JUNEAU — University of Alaska system president Jim Johnsen says a Senate panel’s recommendations for system funding are a major improvement over what a House subcommittee proposed.
The panel recommended a deeper cut than Gov. Bill Walker proposed but not as far as the House recommended. It also rejected using extra money from an assistance program for rural electricity costs to help with the state’s share.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s Health and Social Services’ subcommittee rejected a House proposal to reduce behavioral health treatment and recovery grants by another $3 million, choosing to fund them at the level Walker requested, which is still a cut from this year. While a House panel proposed closing the Nome youth detention center, the Senate subcommittee would let the department decide which juvenile justice facility to close.
