The Alaska House of Representatives voted to provide state funding for school lunches, early childhood reading education, seafood marketing, and tourism marketing.
House lawmakers are considering about 140 proposed changes to the $6 billion operating budget, but only a few changes to the thick document had been accepted by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The budget covers 12 months of services starting July 1, and the House is expected to complete the draft by Friday and send it to the Senate for further consideration.
Senate leaders said Wednesday they are concerned that Congress' spending plans – operating budget, capital budget and other costs – will deteriorate. That could exceed the amount available to lawmakers this year..
This could result in later cuts to the operating budget, including the proposed $2,200 per person Permanent Fund dividend and the capital budget being considered by the Senate.
Late Tuesday, House members voted 39-1 to transfer $479,500 from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Education and Early Development to help local school districts cover the cost of free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. It was approved.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Jenny Armstrong, an Anchorage Democrat, received bipartisan support.
Another amendment would give public schools $8.9 million in bonus funding, equivalent to $180 per student in kindergarten through third grade, plus an additional 1.5 million yen per eligible student in schools with a high proportion of children from low-income families. An additional $100 per person will be added.
This amendment from Rep. Andy Storey (D-Juneau) Republican-backed education bill It was brought before the House Finance Committee this week.
Five members of the House Majority Caucus joined the 16 members of the Democratic-controlled House Minority Caucus in passing the Story amendment 21-19.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to approve $5 million in additional funding for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and $5 million in additional funding for tourism marketing across the state.
The proposals, which the House passed as a single amendment by a vote of 26-14, were half the size of the identical amendments that were rejected on Tuesday.
The House of Representatives late Wednesday voted 21-19 in favor of increasing the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' budget by $1.27 million to improve snow removal in southcentral Alaska. The increase was proposed by U.S. Rep. Zach Fields, an Anchorage Democrat, in response to problems that occurred in Anchorage over the winter.
Lawmakers also accepted one budget cut from Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake. The layoffs will eliminate six vacancies at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The House voted 22-18 to vote in favor of the cuts, which require the department to reduce the number of vacancies by filling them or removing position control numbers from each job category from the budget. He said he thought so.
“It will send a clear message to the Ministry of Labor: It must fill these 154 positions or return the PCNs,” he said.
Discussion of the amendments was scheduled to begin late Wednesday and continue into Thursday if necessary.
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