www.AlaskaAlliance.com 41 Long-term fiscal plan for state still in spotlight Alaska’s 2024 legislative session was productive. There were big hiccups, for sure, but in general the House and Senate conducted an orderly session without the kinds of fireworks that have erupted in recent years. House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, worked well together and kept things running smoothly. Both are experienced legislators. A state budget was agreed on that funded state agency operations and the University of Alaska at adequate levels, at about $5 billion in state funds. A capital, or construction, budget was approved that totaled about $4 billion including federal passthrough funds. Agreement was reached on the 2024 Permanent Fund Dividend, or PFD, that was, as expected, a compromise between a large in the budget passed by the state House and a smaller, more affordable PFD in the Senate budget. The compromise split the difference. There was little pushback from legislators wanting a large dividend, and little reaction from the public. Also on the PFD, and important, the House turned down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have put a guarantee of the dividend into the state Constitution. This was a politically popular idea, but it would have created ongoing problems in funding state operations. There was little chance that the Senate would agree to it but the fact that the votes for it weren’t there even in the House, which is led by Republicans supportive of large dividends, puts this divisive issue to rest, at least for the near term. There was no progress on a longterm fiscal plan for the state but what is emerging is an informal understanding that the finance committees will budget according to funds available. That is a “workaround” solution that works for now and that avoids the political problems of adopting a formal plan. There is actually a spending plan and limit in the state Constitution, but it was adopted years ago and is obsolete now. One big hiccup was in education funding when the governor vetoed a bill expanding the formula that provides annual funding for school districts. The Legislature attempted a veto override and came within one vote of doing it. Lawmakers later put a one-time funding increase in the budget, but it wasn’t the permanent increase most educators wanted. There were major accomplishments in energy, including a complex bill restructuring how the Regulatory Commission of Alaska regulates long-distance electrical transmission lines. House Bill 307 will establish a system of uniform transmission fees for power moved through the Southcentral/Interior “Railbelt” electrical grid as well as guaranteed access to the system for independent, mostly private power producers. This will end the present system of each utility owning sections of the transmission system charging different rates, which is an impediment for independent producers wanting to sell their power. The Legislature did not pass a bill reducing state royalty on new Cook Inlet natural gas production, which was seen as important in securing new gas in time to meet a pending shortfall in gas production in the Inlet. However, a bill was passed expanding the state’s ability to help finance new gas projects. An important accomplishment was passage of a bill establishing the legal framework for the state to lease space in depleted underground gas reservoirs and saline aquifers for the permanent storage of carbon dioxide, or CO2. This would give oil and gas producers a place to inject and safely store CO2 that would be removed from emissions from production facilities. Capture and safe storage of carbon dioxide will help Alaska producers lower the carbon footprint, making it easier to raise funds from financial groups desiring to invest in projects generating fewer carbon emissions. There were important changes to state-supported vocational education programs including an expansion of the state Technical Vocational Education Program, or TVEP, that supports regional training centers including at the University of Alaska and the state’s Alaska Vocational Technical Center, or AVTEC, in Seward. An education tax credit program that allows businesses to make tax-deductible contributions to training centers and the university was also expanded. — Tim Bradner Alaska Legislature: Smooth sailing in 2024 TILTON STEVENS
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