March 20, 2023
The House Prepares to take Public Testimony on the State Operating Budget
While many students, staff and faculty enjoyed spring break last week, the Legislature continued to plug away in Juneau. In the House, the Finance Committee heard the subcommittee closeout reports and set the wheels in motion to introduce a committee substitute next week. Meanwhile, in the Senate, members listened to the University of Alaska present on our drone and heavy oil recovery research.
Budget & Public Testimony
Last Monday and Tuesday, the House Finance committee reviewed the budget closeout reports from each department’s subcommittee. The finance subcommittees are tasked with reviewing their respective department’s budgets and making budgetary recommendations. Notably, this year, of the 19 state agencies or departments, only six were changed from the initial budget proposed by Governor Dunleavy. Subcommittee recommendations are used to create a House Finance-sponsored committee substitute for the budget. The House committee substitute for the FY24 operating budget (House Bill 39/House Bill 41) is anticipated to be released this week. In the meantime, the House Finance Committee will consider public testimony on the bills. Public testimony will start tomorrow. The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday:
- 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.: Sitka, Petersburg, Delta Junction, Dillingham, Glennallen, Valdez, Wrangell, Homer, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Seward, Tok
- 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.: Juneau, off-net callers
Wednesday:
- 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.: Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Kenai, bethel, Cordova, Kotzebue, Nome, Utquiagvik,
- 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.: Anchorage, Mat-Su, off-net callers
Thursday:
-
1:30 - 3:30 pm: off-net callers
Testifiers can visit their local Legislative Information Offices or call in:
- Anywhere: (844) 586-9085
- Anchorage: (907) 563-9085
- Juneau: (907) 586-9085
Visit the Alaska Legislature website for information on how to provide public testimony.
UA in the Capitol
In other news, the university has been well represented in the Capitol over the last week. On Tuesday, Teri Cothren, UA Associate Vice President of Workforce Development, co-hosted a Lunch and Learn about the Alaska Maritime Education Consortium (AMEC). AMEC is a collaboration between the University of Alaska and the Alaska Vocational and Technical Center (AVTEC) with a mission to “collaborate to prepare Alaskans for afloat and ashore careers that will support and strengthen the maritime workforce by combining efforts to provide maritime training and education across the state”. Watch the lunch and learn presentation.
On the same afternoon, Nick Adkins, Deputy Director of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) presented to Senate Transportation about UAF’s efforts to build a drone industry in Alaska. Committee members were eager to learn more about this budding industry and applauded ACUASI’s work to date.
Last Friday, Dr. Abhijit Dandhekar, Chair of the Department of Petroleum Engineering with UAF, shared with Senators an update on heavy oil-related research at UAF. Last year the research team received $5 million from the state to invest in new technology using polymers and solvents to extract heavy and viscous oils. The extraction has been highly successful and is garnering more industry interest. See the entire presentation in the Senate Resources Committee.
This Week’s Calendar
Monday, March 20
- 8:00 a.m. - House Education: House Bill 9: “Add Faculty Member University Board of Regents” / House Bill 10: “University: Textbook/Materials Cost”
- 1:30 p.m. - House Finance: House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”/ House Bill 79: “Appropriations: Supplemental”
- 3:30 p.m. - Senate Education - Senate Bill 13: “University: Textbook/Materials Cost”
Tuesday, March 21
- 1:30 p.m - House Finance: House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”
- 5:00 p.m. - House Finance: House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”
Wednesday, March 22
- 9:00 a.m. - Senate Finance: Presentation “Spring Revenue Forecast by Department of Revenue”
- 1:30 p.m. - House Finance: Presentation “Spring Revenue Forecast by Department of Revenue” / House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”
- 5:00 p.m. - House Finance: House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”
Thursday, March 23
- 10:15 a.m. - House Energy: Presentation: “Alaska Center for Energy and Power by Gwen Holdman, Director”
- 1:30 p.m. - House Finance: House Bill 39: “Appropriations: Operating Budget/Loans/Fund; Supplemental”
Friday, March 24
- 8:00 a.m. - House Education: Consideration of Governor’s Appointees: University of Alaska Board of Regents - Dennis Michel, Bethany Marcum, Joey Crum, and Paula Harrison
- 3:30 p.m. - Senate Education: Consideration of Governor’s Appointees: University of Alaska Board of Regents - Dennis Michel, Bethany Marcum, Joey Crum, and Paula Harrison
Correction: We shared the sad news of Regent Darroll Hargraves’s passing last week. In the initial publication, Darroll’s name was misspelled.
For more information, contact Director of State Relations for the University of Alaska System Chad Hutchison, cell 907-378-3946, email clhutchison@alaska.edu. You can also follow the University of Alaska Government Relations on our Twitter page.