Governor Dunleavy’s term in office has largely disappointed conservatives. His critics claim the governor has failed to provide the decisive leadership our state needs on important issues. While that may have been true in the past, the governor appears to be stepping up his game. In this legislative session, Dunleavy has made several decisive moves that show he understands our state’s issues and is willing to address them head-on.

The biggest issue in the current legislative session is how public-school education is funded and how to pay for it. Former schoolteacher turned legislator Rebecca Himschoot introduced HB69, which proposed radically increasing school funding by 40% over the next three years. The bill did little to address the core issues, other than providing a huge budget increase for public education, making it nothing more than a giveaway to the teachers’ union and education lobby. Despite the flaws, Himschoot’s bill was approved by the state House and Senate before being wisely vetoed by the Governor.

Whatever the outcome of the education funding battle in Juneau, you can’t deny that the governor is showing strong leadership in trying to improve education for Alaska’s public school students.

In return, Governor Dunleavy introduced an education bill of his own (HB76, SB82) that addressed the school funding issues more prudently. The bill would have made several changes in how schools were funded. The most noteworthy aspect of the Governor’s bill is that, instead of just throwing money at the problem as HB69 did, it targeted funds at specific issues intended to improve the educational outcome of Alaska students. One crucial part of the governor’s bill was the plan to reward school districts with a $450 incentive per student when increasing proficiency in specific study areas.

This is a fundamental difference from the old ways of doing things, and we need more ideas like this. Instead of rewarding schools across the board, good and bad alike, by increasing the BSA, the governor wants to reward schools that improve the educational outcomes of their students. I say bravo! This is precisely what we are paying schools to do, and one way to make them better is by making them more competitive. Reward the good ones and let the poor schools lose students to other alternatives like home and charter schools.

Unfortunately, the legislature refused to take up the governor’s bill and tried to get cute in response to the governor’s veto of HB69. The legislature took a bill that had nothing to do with school funding, rewrote it to make it similar to Himschoot’s original giveaway bill, and then passed HB57 without considering many of the governor’s priorities. HB57 passed with some controversy and now sits on the governor’s desk waiting to be signed, but the governor will not be intimidated by this re-run bill. He has threatened to veto the legislation without approval of his three biggest reform priorities.

Given the vote count when HB57 passed the first time, the legislature may have enough votes to override the governor’s veto of this bill. However, some legislators may have second thoughts and choose not to vote for HB57 again.

This battle has yet to play out, and there may be a compromise education bill that both the legislature and the governor agree on. Whatever the outcome of the education funding battle in Juneau, you can’t deny that the governor is showing strong leadership in trying to improve education for Alaska’s public school students.

Governor Dunleavy has taken two additional steps that demonstrate his newfound leadership skills. First, he announced a freeze on hiring and travel outside the state. Second, the governor proposed a working session with the legislature after the session ends, to form a joint team to address Alaska’s long-term fiscal plan. Both of these are steps in the right direction of delivering budgetary sanity to our state. Alaska receives a substantial amount of money from the federal government for programs like Medicaid that it administers. With the federal funds likely to be reduced by federal budget cuts, and state oil revenues declining due to lower crude oil prices and lower production from the North Slope oil fields, a prudent long-term plan is needed. It is good to see the governor provide leadership in this area.

Governor Dunleavy’s recent steps are welcome and show he is serious about addressing the state’s fiscal problems. Whether he will succeed is unknown, but we must give him credit for at least trying to do something. I only wish he had started 6 1/2 years ago. Better late than never, I guess.

The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.

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