Bethel Mayor Fred Watson has drafted a resolution opposing Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed budget following a town hall meeting last week. During the meeting, representatives of Bethel organizations outlined how funding cuts could reduce or even eliminate their services.
Every Bethel resident would likely first feel the impact through a higher electricity bill. The governor’s proposed reduction to Power Cost Equalization would cost Bethel residents $971,701.
The city government stands to lose $393,287 in state funding under the governor’s budget, which could lead to cutting positions and eliminating services like the library, Teen Center, and public transit. Mayor Watson told the town hall that there “will be no sacred cow.”
“We’re going to look at positions," he said. "We’re going to look to services, because we have to be able to afford the people and the services that we provide.”
ONC Chairman Walter Jim says that under the proposed cuts, the tribe would lose funds for its Elder lunch program.
“And for many of these Elders," Jim explained, "that meal that we bring them once a day, that’s their only meal.”
ONC Executive Director Peter Evon flagged the proposed$249 million to be cut from Medicaid, and the zeroing-out of funds for Head Start.
“I grew up in a village, and I can’t imagine not ever having gone to Head Start," Evon said. "I have five children, and my first two got to go to Head Start, and my third one didn’t because we moved here. There’s a huge gap there when they get to kindergarten.”
ONC has issued a resolution opposing the governor’s budget, and encourages other tribes to do the same. The Association of Village Council Presidents has also passed a resolution opposing the budget.
It’s CEO, Vivian Korthuis, says that AVCP is looking at the impact of each state grant it receives and discussing ways to advocate for state programs like Power Cost Equalization. The organization is particularly concerned about the $3 million proposed to be cut from the Village Public Safety Officer Program. Currently, the region only has eight VPSOs for 48 villages.
“It’s the norm not to have public safety protection in 88 percent of our communities," Korthuis told the town hall. "That’s a crisis already.”
The Lower Kuskowkim School District stands to lose $15 million, or 17 percent of its funding. Gov. Dunleavy has proposed raising Permanent Fund Dividends while slashing state services, which doesn’t sit well with LKSD student Elizabeth Prince.
“We don’t need a bigger PFD, per se, if it’s going to cut the stuff that’s important to us,” she said.
More than half of the Bethel Winter House budget comes from state funds, and if those were eliminated, board member Anny Cochrane says that its doors would likely shut. The closure would push its clients to seek similar services from other local organizations, but those services would also be cut under the governor’s proposed budget.
Rhonda Phillips, with Bethel 4-H, says that the group could see a reduction in youth programs. The UAF Kuskokwim Campus would be hit by the $134 million the governor proposes in state university cuts. KYUK could lose 10 percent of its budget, possibly leading to reduced services and staff.
The public is invited to testify on the state budget and Permanent Fund Dividends this Saturday at the Bethel Cultural Center from 2 to 5 p.m. State Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky and a member of the House Finance Committee will collect comments and deliver brief presentations on Gov. Mike Dunleavy's state budget proposal.
The piece has been updated to clarify the amount Gov. Dunleavy wants to cut from Medicaid expansion.
