University representatives warn of rising campus crime and mental‑health demand as finance panel considers UAA funding changes
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Summary
University of Alaska officials told the House Finance Committee UAA has rising calls for service and is understaffed; lawmakers considered and rejected amendments to reduce campus safety or roll back mental‑health funding, and approved a separate fund‑source adjustment for employee health premiums.
University of Alaska officials and legislative members sparred over several amendments addressing campus safety and student mental health during the House Finance Committee’s markup.
Chad Hutchison, the university’s state director for government relations, told the committee UAA has seen a notable increase in public‑safety calls—he said service calls rose by roughly 15–25% year‑over‑year in one reporting window and that the University Police Department was 'about 12 officers' below requested staffing. Hutchison also reported recent vehicle burglaries on campus, noting '11 break ins on campus in vehicles' over a short period.
Representative Moore offered amendments to remove requested UAA campus safety funding; Representative Galvin and other supporters pressed for keeping or refocusing funds, citing rising mental‑health demand among students (citing that 20% of UA students sought counseling and that serious distress and suicide attempts were rising in some surveys).
The committee debated reallocating the fund source for two UAA safety positions from general funds to university receipts; an amendment to change that fund source was voted on as a fund‑source change and failed in one iteration and a related fund‑source proposal did not pass. A separate health‑care cost fund‑source adjustment for the university (Amendment 101) was adopted.
Lawmakers emphasized the tension between constrained state resources and urgent campus needs. Several members noted the university has not fully recovered from earlier budget cuts and that student mental‑health and campus safety pressures have increased since 2021. The committee ultimately did not adopt amendments that would remove UAA safety positions, and it rejected reductions to student mental‑health funding.
Next steps include continued conversations between the university, legislative finance and appropriations staff about staffing, fund source options and options for targeted capital or operating support.
