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Kenai Peninsula Borough members debate urging state to raise the base student allocation
Summary
At a legislative committee meeting, Assemblymember Eklund urged the borough to ask the state to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA). Members raised concerns about timing, the state's fiscal deficit and whether the borough's resolutions might send mixed policy signals. No final action was recorded.
Assemblymember Eklund asked the Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly legislative committee to urge the state legislature to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA), saying education is her top priority "to see it funded and funded adequately." The resolution (2020-623) would urge support for House Bill 374, a measure related to the BSA.
The discussion centered on policy timing and fiscal realism. Assembly President Tunstead noted a missing sponsor statement in the packet and questioned whether supporting HB 374 now would risk sending conflicting messages after recent borough resolutions on hold-harmless provisions and property valuation. "It feels a bit like this bill, us supporting it would be more of a political statement than really a request for a specific legislative change to happen given the current state," Tunstead said.
Several members expressed reservations about pressing for a straight dollar increase without structural fixes. "The state is broke. We're running a deficit...Increasing the BSA isn't free," Assemblymember Hickard said, warning that raising the BSA without a funding plan "means new taxes, cut somewhere else, a smaller PFD, drawing down savings." Miss Neeson and Ms. Cooper (participating by Zoom) both asked whether the resolution was premature while the funding formula and other legislation remain under review. Cooper added that she wants any state-level advocacy to carry "political weight," noting the borough lacks a veto-override majority and that a gubernatorial veto remains possible.
Eklund responded that the borough's prior resolutions do not legally contradict the current request and reiterated that the state is required to fund education rather than shifting the burden to boroughs and districts. The mayor urged a broader, programmatic fix to the foundation formula with escalation to avoid annual shortfalls, calling a one-off request for more money "scattershot."
The committee discussed the sponsor statement language and timing but the transcript records no motion, vote, or formal adoption of the resolution during the legislative committee meeting.
The assembly left open the option to refine sponsor language and timing before the full assembly agenda; no final committee action was reported in the transcript.
