JUNEAU -- The Alaska House of Representatives tried again Thursday to block state reimbursement for Anchorage school bonds that are now going before voters, but failed to reach the super majority necessary to make the bill retroactive.
The state currently pays as much as 70 percent of bonds issued for school construction and maintenance, but some legislators say they don't want to add to those costs by allowing new projects to also get the reimbursement.
Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, said Anchorage's proposed $59 million bond would mean an additional cost to the state of $2 million a year for the 20-year life of the bond.
"We cannot afford to add to the amount of money we pay out annually on school bonds," Thompson said.
Rep. Charisse Millett, the House majority leader, said that Anchorage has plenty of money. If the projects in the bond were important enough, they could be funded from the district's annual surpluses, which she asserted were being saved instead of spent.
"If they wanted to go out and fix buildings, they always could," Millett said.
The bill itself passed easily on Wednesday 23-15, and bills typically take effect 90 days after passage and signature by the governor. But this bill included a retroactivity clause (requiring a separate vote) calling for it to take effect Jan. 1 of this year, intended to include the Anchorage election in those bonds denied reimbursement.
Retroactive clauses require a two-thirds margin of approval, meaning the House would need 27 votes. Retroactivity passed easily in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The first vote on the bill in the House Wednesday mustered only 24 votes in favor of making it retroactive, but two members of the Republican-led majority were absent, and Millett asked for reconsideration, suggesting her hope that votes might change.
The re-vote Thursday also came out with only 24 votes in favor. Rep. Ben Nageak, D-Barrow, a member of the majority, was excused Wednesday but was back Thursday and able to vote. He voted against the retroactivity clause.
Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, opposed making the bill retroactive since Anchorage's bond election is already underway. She said that was "pulling the rug out from under that school district."
Anchorage doesn't have surpluses, but has reserves required by prudent budgeting, she said.
Reimbursement of bonds for Anchorage and other districts that have issued bonds for construction and maintenance have always been funded in the past, Thompson said, but such appropriations are always contingent upon being approved by the Legislature. The Alaska Constitution normally bars one Legislature from binding appropriations of a future Legislature, and even this year the Legislature could refuse to pay for reimbursements in its budget bills.