Only a couple of days before returning to Juneau for a special session of the Alaska Legislature, Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, on Wednesday reported back on the Legislature’s last session to a joint luncheon of the Kenai and Soldotna chambers of commerce.
Education, which is set to be the main topic at this weekend’s special session, was also top of mind for Ruffridge this week. He recapped the monthslong effort to get education funding and policy legislation across the finish line this year — first in the vetoed House Bill 69 and then later in House Bill 57.
HB 57, too, was vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, but the Legislature voted 46-14 to override the veto. Ruffridge voted for HB 57 and voted to override the veto. That bill, he said Wednesday, included an increase in per-student funding from the state to $6,660 and calls for a cellphone ban in classrooms, new availability for charter school applications, new safeguards against charter schools being closed, and creation of an education task force that’s set to meet for the first time next month, among other things.
Dunleavy vetoed funding in the state’s budget to a level below the amount described in law as in the successfully enacted HB 57.
The budget process this year caused “a lot of drama in the Legislature,” Ruffridge said. The governor introduced a budget with a full Alaska Permanent Fund dividend payment — but that resulted in a $1.8 billion deficit. The House advanced an unbalanced budget to the Senate, “which is not something that we take great pride in.” Ruffridge voted against that budget. The Senate produced a balanced budget, which was ultimately accepted, that cut the dividend payment back to $1,000 and implemented broad cuts to Alaska’s government to make up the difference.
That process, he said, illuminated some of the issues with Alaska’s budget, which is “very volatile.” To fund services or to increase spending for education means finding money that isn’t guaranteed to last amid declining oil revenues.
“There’s really not a great guarantee for how that money is produced in our state,” he said. “Outside of oil and taxes … nobody likes to talk about taxes, and nobody likes to talk about cutting the permanent fund dividend.”
While education and the budget were causing drama, Ruffridge said he was proud to get a health care bill across the finish line this year. He collaborated with Sen. Jesse Bjorkman on a “unicorn bill” that sailed through the Legislature almost entirely unchanged. Senate Bill 133 brings new timelines and requirements for insurance companies to provide prior authorizations for health care coverage.
He also spotlighted House Bill 161, which would attempt to pare back some of the paid sick leave requirements imposed on businesses by a ballot measure approved by Alaska voters last year. He said that small businesses are unable to offer the level of compensation required under the measure, and the bill would exempt businesses with few employees from needing to comply. That bill is still advancing, but Ruffridge said it’s become held up in committee because “it’s somewhat controversial.”
Ruffridge also gave updates on bills that he passed last session that have by now come into effect. More Alaska students are connecting with money for further education through an expanded Alaska Performance Scholarship, veterinarians are no longer required to check on human records when prescribing controlled substances to pets, epinephrine is more widely accessible and a new plan to reduce overdoses in the state will be rolled out later this year.
The work continues, Ruffridge said. Friday he flies down to Juneau for the special session. Dunleavy called the session and said it’s going to be about a state department of agriculture and education reforms. The Legislature, Ruffridge said, has already said no to his proposals, “the governor, I think, is asking for that to be rethought.”
The special session will also include, likely on Saturday, major override votes of Dunleavy’s vetoes. Restoration of the slashed education funding is one topic to be considered, but Ruffridge spent more time on Wednesday describing the possible override of a veto to Senate Bill 183. That bill would empower the state auditor to request information about oil and gas taxes that have dropped “precipitously” over recent years and which the state has declined to produce information about since 2020.
“It’s a very serious issue,” Ruffridge said. “It is our responsibility as the check and balance system of government to ensure that these laws are being followed.”
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
