The House passed the State Operating Budget contained within House Bill 312 on Wednesday night. The result of many weeks of effort at the House Finance Subcommittee level the budget was approved with just minor changes. HB 312 is based upon the current fiscal year's budget, but is $26 million below the FY 00 funding level. It is also more than $109 million below Governor Knowles spending request.

Following are some of the significant highlights by departments that were made to the budget by the House Finance Committee.

Administration

• Added back $200 thousand to fund public radio.
• Approved additional mental health funding for the Commission on Aging.

Community & Economic Development

• Protected the "Made in Alaska" program.
• Restored two Mineral Specialists and a Trade Specialist.
• Restored a Deputy Commissioner dedicated to rural issues.

Education and Early Development

• Restored funding for the Council on the Arts.
• Restored funding for the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

Health & Social Services

• Mitigated impacts to alcohol and drug abuse programs by partnering with the Mental Health Trust
• Restored funds to the Developmental Disability grants.
• Restored funds to the programs for the chronically mentally ill.

Military & Veterans Affairs

• Provided $100 thousand for the educational benefit for members of the Alaska National Guard.

Public Safety

• Restored $335 thousand to the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
• Restored over $600 thousand for road maintenance, directing the administration to open specified roads that are vital to economic development in rural areas of Alaska. This includes enough money to reopen the Kalsin Bay Maintenance Station.
• Adopted intent language directing the Department to use herbicides to clear rights-of-way, saving up to $3 million annually; these savings could be used for road maintenance and improvements.

Although the following amendments failed on the floor, I voted in favor of placing over $19 million back into the budget for K-12 education formula funding, voted to fully restore funding to the public radio budget, voted in favor of adding funds to the Head Start program and voted to add general funds for the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program for the rural areas of our state.

Survey

My year 2000 Constituent Survey is in the mail. In order to come up with ideas for long-term budget planning, the legislature is looking at a combination of actions to help bridge the budget gap. If you haven't received a survey and would like to fill one out, please call my office at 1-800-865-2487, and I will be happy to send you one. You may also fill out the survey online at my website: www.akrepublicans.org (choose "member pages" to find my specific site). Remember my E-mail address is: representative_alan_austerman@legis.state.ak.us.

PFD Applications on the Internet!

If you haven't filed your permanent fund dividend application yet, you can now go to the PFD homepage at: www.revenue.state.ak.us/pfd and file online. The deadline to file is March 31, 2000. If you are experiencing any difficulty with your permanent fund application or don't know if you qualify, you can call the PFD folks at 1-800-733-8813. If you do not get a satisfactory answer, please call my staff at 1-800-865-2487 for assistance. Warning - when your child goes off to college, remind them not to fill out any other state's forms that registers them to vote in that state. They in effect will be giving up Alaskan residency, thus they will be denied their dividend!

Board & Commissions

Would you like to serve on the Barbers and Hairdressers Board? How about the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee or the Pioneers' Homes Advisory Board? There are several openings on a myriad of state boards and commissions available to the public. If you would like to see what seats are vacant, go to Alaska's homepage at www.state.ak.us. From there click "Online Public Notices," then choose "Department," then select "Office of the Governor," then Boards and Commissions. This should provide you with the current vacancy list.

Byrd Scholarship Deadline

The deadline for students to submit an application for the 2000 Robert C. Byrd Scholarship Award Program is April 7th. The federally funded program will select 18 Alaskan students who will receive $1,500 for their first year of study during the 2000-2001 academic year at a university or technical school. For details and application forms see your school counselor or go to the web at www.eed.state.ak.us/forms/Recognition/2000byrdapp.doc.

Visitors

Those visiting the Capitol and my office these past two weeks were Sheila and Bill Roberts, Jeremy Stone, Robyn Cassidy, Jay Stinson, Oliver Holm, Jim Wischer, Bruce Schactler, Jerome Selby, and Don Roberts. Also visiting was former state legislator Dave Choquette.

Happy St. Patty's Day!       Remember-my door is always open.