Latest news with #CathyGiessel
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska House passes public pension bill, sending it to Senate
May 13—The Alaska House on Monday narrowly adopted a new pension plan for state employees, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration. The bill passed in a 21-19 vote, dividing the chamber along caucus lines. However, the Senate unlikely to vote on its passage before the end of the regular session next week, Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel said on Tuesday. "It looks like it will be a next-year bill," said Giessel, an Anchorage Republican who sponsored the legislation in the Senate. If it becomes law, the measure would offer guaranteed retirement income to public-sector workers in Alaska for the first time since 2006, when lawmakers eliminated the state's defined benefit system in the face of a massive unfunded liability. Lawmakers in 2006 instead adopted a defined contribution system that allows public-sector workers to contribute to individual investment accounts but does not guarantee any specific income in retirement. Several recent analyses have shown that the new plan leaves most public sector workers without enough funds to retire securely. The plan has been particularly harmful for teachers, who do not contribute to Social Security and do not have access to a Social Security alternative offered by the state to other public sector workers. Since 2006, unions have warned with increasing urgency that the lack of a defined benefit option has made it difficult to recruit and retain workers in Alaska. Unions and lawmakers in the majority say the elimination of state pensions has led to dire teacher shortages that have forced some districts to hire staff from other countries on temporary visas, and state troopers and corrections officers are relying on overtime shifts rather than filling all posts. The debate in the House over the new pension plan boiled down to a single question: What would it cost? Proponents of the bill said it would ultimately save the state money by removing the need to pay tens of millions of dollars annually for recruiting and training new workers in a variety of sectors. Opponents said the pension system would shackle the state to payments it cannot afford, even as it is still paying off the unfunded liability it accrued for the pension system it closed in 2006. The bill is expected to cost around $600 million in the coming 14 years, or roughly $40 million per year, according to House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, an Anchorage Republican who is sponsoring the legislation. However, Kopp said the state is currently spending far more than that on recruitment and retention bonuses, overtime pay and the cost of regularly training new workers to make up for high turnover. "We are burning bonfires of money," Kopp said. "What we're doing now is staggeringly expensive." Kopp and other proponents of the bill said the measure — which would allow current state employees in the defined contribution system to opt in to the new pension system — would save the state money by improving worker retention in the long haul. Minority members said that despite the fact that the plan was designed to ensure that employees would increase their contribution rate if the pension plan became underfunded, it was impossible to ensure that the plan remained solvent in perpetuity due to a variety of factors, including the fast-ballooning cost of health care premiums in Alaska. "We cannot predict the future," said Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican. "I want to support this bill. I really, actually do. I think that there are a lot of options in here that are good for people, but until we can have a hard conversation about the costs of this bill and really take a hard look at the levers that are in this bill, and until we can use some fiscal constraint around the cost over time, it's really hard to support this at this time." The bipartisan majority in the Senate adopted similar legislation in 2023 but has yet to take a final vote a pension plan this year. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has not taken a position on the legislation. The regular legislative session must end by May 21, giving lawmakers limited time to consider the bill or amend it this year. "We simply don't have time the rest of this year," said Giessel.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska child care advocates urge the Legislature to keep $14M in budget for sector in crisis
May 4—JUNEAU — Child care advocates are urging the Alaska Legislature to include at least $14 million in this year's budget to help stabilize a sector in crisis. Last month, the House passed its version of the operating budget with $7.7 million in grants for child care providers and $6.1 million in child care subsidies for families. The Senate's current draft budget does not include the same appropriations, which has led advocates to call for that funding to be included. Low wages, long waiting lists and high tuition costs have long plagued Alaska's child care sector. One-quarter of all child care providers in Alaska have closed their doors in the past three years, according to thread Alaska, an advocacy organization. For the past two years, the Legislature has approved $7.5 million in subsidies for child care providers to help with wages and operational costs. But the state's dire fiscal outlook has made lawmakers look critically at all spending. "The problem is we don't have money," Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel said at a Tuesday media conference. Giessel, who is a supporter of child care subsidies, said advocates should not give up hope. Child care funding could be part of negotiations as the budget advances through the legislative process, she suggested. After both the House and Senate pass their versions of an operating budget, a conference committee typically hammers out differences between the two bills. That way the same budget bill can pass through both chambers. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Zack Fields said it would be "indefensible" for the Legislature to not approve child care subsidies again this year. He said providers need stability. "We can't expect a stable sector if we're cutting funding," he said. Bright Beginnings, once one of the state's largest child care providers, shuttered its last location in Anchorage in late April. Stephanie Berglund, CEO of thread Alaska, told lawmakers last month that 125 families would lose care. Across the state, she said there is a gap of over 23,000 children who lack access to child care. On Tuesday, dozens of Juneau residents rallied on the state Capitol steps in support of child care and early education funding. Blue Shibler, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, was at Tuesday's rally. She said that programs are shutting down and that Alaska's child care system "is on the verge of collapse." Shibler said that child care subsidies should be permanently included in the state's baseline budget. Like school administrators, Shibler said that one-time funding from the state is unreliable and has limited utility for providers. "It's more like trying to seal a crack in the foundational distress that they're all in," she said. "So it may have sealed one crack, but there are other cracks that are growing bigger and bigger." In 2023, Gov. Mike Dunleavy established a child care task force to study how to improve the affordability, availability and quality of child care in Alaska. The task force concluded its work late last year and made 56 recommendations. Those include subsidies for families and help for providers to navigate a complex bureaucratic process. Legislators last year approved Senate Bill 189, which included new state tax credits for certain corporations that contribute to child care or offer their employees child care, alongside an increase to state assistance payments for families. The Alaska Department of Health had estimated that an additional 18,000 Alaska kids under 12 would meet the new criteria for assistance. The Alaska Chamber of Commerce has supported state help for child care to assist the workforce. A 2021 analysis found Alaska was losing $165 million per year in economic activity due to lack of affordable and accessible child care. Kati Capozzi, president and CEO of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, told lawmakers in April that a recent statewide survey found that 24% of parents missed work due to lack of access to child care; also, 13% of parents chose not to work at all due to lack of affordability or accessibility. That represented an increase from the chamber's 2024 survey, Capozzi said. But SB 189 has since faced a legal challenge after lawmakers combined the measure with several other bills. Wasilla Republican former Rep. David Eastman sued the state in November, arguing that the combined bill violated the Alaska Constitution's "single-subject rule," which requires that provisions adopted in a single bill all relate to one topic. The lawsuit is still ongoing. The Legislature's attorneys have said if lawmakers pass the same bills as last year, Eastman's lawsuit could be nullified. This year, legislators have introduced a child care tax credits bill, and a measure that would provide assistance payments for families. Both child care bills have advanced to the Senate floor for a final vote in that legislative chamber. With fewer than three weeks left in the regular legislative session. Anchorage Democratic Sen. Forrest Dunbar said it would be "a race against the clock" to pass those bills. On Friday, Dunbar said he was hopeful that they would be approved this year.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska child care advocates urge the Legislature to keep $14M in budget for sector in crisis
May 4—JUNEAU — Child care advocates are urging the Alaska Legislature to include at least $14 million in this year's budget to help stabilize a sector in crisis. Last month, the House passed its version of the operating budget with $7.7 million in grants for child care providers and $6.1 million in child care subsidies for families. The Senate's current draft budget does not include the same appropriations, which has led advocates to call for that funding to be included. Low wages, long waiting lists and high tuition costs have long plagued Alaska's child care sector. One-quarter of all child care providers in Alaska have closed their doors in the past three years, according to thread Alaska, an advocacy organization. For the past two years, the Legislature has approved $7.5 million in subsidies for child care providers to help with wages and operational costs. But the state's dire fiscal outlook has made lawmakers look critically at all spending. "The problem is we don't have money," Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel said at a Tuesday media conference. Giessel, who is a supporter of child care subsidies, said advocates should not give up hope. Child care funding could be part of negotiations as the budget advances through the legislative process, she suggested. After both the House and Senate pass their versions of an operating budget, a conference committee typically hammers out differences between the two bills. That way the same budget bill can pass through both chambers. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Zack Fields said it would be "indefensible" for the Legislature to not approve child care subsidies again this year. He said providers need stability. "We can't expect a stable sector if we're cutting funding," he said. Bright Beginnings, once one of the state's largest child care providers, shuttered its last location in Anchorage in late April. Stephanie Berglund, CEO of thread Alaska, told lawmakers last month that 125 families would lose care. Across the state, she said there is a gap of over 23,000 children who lack access to child care. On Tuesday, dozens of Juneau residents rallied on the state Capitol steps in support of child care and early education funding. Blue Shibler, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, was at Tuesday's rally. She said that programs are shutting down and that Alaska's child care system "is on the verge of collapse." Shibler said that child care subsidies should be permanently included in the state's baseline budget. Like school administrators, Shibler said that one-time funding from the state is unreliable and has limited utility for providers. "It's more like trying to seal a crack in the foundational distress that they're all in," she said. "So it may have sealed one crack, but there are other cracks that are growing bigger and bigger." In 2023, Gov. Mike Dunleavy established a child care task force to study how to improve the affordability, availability and quality of child care in Alaska. The task force concluded its work late last year and made 56 recommendations. Those include subsidies for families and help for providers to navigate a complex bureaucratic process. Legislators last year approved Senate Bill 189, which included new state tax credits for certain corporations that contribute to child care or offer their employees child care, alongside an increase to state assistance payments for families. The Alaska Department of Health had estimated that an additional 18,000 Alaska kids under 12 would meet the new criteria for assistance. The Alaska Chamber of Commerce has supported state help for child care to assist the workforce. A 2021 analysis found Alaska was losing $165 million per year in economic activity due to lack of affordable and accessible child care. Kati Capozzi, president and CEO of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, told lawmakers in April that a recent statewide survey found that 24% of parents missed work due to lack of access to child care; also, 13% of parents chose not to work at all due to lack of affordability or accessibility. That represented an increase from the chamber's 2024 survey, Capozzi said. But SB 189 has since faced a legal challenge after lawmakers combined the measure with several other bills. Wasilla Republican former Rep. David Eastman sued the state in November, arguing that the combined bill violated the Alaska Constitution's "single-subject rule," which requires that provisions adopted in a single bill all relate to one topic. The lawsuit is still ongoing. The Legislature's attorneys have said if lawmakers pass the same bills as last year, Eastman's lawsuit could be nullified. This year, legislators have introduced a child care tax credits bill, and a measure that would provide assistance payments for families. Both child care bills have advanced to the Senate floor for a final vote in that legislative chamber. With fewer than three weeks left in the regular legislative session. Anchorage Democratic Sen. Forrest Dunbar said it would be "a race against the clock" to pass those bills. On Friday, Dunbar said he was hopeful that they would be approved this year.
