With less than two weeks left in the 90-day session scheduled to adjourn April 15, here is where UA stands:

FY13 operating budget status (PDF)
Tthe Senate Finance Committee has passed out their version of this budget and has endorsed the House numbers as well as add on a few more increments for the university. Overall, the Senate budget is $4.9 million above the Governor’s proposed amended budget and $.6 million above the House budget.

The Senate passed the FY13 operating budget on April 4. The next step is for a Conference Committee on the operating budget to be appointed. The six-member committee consists of both co-chairs of the House and Senate Finance Committees as well as one other member from each body. Senators Hoffman and Stedman will represent the Senate, and Representatives Thomas and Stoltze will be on the House side.

Once the Conference Committee is appointed, the legislature goes under the ’24 hour’ rule, meaning bills will be moving very quickly out of committees and passed over to the other body if they are to pass this session.

FY13 Capital Budget status
The Senate is currently holding onto the capital budget for the time being, and the House is waiting for them to reveal what is included in this bill. The House will still need to act on their version once it is passed over to them. Expect action on this budget late in the session. This is one of the key pieces for adjournment, and it is typically acted upon as one of the last items on the adjournment calendar.

The Senate Finance Committee is reviewing oil and gas issues at the present time, and no resolution has been reached. There is speculation of a special session or an extension of the current session to deal with this issue.

Special note: Now would be a good time to send letters of thanks to the co-chairs of the House and Senate Finance Committees for their support of the university. The university has fared very well this year thanks to the efforts of many active advocates and legislators who understood the importance of funding the requests; however, until the Governor signs the budget, everything is still in play.
 

Today marks the 67th day of session. There are 23 days remaining before adjournment on April 15. Legislators are focused on oil and gas tax structures, operating and capital budgets, and pushing towards adjournment holding many hearings to get through the large number of bills still outstanding. Once the session adjourns this year, all legislation not passed ‘dies’.

We are focused on the FY13 Operating and Capital budgets right now, and are pleased to see so many university advocates take an active part in public testimony opportunities, as well as submitting letters and emails of support for university budget items. Keep up the good work! This support makes the difference in the outcome of our budget appropriations for both capital and operating funds, and legislators take note of what they are hearing from their constituencies, especially in an important election year.

FY13 Capital Budget

The FY13 Capital Budget is also underway, and includes funding for 'tangible' items such as buildings, deferred maintenance and research funding. The Senate Finance Committee is currently in possession of this budget and is working on recommendations prior to sending it over to the House. The capital budget is typically used as 'trading stock' in the final adjournment package between the House and Senate, and is usually one of the last pieces of the adjournment package at the very end of the legislative session.

The Senate Finance Committee members are keeping their recommendations close to the chest for the moment, and encourage supporters to send in their letters of support regarding capital budget requests. This past Wednesday night, an overwhelming number of university supporters took time out of their busy lives to spend three hours waiting to testify to the Senate Finance Committee on FY13 capital budget items. Thank you for your efforts. These will pay off in many ways!

FY13 Operating Budget

We are pleased to announce the Senate Finance Committee has closed out the UA FY13 Operating Budget, and the results for the university are very positive.

Thanks to strong advocacy efforts statewide, the Senate Finance Committee members chose to accept the House Finance Committee recommendations for the upcoming years' operating budget, to include the Governor's recommendations of funding salary increases, fixed costs and the Honors Program at UAA and UAF, as well as the addition of many increments requested by the Board of Regents.

Here is what the FY13 operating budget process looks like to date:

• UA Board of Regents submit budget proposal – November 2011
• Governor submits recommendations to legislature – December 2011
• House Finance Committee/House Floor action on operating budget – February/March 2012
• Senate Finance Committee action – closeout March 22, 2012
• Senate Finance Committee public testimony – March 28 (see schedule below)
• Senate Finance Committee action – after public testimony
• Senate Floor action on FY13 Operating Budget – towards end of session
• Conference Committee action just before adjournment April 15

Senate Finance Committee FY13 Operating Budget recommendations to date:

House Budget: Governor’s recommendations plus $4.3 million in state support for the following program areas: improving graduation rates ($1.3 million); engineering retention ($400.0 thousand); health/bio-medical – nursing, vet-med ($939.9 thousand); workforce programs ($749.1 thousand); Alaska research ($300 thousand); and additional legislative priority programs ($590.0 thousand).

The Senate Finance Subcommittee’s (SFS) proposed budget for UA is an $8.0 million (general fund) increase, 2.3%, above the current fiscal year (before one-time item reversals). The proposed Senate Finance Committee budget is $4.9 million above the Governor's proposed amended budget and $.6 million above the House budget.

Senate Finance Subcommittee Proposed FY13 Operating Budget (PDF): House plus $580.6 thousand in state support for: UAA ISER- Alaska education policy research ($250.0 thousand); UAF indigenous studies PhD and Alaska native knowledge network ($250.0 thousand); and UAS honors program ($80.6 thousand).

Wednesday, March 28
Public Testimony - Senate Finance Committee re: FY13 Operating Budget

Note: This is the last opportunity to participate in public testimony on the FY13 Operating Budget. Funding in the operating budget includes salaries, fixed costs and program expenditures. 

Note testimony will be taken only from local legislative information offices at designated times – ‘Offnet’ option available only to participants without a legislative information office in their communities.

Special note: Two-minute time limit per person. Testimony will be closed 15 minutes early if there are no further testifiers.

FY13 State Operating Budget public testimony
Wednesday, March 28 at the following times/locations:

• 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. Juneau
• 10 - 10:45 a.m. Kenai, Valdez, Kodiak, Seward, Matsu, Glennallen, Tok,
• 1 - 2:15 p.m. Anchorage
• 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Fairbanks
• 3:30 - 4:15 p.m. Ketchikan, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Homer, Dillingham,Cordova
• 4:30 - 5:15 p.m. Bethel, Kotzebue, Barrow, Nome, Delta Junction, Unalaska, Offnets

With five weeks left in the session, there is much activity in the capitol building.

The House Finance Committee passed out their version of the FY13 Operating Budget on March 13th and it’s good news for the university!

The House Finance Subcommittee on the UA Budget (a subcommittee of the whole) recommended the Governor’s numbers, meaning fixed costs, compliance issues and the Honors program funding to base. When the full committee met on March 13, Representative Anna Fairclough and Representative Bill Thomas offered a large amendment to include multiple agency amendments, including the following for UAF:

The FY13 operating budget is scheduled for House floor action on March 15 and will then head to the Senate Finance Committee where it will receive numerous hearings, including another opportunity for public testimony.  

Many, many thanks to all those active advocates who took time to write letters, meet with legislators and attend the House Finance Committee’s public hearing on the operating budget. Your voice was heard, and it incentivized House Finance Committee members to vote for the UA amendments.

On the capital budget front, UA was on the schedule March 13 in the Senate Finance Committee. UA President Gamble presented the UA capital budget request to include the deferred maintenance request as well as the research requests.

UAA and UAF governance students came back to Juneau this week to encourage positive action on the UA FY13 operating budget. Confirmation hearings will take place for UA Student Regent Mari Frietag on March 16.

Several members of the UAF Alumni Board will be in Juneau from March 17 - 20 to advocate for UAF. Joe Hayes, Jim Dixon and Tania Clucas will also meet with the UAF Student Investment Fund leaders and attend their presentation to the House Labor & Commerce Committee on March 19.

Gwen Holdmann, Director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, will give a luncheon presentation March 20 in the state capitol to legislators and staff. She will be focusing on "Diversifying Alaska’s Economy through Applied Energy Resources" to give legislators an overview of UAF research in this area. 

Please note: Expect to see another ‘call to action’ from the Senate Finance Committee within the next couple of weeks to support UA FY13 operating budget.

We appreciate all the hard work of our active advocates and encourage you to keep up the good work!

Legislative Information Office locations

The House Finance Subcommittee for the University has endorsied the Governor’s numbers to maintain a ‘hold the line’ budget for the FY13 UA operating budget.

However, Representative Fairclough has indicated there may possible amendments to include funding for student success initiatives, and a number of high-demand workforce programs including engineering and nursing in the Board of Regents’FY13 operating budget request. These amendments may be offered when the full budget comes before the House Finance Committee in mid-March.

These amendments have a better chance of making it into the University budget IF the House Finance Committee hears from supporters of the initiatives to back up their actions. This is where the public testimony becomes very important. Legislators keep a tally of how many individuals support the initiative, the names of those that testify and the compelling stories they hear.

The House Finance Committee will take public testimony on 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.   The Committee will close out the hearings if testimony has ended 15 minutes before the allotted time ends.

What do I say?

(Note: You will 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 the currently unfunded university   FY13 operating budget initiatives?
(See Pages 36-47 of FY13 UA BOR request book)

New Initiatives to Improve Graduation Rates
These requests support UA’s responsibility during students “the 3 critical years”. They include supporting UA’s part in the joint effort for insuring college readiness and student success during their three key decision and high attrition years (last year of high school and year 1 and year 2 of college). Specific focus placed on improving retention, timely completion, removing student obstacles, establishing much better performance facts, and creating a common database for student decision making.

Funding to accommodate the growing demand for trained professional in the areas of Engineering, Health/Bio-Medical, Teacher Education, and Workforce Development continues to be a top priority for UA. Only through continued investment in these areas will we keep up with the State’s need. The alternatives are to recruit from outside or go without.

Alaska research, economic development, intellectual property
These requests support UA’s newly initiated efforts to create economic value from UA intellectual property commercialization and focused research.

FY13 operating budget: 

The House Finance Subcommittee on the UA FY13 operating budget has "closed out" with their recommendations of supporting the Governor's recommendations. No amendments were added in this process. However, the full House Finance Committee may take amendments when they meet to deliberate on the full FY13 operating budget.

If you are interested in supporting an increment in the OPERATING BUDGET, now is the time to send in letters of support to all House Finance Committee members:

Representative Bill Stoltze (Chugiak)
Representative Bill Thomas (Haines)
Representative Anna Fairclough (Eagle River)
Representative Bryce Edgmon (Dilllingham)
Representative Reggie Joule (Kotzebue)
Representative Mark Neuman (MatSu)
Representative Tammie Wilson (North Pole)
Representative Mia Costello (South Anchorage)
Representative David Guttenberg (Fairbanks)
Representative Les Gara (East Anchorage)
Representatie Mike Doogan (West Anchorage)
Representative Mike Hawker (Alt.) (Anchorage Hillside)

Also note - the House Finance Committee will announce a statewide teleconference on the FY13 operating budget for March 6-7, and times will be posted when we are notified of specifics. This is a perfect opportunity for RAP advocates to provide their testimony for this program. The more students and supporters you can send on that day, the better!

FY13 capital budget status: 

Although the operating budget is taking center stage in the Alaska House right now, work is quietly underway on the Senate side to input information on all capital budget priorities to include the requested projects, letters and resolutions of support and backup documentation. The Governor has recommended funding $37.5 million in deferred maintenance projects as part of his five-year pledge to address critical items in this category.  

The UA Board of Regents have also asked for an additional $50 million for renewal and repurposing funding, as well as $100 million to address the backlog of necessary repairs, maintenance, renewal and replacement projects for the university statewide.

Also key in the FY13 capital budget request are a number of UAF research projects to be considered, including a  $10 million request for energy projects (PDF), $2 million for an  Oil Spill Research Center (PDF) (with a potential $25 million competitive grant in the mix), and  $2.5 million for studies involving ocean acidification (PDF). The last two projects have been endorsed in the recent Alaska Northern Waters Task Force recommendations (PDF). Note that for every dollar of state general funds, UA can leverage an average of $5 of other funds in research project funding.

Here is a sample letter of support (PDF) for consideration. Use the fact sheets highlighted above to insert a few salient bullet points, and then give a paragraph about why you support the project in your own words.  Letters should be a page in length and addressed to:

Senator_Joe_Thomas@legis.state.ak.us

Letters of support DO MATTER, especially when written by 'outside' advocates.

Anchorage legislators are headed home on Saturday, Feb. 18 to hold a Town Hall meeting at the ZJ Loussac Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon.

A number of Interior Delegation legislators are also headed home, and have their Town Hall meeting on Sunday, February 19 at West Valley High School from 1 to 3 p.m.

House Finance Committee Statewide Teleconference on the FY13 operating budget – helpful tips to make it easy!

Within the next several weeks, the House Finance Committee will be calendaring their statewide teleconference on the FY13 operating budget.  This is a great opportunity to actively participate in the process. 

How does this teleconference work?
Notice will be posted on the legislative calendar as to the date and times the House Finance Committee will be taking public testimony on the FY13 operating budget.  Typically, time is allotted for Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, rural and offnet sites throughout the day. The public is invited to attend these meetings at their local legislative information office where they will sign up to present their supportive testimony.  Once the committee receives the roster of speakers, they will call upon each person to come to the table to give a two-minute presentation.  And they are serious about this time constraint!

Note: We will send out a notice on our legislative update enewsletter as soon as the dates/times are posted.

What if I can’t make it to the hearing?
House Finance Committee members will also accept written testimony sent by email, US Postal Service or fax. It’s also a great idea to ‘cc’ your own legislators so they know what you are supporting.

Why is this hearing important?
Legislators WANT to hear from their constituents! They will be listening intently to take notes of what is said and what budget items have the most vocal support. The more people that show up to testify on the budget, the better, especially when it comes to the University.

What’s in the UA FY13 operating budget? (PDF)
The UA Board of Regents have addressed the most pressing funding requirements for the University, i.e. fixed costs, salary increases, and high priority program initiatives.  It is important to note here that the Governor has reviewed the UA Regents’ request, recommending funding of fixed costs, salary increases and the Honors Program.  No funding was provided for the high-priority program requests.

However, it is very appropriate to advocate for anything in the UA Regents’ FY13 operating request, and support is needed for any of the program requests to succeed. This opportunity to provide testimony is a very effective way of getting your messages to legislators. It is especially important for ‘outside’ advocates, that is, private citizens, students, alumni, business and industry leaders, and UA partners. 

This is a proven method of advocacy – in years gone by, legislators were swayed by passionate testimony for various programs, and funding was included in the final budgets. In fact, the more people that testify to promote a program, the better!

What UA Board of Regents’ FY13 operating budget program initiatives are not funded to date? (See BOR FY13 Operating Request details - PDF)

• New initiatives to improve graduation rates
  These requests support UA’s responsibility during students “the 3 critical years”. They include supporting UA’s part in the joint effort for insuring college readiness and student success during their three key decision and high attrition years (last year of high school and year 1 and year 2 of college). Specific focus placed on improving retention, timely completion, removing student obstacles, establishing much better performance facts, and creating a common database for student decision making.
• Response to state high-demand jobs
  Funding to accommodate the growing demand for trained professional in the areas of Engineering, Health/Bio-Medical, Teacher Education, and Workforce Development continues to be a top priority for UA. Only through continued investment in these areas will we keep up with the State’s need. The alternatives are to recruit from outside or go without.
• Alaska Research, Economic Development, Intellectual Property
  These requests support UA’s newly initiated efforts to create economic value from UA intellectual property commercialization and focused research.
  

What points should I cover during my testimony?
You will have two minutes to convey your message, so short bullet points are essential in this case. This hearing is on the operating budget only. 

Note: Two opportunities will be provided for public testimony for capital budget (infrastructure and building) requests. The capital budget deliberations typically happen towards the end of session in late March/early April.

You will be asked to identify yourself, including your name, affiliation, and legislative district. This will really get the legislators’ attention if they are at the table.

Legislators are not so much interested in the financial details of the budget request as they want to hear your own story. Tell them what program initiatives you are supporting and why – what will this provide to the state, to Alaskans, to enhance workforce development, student achievements, etc. What will happen if the initiative is not funded? 

At the end of your short testimony, make sure to thank the legislators for their time and ask them for their support of your request.

Who are the House Finance Committee members?

Representative Bill Stoltze (Chugiak)
Representative Bill Thomas (Haines)
Representative Anna Fairclough (Eagle River)
Representative Bryce Edgmon (Dilllingham)
Representative Reggie Joule (Kotzebue)
Representative Mark Neuman (MatSu)
Representative Tammie Wilson (North Pole)
Representative Mia Costello (South Anchorage)
Representative David Guttenberg (Fairbanks)
Representative Les Gara (East Anchorage)
Representatie Mike Doogan (West Anchorage)
Representative Mike Hawker (Alt.) (Anchorage Hillside)

What’s happening on the Hill?

All three Chancellors have been invited by Senator Johnny Ellis to present to the UA Boosters Caucus on Feb. 28 to discuss collaborative and cooperative efforts between campuses. The Chancellors will also be presenting to the Juneau Downtown Rotary on the same date. This hearing may be available on Gavel or Gavel or Alaska Legislative TV.

The UA Board of Regents will be meeting in Fairbanks on February 15 and 16.  Public testimony will be taken on both days from 10 am to 11 am. Testimony is taken in-person only. During this meeting, a ribbon-cutting event will take place for the new ACEP Lab Modules. Senator Lesil McGuire is expected to make a few remarks at this ceremony.

Governor’s Cup Hockey! February 24 in Anchorage and February 25 in Fairbanks.  Come cheer on UAA or UAF in this final tournament of the season.

There are less than 70 days left to go in this legislative session, and the House Finance Committee has been working steadily in their subcommittees to focus on agency and university FY13 operating budget details.

The University has been especially busy these past couple of weeks providing information to the House Finance Subcommittee on the UA Budget, and UA President Gamble has made three presentations to date covering the high level view of mission and goals, research, distance education, and various topics regarding the university. More budget hearings are scheduled before the

House Finance Committee finalizes their recommendations in late February.

Typically, the Senate Finance Committee usually does not formally start working on this budget until it is passed out of the House. However, due to the shortened session and many issues on the table, the Senate Finance Committee will most likely try to get some work done ahead of schedule in order to meet the end-of-session deadlines.

The Governor submitted his FY13 operating and capital budgets to the legislature on December 15.  He is focusing on a ‘hold the line’ budget, and little else. He included salary increases and fixed cost increases in the UA FY13 operating budget, but chose not to include any of the high priority program increments from the Board of Regents request (PDF). These include:

• New initiatives to improve graduation rates
  These requests support UA’s responsibility during students “the 3 critical years”. They include supporting UA’s part in the joint effort for insuring college readiness and student success during their three key decision and high attrition years (last year of high school and year 1 and year 2 of college). Specific focus placed on improving retention, timely completion, removing student obstacles, establishing much better performance facts, and creating a common database for student decision making.
• Response to State High-Demand Jobs in Engineering, Health/Bio-Medical, Teacher Education, and Workforce Development
  Funding to accommodate the growing demand for trained professional in the areas of Engineering, Health/Bio-Medical, Teacher Education, and Workforce Development continues to be a top priority for UA. Only through continued investment in these areas will we keep up with the State’s need. The alternatives are to recruit from Outside or go without.
• Alaska research, economic development, intellectual property
  These requests support UA’s newly initiated efforts to create economic value from UA intellectual property commercialization and focused research

The Governor included $37.5 million in his FY13 capital budget for UA deferred maintenance to continue his pledge to start to address the backlog of necessary repairs, maintenance and renewal of UA facilities.  The university building inventory is about 37.5% of all state buildings..

Missing in this request are research projects designed to provide Alaska with answers to energy solutions, oil spill recovery in Arctic environments and ocean acidification studies in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. This includes:

Research for Alaska

• UAF Partnership to Develop Statewide Energy Solutions (PDF)
  The University of Alaska Fairbanks has significant capabilities to assist the State of Alaska, Alaska communities, and Alaska industries in making informed decisions about energy technology, analysis, and development. The University of Alaska Fairbanks can serve as a neutral information broker to impartially assess a wide range of potential energy options from numerous perspectives.
• UAF Effective Arctic Oil Spill Response (PDF)
  On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting well-blowout flowed for nearly 4 months and resulted in one of the largest manmade oil spills everon Earth. Given the huge offshore circum-arctic resource potential, oil development in the Arctic is a critical issue for the US and Alaska. Many of the difficulties associated with offshore development are intensified by the Arctic environment, and have not been studied as much as development in more temperate zones. UAF is uniquely situated to create a center focused on oil spill prevention and preparedness in the Arctic that would fill existing gaps in arctic knowledge and technology.
• UAF Assessing the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Alaska’s Fisheries (PDF)
  Rapid and significant changes are occurring in the ocean waters surrounding Alaska that will affect our fisheries. One major change is the increased ocean acidification (OA). Currently, there are a number of independent studies (some inside of Alaska and others are being done national and internationally) that are working to better understand the impacts of OA to specific organisms and ecosystems. The modeling effort will require a multidisciplinary, highly integrative approach in order to accurately assess the impacts of OA in Alaska.

Now is a good time to contact all House Finance Committee members (PDF) and voice your support for items you feel are important in the Regents’ request. All three areas of focus listed above resonate with legislators; however, they need the encouragement and support of their constituency to even consider including them in the budget mix.

A sample template has been created for easy use, providing you with some bullet points regarding the budget and it gives you specifics about what legislators want to hear. Speak from experience and share your stories with them.  Make sure to send copies of your letters to your own legislators.

UA Student Governance leaders met in Juneau last weekend to attend their annual legislative conference to learn about the legislative process, participate in round-table discussions with legislators (thank you Interior Delegation for spending your Saturday afternoon with our students!) and focus on two days of meetings with legislators in the state capitol.  The UAF Alumni Association, along with counterparts from UAA and UAS also treated the students and legislators and staff to an annual ice cream social in the Speaker’s Chambers.

Right now, the issue of oil and gas taxes is front and center on the legislators’ agenda, and this issue will dominate the session for the most part. Education funding (K-12) is also being discussed.

The House and Senate have passed out their respective versions of the military training credits legislation, and it appears one of these bills will most likely pass in the near future. HB 148 passed out of the House by a 40-0 vote, and SB 150 moved out of the Senate by a vote of 19-1.  Senator Huggins opposition vote was because of the effective date of the bill – he wants it to take effect immediately.

The Northern Waters Task Force just completed their report of their recommendations based on their meetings held all over the state during the interim.  As part of their report, they recommend a university oil spill research center, studies on fisheries issues and Arctic waters, transportation and marine ecosystems.  Lots of great recommendations to support UAF research!

UAF Vice Chancellor for Research Services Mark Myers and Dan White, Director of UAF INE and OIPC gave a ‘lunch and learn’ presentation to members and staff of the legislature to give them an overview of the research presently in place and future possibilities for research specifically focused on climate change, oil spill recovery, ocean acidification and intellectual property expansion.

See Gavel to Gavel and the Alaska Legislature TV to view live and archived committee hearings during the session. 

The Alaska State Legislature gaveled into session on January 17 and are now working towards an April 15 adjournment date to comply with the 90-day session limit.  

We will be posting regular updates on this website as well as sharing links and information in our new enewsletters that will be sent to our UAF Alumni members and friends. Be sure to bookmark this page for easy reference.

This promises to be a very interesting session with issues ranging from energy cost relief, oil and gas tax amendments to operating and capital budgets and the looming election season ahead.

Already the House Finance Committee is working on its review of the Governor’s FY13 operating budget.   UA President Gamble will be making his introductory overview on the FY13 Board of Regents request (PDF) on February 1 and 2 to the House Finance Subcommittee for the UA Budget (consisting of all members of the House Finance Committee ) and future hearings are scheduled for this purpose on February 14 and 16.   These hearings may be televised on “ Gavel to Gavel ”.   Operating budget closeout hearings will be posted in late February.  

There will be a number of great opportunities to actively advocate for your issues throughout the session.   The first one on the operating budget will probably fall around the last week in February or first week in March so stay tuned to this website for updates and more information in this regard.

Thank you for all you do for the University of Alaska!

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