Today’s episode of The Empty Office Podcast features a speech Senator Tobin gave in late March to a large group of public-school administrators and teachers who flew to Juneau for the Alaska Council of School Administrators 2025 Legislative Fly-In. During her speech, Senator Tobin called on Alaska’s educators to go to the Capitol Building and teach lawmakers about the ongoing funding crisis that is shortchanging the future academic and economic success of Alaska’s children. Senator Tobin’s speech was delivered on March 31st at Centennial Hall in Juneau.

Two days after delivering her speech to the school administrators, the Senate Education Committee, which Senator Tobin chairs, passed out House Bill 69, sponsored by Representative Rebecca Himschoot, a former classroom teacher who also served on the state school board. The original version of Representative Himschoot’s bill contained a straightforward and bold policy that would result in the largest funding increase for public education in Alaska’s history. On April 10, House Bill 69 was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, setting the stage for a historic vote on the floor of the Alaska State Senate on Friday, April 11.

Senator Tobin carried House Bill 69 on the Senate floor. When you hear a legislator is “carrying” a piece of legislation on the floor, it means they will introduce the bill and be the main speaker describing its content and impact. As a result, Senator Tobin was the first Alaska State Senator to speak in support of HB 69 during Friday’s floor session.

After a lot of debate and several passionate speeches, including a barnburner from Senator Bill Wielechowski, the Alaska State Senate passed House Bill 69 by a vote of 11-9. A few hours later, the Alaska House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 21-16. House Bill 69 was transmitted to Governor Dunleavy at 9:05 a.m. on Saturday, April 12. The Governor has until April 30 to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.

The version of House Bill 69 that now sits on the Governor’s desk includes a $1,000 increase to the base amount of funding for each public school student in Alaska. The Base Student Allocation or BSA is the starting point for Alaska’s Foundation Formula, which is the mechanism used to determine the amount of funding school districts will receive from the State of Alaska. If the $1,000 BSA increase in HB 69 becomes law, it will result in a $253 million increase in public education funding in Alaska. Our state’s public schools desperately need those dollars.

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