Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget vetoes deleted millions of dollars proposed by the Legislature to bolster child care and early intervention services for children with disabilities or developmental delays.

Dunleavy last month vetoed a proposed $1.86 million in additional funding for child care grant programs and place-based and home-based child care centers, citing declining state revenues. The budget retains $5.87 million for those programs for next year.

For early education and infant learning, the Legislature proposed a significant boost — $5.7 million more — for the state’s 17 programs that provide intervention services for families with children from infancy to 3 years old experiencing disabilities or developmental delays. Dunleavy rejected the increase, leaving $10 million for the statewide programs.

“The budgeting process requires the governor to consider all line items in view of the state’s fiscal situation,” said Grant Robinson, a deputy press secretary for the governor in an email on July 7. “Given the state’s revenue outlook, the governor made the difficult yet fiscally responsible decision to veto increasing and expanding infant learning programs.”

The governor vetoed more than $127 million from the Legislature’s proposed budget, including $50 million for public schools. In his veto message, Dunleavy cited lower state revenues due to falling oil prices.

“Basically, we don’t have enough money to pay for all of our obligations. So as a result of that, you’re going to see some reductions in this year’s budget. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s certainly not a fun thing to do, but it’s necessary,” he said.

Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel, who also serves as the Senate majority leader, agreed that the state is facing fiscal challenges, but said child care and early education programs should be prioritized, as the Legislature had proposed.

“We had a balanced budget. It is true, it was very difficult to arrive at that balanced budget,” she said in a phone interview. “We searched all the couch cushions for one-time funding to fund this balanced budget, but we achieved it. The governor’s vetoes of these two critical services are just going to mean future costs, because these services were not provided for kids in their earliest development stages. So I was very disappointed.”

An estimated 1,800 Alaska families are currently served each year by the state’s infant learning programs, funded by the state and federal Medicaid, at no cost to families. Children and families work with developmental specialists, and can receive speech, physical and occupational therapies. In addition, parents receive training and education on child development.

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