Senate Rejects Operating Budget Amendments
Attempts fail to increase university funding, senior assistance
Juneau - The Senate defeated amendments offered by the Senate Minority today to enhance funding for vulnerable and disabled seniors, increase funding for the University of Alaska and place parameters on the use of State money for abortions.
Senate Minority Leader Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, offered two amendments to use excess money from the legislature’s budget to increase funding for Senior and Disabilities Services. One was for low income seniors who are at significant risk of abuse or exploitation and have exhausted the use of alternative financial assistance, the other was to increase grants for elderly nutrition, transportation and assistance.
“These amendments would have added a fairly small amount of money into programs that already exist to drive our limited cash resources down to seniors that can demonstrate the highest needs,” Therriault said. “I would rather see us direct dollars to the most needy through existing programs than to create new ones. Too often the Legislature wants to build new buildings instead of maintaining existing ones, or start new programs rather than address needs through existing avenues.”
Sen. Gary Wilken, R-Fairbanks, sponsored an amendment to increase the University of Alaska general fund appropriation by $4,900,200. The amendment would have contributed $3.6 million toward the university’s fixed costs such as fuel, insurance and contract increases; and $1.3 million for engineering and healthcare education programs in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks.
“I would have hoped the Senate Majority Coalition would see the wisdom of using university savings to fund university fixed costs and priority expansions. I’m disappointed they didn’t,” Wilken said.
Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, tried to restore language that would prohibit the use of public funds for abortions that are not a mandatory service required under Title XIX of the Social Security Act and for optional services offered by the state under the state plan for medical assistance approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“This amendment would put conditional language back in the budget to follow state and federal law, and ensure that public funds would not be used to pay for the destruction of perfectly viable children whose presence is no threat to the life or health of their mother. The only sin of these children is that their presence is inconvenient and unwanted,” Dyson said.
The amendments all failed, with all members of the majority coalition voting no.
