By Sentinel Staff
In his statement Monday on his final round of budget vetoes, Gov. Mike Dunleavy added another state agency, the Alaska State Council on the Arts, to the list of those he will allow to continue with state funding.
Dunleavy’s first round of vetoes in July had zeroed out the arts council, making Alaska the only state in the union without an arts council.
In Monday’s statement, which dealt with the Legislature’s attempt in HB 2001 to restore previously vetoed program funds, Dunleavy said he would leave $3.8 million in the state operating budget for State Council on the Arts.
Last week he had announced his intention to reverse himself on other major vetoes, restoring $21.5 million for the Senior Benefits Program, $110 million to the University of Alaska and $8.8 million to Head Start and early childhood education.
In all, he said, he did not veto $156 million of the $375 million total in HB 2001.
In a statement Monday about other “key programs and services restored in HB 2001,” the governor’s office provided this list:
–$21.5M to Senior Benefits Program
–$110.25M to the University of Alaska
–$8.8M to Early Learning Programs, including Head Start, Early Childhood Grants, Parents as Teachers, and Best Beginning
–$759,100 to Alaska Legal Services Corporation
–$809,100 to Online with Libraries and Live Homework Help
–$3.8M to Alaska State Council on the Arts
–$100,000 to Office of Veterans Affairs for an additional Veterans’ Services Officer
–$2.2M to Human Services Matching Grants and Community Initiative Grants
–$533,500 to reopening the Utqiagvik Law Office
–$2.7M to Agricultural Programs
He went on to list his vetoes of major items in HB 2001:
–“Unconstitutional commitments” of future year funding.
–optional Medicaid services.
–debt payments on behalf of other entities, “which are not a core function of the state.”
The governor did not veto the $1,600 permanent fund dividend passed by the Legislature, but said he regards it as a “partial payment,” and “we will continue to fight for a complete statutory dividend going into this fall.”
“Many have asked me to veto this incomplete $1,600 dividend passed by the Legislature this year,” Dunleavy said in Monday’s statewide address.
“Others have asked me to accept this partial dividend and to continue our fight for a full PFD. And while this decision was not easy, it’s not easy at all, I decided that I will not veto this incomplete dividend. I and many others view this as a partial payment, not a full PFD, and we will continue to fight for a complete statutory dividend going into this fall.”
“With these vetoes, the FY 2020 operating and mental health budget, including previously enacted legislation, totals $4.193 billion Unrestricted General funds (UGF), $883.6 million Designated General funds (DGF), $702.1 million Other State funds, and $2.7 billion Federal funds.
Dunleavy said, “There is no doubt Alaskans got engaged, and a much needed and, at times, difficult conversation took place in the media, at the dinner table, and amongst friends and family. I believed, and still believe, that in order for this discussion to be successful and to be taken seriously, we have to show Alaskans exactly what our fiscal picture looks like and what it will take to solve it.”
He said Alaskans need to understand that the state can no longer afford to spend at current rates.
“We can no longer afford to deplete our savings and hope for higher revenues,” he said. “We must begin making the long-term changes to put ourselves on a path to a more sustainable future, and we can no longer pretend the problem will fix itself. It will take difficult decisions to get us to a sustainable budget, and I am prepared to make those difficult decisions.”
He said his final decisions will result in reductions of $650 million in state spending.
“Reforms have been initiated to make services and programs, such as Medicaid, University of Alaska, and the Alaska Marine Highway System more efficient and more sustainable,” he said. “The driver for these reductions continues to be Alaska’s current fiscal outlook, requiring all of us to rethink the way we provide services, the way we prioritize limited state resources and the way we spend state dollars moving forward. While state savings will continue to be exhausted as we move into a multi-year step down, reducing our rate of spending must be a priority for all Alaskans. More must be done in the coming months, but we as Alaskans are resilient, and I honestly believe our future remains bright.”
He said he realizes his approach and timing “caused significant angst among Alaskans.”
“This was certainly not our intention,” Dunleavy said. “However, certain programs, programs we value, got caught in a budget discussion that went on way too long. The seriousness of the deficit, the need to begin making reforms and the length of our legislative session all contributed to the level of uncertainty we experienced the past several months. We have listened and we have learned from this past year’s budget process.”
He said the Legislature “denied the people of Alaska the full statutory PFD.
“If I had the authority to add more money to the budget for a full PFD, I would,” he said. “However, only the legislature, by Constitution, can appropriate these funds.”
