Five of Southeast Alaska’s lawmakers answered questions from constituents during a legislative forum at Southeast Conference in Ketchikan on Wednesday. Senator Bert Stedman and representatives Jeremy Bynum, Andi Story, Sara Hannan and Rebecca Himschoot attended.
The legislators kicked off the forum with introductions, and discussed everything from the state’s retirement pension to the ferry system. Bynum, who represents Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Wrangell and parts of Prince of Wales Island, said he wants to see things get built.
“I want to see us make capital investments to keep our communities moving forward,” Bynum said on Wednesday. “That means investing in our schools. That means investing in our infrastructure and in our community.”
The legislators then answered questions on education – how they’re going to fix the state’s base student allocation, or the per-student funding formula, and how they’ll inflation-proof it.
Rebecca Himschoot, who represents Sitka, Petersburg, and most of Prince of Wales, serves as co-chair for the House Education Committee. She said that inflation proofing comes with risks. But she highlighted a provision in House Bill 57, which boosted education funding last year, that formed an education funding task force. It’s charged with making funding and school facility recommendations by the start of the next legislative session in January.
Himschoot also talked about a one-time funding package lawmakers approved this spring which will cover a bulk of school districts’ energy costs. That’s set to begin next fiscal year.
“That’s a knowable cost, and right now that also comes out of that BSA pot of money,” Himschoot said. “So that’ll free up money in the BSA if we can make good on our work that we’re going to help with some of those fixed costs.”
Other lawmakers at the forum highlighted the need to fix Alaska’s education funding timeline, and build up communities to prevent declining student enrollment.
The Southeast lawmakers were also queried on what they think the legislature should tackle first in the upcoming session. Their answers included finding ways to generate more state revenue, investing in capital, and protecting the permanent fund dividend.
A few of the lawmakers, including Andi Story of Juneau, said the legislature needs to prioritize education.
“We want to keep our young people, our families here,” Story said. “To do that, it’s got to be – we have to have a strong education system and invest in our kids and our future.”
The legislators were also asked about mariculture, sick leave, and community revitalization during the roughly hour-long forum. The three-day summit hosted by Southeast Conference concluded Thursday.
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
