The Capitol Report — April 5, 2016
April 5, 2016
UA associate vice president for state relations
Today (April 5) is the 78th day of the legislative session. We have less than two weeks until the scheduled end of session on April 17 .
Capital Budget
The Senate Finance Committee will be taking a limited amount of public testimony on the capital budget tomorrow , April 6 , from 1–3 p.m. This may be the only opportunity for public advocacy on the capital budget and for senators to hear about the need for the university’s projects.
Governor Walker submitted a $185 million capital budget to the legislature that included $10 million for UA deferred maintenance. Unfortunately, he did not include money for UAF’s Engineering Learning and Innovation Facility (ELIF); the Board of Regents had requested $34.8 million for its completion. This building is shelled in but unusable because it has an unfinished interior. You can find more information on the project here: http://www.alaska.edu/files/
$185 million in unrestricted general funds is a very small capital budget by historic standards, and the Senate is not likely to increase it much because of the budget deficit. Most of the money in the governor’s capital budget is for projects that have a large federal match (some construction projects will bring in up to $10 from the federal government for every dollar spent by the state), and ELIF doesn’t bring in any federal matching money. We hope, however, that if $34.8 million is too much to add in this fiscal environment, a smaller amount can be provided that will finish some classroom or laboratory space in the new building, and allow us to put it to use.
Here is the information posted by the committee:
- Public testimony is limited to two minutes.
- Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the end of the allotted time period or testimony will close early.
- If you are a member of a group with the same message, in the interest of time, please select a spokesperson to testify for the entire group.
- You can find the location of your local Legislative Information Office at this link: http://akleg.gov/lios.php.
If you are unable to testify, you have two options: First, you can send written testimony to the entire Senate Finance Committee at this email address: finance.committee@akleg.gov. Second, you can send email to individual members of the committee using the links listed below. In either case, let them know what you would have said if you had been at the hearing. Be sure to thank them. Here is a list of committee members and links to their email addresses:
Senator Pete Kelly, Co-chair (R-Fairbanks) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Anna MacKinnon, Co-chair (R-Eagle River) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Peter Micciche, Vice-chair (R-Soldotna) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Click Bishop (R-Fairbanks) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Mike Dunleavy (R-Wasilla) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel) http://new.akleg.gov/
Senator Donny Olson (D-Golovin) http://new.akleg.gov/
The committee will probably pass out a capital budget next week and send it to the Senate floor. The House Finance Committee will take it up when it passes the Senate.
SB 174 — Weapons on campus
The Senate Finance Committee passed SB 174 out of committee on Monday, and it is expected on the Senate floor in the near future. The board of regents opposes SB 174 in its current form, but recognizes that the bill has strong support in the legislature. The BOR believes that amendments are required to permit continued regulation in six areas, to allow critical and timely responses by the university:
1. When a student’s or employee’s behavior indicates a risk of harm to self or others;
2. In student dormitories or other shared student living quarters;
3. In health and counseling, discrimination, harassment, and Title IX offices;
4. During adjudication of staff or student disputes or disciplinary issues;
5. In K-12 programs; and,
6. Requiring a concealed carry permit to carry concealed weapons on campus.
The first committee to consider the bill, Senate Education, made amendments that allowed university regulation in areas 1 through 4. We were hopeful that Senate Finance would amend the bill to also cover areas 5 and 6. Instead, the committee did the opposite, and removed or limited the scope of the previous amendments. For example, the bill now allows concealed handguns in dormitories. The committee also declined to provide funds for the university’s estimated costs in implementing the bill. You can review the new version and a summary of changes here: http://www.akleg.gov/basis/
Thank you for all your work to promote and support the University of Alaska!
For more information, contact Associate Vice President Chris Christensen at cschristenseniii@alaska.edu or visit www.alaska.edu/state.