Dunleavy shutdown avoided, but state leaves thousands of students without scholarship money

The vote Monday to keep the state government from shutting down shows that at least a few of the House Republicans realized that the Dunleavy shutdown would be bad for them and the state.

The 28-10 vote to prevent the shutdown came after legislators approved a letter in which everyone agrees that a fiscal plan needs to be worked out, but with no promises. The 10 who voted for the Dunleavy shutdown are leading members of the clueless caucus.

A lot remains unresolved, including the fate of a scholarship program that thousands of young Alaskans need to attend school in the fall and the Power Cost Equalization program that tens of thousands of rural Alaskans depend on to hold down electric bills.

Rather than says these programs are stalled, the state is trying to put a positive spin on the mess created by Dunleavy and his Republican allies.

“State of Alaska funding for APS, AEG, and the WWAMI program for the 2021-22 academic year is in the process of being resolved. Although award funding is not yet finalized, funding is expected, and students are encouraged to submit the FAFSA (studentaid.gov), apply for scholarships, and work with campus advisors in preparation for the Fall 2021 semester. Details regarding award funding will be available by the end of June. Sign-up here to directly receive notifications,” the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education claims.

Lawmakers agreed to create a working group that will solve the state’s fiscal problems in the next month, a goal that seems both impossible and impractical. This group will create a “comprehensive fiscal plan.”

In a letter that seems to be more about saving face than anything else, lawmakers said the special session that begins Aug. 2 would include debate on fiscal solutions agreed to by the forthcoming working group.

“We are committed to implementing a fiscal solution and a solution to the PFD; however the fiscal policies pursued at the upcoming special session should be those recommended by the working group,” the letter says. “The House should not endorse particular policies prior to the recommendations of the working group.”

The ideas are to include “but not be limited to, a spending cap, new revenues and spending reductions.”

A spending cap is a method of creating political cover that is popular as long as it does not involve specific spending cuts. New revenues and spending reductions are always possible, but the Legislature has shown no clear appetite for either.

The Legislature is handicapped by the failure of Gov. Mike Dunleavy to propose any fiscal plan. Without leadership from the governor, there is no chance that the August special session will live up to the lofty dreams described in this letter.

That will make it harder to avoid another senseless standoff with the clueless caucus on the size of the dividend, the future of the rural PCE subsidies, and force thousands of Alaska students to give serious thought to leaving Alaska this fall.