OPINION: Voters will reward legislators who stand up for the bipartisan education bill

Recently, the Alaska Legislature did something the public had almost forgotten was possible. They came together on a big, important issue and agreed on a solution that tackled the problem head-on. The Legislature came together and passed a landmark bipartisan education package, Senate Bill 140.

There were many heroes on the path to this outcome. Reps. Bryce Edgmon, C.J. McCormick and Neal Foster had to stand up against their own caucus to force its members to come to the negotiating table. Also, the House Minority, led by Rep. Calvin Schrage, had to stand open to compromise. And, in the end, the signature amendment cementing that compromise was put forward by Republican Rep. Stanley Wright. But the result was anything but partisan.

In the State House, this legislation passed 38 to 2. The Alaska State Senate voted to concur with the House changes 18 to 1. In short, 93% of the Alaska Legislature voted to support this hard-fought consensus. When does that ever happen? At different times, we have both worked on tough issues in the Capitol, and we know that such moments of leadership can be vanishingly rare. Alaska shouldn’t waste it.

These 56 legislators showed true political courage in hammering out regional and partisan differences, to make progress on a critical issue. They realized that supporting education is something that their constituents want and something that school districts desperately need. In addition to the public outcry in support of schools, recent polling shows a supermajority of voters want Alaska’s schools to be better funded. This support spans geography and even political parties. The public spoke, and these legislators answered the call.

So what’s in the bill? First of all, it contains a modest, but desperately needed investment in public education via a $680 increase to the Base Student Allocation. School boards and school districts were asking for an increase of $1,413, which is the amount needed to restore funding to pre-inflation levels of a decade ago. By funding half that amount, both sides compromised.

The bill also includes a state investment in rural broadband that leverages federal funds, improving broadband access and speed across Alaska, especially in rural and remote Alaska. This is critical to education, commerce, and safety for many of our rural communities.

The bill provides $500 to schools for every student in kindergarten through third grade who requires an Individual Reading Intervention Plan through the Alaska Reads Act. It is a simple fact that providing additional support for struggling readers requires resources. Given the Reads Act is one of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s signature legislative achievements, providing resources to make sure it succeeds is in his interest.

Finally, the bill acknowledges Dunleavy’s call for expanded charter, home school and correspondence school access with provisions designed to support parents seeking to start a charter school.

Given the broad, bipartisan agreement on this bill, Alaska families should be celebrating, right?

Unfortunately, they can’t celebrate yet. The governor has threatened this bipartisan achievement with a veto ultimatum. After final passage, the governor indicated that he would veto the bill if the Legislature did not, in just two short weeks, pass several bills containing his priorities — priorities that have already been considered and rejected by legislators.

The governor’s veto threat puts many legislators in a bind, particularly members of his own Republican Party. If they vote to override the governor’s veto, Republican legislators fear retribution. But if they fail to support an override — and fail to uphold a bill prioritized by a supermajority of their constituents — they will pay a high price in November when voters turn on them in droves.

But there is a path forward. These legislators no longer face a closed-party primary election in which the governor’s scorn would doom them. In our nonpartisan top-four primary election system, incumbents are virtually guaranteed a chance to make their case to all voters during the general election. And, given what we know about all voters’ support for public education, these legislators will either be rewarded or punished, depending on whether they have the courage to stand up for our students.

Thousands of Alaskans are watching and hoping — that either the governor recognizes the public’s broad desire for this legislation and allows the bill to become law, or that enough legislators find the courage to support an override, thereby preserving the most important legislation many of them will ever vote for.

Andrew Halcro served as a Republican lawmaker in the Alaska House of Representatives and has served many other roles both in public service and in the private sector. He currently hosts a podcast called “With All Due Respect.”

Scott Kendall served as chief of staff under Gov. Bill Walker. He is currently an attorney in private practice, and has two children attending Anchorage public schools.

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