they are expected to pass.

SB 207 increases the contribution rate that employers must pay for the
Teachers Retirement System from 12.56 percent of employee salaries to 19 percent in
FY17, to 20 percent in FY18, to 21 percent in FY19, and finally to 22 percent in FY20. This is
estimated to cost UA an additional $2.45 million the first year, and will
cost $2.83 million in FY18, $3.21 million in FY19, and $3.59 million in
FY20 and subsequent years. The bill proposes to give some money to school
districts to mitigate the increase, but it does not propose giving any to
the university. More information here:
http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/29?Root=SB%20207

SB 208 winds down the Alaska Performance Scholarship and the Alaska
Education Grant Program over the next six years, eliminating them by 2022.
This year’s high school seniors will be the last allowed to apply, and no
applicant will be allowed to extend past the six year sunset date. The
money saved will be used in part to help school districts pay for the
increased TRS costs under SB 207. More information here:
http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/29?Root=SB%20208

SB 209 increases the contribution rate that employers must pay for the
Public Employee Retirement System from 22 percent of employee salaries to
24.5 percent in FY17, to 25.5 percent in FY18, and to 26.5 percent in FY19. This is estimated to
cost UA an additional $3.25 million the first year, and will cost $4.55
million in FY18, and $5.85 million in FY19 and subsequent years. More
information here: http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/29?Root=SB%20209

The House Education Committee held two hearings on HB 357 by Rep. Liz
Vasquez, "An Act relating to the Board of Education and Early Development;
and relating to the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska." This
bill would put two new non-voting members on the Board of Regents and on
the DEED Board. A senator would be appointed by the Senate President, and a
representative would be appointed by the House Speaker. It is arguably
unconstitutional to have legislators serve on these boards, and after much
debate, the committee rejected the bill. More information here:
http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/29?Root=HB%20357

Thank you for all your work to promote and support the University of Alaska!
---
For more information, contact Associate Vice President Chris Christensen at
cschristenseniii@alaska.edu or visit www.alaska.edu/state .