Wrangell positions survive budget veto

Legislative efforts to restore an Office of Children’s Services caseworker in Wrangell and fund a commercial fisheries staffer in town survived the governor’s budget vetoes.

Wrangell lost its Department of Fish and Game position last year due to the governor’s budget cuts, and has been without a children’s services caseworker for several years. The borough and school district both had spoken in support of restoring the caseworker job in town, with the borough offering to provide free rent and help with the salary to entice state funding.

Though the two Wrangell positions survived Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s vetoes for the fiscal year that started July 1, multiple other budget items fell victim to his quest to reduce state spending.

Dunleavy vetoed $215 million from the budget, about 4% of the $4.6 billion spending in unrestricted general fund dollars on public services and construction projects.

He reduced the Legislature’s spending plans for the state ferry system, legal aid for low-income Alaskans, children in foster care, public health nurses, retention bonuses and tuition reimbursement to help keep more social workers on the job, tourism promotion, and funding for school and university building maintenance.

He also reduced funding for salmon hatcheries in Petersburg and Juneau, and eliminated state funding for public broadcasting stations.

“Overall, there weren’t large cuts to existing programs,” Dunleavy said July 1, explaining his veto decisions. His office further explained that no current state employees would lose their jobs because of the vetoes.

Dunleavy cut $650,000 from the sport fisheries division budget for the Crystal Lake hatchery in Petersburg and the Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC) hatchery in Juneau. Crystal Lake is run by the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, under a contract with the state. The DIPAC facility is privately owned and operated.

“I know the $500,000 to Crystal Lake is the death blow as far as king salmon go,” said Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz. “It’s a big blow to the trollers and to the sport fishermen.”

More than 90% of Crystal Lake’s current production is devoted to king salmon.

In its budget request to the Legislature, the Department of Fish and Game acknowledged that a $500,000 funding shortfall had the potential “to eliminate the entire regional enhancement program” for king salmon in Southeast Alaska. The legislative appropriation would have filled that gap.

“We want to keep the budget tight, we want to keep a downward pressure on the budget,” Dunleavy said July 1.

“There was a number of new items, new programs, new positions that were offered up in the budget by the Legislature. Many of these new programs, additional programs, new programs and new positions, we have vetoed,” the governor said.

In a prepared statement accompanying his vetoes, the governor pointed to the almost $4 billion from several federal pandemic relief programs in 2020 and 2021 directed to Alaska school districts, municipalities, tribal governments and organizations, nonprofits and the university.

“Thanks to the passage of federal legislation,” the governor said, “new federal money” is available to the programs, some of which are affected by his vetoes.

The governor cut $3 million from a $10 million appropriation of federal pandemic aid that lawmakers had designated for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

He vetoed $10 million for the Alaska Travel Industry Association, which manages the Travel Alaska statewide marketing program. The cut removes all of the association’s state funding allocation, according to a spokesman.

“Without a funding allocation for statewide destination marketing of Alaska, the momentum that’s been created will be cut off and there will be no funding to market Alaska to potential travelers in 2022 and beyond,” CEO Sarah Leonard said in a statement July 2. “Alaska competes with other domestic destinations to attract visitors who have an ever-increasing pent-up demand for travel.”

In announcing his vetoes, the governor pointed to the federal pandemic relief ad directly earmarked for business in the state.

The governor cut almost two-thirds of state funding for the Alaska Legal Services Corp., which provides free assistance to low-income Alaskans, including domestic violence victims, the elderly and veterans, who need help in civil disputes.

The cuts reduced state funding for the legal aid nonprofit from $710,000 to about $310,000.

He also cut a $3.4 million legislative appropriation for a state program that works with tribes on child custody issues; $2.7 million for public radio and TV stations; $29 million for major maintenance projects at schools across the state; $12.5 million in upgrades to the Alaska Vocational Technical Center, a job training school in Seward; $11 million for energy-efficiency upgrades at university buildings; and a $2.5 million boost in state funding for pre-kindergarten grants.

Lawmakers will return to work in August. It requires a three-quarters majority of the Legislature to override a veto.

 

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