This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon.
The Alaska Legislature, meeting in special session, has overridden Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of more than $50 million in public school funding.
The vote was 45-14. At least 45 of 60 legislators are needed to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto.
The override eliminates a 5.6% year-over-year cut to public school funding, leaving districts with a small funding increase. Since July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year, oil prices have significantly exceeded the state’s spring forecast, and if that trend continues, the state would have more than enough revenue to pay for the revived spending.
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It’s the first time since 1987 that Alaska lawmakers have overridden an appropriations veto by a sitting governor.
“This is a remarkable day,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. “It was quite eventful and really unprecedented in my experience in the Legislature, and I’m very proud of how the House and Senate worked together and how we stood up and did the right thing.”
Lawmakers also voted to override Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 183, a measure that would require the Alaska Department of Revenue to provide lawmakers with a report on oil tax settlements. Sen Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, has said that could reveal the state has been settling tax disputes for much less than their stated value.
The vote on that override was 43-16. Forty votes were needed for that override because it was a policy bill and not one involving appropriations.
Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, was excused absent from both votes.
Legislators declined to accept an executive order from Dunleavy that sought to create an Alaska Department of Agriculture, calling the order unconstitutional. The governor disputes that assessment, and the issue could be headed to the courts.
Governor and legislators have different perspectives on fixing state schools
School district superintendents said before Saturday’s education vote that if lawmakers were able to override the governor, school districts would be able to reduce class sizes and restore programs that had been cut.
Dunleavy called the special session in order to pressure lawmakers into considering a variety of education policies intended to increase the availability of alternatives to traditional public schools.
Alaska ranks 51st in the country on a national standardized test intended to rate states’ public education performance.
“There’s 50 states, and we’re 51st in the nation. It’s a moral imperative to fix that,” he said.
Legislators approved some policies this spring when they approved a compromise bill that also raised the core of the state’s per-student funding formula, the base student allocation.
Dunleavy called that bill inadequate and vetoed it. Lawmakers overrode that veto.
Dunleavy then vetoed funding needed to pay for the increased formula, and he called a special session for Aug. 2, at a time when some lawmakers were thought to be unavailable, forcing an early vote on a possible override and increasing the odds that his veto would stand.
A successful veto could have forced lawmakers into further compromises with the governor on policies they have previously opposed.
Instead, legislators made extraordinary efforts to attend the special session. Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, obtained special leave from military service in Europe. Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage, flew to Juneau from Vietnam. Other lawmakers canceled family events and postponed trips for business and to the National Conference of State Legislatures..
As late as Saturday morning, no one in the Capitol was sure whether the governor’s veto would be overridden or sustained.
“We actually thought we were going to be short,” said Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage.
In the end, the veto was overridden by the exact tally needed.
Dunleavy said afterward that he doesn’t think it was a mistake to call the special session.
“This gives the people of Alaska a chance to see where people stand on these votes,” he said.
He said that policy changes and education funding represent two sides of a coin, and without both halves, “it’s not much of a currency.”
The vote also allows Alaskans to see whether legislators are serious about addressing policy changes now, he said. The special session is open for 30 days, and legislators could meet and discuss the issues.
Legislators have created an education task force to address policy, but that group isn’t expected to meet until Aug. 25 and will work on its own schedule outside of special session.
“The bottom line is they either act or they don’t. This is like the world capital of talk, this place is, in Juneau,” Dunleavy said.
House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, was the only legislator to vote in favor of a similar education-related veto override in the spring but changed her vote against Saturday’s override.
She said afterward that she thought the prior bill had good policies — a partial ban on cellphones in public schools, for one — and she wanted to see more policy work.
Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer and a candidate for governor in next year’s elections, also voted against the override, noting that legislation proposed by Dunleavy for the special session actually included funding increases that were greater than the amount vetoed from the budget.
But those comments didn’t represent the views of a majority of lawmakers, who said after the vote that they were concerned about the direct and indirect impacts of the governor’s veto within their district.
Ahead of the vote, Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, said that sustaining the veto would encourage local governments to make up the funding gap by increasing their local contribution, increasing the burden on local property taxpayers. Bynum, who voted in favor of May’s veto override, also voted in favor of an override on Saturday.
The House and Senate adjourned their joint session immediately after considering both vetoes and lawmakers were greeted by applause from pro-override protesters who demonstrated in the Capitol’s hallways and outside the building before the vote.
The special session will technically stay ongoing, but legislators said they do not expect to meet again before Aug. 19.
Special session started late because of lawmaker’s missed flight
Saturday’s special session was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with the House and Senate meeting together at 10:15 a.m., but the joint session didn’t start until 1:31 p.m. because Rep. Robyn Burke, D-Utqiagvik, missed the morning flight from Anchorage to Juneau.
Burke said her mistake was partially due to a family member’s surgery, which ran late into the night before the flight.
The delay caused some members of the House Republican minority caucus to razz members of the majority, of which Burke is a member. The minority Republicans noted that they were present and ready to work on time, and the majority was not.
Dunleavy initially asked the House minority to stay away from the first five days of the special session in order to improve the odds that his vetoes would be sustained. When it comes to overriding a veto, an absent lawmaker is equivalent to one voting no.
Members of the majority called that request dirty politics, and Dunleavy later changed his position, asking lawmakers to be ready to hold committee hearings on Sunday. Republican lawmakers who had promised to stay away from the special session also changed their positions and chose to attend.
On Friday, Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, wheeled a wagon full of fresh peonies through the Capitol for staff and legislators. The flowers came from Northern Lights Peonies in Fairbanks, she said, because its owner had heard that the governor was encouraging lawmakers to stay away from the special session, and the flower-grower wanted to thank legislators for showing up.
Before lawmakers convened, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom walked through the Capitol’s second floor.
“What’s the energy of today?” asked Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, of Dahlstrom.
“It’s electric, it’s electric,” she said.
Around them, lawmakers and staff maneuvered through a hallway lined with sign-carrying protesters urging an override. Behind them, in the Capitol’s stairway, Department of Education commissioner Deena Bishop walked downstairs from the third floor, home to the office of the governor. Next to her was Jordan Shilling, the governor’s legislative director, with his ear to a cellphone.
According to a list of vetoes compiled by the Legislative Affairs Agency, Saturday’s vote marked the first time since 2009 that lawmakers have overridden an appropriations veto.
That override involved an action by Gov. Sarah Palin, who had left office by the time of the override. Lawmakers haven’t overridden an appropriations veto by a sitting governor since Gov. Steve Cowper in 1987, according to the LAA list.
Legislature and governor disagree on Department of Agriculture
As the session opened, Dunleavy issued another version of an executive order creating a cabinet-level Alaska Department of Agriculture.
Lawmakers rejected the governor’s first executive order on a 32-28 vote in March and introduced broader legislation instead.
The presiding officers of the House and Senate responded to the second order with a letter of their own, saying that the governor’s order is unconstitutional and that they will not accept it.
“I’ve talked to him about it, told him about a couple days ago, and I think he can do whatever he wants, but if it’s pretty clear that we’re on good legal standing not to deal with it in this session,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
Hours later, the governor issued a followup letter saying that he believes the Legislature must vote to disapprove his order. Barring that vote, “I will treat this attempt by the Legislature to circumvent the constitutionally mandated process to be legally ineffective. Unless the Legislature convenes in a joint session to disapprove the Executive Order … I will consider it to have become law at the close of the special session and proceed accordingly.”
Giessel and other members of the House and Senate said afterward that they don’t know whether the issue will be resolved in the courts, but they feel that the topic is better addressed through legislation, and a bill has already received three hearings in the Senate Resources Committee.
School officials and education advocates react to veto override
Before the education veto override, dozens of people rallied outside the Capitol and in the building’s hallways, pleading with legislators to vote yes.
Following the override vote, demonstrators clapped and cheered, thanking lawmakers as they left the joint session.
Several district officials reacted Saturday afternoon with thanks to legislators and applauded the override vote.
“We’re extremely excited. A lot of our administrators were texting and very excited about getting it overturned today, so that made Valdez very happy,” said that city’s school superintendent, Jason Weber, by phone on Saturday. He said the funding will go toward previously cut positions, like an elementary school math specialist, as determined by the school board.
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Superintendent Luke Meinert congratulated lawmakers by phone on Saturday.
“It’s been a long time coming that we haven’t had adequate funding, and this is one step forward providing stability for our public schools. So just a huge thank you to them,” Meinert said.
He said funds will go to support classrooms, reduce class sizes, and restore some previous cuts, but because the money is arriving so close to the start of the school year, changes will come at the last minute.
“With the class size discussion, it is a tough time of year to hire teachers, given our school starts here in a couple weeks. So we’ll see what we’re going to do with it, but it definitely helps stabilize our funding for the school year. We’re also underfunded in transportation … and so that might be one place that it’s able to help us.”
Officials with the Anchorage School District, the state’s largest by student population serving over 43,000 students, also thanked legislators. “The Anchorage School District is grateful to the 45 lawmakers who voted to put students first,” said MJ Thim, the district’s chief of communications, in an emailed statement.
“Restoring $50 million in public school funding means more stability in classrooms, more certainty for families, and stronger support for educators working every day to help students succeed. This funding was already approved with broad legislative support. Overriding the veto ensures that commitment is honored.”
NEA-Alaska, the state’s largest teachers union, expressed support for the education veto override.
“Every dollar invested in public education helps an Alaska student learn. Helps find their passion for science, math, reading, and the arts. Helps keep the lights on and schools warm. And helps our phenomenal Alaska educators successfully do their job,” said NEA-Alaska President Laura Capelle, in a written statement. “This funding is a step in the right direction, but it is not yet enough. We must continue to invest — in real dollars and collaborative solutions — to support the highest quality public education in Alaska.”
Education funding advocate Caroline Storm, said she was uncertain about the outcome of the vote, but happy with the override.
“I knew it was going to be very close,” said Storm, who is executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Education Equity. “I was disappointed to see that (Rep. Mia) Costello flipped her vote, and I’m grateful to see that (Rep. David) Nelson did not. So those were two people we were concerned about.”
Other bills not taken up
After the joint session, the House and Senate passed resolutions that permit them to keep the special session open without additional meetings.
That likely means that several other Dunleavy vetoes will stand. The governor vetoed millions of dollars from other parts of the state budget, including money for school maintenance and for child care and infant learning programs. Legislators did not take up those vetoes.
Legislators also did not vote on bills pertaining to teacher housing, capping high interest rates and fees for payday loans, loan help for commercial fishermen, and emergency health care for police and rescue dogs.
Stevens said that after lawmakers had two successful overrides, “we were pleased that we got those two through, and there was some question about the others.”
House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, said lawmakers saw an “overwhelming” amount of consensus on the two successful overrides, and there wasn’t the same consensus on the others, even though they were discussed.
Dunbar was the sponsor of the payday loan bill.
“I didn’t believe the votes were there this time, and I felt that a failed veto override would diminish the chance that the bill would pass in the future, particularly because it should be a bipartisan, uncontroversial bill,” Dunbar said, “and I think we can revisit it in a year or two when the advocates have had a chance to better explain some of the specifics.”
Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: [email protected].
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