Senate Democrats Offer Over $90 Million
for Education
Republicans reject no-strings offer to tap CBR

Senate Democrats this morning offered to provide votes to send emergency funds to education. Senator Gretchen Guess (D-Anchorage) offered an amendment to Senate Bill 35 that would direct over $82 million for K-12 and $10.5 million for university education.

Democrats offered the amendment because the bill as presented by the Republican majority would not fund education directly, and it would give a blank check for government spending. As the debate over school funding unfolds, it is important to understand what SB 35 does and what it fails to do.

• This bill is just an empty shell. It does not raise the Base Student Allocation (BSA), so the money, while earmarked for education, cannot be spent to support the foundation formula.
  
  
• Democrats intend to fill the shell. Senator Bettye Davis has introduced legislation, SB 91, to increase the BSA to $4,600.
  
  
• As the Senate Finance Co-Chair explained during debate, this bill is about the Constitutional Budget Reserve. It is only incidentally about education.
  
  
• Democrats offered a clean, no-politics approach to education funding. Republicans turned it down.
  
  
• Democrats support additional money for education, not a blank check for government spending.

As Senator Georgianna Lincoln (D-Rampart) said, education has always been a bedrock Democratic priority. Senate Democrats are committed to providing additional money for Alaska schools, and we are pleased that the Republican majority has come to the understanding that we need to face the funding crisis in Alaska's schools.

Senate Democrats look forward to working constructively with the Republican majority on an approach that provides money for schools and leaves political games behind.

Putting Alaskans First - Moving Alaska Forward