Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mental Health Budget Hb55 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Finance adopts committee substitute for HB 55 (mental health budget) with subcommittee changes
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee adopted its committee substitute for House Bill 55, the mental health budget, incorporating subcommittee recommendations and adding several collective bargaining agreements to the list of approved monetary terms.
Juneau — The Alaska Senate Finance Committee adopted a committee substitute for House Bill 55, the mental health budget, after staff summarized the limited number of changes from the previously adopted CS.
Pete Eklund, staff to the committee, told the panel his explanation of changes for HB 55 was short: “My explanation of changes document is half a page, not 6.” The CS incorporates all subcommittee changes in the number section with two notable exceptions that match the broader operating bill: deletion of cross‑appropriation authority to move up to $5,000,000 between maintenance and operations and other appropriations, and additions to the list of approved monetary terms for collective bargaining agreements. Eklund identified the Alaska Correctional Officers Association, the Teachers Education Association of Mount Edgecumbe, and United Academics (American Association of University Professors, AFT) as newly added bargaining units in the bill’s language.
With no questions or sustained objections, the committee adopted the CS and set the bill aside for further committee consideration as part of the finance process.
