Sen. Dave Donley State Capitol, Room 508 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-3892 Fax: (907) 465-6595

Sen. Pete Kelly State Capitol, Room 518 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-2327 Fax: (907) 465-5241

Senate Finance Passes Operating Budget
Budget Holds Line on Spending But Restores Most House Cuts

(JUNEAU) - The Senate Finance Committee passed an amended version of the House Operating Budget on Thursday. After weeks of hearings, days of debate and one "mega-amendment," an operating budget that holds General Fund spending to a level below last year, while increasing funding for many critical services, is heading to the Senate floor.

The Operating Budget actually passed through the Senate Finance Committee much quicker than many expected. The reason, a single multi-faceted amendment, or a mega-amendment, which single handedly restored funding to:

• K-12 education received an increase of nearly $11 million, which is roughly an $83 per student increase over last year.
• The University of Alaska saw an $8 million increase over last years budget.
• Department of Public Safety received a $1.7 million increase over last years budget; there will not be any loss of "Blue" or "Brown shirt" troopers this year.
• Medicaid saw a $250 million increase this year and should be fully funded.
• Tobacco control, cessation and enforcement received the largest funding amount ever this year.
• Keep all state parks open and funded, plus a $250,000 increase to take care of back logged maintenance on parks in Kenai, Valdez and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
• It fully restores funding for food safety inspections.
• The Department of Corrections saw a $1 million increase this year, as did the Department of Transportation for extra road maintenance.
• The court system received a $2 million increase this year.
• Juvenile Justice Facilities saw a $928,000 increase this year and is fully funded, including salary increases and the new Ketchikan facility.
• And Foster Care saw $3 million in new funding, with $1.5 million going to the "Balloon Project," and $1.5 million going to fund growth in all foster care programs across the state.

Sen. Dave Donley (R-Anchorage) is the Senate Finance Committee co-chair, who presides over the operating budget and following the vote late Thursday Donley commended the House for their work on this year's budget.

"This year's operating budget was an incredible team effort by the members and staff of both the House and Senate Finance Committees," said Donley. "We in the Senate majority were committed to producing an operating budget, which addressed the crucial services of the state including: education, public safety and public health, while holding General Fund spending to a lower level than last year. This budget lives up to that commitment."

"This is a good budget," said Sen. Pete Kelly, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. "This budget proves that we can fund the needs of Alaska, while holding the line on spending. All it takes is priorities, hard-work and effort."

The FY 2003 Operating Budget now goes to the full Senate for passage.

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