Gov. Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill as lawmakers say override possible

Yahoo

19-05-2025

May 19—Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday vetoed a bipartisan education package in a step against permanently increasing the education budget, which has largely stagnated during his tenure.
Lawmakers convened earlier this year under a shared commitment to significantly increase the education budget for the first time in nearly a decade. Dunleavy also said he would support an increase to education spending, but stipulated his support on the passage of policy demands that lawmakers said were untenable.
Educators have said that Alaska's public education system is in crisis due to years of virtually flat funding. Multiple school districts had planned steep cuts to programs, staff and more. But the Anchorage School District recently reversed many of those cuts on the assumption a funding boost would be approved this year.
Dunleavy already vetoed one education bill passed by lawmakers earlier this year. Legislators returned to the drawing table and passed House Bill 57, which would raise the $5,960 Base Student Allocation — the state's per-student funding formula — by $700. That would translate to a roughly $180 million increase to the state's $1.2 billion education budget.
The sweeping measure also has policies intended to improve student outcomes, including by limiting cellphone use in schools and creating a new task force to study some of Dunleavy's policy demands.
Lawmakers and the governor last year agreed to a one-time increase in the education budget by an amount equivalent to a $680 BSA increase. The year before that, lawmakers also approved a one-time $680 increase, half of which was vetoed by the governor.
"There is no evidence that a permanent increase in the Base Student Allocation will improve educational outcomes. Therefore, this bill in its current form does not serve the best interest of Alaskans," Dunleavy wrote in a letter delivered to the House and Senate on Monday afternoon.
Lawmakers and education advocates have countered that an increase in education funding would allow districts to retain qualified and experienced teachers, and keep class sizes smaller — policies they say correlate to improved educational outcomes.
House Bill 57 passed the Legislature on April 30 in a combined 48-11 vote. Opposition came from Republican lawmakers in minority caucuses.
Since then, Dunleavy told school superintendents that he would veto the measure unless his preferred education policies were approved by the Legislature. Superintendents said Dunleavy also told them he was prepared to veto a school funding increase from the budget.
House Minority Leader Mia Costello, an Anchorage Republican, on Monday declined to comment about the veto. But majority members say that the Legislature may be able to muster the 40 votes needed to override the governor.
Legislators have thrice failed to override Dunleavy's vetoes of education funding.
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican, said Monday that over the past several days, he and other House members had spoken to members of Dunleavy's staff about the education bill in an effort to find common ground that would stave off a veto. But majority lawmakers also said they were not willing to consider Dunleavy's policy demands.
"The message is: We have to find a way to get wins, and I think going to war with both each other and our school system isn't a good plan," said Ruffridge.
Dunleavy's policy demands include a provision to allow students across the state to enroll in the public school of their choice, regardless of where they live. Legislators have said that the open enrollment plan Dunleavy is seeking has been described as unworkable by educators.
Lawmakers are planning to hold a veto override session on Tuesday. The regular legislative session must end by midnight on Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.