Committee opens hearing on SJR29 to create dedicated education fund in Alaska Constitution

Senate Joint Resolution 29, which proposes a constitutional amendment to create a dedicated education fund, received its first hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on March 17.

Liz Harpold, staff to Senator Olson, told the committee SJR29 "proposes an amendment to Article 9 of the Alaska Constitution" that would create a new Section 18 allowing the legislature to establish an education fund in the state treasury and requiring money in that fund to be appropriated only for public education. She said that if the legislature passes the resolution in both chambers it would appear on the ballot for registered Alaskan voters to consider at the next general election.

Chairman Senator Hoffman framed the amendment in the context of ongoing education challenges, citing teacher retention concerns and a reported $90 million deficit in the Anchorage School District this year. He emphasized that the resolution does not itself raise revenue but elevates the priority of education by creating a dedicated fund that future legislators could draw on to address matters such as the base student allocation.

Senator Kiel reviewed the fiscal note and said the Office of the Governor, Division of Elections, assigned a zero cost and zero revenue fiscal note, indicating the cost to add the question to the ballot could be handled with existing resources. Senator Kaufman asked whether the resolution "literally creates a fund," and the chair agreed it does; the chair said the committee would resolve an apparent discrepancy between the fiscal note and the text before the next hearing.

The chair set a deadline of tomorrow at 3 p.m. for members to submit amendments to Liz Harpold in Senator Olson's office. The committee set the resolution aside for further consideration; no committee vote on the resolution occurred at this session.