There will be no extra money for the University of Alaska’s sports teams, its effort to become a top-tier research university or its attempts to hire and keep staff.
On Friday, the legislative committee assigned to write the final version of Alaska’s state operating budget axed all of those items — and many more — from its in-progress draft.
Alaska is facing a severe budget crunch, thanks to low oil prices and reduced federal spending, and lawmakers are eliminating almost every previously considered addition, even before Gov. Mike Dunleavy gets a chance to use his veto pen.
Flat funding, combined with inflation, means cuts for most state services. The Permanent Fund dividend isn’t immune, either. It’s expected to be about $1,000 this year, the lowest figure in state history, once adjusted for inflation.
“It’s just a really challenging time, and there’s a lot of volatility, and Alaska’s heavily dependent upon federal funds,” said Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks. “We don’t have that huge buffer of oil and gas funds that we once did.”
Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, appeared resigned to the decisions when asked for comment.
“It is what it is,” he said.
Among the university’s budget cuts is $150,000 for a staff member to help the university’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. The University’s Board of Regents voted earlier this year to cancel DEI efforts, including those intended to help Alaska Native students.
“We obviously are cut down to the bone if we’re talking about individual, singular positions in the budget, and the board of regents has taken a position that’s alternative to what I think the UA community broadly wants to see happen, so it puts our Legislature as an appropriating body in a really difficult position making those kinds of decisions,” said Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks.
The budget maneuvering isn’t restricted to the University of Alaska. At the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, legislators have cut road maintenance spending and have requested a report on the feasibility of turning the Dalton Highway — Alaska’s overland link to the North Slope — into a toll road.
A plan to put more Alaska state troopers in Kotzebue to fight child abuse crimes was only partially funded, and $2.3 million for additional trooper overtime was trimmed to $1 million.
The conference committee, in charge of combining different budget drafts approved by the state House and Senate, may also cancel plans for additional state and wildlife troopers in Talkeetna.
Legislators are asking DPS to begin meeting with the Kenai, Fairbanks and Matanuska-Susitna boroughs about setting up local police in those areas in order to replace troopers.
“It is the intent of the legislature to direct public safety funds to areas of the state that do not have the tax base to provide needed policing services to their communities,” the latest budget draft states.
A few budget increases remain — $250,000 more for maintenance at the state’s trial courts, $292,000 more for security screening of legislative mail, and additional state funding for Alaska’s forestry program as part of an effort to increase logging.
For the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, the conference committee approved backstop funding for public schools in case Dunleavy vetoes House Bill 57, which would permanently increase the state’s per-student funding formula.
The backstop language includes a one-time bonus that’s slightly smaller than the increase included within HB 57. That increase is itself lower than the rate of inflation.
The committee declined to increase funding for special education, child nutrition, early education, and state libraries, archives and museums. But lawmakers did approve an increase for career and technical education initiatives.
They temporarily postponed a decision on items related to foreign teacher recruitment and training, at the request of Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage.
Those may be taken up as soon as Sunday.
The committee approved $5.5 million for child advocacy centers, which support child victims of physical and sexual abuse. That money was added after the federal government cut funding for the centers.
For the state prison system, the budget directs the closure of part of Spring Creek Correctional Center and directs the Alaska Department of Corrections to prepare a report for the Legislature evaluating which prisons would provide the most cost savings if closed. Budget negotiators also rejected increased funding for vocational training programs intended to aid Alaskans who leave the prison system.
Several items are still being debated, and the conference committee was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Sunday to finalize the compromise budget draft.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
