Alaska lawmakers end their session with late bills passing on energy, education

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska lawmakers ended their four-month session early Thursday with a flurry of last-minute bills addressing priority issues such as energy andBickering over the budget was muted compared to prior years, and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and legislative leaders claimed successes in a session that was not without drama, marked bythat included a permanent $175 million increase in aid to districts through a school funding formula.

Late in session, lawmakers pivoted to correspondence schools, which allow children to be homeschooled under the authority of school districts. That focus camethat laws around correspondence school allotments “were drafted with the express purpose of allowing purchases of private educational services with the public correspondence student allotments.” Under the state constitution, public funds cannot be paid “for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.

Dunleavy previously pitched the bills as a novel means for Alaska to generate perhaps billions of dollars in new revenue while still embracing fossil fuel production and other resource extraction, such as timber harvests and coal production. But the revenue impact of the proposals remains speculative.

Residents in Alaska’s most populous region rely on gas from the aging Cook Inlet basin. But gas availability has become a concern and was a focal point this session. In February, Luke Saugier, senior vice president for Hilcorp Alaska, told lawmakers that while the company is “not pulling back” on investments in Cook Inlet and is committed to developing its leases, gas under its lease holdings can’t meet all the region’s gas demand. He said other sources of energy are needed.

Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)

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