Alaska Senate poised to pass stripped-back education bill with $1,000 base student allocation boost as Dunleavy threatens veto

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska Senate is set to approve a stripped-back education measure with a $250 million school funding increase, resulting in an immediate veto threat from Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

A Senate panel on Thursday removed all the policy provisions from a bipartisan education package that was approved by the House, leaving just a $1,000 boost to the Base Student Allocation, the state's per-student funding formula.

School administrators have been advocating for a funding increase of that size for a public school system in crisis. Districts report that they are planning to eliminate hundreds of teacher positions; popular programs are set to be cut; and the Anchorage School District is slated to eliminate middle school sports without a $1,000 per-student funding increase.

The stripped-back version of House Bill 69 could be approved by the Legislature as soon as Friday, lawmakers say.

Dunleavy posted on social media Thursday that he would "immediately" veto the education measure unless it's amended by the Legislature.

"The Senate's new education bill is a joke! It does absolutely nothing to improve educational achievement. It does absolutely nothing to support our high-performing charter schools and our popular home schools," he said.

"This is an obvious attempt to strong arm members of the legislature. This is an NEA teacher union dream! Hundreds of millions of dollars of new spending and no accountability called for," he added.

Kodiak Republican Senate President Gary Stevens said he expects the House will quickly pass the stripped-down school funding bill, and that Dunleavy will veto it.

If Dunleavy makes good on his veto threat, 40 of 60 state legislators would need to vote to override him. Last year, the Legislature failed by one vote to override Dunleavy's veto of another bipartisan education package.

"Could we override the veto? I think that's sort of up in the air," Stevens said.

If the override effort fails, Stevens said there would then be discussions on a smaller school funding increase.

The House approved HB 69 last month over broad concerns about the measure's affordability. The Legislature is facing a $680 million deficit over two fiscal years based on status quo spending.

Facing a dire fiscal outlook, Stevens said he doesn't believe Alaska can afford a $1,000 BSA boost.

"Frankly, that simply means a reduced dividend, or it means new revenues, or it means slicing the budget in other places," he said.

HB 69 contained policy provisions intended to appeal to Dunleavy, who vetoed a bipartisan education package last year. Those provisions included limits on cellphones in schools, and plans to make it easier for students to attend the public school of their choice, regardless of where they live, among other policy measures.

The Senate Education Committee added new policy reforms, including requiring school districts to set target class sizes and explain why they are unable to meet them, and greater state oversight over how homeschool allotments are spent, among other changes.

Last week, Dunleavy posted to social media that he opposed the Senate's amended measure. He objected to greater oversight of homeschool spending, which he called "inequitable."

The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday stripped out all the policy provisions from the bill, apart from the BSA boost. The committee had previously signaled support for a $680 per-student funding increase, matching the same school funding boost approved by the Legislature last year on a one-time basis.

Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said lawmakers would now see the level of support for a $1,000 BSA boost in the Capitol.

Anchorage Republican Sen. James Kaufman, a minority member, voted last year to override Dunleavy's education veto. He said that he was "afraid we're going down the path of failure," suggesting that an education package would only become law with "thoughtful compromise."

Dunleavy has been all but absent this year from the Capitol and legislative debates. At a Thursday media conference, Kaufman said he understood Dunleavy was working to advance a long-sought natural gas pipeline. But he said Dunleavy needed to be in Juneau to advocate for his education policy priorities.

"I am calling the governor out. It's time to be much more engaged," he said.

Members of the Senate Republican minority said the $1,000 BSA boost was clearly unaffordable. They suggested the funding increase was being pushed for political reasons with an eye to the 2026 election.

At a Thursday media conference, Wasilla Republican Mike Shower, the Senate minority leader, said that majority members know the $1,000 BSA increase will ultimately fail.

"So why are we doing that?" he asked rhetorically.

After Thursday's committee hearing, Anchorage Democratic Sen. Löki Tobin, chair of the Senate Education Committee, suggested Alaskans would need to lobby lawmakers to override Dunleavy's looming veto of the bill.

"This is where the people have power, and they need to tell their legislators that our schools are not just institutions of learning. They are critical infrastructure in every community," she said.

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