FY13 operating budget public testimony March 6 - 7

March 4, 2012

Marmian Grimes

The House Finance Committee will take public testimony on the FY13 operating budget March 6 and 7.  Participants must go to their local Legislative Information Office (LIO) to testify, and will have two minutes to make their case. Testimony will be closed 15 minutes early if there are no further testifiers. Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes before the end of your allotted time.

Tuesday, March 6

• 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., Juneau


• 2:45 – 3:45 p.m., Bethel, Kotzebue, Barrow, Nome, Delta Junction, Offnets


• 4  – 5:15 p.m., Anchorage

Wednesday, March 7

• 1:30 – 2:45 p.m., Fairbanks


• 3 – 4 p.m., Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Dillingham, Cordova, Unalaska


• 4:15 - 5 p.m., Homer, Kenai, Valdez, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Mat-Su, Glennallen, Tok, Seward

Legislative Information Office locations are available online.

What’s at stake:
The House Finance Committee has the latest version of the governor’s budget for UA in front of it as the working document. The governor’s budget eliminated most of the new initiatives proposed in the Board of Regents’ budget. University Budget Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Anna Fairclough, has announced that a number of amendments to the governor’s budget will be submitted to the House Finance Committee when it closes out the state’s operating budget on March 12 and 13.

Rep. Fairclough said that those amendments will include proposals to fund a number of new programs requested in the Board of Regents’ budget, including the “New Initiatives to Improve Graduation Rates;” UAF’s “Support for Increased Engineering Retention and Graduation” and “Early Childhood Program Support;” UAA’s “Graduate Nursing Faculty – Family Nurse Practitioner” and “Physical Therapy Careers;” and “Alaska Technical Assistance Center Director” and “Fisheries Technology Faculty” for UAS. A majority of the Finance Committee members must agree to adopt these amendments when they are offered, or these initiatives will not make it into the budget.

These amendments have a better chance of making it into the university’s budget if the House Finance Committee hears from supporters of the initiatives. This is where public testimony becomes very important. Legislators keep a tally of how many individuals support an initiative, the names of those that testify, and the compelling stories they hear.

What do I say?
You have two minutes to make your case:

• Identify yourself by giving your name and affiliation. If you know your House District, even better!


• State why you are testifying.


• Pick two or three bullet points about the importance of the initiative.


• Then Tell Your Own Story!

What are UA’s FY13 operating budget initiatives?
You can see a one page, side-by-side comparison of the Board of Regents’ request and the governor’s budget on page 36 of the FY13 Budget Book . The details of these initiatives are found on pages 37 – 47. Info sheets under the link “Advocacy Kit” go into a bit more detail about the initiatives.

For more information, contact Associate Vice President Chris Christensen at cschristenseniii@alaska.edu or visit www.alaska.edu/state/.