June 25, 2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

After nearly a month at home in Sitka I am feeling rested and ready to begin summer travel. We have had at least a week of summer weather and I enjoyed those days hiking, kayaking and in general relaxing in Southeast.

Last month on the way to Pelican we had a small mishap with my brother’s boat, and those repairs will likely take through the summer to complete. I’m so grateful for the maritime expertise of our coastal communities: folks who knew who to call, a captain who showed up just at the right time and with just the right tools and experience to tow us home, and in general a sense of compassion when these things happen.

By now most folks in House District 2 will have received our end-of-session newsletter. In this edition of the Swell we will update that information with the governor’s vetoes, along with providing information about the impacts about federal cuts in our region, and information about my upcoming travels. The office will be in my staff's capable hands while I’m away and we are always happy to hear from constituents!

Representative Rebecca Himschoot

Alaska House of Representatives

St. Lazaria and Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka Sound.

Line-Item Vetoes

On June 12, Governor Dunleavy announced the items he had chosen to veto or decrease in value from the budget passed by the Legislature. The Legislature worked together throughout the session to create a balanced budget, which was transmitted to the governor following adjournment. Governor Dunleavy made many cuts, including (but not limited to) the following:

HB 53 (Operating Budget)

$50,640,200: K-12 Foundation Program (reduced the Base Student Allocation from $6,660 to $6,460...reduces the increase from $700 to $500 in per-student funding)

$490,000: Teacher Recruitment (implementation of the governor's teacher recruitment and retention task force)

$1,857,900: Child care centers

$3,750,000: Clinical behavioral health services

$2,111,300: State Parks

$75,000: Safe Gun Storage Media Campaign

$250,000: Funding for a special session (the costs for Capitol building staff and operations)

$5,000,000: Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

$554,000: Teacher incentive payments and reimbursements for National Board Certification

$10,300,000: Disaster relief fund deposit

$5,721,100: REAA (major maintenance for rural schools)

$28,855,700: Fire suppression fund deposit

$575,000: Alaska Higher Education from WWAMI repayments

HB 55 (Mental Health Budget)

$100,000: Dementia Education and Prevention

$2,700,000: Infant Learning Program - early intervention

$3,020,000: Infant Learning Program - Part C of Individuals with Disabilities Act

SB 57 (Capital Budget)

$2,500,000: Alaska Travel Industry Association

$2,730,000: Mt. Edgecumbe dorm window replacement

$25,135,000: Major maintenance fund from DEED (there is over $300 million in known need)

$1,650,000: Public Safety (aircraft maintenance, trooper vessel maintenance, firearms, etc)

$459,000: Federal Department of Transportation matching grants - each state dollar brings in $9 of federal funding

$3,250,000: University of Alaska facilities deferred maintenance

It is important to note that some of these are cuts to increases appropriated by the Legislature and some are cuts to existing funding. I am very disappointed in the governor's decision to cut or decrease these funds, many of which target Alaska's future: our children. The Legislature has one chance to override these vetoes, and must do so at one time (there cannot be a different special joint session called for each item). Furthermore, while a policy bill veto requires two-thirds of the Legislature (40 legislators) to override, an appropriation veto requires three-fourths (45 legislators) to override, no easy feat. The Legislature is expected to vote on vetoes when we reconvene in January. In the meantime, school districts are scrambling to reorganize their budgets for the next fiscal year by July 1st, uncertain of their state funding.

Changes to Local Contribution

During its quarterly meeting earlier this month, the State Board of Education (SBOE) proposed changes to the current local contribution regulations. Local contribution is defined as the funding that is given to school districts by cities or boroughs. As it currently stands, local contribution minimum and maximum limits incorporate several factors: state funding, the base student allocation, student enrollment, local property value and taxes, and federal impact aid. SBOE's proposed changes redefine local contribution to include in-kind services, meaning that any time a public facility is used for a school district event, the use of the building would be subtracted from the local contribution. Parent volunteer hours would be considered a local contribution. Services provided for decades by tribal and community partners would be considered part of the local contribution.

Federal Funds

Recently, Alaska was notified that it had failed the Federal Disparity Test, which compares the lowest- and highest- funded school districts (after removing the bottom and top 5%) to ensure the disparity in state funding is not too large. Passing the disparity test is required in order for Alaska to use millions in Federal Impact Aid in place of state funding. This is money from the federal government for school districts impacted by tax-exempt federal land, such as military bases and ANCSA land, and is designed to help those school districts make up for lost tax revenue.

If the state passes the disparity test, it is allowed to put 90% of the Federal Impact Aid money awarded to districts into the public education fund. This means that funding is distributed to more districts - not just those that directly qualify for Federal Impact Aid. Alaska is the only state in the country to use this federal funding this way, which replaces state dollars with federal dollars. This substitution allows the state to contribute less of its own revenue to education. In an effort to improve equity, Alaska's funding formula incorporates factors such as geographic cost differential, English Language Learners, and intensive special needs. If the state is unsuccessful at appealing our failure of this year's disparity test, we will need to find $81 million to fill the gap that would otherwise have been filled with Federal Impact Aid. This is a tall order in an impossibly tight budget.

Local Connection to Federal Funding

When a city or borough provides non-instructional services (afterschool activities, transportation, performing arts access, and public facility usage) to school districts, it is not currently considered part of its local contribution. Additionally, nor are partnership programs with nonprofits and Alaska Native Tribes or volunteer time considered part of local contribution. These services provide important resources to schools, and build bridges with the community.

The changes proposed by SBOE would include all of the services and programs listed above in the definition of local contribution. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) considers these non-instructional resources to blame for the state's failure of the federal disparity test this year, the reason behind these proposed changes. However, there are other routes the state can take to pass the test and secure Federal Impact Aid that are less harmful to districts and students. For example, the last time that Alaska failed the disparity test the state requested a waiver from the federal Department of Education to exclude transportation costs from local contribution calculations. This waiver was granted and the state was able to pass the test and therefore replace state funding with these federal funds. I support a similar alternative, and believe that redefining local contribution would cause irreparable harm on already under-funded schools. It feels unfair for the state to flat fund our schools AND prohibit communities from supporting them

The SBOE has opened a 30-day public comment period on the proposed changes. The link to submit a comment can be found HERE and will be open until 5pm on July 23rd. I encourage you to submit a comment on the importance of non-instructional services and the desire of our communities to fund public education.

Solstice sunset from the top of Harbor Mountain.

Federal Funding Cuts

Our region will soon begin to feel the impacts of federal cuts. Some have already happened through the DOGE process, and others are proposed in the budget reconciliation bill under consideration in Congress. Our office is tracking some of the impacts of these cuts:

FEDERAL PROGRAM	ALASKA STAKEHOLDERS	IMPACT TO THE STATE
Medicaid	236,000 Alaskans Rural hospitals Health service providers	The budget reconciliation bill's historic cuts, as well as its reporting requirements, would contribute to 26,000 Alaskans losing coverage, one-third of whom are children. Uncompensated costs could lead to the closure of Alaska’s rural hospitals.
SNAP	10% of all Alaskans School lunch programs Urban and rural grocery stores	17,000 residents would be at risk of losing some or all SNAP benefits. The average family would lose $327 per month in food assistance. Nearly 32,000 children could lose access to free school meals. 124 grocery stores and other SNAP retailers would face increased risk of financial instability due to decreased business from SNAP recipients.
Pell Grant	Low-income students State universities	Proposed changes to eligibility include requiring a student to be enrolled in at least 30 credits, which students who work or have families may not be able to do. 4,067 Alaskan students could see cuts to their Pell Grant funding. 1,865 Alaskan students are at risk of losing all Pell Grant funding. Pell Grant funding at risk: $10 billion.
Clean Energy Tax Credits	Rural Alaskans Renters Homeowners	$93 million in investments would be at risk. 578 jobs would be at risk.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)	Fishermen Coastal communities Recreational mariners Tour operators	AMSEA receives most of its funding from NIOSH in order to provide life-saving training to the maritime community. AMSEA is the only source in Alaska for required Emergency Drill Conductor training for commercial fishermen and the largest provider of commercial fishing safety training in the nation. This means that without funding, many fishermen will soon be out of compliance with USCG safety regulation.
Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS)	Rural libraries School libraries Early literacy programs	Alaska’s libraries rely on IMLS for funding. That’s especially the case given Alaska’s low literacy rate – and the role libraries play in getting early literacy resources to families in rural areas. Inter-library exchange program funding, enhancement grants, and small basic grants – the three of which comprise most funding sources for Alaska libraries – will be cut through IMLS cuts. Unfortunately, state funding for libraries has continued to diminish over the last several years.
AmeriCorps	Community organizations Schools Nonprofits Small communities	AmeriCorps volunteers serve in small and rural communities around the state. They bolster the workforce at community and service-based organizations and help provide vital services. At least 87 federally funded AmeriCorps volunteer positions in Alaska are terminated.
NOAA	Fishermen Mariners Hikers Rural Alaskans Pilots	23 of Alaska’s National Weather Service employees were fired. Due to cuts and decreased retainment, the National Weather Service now has a vacancy rate of 30%. These job cuts are already impacting weather forecasts; job cuts lead to program cuts for understaffed programs, which lead to loss of data, which make weather models less reliable.
United States Forest Service	Hikers Campers Subsistence fishermen and harvesters Tribes	Many of Alaska’s USFS workforce has been fired. These jobs include trail and cabin maintenance crew, who construct and maintain trails throughout the region and supply cabins with firewood. Additionally, fisheries technicians, who monitor important fish stocks and habitats, and hydrologists, who record geomorphic changes in our dynamic region, have been cut.
National Park Service	Tourism industry Hikers	NPS employees maintain Alaska’s National Parks to ensure they continue to draw visitors. Alaska houses 54 million acres of NPS land.

Education Update

On the morning of May 20, the Legislature successfully voted to override the governor's veto of HB 57, the bill that started out as a ban on cell phones in schools and became the vehicle for the Base Student Allocation increase and other policies aimed at school improvement. One important provision in the bill is a task force on education funding. I am pleased to be selected as co-chair of this task force, along with Sen. Tobin (Anchorage), the Chair of the Senate Education Committee. Task force members include Rep. Andi Story (Juneau), House Education co-chair, and Rep. Justin Ruffridge (Kenai). On the Senate side Sen. Jesse Kiehl (Juneau) and Sen. Mike Cronk (Tok) will fill out the membership.

Because this is a legislative task force the goal will be to hear from education partners as we develop a report to be finalized in January of 2027. A task force allows us to take a deeper dive into complex issues, such as Alaska’s school transportation funding or how we use impact aid, without the time constraints and distractions of the legislative session. Sen. Tobin and I will finalize plans for the task force when we meet early next month and we will be sure to send updates in the monthly Swell.

Chichagof Trip....Delayed

Two days after setting sail from Sitka, we encountered an uncharted rock in the Myriad Islands. My brother's boat lost steering capacity and we had to be towed back to town. I am disappointed to miss out on visiting with Pelican, Elfin Cove, Hoonah, and Tenakee, and look forward to the next time I make it up there.

Visit to Petersburg

I will be visiting Petersburg from June 30-July 4, with family joining me July 5-8, and am so excited to celebrate the Fourth of July in the community! I'll be in the LIO (11 B Gjoa St) from 9am - 12pm on July 1-3 and available at other times by appointment. To schedule an appointment, email me at rep.rebecca.himschoot@akleg.gov or call (907) 747-4665. See you soon!

POW in Autumn

Along with my upcoming visit to Petersburg I am hoping to visit Prince of Wales this fall for about 10 days with a member of my staff. We will provide details when that trip is planned!

My staff and I in front of the Capitol on the final day of the session. From left to right: Thatcher Brouwer, Claire Fordyce, Ella Lubin

Action in the Interim

Although the first half of the 34th Legislature has adjourned, my work is not over. Throughout the interim, my staff and I will be diving into many projects and issues that we hope to pursue in the next session, and will continue to be available to assist constituents. Additionally, I will be co-chairing a task force on education funding and attending out-of-state legislative conferences throughout the interim. Please don't hesitate to reach out with comments or questions, and say hello if you see me in your community this summer and fall!

Follow the Legislature and Comment

You can monitor the l egislative calendar for hearings that might interest you. If there is a bill you care about, you can submit written testimony to members of the committee hearing the bill, or contact the Juneau Legislative Information Office or the legislative information office in your community to give verbal testimony.

If there is a bill or resolution you want to follow, you can get an email update every time action is taken on the legislation with the Bill Tracking Management Facility.

Contact my Office!

Representative Rebecca Himschoot

State Capitol Room 411

Juneau AK, 99801

Phone: 907-465-3732

Toll-Free: 888-461-3732

Email: representative.rebecca.himschoot@akleg.gov