Alaska Legislature: Senate Education, 4/20/26, 3:30pm

Testing, making sure the audio is coming through for Rickards here.

Good afternoon, everyone. I welcome you to the Senate Education Committee. It is 4:00 PM here on Monday, April 20th. We are meeting in the Belz Committee Room here in the State Capitol building in what I think is trying to become a sunny downtown Juneau. I just want to remind folks who are here in the room, if they could please mute their cell phones.

Documents for today's meetings have been distributed to members. There's additional copies that are available right there by the door, and of course they have been uploaded to BASIS, that is akleg.gov. Members present today are President Stevens, Senator Keel, Senator Yunt, and myself, Senator Lukey Gail Tobin. Please let— the record reflect we do have a quorum to conduct business. I want to thank Zach from the Juneau LIO for moderating today's meeting and Mary Gwen from Senate Records for being here to document today's meeting.

On the agenda today, we have the second hearing for House Joint Resolution 39, urging the federal government to waive the new H-1B visa fees for teachers in the state. We have the second hearing for the Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, recognizing the 50th anniversary of the creation of regional education attendance areas, where we will be taking public testimony. And of course, we will have the second hearing of House Bill 28, establishing a student loan repayment pilot program. We anticipate adopting a CS and also considering amendments. All right, on to our first item on the agenda today.

We have the second hearing for House Joint Resolution 39, sponsored by Representative Elise Skelvin, who is here with us. She is joined by her legislative aide, Welcome to the Senate Education Committee. We first heard this bill on April 8th, where we took public testimony. Would you like to make any opening remarks? Thank you so much for having us, and my very competent staff, Monica Schringendorf, would like to give a quick recap just so we can get warmed up to the topic again.

Thank you so much, Representative Galvin. If you could identify yourself for the record so Mary White can get your name down. This is Representative Galvin. Amazing. Uh, my name is Monica Schwingendorf, staff to Representative Galvin.

Uh, our migration continues to challenge Alaska's ability to maintain a high-quality, uninterrupted education for our students. Waiving the H-1B visa fee would help Alaska retain teachers and address persistent vacancies across the state. This is not just a staffing issue. Students and parents are waiting for stability in their classrooms. Alaska relies heavily on international recruitment, particularly to fill positions that would otherwise remain vacant, especially in rural communities.

The international workforce has become a necessary part of our education strategy. At the same time, education cuts and hundreds of vacancies are leading to larger classroom sizes and fewer consistent learning environments. The current situation makes it extremely difficult to retain teachers, which undermines the student trust in our system and disrupts educational stability. We understand this is only part of the solution, but it is an important one. For these reasons, we are urging our federal delegation to waive the $100,000 H-1B fee for individuals being hired as educators in our state.

Thank you for your time. Thank you. Are there any questions from committee members? President Stevens. Just a quick question.

I know how important this is to my district and other districts around the state. Are there other states that are in the in the same boat as we are?

Yes, there are. Many of the states are experiencing frustrations, certainly with retaining and, and attracting educators. Alaska is unique in that a larger percentage, by far, of the teachers are on H-1 or J-1 visas. Well, thank you. So, and that's great to hear.

I sort of suspected that, but that is even a bigger indication that we get support from Congress when this reaches there. Thank you. And Representative, could you please identify yourself for the record? Again, I apologize. I ran here from another meeting and I apologize.

I'm not quite all here. This is Representative Galvin. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any additional questions from committee members?

Seeing none, President Stevens. Madam Chair, I move to report House Joint Resolution 39, work order LS1535/A, point A, from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. The Senate Education Committee gives legislative legal authority to make technical and conforming changes to the resolution. Without objection, House Joint Resolution 39, work order LS 1535/A.A is reported from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. We will take a brief at ease to sign the committee report.

Thank you. Thank you.

We're back on the record here in Senate Education. It is Monday, April 20th, and 4:08 PM. Next item on our agenda is the second hearing for Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, sponsored by the Senate Education Committee. We heard the resolution last Monday. However, at that opportunity, we did not have time to take public testimony.

So we will now open public testimony for Senate Concurrent Resolution 17. If you would like to testify, please call one of these following telephone numbers. From Anchorage, the number is 907-563-9085. From Juneau, please call 907-586-9085. And if you are in any other location, please call this toll-free number.

It is 1-844-586-9085. You can also testify from your local Legislative Information Office or email your public testimony to [email protected]. That's [email protected]. I'll now open public testimony for Senate Concurrent Resolution 17. Is there anyone here in the room who wishes to testify?

Seeing no one here in the room and seeing no one online, I'll now close public testimony. Are there any final questions from committee members?

Seeing none, I'd like to move Senate Concurrent Resolution, if it is the will of the committee. President Stevens. Madam Chair, I move to report Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, Work Order 34-LS1620/A, from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. The Senate Education Committee gives legislative legal authority to make technical and conforming changes to the resolution. Without objection, Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, Work Order 34-LS1620/A, as in Anchorage, is reported from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note.

We will now take a brief at ease to sign the committee report. Brief at ease.

And we're back on the record here in Senate Education. We have come to the final item on our agenda, which is House Bill 28, sponsored by Representative Story, who has joined us here in the room. We have a CS that is up and has been distributed to members. The work order is labeled 34-LS28.

03-03/G. We are joined by Mr. Mike Mason to explain the changes.

Good afternoon. My name is Mike Mason. I am staff to Senator Lukey Gail Tobin. I just want to go quickly through the explanation of changes from version N.A., which was the version of House Bill 28 that you heard several days ago, to the new version, which is version G. So if you go to Section 1 of Version G, it reinstates, uh, the report that was called for in AS 1403-120. This adds a new subsection requiring each school district to annually file a report with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development detailing its correspondence programs.

This is very similar to the one-time report that was authorized in 2024 that was produced last year, and I believe, uh, Committee members found great usefulness in the information that was recorded— reported in that report. Section 2 inserts a new subsection under AS 1403-300 that permits a student who ceases to be enrolled in a correspondence study program to retain textbooks, equipment, and other curriculum materials provided to the student through the program, including materials purchased through an annual student allotment. Students may retain materials only if they are of the type that a student may retain when the student ceases to be enrolled in a physical school. Within the district. Moving on to Section 3, it amends AS 1407-168 to stipulate that information on the school district correspondence study programs be included in the annual report to the legislature from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

Moving on to Section 4, it amends AS 1409-010 subsection A to update the per pupil student transportation funding amounts for each school district to reflect actual FY 2025 expenditures. Sections 5 through 10 amend, uh, AS 1420.136 and AS 1425.043 to allow a regional resource center to re— to hire retired educators. Moving on to Section 11, it amends the Uncodified Law of the State of Alaska to extend the conditional effect of enacting a highly digitized business tax to include action taken during the 35th Alaska State Legislature. This would allow school districts to receive the reading proficiency incentive grants and the increase in the secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding factor that was authorized through passage of House Bill 57, which became law in 2025. Moving on, Section 12 directs Legislative Budget and Audit to procure a study evaluating current education funding provisions and recommending changes or alternative funding methods.

This must be done in consultation with the university, uh, with ICER at UAA. And then Section 13 adds a new section to the uncodified law creating a student loan repayment pilot program. Version G removes language allowing state employees to participate in the program that was in the version in point A. Version G includes a new subsection 1 that limits participation to public school teachers that teach special education, English as a second language, science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Section 1 includes a new subsection 4 It limits eligibility to teachers who have otherwise exhausted all other federal and state student loan repayment programs for which they are eligible.

Essentially, the goal was to make the student loan repayment program the last dollar. Then Version G includes a new subsection E that allows the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to award a grant to each person or to a person each year in the amount equal to 1/3 of the outstanding student loan balance owed by the person. Grants may not exceed $5,000 each year, may not be awarded for more than 3 years. In subsection F, version G, it removes the limitation of 125 grant recipients that was included in version N point A. Moving on to section 14, requires the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to submit a report to the Alaska State Legislature before December 31st, 2028 on the effects of the student loan repayment pilot program, including on teacher retention and, uh, recruitment and retention.

And then section 15 adds an uncodified provision to state law establishing the one-time energy cost relief payment to school districts. It is subject to appropriation. It's distributed proportionally based on each district's share of total statewide heating fuel and electricity expenditures for FY25 as reflected in deed records. Section 16 adds the applicability language providing that Sections 8 through 13 of this act apply to contracts made on or before the effective date of the act. Section 17 repeals the student loan repayment pilot program on June 1, 2020— uh, 2030.

That means the pilot program can operate for up 3 years. Section 16 repeals the student loan repayment pilot program report to the Alaska State Legislature on January 1, 2029. And then Section 17 establishes an immediate effective date. Those are the changes from version N point A to version G of House Bill 28. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mason. I just want folks to know we also have Carrie Thomas, the executive director from the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, online to answer any additional questions. Are there questions?

Seeing none, President Stevens, may I have a motion? Madam Chair, I move to adopt the Committee Substitute for House Bill 28, Work Order 34-LS0303/G as our working document. Without objection, House Bill 28, Work Order 34-LS0303/G is adopted as our working document. We will take a brief at ease as we continue to wait for an amendment. Brief at ease.

And we're back on the record here in Senate Education. We are joined by the bill sponsor, Representative Story.

Thank you, Chair Tobin and members of the Education Committee. For the record, I'm Representative Andy Story, proudly serving District 3, which is North Juneau here, Fritz Cove Road, Auke Bay, Haines, Skagway, Klukwan, and Gustavus. I wanted to thank you for hearing this bill last week, and I wanted to thank you for your understanding of the importance of filling our significant teacher vacancies and recognizing how employer-sponsored student loan repayment programs have emerged as a top tool for recruiting and retaining workers in other states and can help with our teacher shortage here. Uh, this bill, as you know, establishes a student loan repayment program for teachers with student loan debt who have their teaching certificates and are ready to go And with the additions that you have made in the bill, in this committee substitute, I feel that the additions will really benefit students and help keep more teachers in the classroom. I just wanted to point out a couple of things.

One of them, adjusting student transportation funding so districts will have funds for transportation and can focus their funds on the students. And their teachers. I think it's also really important the one-time school energy cost relief payment will also be extremely beneficial, I think, to help retain teachers and keep the focus on students. I also appreciate the adequacy study. As you members know, our task force on education really feels this is a high priority that we have this to to guide the work as it comes.

And so I just wanted to mention those three things. And again, thank you. I think supporting student learning, when you focus on teachers, that's the number one in-school factor that can really improve student learning and outcomes. We know families are the number one outside of school, the support system kids have. But thank you for your work and for your priority that you give to education.

Thank you. Thank you, Representative Story. Are there any questions for the bill sponsor? Seeing none, we'll take a brief at ease.

Good afternoon, everyone. I call this Committee of the Senate Education back to order. It is 5:41 PM. We are still under the committee substitute for House Bill 28, and we have an amendment. Senator Yunt.

Yeah, through the chair, I'd like to move Amendment Number 1. And I'll object for purposes of discussion. We are joined by Mr. Ritter, who will walk us through what Amendment Number 1 does. Please. Thank you, Chair, members of the committee.

For the record, Jason Ritter, staff to Senator Lukey Gail Tobin. Amendment 1 is just increasing funding for transportation in the amount of 10% due to increased costs.

I will step in if you don't mind. Mike Mason with staff to Senator Lukey Gail Tobin. As noted, the transportation numbers are are changed. It is a 10% increase over what is currently in state law. So essentially everybody on that list is going to go up by 10%.

Also, the energy relief payment that was included in the CS, that has been reduced from $58.7 million to $43.87 million. That is still subject to appropriation. And then finally, in— and I'll see if I can explain this— in House Bill 57 last year, it included conditional language tied to the funding that was tied to the money that Senator Tobin was referencing earlier regarding the reading proficiency money and the increase in the CTE factor. That was tied to the passage of a particular piece of legislation, the highly digital business tax. What this bill does is simply repeal that section.

That would allow that funding that was included in House Bill 57 to go forward immediately— well, not immediately, at the effective date of the bill, which is July 1, 2027. So in time for the FY27 school year. So if I'm looking at everything correctly, the CTE factor, the estimate is that would be $9.7 million. The reading money would be $21.8 million. The 10% per pupil, uh, uh, or 10% increase to pupil transportation, I don't remember what that was.

Do you remember what that was? Funding-wise, we'll get that. And then finally, the energy rebate money is $43.87 million, and that is what is included in version G, in work order G.1. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mason.

And I do want to note that the effective date is July 1st, 2026. Did I say—. 2027. Sorry. So it's July 1st, 2026.

Are there questions from committee members? Senator Young. Thank you, through the chair. Great job. I'm sorry I missed this.

It was $9 point what for CTE? I believe that the estimate we have is that would be about $9.7 million. Thank you. Somewhere around $10 million. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Additional questions from committee members? Seeing none, I'll move my objection. Are there further objections? Seeing none, Amendment 1 is adopted.

That brings us back to the committee substitute for House Bill 28, Work Order/G as amended. Are there any final comments from committee members? I have a comment. Senator Bjorkman. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Appreciate you bringing this amendment forward. It's much appreciated. I still am interested in looking and reassessing how we handle increases to the required local contribution and what that results in state aid to districts at the end of the education funding formula process. I'll be looking for that in additional versions of this bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. Any additional comments or questions? Senator Yunt. Uh, yeah, thank you.

Um, I just wanted to put out there I'm very grateful for this amendment. It, um, glad everybody could agree on it. I'm looking forward to watching it hopefully get to the end zone. These, these is my— this is my district's priorities right here. CTE, reading grants, transportation.

Those were our top 3. And then obviously the one-time energy is something that we all desperately need right now. And so this is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to watching it make its way through the process. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Young. Any final comments? Seeing none, it is my will to move this, uh, version from committee. President Stevens, may I have a motion? Madam Chair, I move to report House Bill 28, Work Order 34-LS0303/G, Gary from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes.

The Senate Education Committee—. May I have a brief at ease? Brief at ease.

I move my former motion and say I move to report House Bill 28, work order 34-LS0303/G as amended from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. The Senate Education Committee gives the legislative legal authority to make technical and informing chart changes to the bill. Without objection, House Bill 28, Work Order 34-LS0303/G as amended is reported from the Senate Education Committee with individual recommendations and attached 0 fiscal notes. Please stay behind to sign the committee report. As there is no other items on the agenda today, this concludes our work.

The Task Force on Education Funding will meet this Wednesday at 3:30 PM. That meeting will be held in the Davis Committee Room where we will focus on residential, charter, and correspondence schools and programs. The Senate Education Committee will meet on Friday, April 24th, where we will consider Senate Bill 66, State Tribal Education Compacts. As there is no other business before us today, I will adjourn the Senate Education Committee Committee at 5:47 PM.