<\/a>Lupita Alvarez, a teacher at the Montessori Borealis preschool program, offers a Valentine’s Day card signed by youths in the Juneau program to a member of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s legislative staff outside his office on the third floor of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday. The students were lobbying for an increase in education funding, which the governor is proposing remain flat in his budget for next year. (Mark Sabbatini \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The current BSA of $5,960 is essentially unchanged from 2017, aside from a $30 increase added last year as part of an “accountability” bill separate from the budget, thus putting it far behind the 21% inflation that’s occurred nationally since then. One key provision so far of increasing the formula is covering the cost by reducing the roughly $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, and some legislators are seeking, thus setting up the high-stakes showdown.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The hands currently held by the four main players at the political table for this legislative session in the order revealed:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
— Dunleavy: No increase in the governor’s Dec. 15 proposed budget, but an acknowledgement more funding is a realistic possibility during negotiations with the Legislature. He is scheduled to release a revised budget request by Wednesday, but a spokesperson declined Monday to state if any change to education funding will be included.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
— Senate majority: A $1,000 increase (about 17%) to the BSA which, while not fully covering the effects of inflation since 2017 or addressing future inflation, is a beginning place for more specific negotiations, according to leaders introducing the proposal. The majority consists of nine Democrats and eight Republicans in the 20-member senate, making the three Republicans in the minority essentially irrelevant.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
— House minority: A $1,250 BSA increase (nearly 21%, or essentially covering the inflation gap) proposed by state Rep. Dan Ortiz, a Ketchikan Democrat, with the support of Minority Leader Calvin Schrage, an Anchorage independent. As with the senate bill, it contains no provisions beyond increasing the per-student funding amount. Because the state budget will almost certainly need to tap into a reserve account that requires a three-fourths vote of the Legislature, concessions to the House minority — consisting of 12 Democrats, three independents and one Republican — will also almost certainly be involved in drafting a final budget.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
— House majority: No commitment to either the governor’s flat-funding proposal or a specific BSA increase, but House Speaker Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican, said Monday all options will be considered “including options that reduce costs to education and the system, including health care (cost) reductions…we’re looking at outside the box things other than putting a dollar amount toward that. That doesn’t mean there would be a dollar amount that is not acceptable.” The House majority consists of 19 Republicans, two Democrats and two independents.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t