March 27, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin today signed three bills into law: House Bill 273, House Bill 197 and House Bill 321.

“I applaud the good work of the legislators who worked hard on these bills,” Governor Palin said.

House Bill 273 makes several changes to the education funding formula statutes based on work of the Joint Education Task Force. In particular, the bill will phase in increases to the Base Student Allocation, increases for intensive needs funding, and adjustments to the district cost factors. The bill also recalibrates the amount of pupil transportation grants.

HB 273 is a significant step forward in modernizing the funding statutes to provide state support for Alaska’s schools. The administration strongly believes school districts will ultimately be more successful when given the ability to plan through more predictable and stable state funding.

“This legislation will help achieve a level of predictability for local school districts,” Governor Palin said. “Our focus now shifts from ‘How much are we going to spend on education?’ to ‘How can we be innovative and work to improve the outcome of our education system?’ We now must concentrate on accountability for every dollar spent.”

House Bill 197, sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee, makes technical corrections to existing statutes governing trusts. The trust industry in Alaska provides employment for accountants, attorneys, insurance agencies and bankers, and competes for business with other states that do not impose a personal income tax.

House Bill 321, sponsored by Representative Bill Thomas, extends the salmon product development tax credit. The incentive program provides a credit on investments in equipment used to produce value added salmon products, such as individually wrapped fillets and foil pouch packaging. The credit can be applied against a business’s fisheries tax.

On Wednesday, at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau with a group of Juneau-Douglas High School students watching, Governor Palin signed House Bill 259. HB 259, sponsored by Representative Anna Fairclough, establishes the first week of March as Alaska History Week. Alaska Native leader Ed Thomas and lifelong Alaskan Judy Ripley told the students that understanding our history is key to understanding Alaska.

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