Governor Parnell's budget vetoes are due by Friday, July 1, and his goal is to cut about $400 million from the capital budget, decreasing it from $3.2 billion down to $2.8 billion. I predict he will wait until the deadline to release his vetoes because there is still talk of a last-minute deal and special session on coastal zone management. If he releases his vetoes while the legislature is in special session, they could vote to override the vetoes.

Here's an update of all the education-related legislation that passed:

The house passed two bills:
HB 104 – Alaska Performance Scholarships - Passed by a vote of 40 yeas
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20104&session=27

SB 1 – Board of Education & Early Development Annual Report - Passed by a vote of 39 yeas, 1 nay

The Senate Finance chairmen have emphasized several times lately that they anticipate a healthy capital budget this year. Among the items they suggested may be considerd for increased funding are deferred maintenance and DEED items and energy projects in both urban and rural Alaska to decrease the cost of energy and increase dependability.

Governor Parnell signed HB 300, HB 302, and SB 230 into law on Thursday, June 3. He said the capital budget passed by the legislature was significantly larger than his proposed budget. Final education funding and a list of vetoes is contained in the Alaska Education Update, June 3, 2010 edition.