House panel questions education fund proposal with no guaranteed revenue

The Alaska House Finance Committee questioned Tuesday whether a proposed constitutional education fund offers real change or false hope to voters. Lawmakers examined a measure that creates a fund without guaranteeing any money will go into it.

Senate Joint Resolution 29 would establish a constitutional education fund, but the proposal includes no dedicated revenue stream and no requirement that the legislature deposit money into it. Any future legislature could spend the fund down to zero for education purposes, with no protections against depletion.

"So if we were to put this in front of the voters to vote on this, some would say, oh good, we get guaranteed funding, but that's not really what this does," said Representative Alyse Galvin. "This actually would just open a constitutional door but not walk through it."

The resolution would need approval by two-thirds of both legislative bodies before going to voters. If approved, the fund could receive money from land transfers, appropriations, or investment earnings, but none of those sources are required.

Tim Grussendorf, staff to Senator Lyman Hoffman, told lawmakers the fund would give the legislature a place to put money during good revenue years that could only be used for education. He compared it to the Power Cost Equalization endowment, which started with $20 million and grew over time through legislative deposits and investment returns.

"You just have to start somewhere," Grussendorf said. "And this is the start."

But multiple representatives expressed concern the measure could mislead voters into thinking it guarantees education funding when it only creates an optional fund.

"We have no funding mechanism that's specified, no dedicated funding precedent set up, and then we are looking at potential conflict with existing fiscal structure, and this is an avenue to open the constitutional door but not walk through it," said Representative Bryce Edgmon. "So far I just see false hope."

Representative Frank Tomaszewski pressed on what would prevent future legislatures from depleting the fund.

"Say we started this 10 years ago and now there's $200 million in there, what stops the next legislature from just wiping it out completely for one special project or another?" Tomaszewski asked.

Grussendorf acknowledged nothing would stop the legislature from spending the fund to zero. "They have the ability to appropriate, and that is this body's job to do," he said.

The resolution does not specify whether money from the fund would supplement or replace current education funding through the Base Student Allocation formula. Grussendorf said it could work either way, depending on future legislative decisions.