Latest news with #HB69
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Business
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Gov. Cox taps former Utah AG records counsel as new public records director
The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed a former Utah Attorney General's Office attorney to fill a new role that will be a key decision-maker over which government records do — and don't — become public. Cox picked Lonny Pehrson, who most recently worked as records counsel for the Utah Attorney General's Office, to be the first director of the state's newly created Government Records Office. His nomination will be subject to consent from the Utah Senate. 'We look forward to the Government Records Office streamlining the appeals process and helping Utahns get timely answers to their records requests,' Cox said in a prepared statement. 'Lonny Pehrson's legal expertise and commitment to good governance make him the right person to lead this important effort.' Pehrson said he's 'honored' for Cox's nomination 'and truly appreciate the trust and responsibility it entails.' Utah lawmakers look to dissolve, replace State Records Committee. Here's why that matters 'I look forward to establishing the Government Records Office which will better facilitate access to government records in accordance with the law,' Pehrson said in a prepared statement. Earlier this year, the Utah Legislature voted to approve SB277, which dissolved and replaced the 30-year-old, seven-member State Records Committee with a single decision-maker. At the time, the bill's sponsor, Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said the change is meant to address 'inefficiencies,' cut down on wait times for records decisions, and replace the State Records Committee with someone with more 'legal experience.' Critics, including media professionals, argued the move would consolidate too much power with one person and lead to less transparency. The Society of Professional Journalists awarded the Utah Legislature its annual Black Hole award for the passage SB277, along with another, HB69, which made it difficult for people who challenge the government over public records denials to recoup their attorney fees. Pehrson, in his new role, will now decide appeals to records requests that have been denied. He'll be responsible for adjudicating records appeals hearings and supervising the Government Records Ombudsman and staff. 'He will also serve as a resource to citizens and governmental entities regarding government records management, ensuring lawful access to records and information, and leading a team that conducts statewide training in records and information management,' a news release issued Monday by the Division of Archives and Records Service said. 'Disregard for transparency': Utah Legislature's public records laws earn it a 'Black Hole' award Pehrson, in his previous role as records counsel for then-Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, argued against releasing Reyes' calendar in response to requests from local news outlets KSL and The Salt Lake Tribune. The State Records Committee ultimately sided with reporters, and in February a judge ruled that Reyes' work calendar should be released. The same day as the judge's ruling, however, the Utah Legislature passed a bill to allow elected officials and government employees the ability to keep their calendars — including work meetings — private moving forward. Reyes didn't seek reelection last year after concerns surfaced over his past relationship with the embattled anti-trafficking nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad and its founder, Tim Ballard. Earlier this year, a legislative audit of Reyes' administration concluded that 'insufficient transparency' resulted in 'a lack of accountability for the position of the attorney general.' State leaders, however, applaud Pehrson as an expert in Utah's public records law, the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Kenneth Williams, director of the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service and state archivist, said in a statement that his department is 'thrilled' to welcome Pehrson. 'I have worked with Lonny for several years and know that his expertise in records law and dedication to public service will be invaluable as we continue to ensure appropriate and reliable access to government records for the people of Utah,' Williams said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For Alaska legislators, it's try, try, try again on big public education funding effort
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives look at the voting board for House Bill 57 on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) For the third time in two years, the Alaska Legislature has approved a bill that seeks to increase long-term state funding for the state's K-12 public schools. On Wednesday, the state Senate voted 17-3 and the House voted 31-8 to approve House Bill 57, which would permanently increase the base student allocation, core of the state's per-student funding formula, by $700 per student, or $183 million across the state per year. The bill also makes some policy changes for charter schools, creates a grant program to encourage schools to improve students' reading performance, and establishes an education task force to recommend further changes. 'I can't express how much gratitude that I know all of Alaska is sending with the message that we've sent,' said Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage, after the House passed the bill. 'Everybody wants something for children, and to see what we've seen, people working together … I think that was achieved and we found a little something for everyone.' Wednesday's votes send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who vetoed two previous bills that attempted to increase the BSA. The governor did not have an immediate comment on the Legislature's action. Dunleavy, on a trip to Washington, D.C., was unavailable for questions by phone, a spokesperson said. While the Legislature failed to override the governor's two previous vetoes, the result of a third override could be different, legislators said. 'It's one of the most sweeping sets of policy reforms for education, I think, in state history,' said Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage and the original author of HB 57. 'And I think that's why you see such unity between the chambers and from every caucus. And that kind of unity is unprecedented.' Since the start of April, the governor has urged the Legislature to include policy changes for charter schools, an open enrollment policy between schools and districts, an extra funding boost for homeschooled students, and grants for school districts whose students meet reading standards. In talks over the weekend, the Republican minority caucuses in both House and Senate negotiated some of those provisions into HB 57. That was enough to sway some Republicans who voted against prior school funding measures, such as the recently vetoed House Bill 69. 'That's the process; you do the best that you can, and this is a much better bill than HB 69,' said House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage. She voted against House Bill 69, but in favor of HB 57. 'Vetoing HB 69 set the stage for being listened to by the majority. When we stuck together on that veto, we were basically sending a message that there were other things that needed to happen,' Costello said. 'While nobody is perfectly fine with the outcome of this bill, it makes it a step in the right direction, and we couldn't have gotten there if we hadn't held firm on that.' In an unusual move, the governor's education commissioner sent a letter to school district superintendents on Monday, asking them to lobby the Legislature in favor of the governor's proposals. Within the letter, she said that if the Legislature failed to meet the governor's demands, he could end up vetoing money used to pay for the updated formula. In the end, some of the governor's requests were included, but others — including an extra funding boost for homeschooled students — were not. Last year, lawmakers approved $174 million in one-time bonus funding on top of the BSA, so the formula change would not significantly increase year-over-year funding. Instead, the change's main advantage is that it allows school districts to plan ahead when budgeting, instead of waiting to see what the Legislature approves each year. 'Having the stability of the funding in the formula is critically important,' Fields said. Without the change, school districts have to act as if there will be no funding bonus, a possibility until the state budget is finalized. That means warning teachers of possible layoffs, then rehiring them when money is approved. 'Having (the BSA increase) in policy avoids this destructive policy of pink slips and replacement,' Fields said. At the start of the year, school districts said they needed a BSA increase of more than $1,800 to keep up with inflation since 2011. The final version of HB 57 is a little over a third of that figure, and some lawmakers called it a good first step. 'Fairbanks schools are suffering right now. Our schools have been starving for well over a decade. It's absolutely critical that we invest right now. This funding is stabilizing our school district and districts across the state, and it was a no-brainer,' said Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks. But not everyone was pleased with the final result — of the Legislature's 60 members, 11 Republicans voted against the bill, and one, Rep. David Nelson, R-Anchorage, was excused absent. Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, said she was unhappy with the final versions of policy proposals inserted into the bill. The reading grants won't become effective unless a bill updating corporate taxes becomes law. Open-enrollment provisions, which would allow students to transfer between schools and districts, were referred to a task force and not included in the bill. 'I just felt like the policy positions that were taken in the bill were not strong policy positions,' she said. Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, also voted against the bill. 'I don't think it's enough. I think we need to focus on our kids,' he said. Electoral factors may have been in play for Wednesday's vote. In a column published by the conservative website Must Read Alaska, Bob Griffin of the Alaska Policy Forum opined that if the legislative session were to end without an education bill, the 'outcome wouldn't just harm our kids, it would also complicate Republican messaging in the next election, particularly with swing voters drawn to simplistic narratives.' Before Wednesday's House vote, the Alaska Senate needed to fix errors revealed after it approved HB 57 on Monday. There were two errors, lawmakers said. One involved the use of 'shall' instead of 'may' in a funding clause, raising concerns that it could run afoul of the Alaska Constitution's prohibition on budget accounts for particular programs. The second involved a mistake on the effective date of a program that distributes grants to schools whose students reach certain benchmarks for reading skills. Those grants would begin with the 2026-2027 school year, not in January, halfway through the 2025-2026 school year. The Senate had voted 19-1 in favor of HB 57, but its vote on Wednesday was 17-3. The change was largely due to the way the new reading grant program is linked to passage of Senate Bill 113, a bill that updates corporate tax law pertaining to internet sales. That change is expected to raise as much as $65 million per year, and proceeds would be directed toward the reading grant program. If there's more than enough money to fund that program, the extra cash would be available for career and technical education programs in high schools. 'That's going to be huge, I think,' said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka. Amid a state budget crunch, education 'is the only area in the state where we're increasing spending,' he said. But some senators noted that if SB 113 doesn't become law, the reading grants won't just be defunded — they'll be eliminated entirely. 'We are conditioning not only the funding of the reading grants … but the existence of the reading grants on another bill or policy,' said Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole. For that reason, he said, he was unable to vote for the bill. 'I do find it a little odd that we guarantee a ride to school, but we don't have that guarantee that we're going to incentivize the growth of reading,' he said. Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, voted in favor of the bill on Monday but changed his vote on Wednesday, saying he wasn't aware that the reading grants were contingent on the revenue bill. 'I'm kind of on a hope and a prayer that those things happen. … That makes it problematic for me,' he said. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, also voted in favor of the bill on Monday and against it on Wednesday for the same reason. After Wednesday afternoon's final vote, a House majority spokesperson said he expects HB 57 to be transmitted to Dunleavy on Thursday. When the bill is sent, the governor will have until May 17 to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. If he vetoes it, the Alaska Constitution calls for the Legislature to meet 'immediately' for a vote to override or sustain the governor's decision. Forty of 60 legislators, meeting in joint session, would have to vote for the bill in order to override a veto. Legislators have not overridden a veto since 2009. Alaska Beacon reporter Corinne Smith contributed to this article from Juneau. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature votes to uphold governor's veto of significant education funding boost
Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, speaks in favor of the override of House Bill 69 on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Legislature has voted to uphold Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of a bill that would have significantly increased the funding formula for Alaska's K-12 public schools. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski Matt Claman, D-Anchorage Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River Donny Olson, D-Golovin Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage Mike Cronk, R-Tok Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer James Kaufman, R-Anchorage Robert Myers, R-North Pole Mike Shower, R-Wasilla Bert Stedman, R-Sitka Robert Yundt, R-Wasilla Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 69 last week, citing cost concerns and the lack of policy measures he endorsed. With the House and Senate meeting in joint session, the vote to override Dunleavy was 33-27, sustaining the veto. Forty of the Legislature's 60 members were needed for an override. In its final version, HB 69 would have increased the state's base student allocation, core of the K-12 funding formula, by $1,000 per student. That would have resulted in $253 million more per year for public schools, if fully funded. Last year, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of a smaller, $174 million formula increase. Dunleavy vetoed that bill as well. Lawmakers then failed by a single vote to override the governor's decision. Unlike in 2024, when education supporters packed the Capitol to urge an override, there was no major protest accompanying the override vote. A single pro-override sign-waver stood outside the Capitol for about 30 minutes during lunchtime, then departed amid a light drizzle. As the joint session got underway, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke first. 'It is with great reluctance that I stand here today to support the governor's veto,' he said. 'As everyone is well aware we have a major budget deficit. Not only in the current year that we are in, some $150 million, but we also have a substantial amount for the coming fiscal year.' Hoffman said that while he supports a $1,000 BSA increase, lawmakers must address raising new revenues first. The Senate is currently considering revenue measures, including changes to the state's oil tax and corporate taxes. Hoffman said revenue measures could make a $1,000 BSA increase affordable. 'If we truly say that education is our No. 1 priority, we should stand behind it fiscally,' he said. Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, spoke in support of overriding the veto to provide much-needed school funding. Robyn Niayuq Burke, D-Utqiagvik Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham Ted Eischeid, D-Anchorage Zack Fields, D-Anchorage Neal Foster, D-Nome Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage Sara Hannan, D-Juneau Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka Ky Holland, I-Anchorage Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage Donna Mears, D-Anchorage Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage Andi Story, D-Juneau Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan Mia Costello, R-Anchorage Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage Bill Elam, R-Nikiski DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla David Nelson, R-Anchorage Mike Prax, R-North Pole George Rauscher, R-Sutton Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks Jubilee Underwood, R-Wasilla Sarah Vance, R-Homer 'Year after year of flat funding is resulting in harm to our children. We are punishing them for the mistakes that we as a Legislature have made, and it is not fair,' he said. Many lawmakers spoke of school districts facing severe budget deficits, staff and program cuts, and school closures. 'The consequences of underfunding are being felt deeply. A meaningful increase to the BSA would help prevent the devastating cuts our districts are now being forced to make,' said Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, who supported the veto override. 'Funding public education is not a game.' Other lawmakers objected to the lack of education policy reforms in the bill, as Dunleavy pressed for during a news conference announcing the veto on Thursday. 'I'm objecting to forcing people to contribute more without any discussion of performance measures,' said Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole, who voted to sustain the veto. Rep. Nellie Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, spoke in support of overriding the veto, protecting the Permanent Fund dividend, and raising new state revenue. 'This bill is expensive, and it still isn't enough. With the frozen funding and grants running dry, the future is uncertain, but we can't build our future on deficit spending either,' she said. 'We can't take the PFD, which is often a matter of life and death in rural Alaska. When our savings run out of money, Alaska, lights go dark. It is time to stop hoping for high oil prices or more visitors on cruise ships who will save us. We are out of options. It is time to ask without fear, how will we pay for this? And it's time to clearly say, we need to raise new revenues, and we shouldn't be scared of that.' During his speech against the override, Hoffman said that the state's Constitutional Budget Reserve — the largest remaining state savings account — was not intended to pay for recurring expenses. Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee, argued against Hoffman's statement a few minutes later. 'There's been esteemed members of the Legislature who've noted that this is an affordability question, and I don't agree with that,' he said. The House's version of the operating budget — including a $1,000 BSA increase — has a deficit of $67 million, Josephson said. In contrast, the CBR has a balance of $2.8 billion. 'That's 2.4%. So I can't go to my constituents and say, this is just unaffordable. Because it's not. It's just a question of will, that's all,' Josephson said, arguing that savings can be used to pay for education. The deficit in the House's draft budget may be larger than Josephson stated, because it contains a cut whose constitutionality has been questioned, and it does not include deficits in the capital budget or the supplemental budget, two separate documents. After more than an hour of speeches, members of the House and Senate voted 33-27 to sustain the governor's veto of House Bill 69. The override vote was almost identical to the votes on the original bill, which passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 32-25. Reps. Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla; Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks; and Mike Prax, R-North Pole, were absent from the original House vote and acted to sustain the veto. Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, voted against the original bill but in favor of the override. Afterward, he walked past reporters and did not answer questions about why he changed his vote. The tally fell along caucus lines for members of the House, with members of the House's multipartisan majority — two Republicans, five independents and 14 Democrats — voting to override and all 19 members of the House's all-Republican minority voting to sustain. Among members of the Senate, Sens. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, voted to sustain the veto alongside all six members of the Senate's minority caucus. The remaining 12 members of the Senate's bipartisan majority voted to override. After the vote, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, spoke with reporters and expressed her disappointment with the Legislature's failure to override the governor's veto for the second year in a row. 'Previously, when we had the funds, we lacked the political will,' she said. 'I believe that there is great political will at this point to try to do something about how we're funding our schools, or failing to fund our schools, and we lack the funds. So I think this outcome was somewhat predictable, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.' In a statement on social media, Dunleavy thanked lawmakers for voting to sustain his veto. 'Their action shows a clear understanding of our fiscal situation and the fact that the bill had zero policy to create a better educational outcome for our students,' he wrote. He added that legislators now have 'a clear path' to consider an alternative bill he proposed on Friday. The governor's bill includes a smaller funding increase and policy provisions he prefers. 'We've got 30 days to get the job done. Let's finish it. We can do this,' said Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla. Members of the House minority also offered comments in support of the governor's alternative. 'We still have a lot of airstrip left,' said Rep. Bill Elam, R-Nikiski and a vote to sustain the veto. 'We haven't completely landed all of this. We can continue. We have some opportunities.' But Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage and the Senate majority's lead negotiator with the governor, said that at least some of the governor's ideas are nonstarters. Speaking to reporters, he offered an example: a section of the bill that would allow first-come, first-served open enrollment at public schools. That doesn't make sense, Wielechowski said, because it could keep local students from enrolling at the school closest to them. More broadly and significantly, Wielechowski said there appears to be a fundamental disagreement in multiple sections of the bill about the amount of control the executive branch should have over local schools. 'I don't know how we can get over that,' he said. Last week, Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, told reporters that in his view, it's significant that school districts are not requesting the kinds of policy changes that the governor is seeking. 'There are some things in there that we can coalesce around, but we still have a ways to go and be able to reconcile policy differences,' he said. If the failed override does mean no permanent funding increase this year, a one-year funding bonus remains possible. The House's draft operating budget includes a one-time, $253 million funding bonus equivalent to the vetoed formula. That would be $79 million more than last year's budget, which contained a $174 million one-time bonus, but the House's proposed amount is subject to approval by the Senate and Dunleavy, who has line-item veto power. Senate budget leaders have said they plan to pass a budget without a deficit. In a news conference last week, the governor said that if lawmakers present a deficit-free budget with one-time funding, he'd be willing to discuss the issue. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature will vote Tuesday on school funding veto, with override not expected
Students file past Gov. Mike Dunleavy's offices in the state Capitol as they protest his veto of a wide ranging education bill on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon) Alaska's state House and Senate are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday to vote on whether or not to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of a bill increasing the state's per-student funding formula. Multiple lawmakers have said that the Legislature likely lacks the votes for an override. Under the Alaska Constitution, the votes of 40 of the Legislature's 60 members, meeting in joint session, are required to override the veto of a policy bill. House Bill 69, which seeks to increase the base student allocation — core of Alaska's per-pupil funding formula — passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 32-25. HB 69 proposes an increase of $1,000 to the BSA, or $253 million per year in total. Last year, legislators proposed a $680 increase to the BSA, and the related bill passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 56-3. Legislators failed to override Dunleavy's veto of that bill by a single vote. Public education advocates say years of flat state funding has led to significant cuts to Alaska's public schools, which have had to deal with inflation-driven cost increases. The governor, and a decisive number of legislators who support him, say funding increases must be paired with policy changes intended to improve school performance. Two years of negotiations have failed to result in a suite of policy changes that are acceptable to the governor and a majority of legislators. Without the formula change, the public-school funding level in the state's annual operating budget will be decisive. The House has voted in favor of a budget that includes one-time bonus funding equivalent to a $1,000 BSA increase, but because the House's budget also includes a significant deficit, the Senate may propose a smaller increase. The Senate's draft budget has yet to emerge from the Senate Finance Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska education funding boost, sent to governor, awaits his veto
Gov. Mike Dunleavy signs Senate Bill 43, declaring March to Women's History Month in Alaska, on April 3, 2025, in his office in the Alaska State Capitol. (Photo provided by the Office of the Governor) A bill that would increase Alaska's K-12 education funding formula by $253 million per year is on the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy after both the House and Senate passed it. On Monday, a spokesperson for the governor said Dunleavy intends to veto it, confirming prior posts on social media. The Alaska Legislature transmitted House Bill 69, containing the formula funding increase, to the governor on Saturday. Under the Alaska Constitution, the governor has until April 30 to sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. If the governor vetoes the bill, lawmakers must meet 'immediately' in joint session to vote and either confirm the governor's veto or override it. Overriding a veto on HB 69 would require 40 of the Legislature's 60 members. Lawmakers for and against HB 69 have said they doubt there are enough votes to override a Dunleavy veto on the issue. And even if the bill became law, actually funding the formula would require action in a separate budget appropriation bill. Overriding a budget veto would require 45 of 60 legislators. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
