Be sure to check out the photos and bills up for hearing by scrolling down (expand if necessary) to see more. You may see someone you know!

SESSION UPDATE - April 15, 2024

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

After the news cycle this past Friday evening was underway, when you likely were kicking back and beginning your weekend, three items may have slipped by you. One involves a devasting blow to public correspondence homeschooling families. Another points to a capital budget passed by the Senate that favors certain districts and disregards others. The last pertains to an event that occurred in the Capitol building for the first time in fifteen years. We’ll talk about the latter first.

With the two presiding officers, other legislators, and reporters gathered to watch, the House Clerk and Senate Secretary met midway between the two chambers on the second floor at 6pm to exchange the budget bills. The House passed the operating budget to the Senate, and the Senate passed the capital budget to the House.

So Far, Turducken is Not on the Menu

The last couple of years Senate Finance leadership had usurped the House’s ability to include items in the capital budget when they refused to pass over the capital budget bill to the House but instead stuffed it into the operating bill, morphing it into what has been jokingly dubbed a “turducken” (a roast dish consisting of a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey).

This year, the House was determined to exercise their constitutionally-designed opportunity in our bicameral legislature to have more than just a final up/down vote at the end of session on the capital budget like in recent years. The House insisted upon and successfully attained the perfectly timed mid-chamber exchange to acquire possession of the capital bill.

Normally. . .

Now, if the Senate and House continue to “play nice” and stick to the game plan, each body will make its amendments to the bills they possess and pass them on their chamber floors. After that vote, the budgets will travel back to the body of origin for each bill where a concurrence vote will take place. The House will then decide whether to concur with the changes the Senate made to the operating budget HB 268; likewise, the Senate will determine whether to agree to the changes the House made to the capital budget SB 187. Usually, at least with the operating budget, there is not concurrence. A conference committee is then assigned to negotiate the items that differ and issue their report to the respective bodies where a vote for approval occurs.

Read the Fine Print: Subject to Change

The agreed-upon plan this year is that the conference committee be appointed by May 6. This means, to stay on schedule, each chamber will need to vote on the budget bill they just received and vote to concur or not concur on the budget bill they’ll receive back by that date.

Herein lies the sticky wicket. When you add the total of the operating budget the House passed and the total of the capital budget the Senate passed, it is $276 million more than the total revenue available (without tapping into savings). If quagmire over that deficit isn’t resolved and the clock ticks to the final hour, anything can happen, even another turducken. It’s unlikely but to gavel out and adjourn sine die to end the legislative session – and get out of town, stranger things have happened.

That Pesky Deficit

Now back to that pesky deficit. The Senate Majority and House Minority lean toward solving it by cutting the PFD. The House Majority and Senate Minority lean toward trimming back government spending but frankly lack the votes.

If you are a limited-government-is-better person and/or a big PFD supporter, I am very confident that if you were to analyze the approximately $8 billion state dollars in the operating budget and the $550 million in the capital budget, you could find sprinkled here and there where to trim 3% in government spending to maintain the PFD the House Majority is proposing.

Funny though, nobody is talking about that. Nobody is talking about trimming government spending. The assumption is that the deficit will be resolved by trimming the PFD even more. (Note that the House Majority’s proposed PFD with the energy rebate is $2300 and is already much lower than the statutory PFD with the rebate which would be at $3700.)

Times Have Certainly Changed

My, how different the 33rd Legislature is compared to the 7thLegislature. The 7th Legislature who wrote the PFD statutes, considered the PFD to be the “first draw” based on the written law and the remaining revenues then available for government spending. The opposite appears to be the case now among the bulk of the 33rd Legislature: government spending is a priority as in the “first draw” – and what is leftover can go to the PFD. How times have changed.

Proof is in the Pudding

The Senate Majority has clearly staked out its position for a lower PFD in press conferences. The House Minority showed on the scoreboard (the voting board) their desire to use the PFD to pay for government when it failed to vote for HJR 7 last week. The House Minority did not support putting the question before the voters, whether or not the PFD should be paid each year according to whatever the formula in statute were to be. Their failure to support HJR 7 caused the resolution to fail; voters will not have the opportunity to consider the PFD constitutional amendment.

No Small Matter: Court Deals Blow to Homeschool Families

Word released Friday evening puts families of more than 22,000 Alaskan students in jeopardy. Families who receive public funding allotments for public correspondence (homeschool) students were dealt a big blow. Judge Adolf Zeman ruled in favor of NEA-Alaska who funded the case against families using the allotments for private vendor purchases. The judge did not tweak or define what was allowable or not allowable with the allotment program but threw out the section of statute altogether.

With 15% of Alaska’s students in correspondence programs, this decision is hugely consequential for these many families all over the state. It also is hugely consequential as far as the state’s budget. If these children were to move back into our brick-and-mortar schools, the cost would be enormous. At present, the average public funds expended for a public correspondence student is $5364 compared to over $22,000 per student attending a brick-and-mortar school.

Blaine Amendment is in Question

Although the Alaska State Constitution says: “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution” the US Supreme Court has ruled that public dollars can be used at religious institutions if the state allows them to be used at private institutions. In other words, the SCOTUS, has indicated there are problems with the “Blaine Amendment” that is incorporated into many state constitutions prohibiting public dollars directed to parochial schools.

Alaska’s constitution is a bit different, however. Its “Blaine Amendment” doesn’t just prohibit public dollars from being used for religious institutions but for any private institutions as well.

Hypocrisy at Its Finest

There’s a problem though. In Alaska, hundreds of millions of public dollars have been used for many years for the private non-profit Headstart program, for programs, courses, textbooks, educational materials from private educational institution vendors, for student loan payments to private and religious colleges, private vocational training programs, and more.

NEA-Alaska and others have ignored this distribution of public funds to these private institutions. They’ve turned a blind eye. The fact that this has been happening over the years, however, may be exactly the information needed in the higher courts to fix the mess this judge has created.

Disruptive, Disconcerting, and Disturbing

In light of state dollars having been spent in other venues for decades for private and religious education, to suddenly target K-12 public correspondence students and strike down the use of public dollars for outside vendors is disruptive, disconcerting, and disturbing.

But don’t be distraught

I have no doubt a stay will be requested and granted so the students can finish out the school year. I also have no doubt the State of Alaska will appeal the decision.

Hang in there, homeschool families. With persistence, we will get this straightened out.

Math and the Capital Budget

I’m going to keep this section short and simple. Although the House can add items to the capital budget now that the bill is in its possession, there remains a general lack of fairness and disrespect for some districts based on what occurred in the Senate. The amount of state funds included in the capital budget was roughly $550 million. $250 million of that was based on requests from the governor. The Senate Majority determined where $200 million would be spent. $100 million is left for the House to decide.

District Math

There are 20 Senate districts, and of the $200 million determined by the Senate Majority, $50 million was determined by the 17 individual Senate Majority members. Of the $100 million to be determined by the House Majority, $25 million will be up to individual House Majority members.

That’s $2.94 million of state funds for each Majority Senator’s district ($0 for each Minority Senator’s district) and $1.08 million for each Majority Representative’s district. This means that a Senate Minority district comprised of two Majority Representatives districts will receive $2.16 million, while a Senate Majority district comprised of two Majority Representatives districts will receive $5.1 million.

It appears that the Senate Majority focused capital spending in House Minority (Democrat) members’ districts within their districts where applicable with little or no funding to the part of their district represented by a House Majority (Republican) member.

Hmmm. . .

Of course, these dollar figures are estimates and averages. When you look at what actually played out, some Senate Majority members’ districts received $10 million in state funds or more and on top of that, lapsing state funds from prior years were appropriated back to their districts. Others Senate Majority Members received closer to the $3 million agreed-up amount. Again, Senate Minority members had no say.

Naturally, it’s not realistic for capital budgets to be even-steven each year, but over a decade or more, regionally they should balance out somewhat despite politics. We have data from Legislative Finance that they do not, however. This is a challenge that I made the point to highlight on the Senate floor. I also have provided graph charts to members illustrating the imbalance over time factoring population changes.

On a Side Note

One a side note, the Judiciary branch had requested $35 million for an expansion of the Palmer Courthouse and the Senate Majority did include $2.3 million for that project in our Senate district.

Population growth or decline was not factored into the capital budgeting process either. Mat-Su, the fastest growing part of the state received the least of the regions.

Thankful for our Mat-Su House Members

I am thankful our Mat-Su House delegation will have a crack at fixing the disparities. With Rep. DeLena Johnson a Co-Chair of House Finance as the House member from half of our senate district and Speaker Cathy Tilton the other half, I am hopeful that the imbalance will be remedied in our district. I continue to be concerned about Senator Shower’s and Senator Myers’ districts.

To view a few highlights of the capital budget, see here.

Upcoming Attractions

Hope you join us this evening as we broadcast live from the Capitol, Room 7. Monday evenings at 6pm during the session, we come to you via FaceTime Live to discuss the hot issues and overview the upcoming bill hearings and public testimony opportunities. Your comments and questions are always part of the conversation, so hop on my page and engage!

Until We Meet Again

My responsibility to you is always front and center, whether I am on the Senate floor, drafting policy, in a meeting, out and about in our community, or communicating with you. I will strive to be available in multiple ways to hear from you and what concerns you most. I am on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at AKShelleyHughes (links at bottom of email). You can also email me at Sen.Shelley.Hughes@akleg.com or call my office (907)465-3743 (Session) or (907)376-3725 (Interim) to get in touch.

As I state on my Facebook Senator page, mention in live broadcasts, and tell many of you in one-on-one conversations, with the volume of contacts I receive daily (multiple hundreds), my staff and I work hard to read and listen to everything so I can understand what you, our district, and the rest of the state is thinking. If you would like to ensure you receive my feedback on your issue and ideas, please call my office to set up a phone call with me or come by one of my constituent meetings so we can connect in-person. Hearing your input continues to be a top priority to me!

Working on your behalf,

Use DOT&PF’s Alaska Project Exchange tools to learn more about all of DOT&PF’s active construction projects statewide!

Want to know how construction will impact road traffic?

Visit 511.alaska.gov.

No Small Matter: Court Deals Blow to Homeschool Families

Families receiving public funding for homeschool dealt a big blow

📰

Budget-Wrangling Season in the People’s House

Balancing funds and the PFD

17X: Why Who Plays in the Broadband Sandbox Matters

Offroad Alaskan communities need a win for education

A.I. Duty Calls

The future is now...and what's being done to safeguard from overreach

A Big Vote on Education

The Governor's veto on SB140 and the next steps

Is SB 24 a Door to Social Engineering in Our Schools?

There may be more behind the "mental health education" bill

Why a Department of Agriculture Makes Sense for Alaska

Five key reasons to pursue a new department.

New Economic Horizons in Alaska

Time to develop another sector more fully

HJR7: It's So Much More Than Just the PFD

Alaska stands at a fundamental crossroad

As Gas Shortage Looms for Railbelt…

Blow The Dust Off The Dam Project Already

It's a First in Alaska and It's Needed: Artificial Intelligence Bill

Introducing SB 177: AI, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, Deepfakes

A Call for Responsibility: Rejecting SB88 and Prioritizing No-Risk Solutions

Where have all the fiscal conservatives gone?

SB 173 Safe Schools Act Will Deter Active Shooters Taking Lives

When seconds matter for students

Evil Lurks – Trafficking Is Occurring in Alaska

We must pass HB 68 - doing what I can to get the bill moving in the Senate.

Food Security Focus Continues In 2024

Supporting the agriculture industry, promoting locally products, and increasing food security.

See 🗂️Archive for More Articles

Senator Hughes is frequently in the news and mention of the projects from our office also show up from time to time. She is typically on the radio once per week or more on a variety of shows. Below are some links to recent news items.

Anchorage Daily News

Senator Hughes helped introduce SJR 20 to the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee. The resolution urges Congress and FAA to remedy the persistent and longstanding problem of Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) outages at our rural airports.

The problem surfaced as part of the senator's work on food security in Alaska. Her Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the Task Force discovered it when analyzing food distribution to villages.

The disruption in air traffic due to the outages not only results in food spoilage but in passenger services, emergency medical treatment and medication delivery, and freight and mail shipments.

Senator Hughes worked with experts in the field to provide the language to Committee Chair Senator Dunbar for our legislative legal division to draft the resolution.

Joey Crum of Northern Industrial Training in Palmer visited along with his daughter who served as a page in the House the same day.

Sixth grade students from Academy Charter School in Palmer visited the Capitol to see firsthand how the state government works and meet with legislators. Senator Hughes noted what a respectful and eager-to-learn group of young people they were. Staffer Stephen Knouse also had a chance to share the perspective of a legislative aide to the class.

Senator Hughes spoke on the floor about SB 45 during the concurrence vote regarding the House's changes to the bill. An important amendment to ensure the constitutionality of the bill that she had offered in the Senate had failed months prior due to petty majority versus minority politics. Senator Hughes was happy to see that the House had addressed and fixed the issue. She had carried this same bill late in the previous session so was happy to see that it was headed to the governor's office for a signature.

Great conversation was had when John Alcantra of Palmer (right of Hughes) brought in some out-of-state friends - (L) Ricardo Gonzales and (R) Jack Gibbons. These three gentleman had met in the 1980's working on the Senate floor together. Jack was the Sergeant of Arms and Ricardo and John were Senate Pages. What a reunion for the three! John's daughter, Almeria, works for Senator Donny Olson.

Philip Licht of Set Free Alaska and his son, Evan, popped in to say "Hi" to Senator Hughes before Evan served as a guest page on the House floor Friday morning.

Chaplain Nancy Campbell from White Fields Church in the Mat-Su was in Juneau this last week. We managed to snap a pic of her with Senator Hughes before she left to catch a plane home.

Senator Hughes and the rest of the Minority proposed amendments for important projects in their districts. The senators called out the lopsided nature of the budget allocations. Senator Hughes questioned the regional imbalance, particularly considering Mat-Su is the region of the state that is growing. She also pointed out that in past years. the

Over a hundred people, community leaders, and legislators stood in the freezing rain and wind during the nation-wide "Don't Mess With our Kids" rally held on capitol steps in every state on Saturday. Senator Hughes was asked to speak on how every-day people can get involved and invited other legislators to share as well.

"[Due to the court ruling} I assume some families might be able to afford to continue to home educate and would be forced to enroll their children into their neighborhood schools, which would not be equipped or prepared to deal with the influx of students. Increasing class size, I assume and stretch resources. Thus further tanking the public opinion and test scores of those schools. "

"Using the allotments there are multiple businesses that families utilize for gym classes, art classes, hands on activities, memberships to museums, and so many things. These business might have a few clients who can keep their services but many families would not be able to afford those services, causing many small businesses to close. "

"The relatively small amount of money that has been allotted to us has been used wisely on books, educational materials, physical education programs and also some tutoring which helps in areas where we as parents needed further assistance. The roughly $2600 we receive barely covers these costs especially if you calculate transportation to and from activities. "

"I believe that Scott Kendall and Judge Zeman's efforts to undermine these programs will ultimately hurt school age children across Alaska. I hope you will put forth your best effort, as you usually do, to help keep these education options available."

"We do need reform in our school systems. More money is NOT going to fix the problem. Getting rid of NEA would be a great start. Alaskan teachers can start their own union, it has been done in other states."

"How about we [pass a package with education reforms and the BSA increase] without using the PFD???"

"School Choice i.e. Voucher Program also needs to be instituted. This would provide competition for education dollars and help parents to get their students back on track."

"I hope that bonus incentive program [mentioned in the education survey report from the Governor] would be merit based."

"We need the rail to Port McKenzie as an alternative. Not only is the Anchorage Port falling apart, so is the underground infrastructure."

"Thank you all for spending so much of your time on Alaska’s public education system this year. Public education is one of the most important services our state and boroughs provide."

"I am getting so sick and tired of this fight over the people’s PFD."

"I understand that things have changed since Governor Hammond created the PFD for the PEOPLE of Alaska. $1,600 Vs 3,500 is not acceptable."

"I want to thank @AKShelleyHughes for her phone call today. She understands how important it is for families to stay involved in our schools and how important it is to be able to communicate with our elected officials. We both agreed how much different the school board is in the valley compared to Anchorage. In the midst of the turbulent day at the Capitol, she found time to call because she takes 'student safety as a priority'. "

"Thank you for holding [your last Coffee Chat]. As always, it was very informative!"

O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R Y O U T O W E I G H I N T H I S W E E K

If you’d like to provide public testimony for any bill, enter the bill number (for example "HB 22") into the search bar here to learn the date and time. Scroll down toward the bottom of this newsletter or view the highlighted bill images to find the public testimony call-in phone numbers.

The following "News from Hughes Alerts" are highlighted bills for this week but please note that this is not an exhaustive list.

🖱️ Click on the image to view the referenced bill.

Click the button below to see all public testimony opportunities occurring within the next seven days.

Public Testimony Schedule

The 📣 indicates that the topic is slated to be accepting public testimony at its hearing.