I have been involved with a group of about 12 House of Representative members that have spent the last four weeks putting together a long-term budget plan. On Wednesday of last week we presented this plan to the full majority on the house side. The house members took this concept and studied it over the long Easter weekend. We hope to have a majority caucus some time this week to see if we can get all of the house members to agree to the long-term plan. Basically the concept is to take all of the states savings accounts and place them into an endowment that would spin off enough interest to pay for all of state government. It would include using the interest earnings from the Permanent Fund, establishing a school head tax, using the governors gas tax increase, more cuts to the size of government and capping the Permanent Fund Dividend. If enough legislator's (it would take 30 votes) agree to the plan and we get it passed by the senate, then within three years we would have a stable and sustainable income stream to pay for government into the foreseeable future. Let me know what you think about this plan.

Operating Budget

During the Easter break, the House Finance Committee Co-Chairmen decided to delete the Municipal Assistance and Revenue Sharing line items from a draft of the Operating Budget (HB 50) bill they were preparing. This action was not unexpected, as the topic had been discussed extensively at the caucus level. Earlier in the process, the subcommittee hearing process resulted in recommendations to each of the department's budgets, but certain items were considered "off the table" such as Power Cost Equalization (PCE) and Municipal Assistance and Revenue Sharing. Public hearings on the new draft bill were conducted earlier this week, and the House Finance Committee should conclude its amendment process by April 10th.

Fish & Game Budget

As with most department budgets the Department of Fish and Game's budget took a cut from the general funds category, but federal and other funds resulted in an overall increase of $4.6 million, and 15 additional positions. The subcommittee proposed a decrement of $412,000 from the FY 99 level. This will effect aerial surveys and fishery monitoring programs in Kodiak, Norton Sound and Prince William Sound. This reduction would also likely effect the R/V Resolution and the other department's five large research vessels.

Education Budget

With regard to funding for education for FY 2000, the legislature is supporting full funding of Senate Bill 36 passed last year. We committed the $16 million more as spelled out in SB 36. The subcommittee did recommend cutting $100,000 from the Community Schools component, and asked the department to continue the austerity measures of finding $20,000 of "belt-tightening" in the Administrative Services component.

The legislature has made a commitment to monitoring the progress of the new foundation formula undertaken in SB 36, which changed the instructional unit calculation towards a per pupil base formula. The new formula, which is still not a simple one to understand, uses a common base allocation and adjusts it for school size and other factors. This calculation, as it affects Kodiak, provided a slight state aid increase when based on October 1997's student count. The fall 1998 count showed a relatively small decrease in Kodiak's enrollment, so the state aid portion of funding will be about $13.5 million, based on Kodiak's actual fall count.

Board of Fish Reappointments

Governor Tony Knowles reappointed three members to the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Named to three year terms were incumbent board members Dan Coffey of Anchorage, Grant Miller of Sitka, and Virgil Umphenour of Fairbanks. Needless to say, I am not happy with the governor's reluctance to name a Kodiak resident to this board. Kodiak plays a key role in the fishing industry in this state. Kodiak needs to be present at the table to ensure that the basic fundamentals of sustained yield and good judgement prevail on the side of sound scientific principles. In the near future, the Fisheries Committee will conduct confirmation hearings on all three appointees. Eventually the full legislature will vote on whether to confirm these individuals.

Fisheries Legislation

House Bill 160, introduced by Representative Bill Williams of Ketchikan, would give the Alaska Board of Fisheries authority to set regulations for maximum vessel length that may be used for each salmon seine fishery, changing the current 58 foot limit. Please get a copy from the Kodiak LIO and then call me at 1-800-865-2487 to give me your input. The first hearing in the Fish Committee is scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 12th. Governor Knowles introduced HB 164 and companion bill SB 124, that would allow Alaskans to apply and pay for sport fishing or hunting licenses and related violations, over the Internet. This would alleviate costs to the state for commissions paid to vendors, which is 5% and $1 per item for the sale of hunting and angling licenses and tags.

CFEC Office

My request for a short-term Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) licensing office in Kodiak was answered by CFEC managers announcing they can no longer afford to fund their summer office in Bristol Bay, much less add one in Kodiak. In a letter of apology for last December's mix-up with vessel registration stickers and a promise that it will never happen again, the CFEC office provided a history of funding for their licensing offices. They stated that the 1983 opening of the Kodiak office was funded by a one-time capital appropriation. The office was never able to cover its own operating costs, and in 1988, due to budget cuts, a $10 per-license surcharge was charged at field offices. Since 1990, CFEC has cut its staff down to minimal levels and today their operating budget is below their FY 83 level. The good news is they are looking into setting up a system for applying and paying for licenses and permits via the Internet. Additionally, they are streamlining their database system and turn-around time, and are responsive to season opening deadlines.

Steller Sea Lions

Because of the December 1998 and this January's North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (NPFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) adoption of emergency measures to protect Steller sea lions, I asked the House Special Committee on Fisheries to conduct a hearing on the Steller sea lion situation. I have been very concerned that the NMFS is not making sound scientific based decisions. On March 29th the following people made presentations to the Fisheries Committee. Tim Ragen from NMFS, Andrew Trites from the Marine Mammal Research Consortium (University of British Columbia), Paul McGregor from the At-Sea Processors Association and Chris Blackburn from the Alaska Groundfish Databank. The information presented was very well received by the committee members. I feel that the committee now has a better understanding of the issues surrounding the Steller sea lion.

District Web Links

Check out my home page at www.akrepublicans.org. I have added links to various sites of interest including the Kodiak College, Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation and the Federal Web Locator.

Visitors

Those Kodiak neighbors stopping by my office to confer were Fran March, Judy Olsen, Chris Lenihan and Steve Rounsaville. Remember - my door is always open!