[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6324980,"mediaKeyId","2335181-aefd7f44b18ab2f30d407f5aa7a51570","parentId",2335181,"title","University of Alaska seeks $5 million for enrollment initiatives, flags FY24 receipt authority shortfall","audioSeconds",3259,"startMs",2434000,"endMs",5693000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2335181-aefd7f44b18ab2f30d407f5aa7a51570&start=2434&end=5693","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2335181-aefd7f44b18ab2f30d407f5aa7a51570/thumbnail_2434000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6324980/Alaska/University-of-Alaska-seeks-5-million-for-enrollment-initiatives-flags-FY24-receipt-authority-shortfall","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6324980-1cd5916a13b1c3f5d88f2938d666bc9b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771174757&Signature=IurQ2WCG64AEy-XDyuCRf4Ca1YfAfoZWORMzWhGS2oK5DjO0dNVc0XUZlrORW1-1v~3ktrPg8IkIpGITVA9B3g4knim3veK~vjjLMGBWn5JOtERLzJ9XqWET-XBqikuSVsxq6JdnzeepN47alw8mLkojhlNOmTBv-HPZVVfV0dTnyKECXOtA1HJbhzpR1oTIf6oeO7OihVcY2xNCs8WhGIhtL1sRolUtQpdDE6kIojHNM48hZE9h4YvrDe2NDnUyClRvN43jl1Iw7tVY4wTfy-wlr498bhNWRN55x20wV5Ks-6MpvLv8yU30~le5Ki69vPMT302CljBQRiNy3y3tkQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-02-18T00:00:00Z","article","University of Alaska President Pat Pitney and budget director Alicia Kruckenberg presented the university’s operating and capital requests to the Senate Finance Committee and detailed an accounting issue from fiscal 2024 that requires legislative attention.

Pitney and budget staff said the board’s top capital priority is a $60,000,000 request to address deferred maintenance and the board has proposed a multi‑year strategy that would fund major maintenance on a consistent annual basis. The university seeks a recurring commitment that would stabilize the maintenance backlog instead of repeatedly topping capital lists with deferred maintenance projects.

Operating priorities and enrollment investments: The Board of Regents proposes $5,000,000 for recruitment, retention and graduation programs intended to increase enrollment and revenue. The university said that amount would support tools and programs including Navigate 360 (student success/early alerts), multi‑model marketing, a common data warehouse, K–12 outreach and pilot recruitment initiatives on each campus. Specific proposed allocations discussed by staff included approximately $500,000 for additional out‑of‑state recruitment at UAA, $600,000 for UAF recruitment capacity (including international recruitment), $190,000 at UAS for targeted out‑of‑state recruitment, and a $125,000 dual‑enrollment quarter coordinator based in Juneau.

Athletics and other operating asks: The university requested $5,000,000 for athletics — $2,500,000 each for UAF and UAA — which the board framed as an enrollment and marketing investment that draws students to campuses. Other operating items noted were compensation and benefits increases (the university cited $5,900,000 UGF for negotiated increases and an overall healthcare cost increase of $14,200,000) and IT/cybersecurity and utilities fixed‑cost increases that the governor’s budget largely funded, the university said.

Research and federal funding exposure: President Pitney said the system manages roughly 1,500 active grants and contracts totaling about $200,000,000 per year and that current federal executive actions are creating disruption and uncertainty but have not caused a major immediate revenue loss; she estimated roughly 5% of that federal portfolio could be at risk depending on federal priorities and agency actions.

FY24 ratification and budget authority shortfall: Budget director Kruckenberg told the committee the university expended more university receipts in FY24 than it had budget authority to spend, though the revenue existed. The drivers included a $5.5 million increase in statutory designated program receipts (corporate and nonprofit grants/contracts), a $6,000,000 accounting change bringing the UA Foundation fund onto the university books, a roughly $2,000,000 activity increase, $11,400,000 in unrestricted operations growth and $6,200,000 used to balance auxiliary deficits at year end. Kruckenberg said the office is monitoring and has submitted corrective plans internally, but the Committee and the university will need to coordinate on whether and how the Legislature will address ratification or supplemental budget adjustments.

Budget truing and receipt authority: Officials said FY25 projections show a shortfall in receipt authority versus projected revenues (they cited a $106,000,000 delta in total receipt authority needs and a $124,000,000 gap in certain categories on their reporting format). The university has submitted requests to reclassify some receipt authority from university receipts to statutory designated program receipts to align authority with where revenue is actually collected and spent.

Questions and follow‑up: Senators asked for programmatic split details for the proposed out‑of‑state and international recruitment dollars and requested additional documentation about the FY24 ratification and the university’s plan to prevent recurrence. The university said it will provide further breakdowns and follow up with legislative offices.

Ending: The university thanked the committee for consideration and asked members to follow up with questions; the committee signaled it will examine the ratification item and the FY26 requests further.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","SENATE FINANCE\t02/18/2025 09:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","University of Alaska President Pat Pitney and budget director Alicia Kruckenberg told the Senate Finance Committee the university seeks $5,000,000 for recruitment, retention and graduation initiatives, repeated the system’s $60,000,000 deferred‑maintenance priority, and disclosed an FY24 ratification issue in which the university expended receipts without corresponding budget authority.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6324985,"State asks for $4 million supplemental in high‑profile child‑welfare lawsuit; outlines other judgments and statehood defense funding",1983,376000,2359000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2335181-aefd7f44b18ab2f30d407f5aa7a51570&start=376&end=2359","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2335181-aefd7f44b18ab2f30d407f5aa7a51570/thumbnail_376000.jpg","/articles/6324985/Alaska/State-asks-for-4-million-supplemental-in-highprofile-childwelfare-lawsuit-outlines-other-judgments-and-statehood-defense-funding","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6324985-50ad607965f6c786883cde5974598459/orig.mp4?Expires=1771174757&Signature=R9f~gGpmNK1z51l8U4ND08xcBT-Iem8hv~F2z2WnCNEtx7-7wlqvjddJ3S1uNhGt15uBCecOP94owe4e0goFBnGJL4S5sr0cP21eQeULrRjkdPOXuapkzGVqVbEHLd4etYyGN9mYE0DwPLI63rVwmei32nVDnEFUiu9QASNaG2yTmaVkdrHadyvqaDDJq78Wroo5XGW-N~kr47AcxGqAryi5XR1fWB2Vh-TcVM~xAy5f06aLhUVb36eMCtQG5Dw4U3FJEyo9Z6poYoPi7i5RELG5olGAsiljbc6WufBujKlmBHLdUIm7dVyzGFUR~TdrygL8LasTx2c1a0WtTJUd8g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Corey Mills, deputy attorney general for the civil division at the Alaska Department of Law, told the Senate Finance Committee the department is seeking a $4,000,000 supplemental appropriation to cover litigation costs in the case commonly referred to as Jeremiah M., or A Better Childhood (ABC), a nationwide nonprofit litigation strategy challenging state child‑welfare systems.

Mills said the lawsuit was filed in May 2022 on behalf of 14 children in custody of the Office of Children’s Services, and the plaintiffs have sought class certification that would potentially cover similarly situated foster children statewide. “The advice we got was don’t settle,” Mills said, summarizing other states’ experiences with long‑term court oversight and consent decrees.

Why it matters: Mills told senators that the plaintiffs seek structural and institutional reform rather than damages for individuals. He warned that settlement agreements in similar lawsuits often result in prolonged court supervision, the need to pay for court monitors, and court‑ordered spending priorities that can persist for years.

Details and budget history: Mills said the department originally sought $4,000,000 to fund the full cost of litigation through final appellate resolution — an amount intended to cover discovery, trial, and potential appeals. He said the Legislature previously provided $1,000,000 to the Department of Family and Community Services that flowed to the Department of Law and that discovery alone has already cost about $2,000,000. Trial previously scheduled for May was moved to August, he added.

Related judgments and settlements: Mills reviewed four items included in the current supplemental for judgments and settlements:
- Sergeant v. Department of Labor and Workforce Development: settlement included $50,000 in attorney’s fees and structural notice changes to the unemployment system.
- SEAC v. Department of Natural Resources: SEAC (identified by Mills as Southeast Alaska conservation interests) prevailed on a public‑notice issue related to a land conveyance to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; attorney’s fees were about $68,000.
- Donkel v. Department of Natural Resources: court ordered disclosure of certain well log information; Rule 82 fees of about $12,000 are included now, though an appeal is pending over whether Donkel is a constitutional litigant and whether full fees apply.
- Lane (constructive termination claim involving an Office of Children’s Services worker): Mills said the department mediated rather than re‑try the damages question that the Alaska Supreme Court remanded, and the settlement amount included interest back to 2020 so the figure in the bill is approximately $2,600,000.

Requests for oversight and data: Committee members asked how to evaluate the department’s performance. Mills said the Department of Law can pull case records from its database but does not have a ready filter by outcome (settlement vs. prevailing party) and will provide what aggregated information it can. The committee asked whether a baseline appropriation exists for judgments and settlements; Mills replied the department has no dedicated baseline in its operating budget and that settlements often get funded either from the agency that was billed for the underlying litigation or, when necessary, through the judgments and settlements appropriation.

Statehood defense funding: Mills summarized the department’s multi‑year statehood defense appropriations and spending. He said the department received a $4,000,000 appropriation in fiscal 2021 (now spent), a $2,000,000 amount that has been spent, and a fiscal‑year‑24–26 appropriation from which $1.7 million had been spent as of the January check, leaving roughly $3,000,000 remaining in that multi‑year bucket. He also noted a temporary increment the Legislature approved last year — reduced from the department’s original $2,000,000 annual request to $500,000 per year — and the department is again requesting the $500,000 this year. Mills said the department is handling about 80 cases involving federal authority or jurisdictional issues, up from about 40, and cautioned that the volume of federal litigation has increased the need for sustained funding.

Tribal relations and litigation: Mills said tribes are “sovereign” and that the department has an AG opinion on tribal sovereignty on its website. He said the department has recently added tribal liaisons in the civil and criminal divisions and is working to resolve boundary and jurisdictional issues more often outside court. He confirmed there is still litigation touching tribal land‑into‑trust matters and whether certain land constitutes Indian country (an issue with downstream implications such as whether tribal gaming rules apply).

Committee follow‑up: Senators requested additional data on civil cases, settlements, and judgments across recent years so the Legislature can better evaluate performance and costs. Mills agreed to provide aggregated information from the department’s case management system and said the office will work with the committee on data details.

Ending: Mills closed by asking for questions after the presentation; senators pressed for follow‑up on data requests, baseline funding, and the department’s plan to limit drawn‑out, costly litigation outcomes.","Deputy Attorney General Corey Mills briefed the Senate Finance Committee on a $4 million supplemental request to cover litigation costs in the Jeremiah M. (A Better Childhood) lawsuit, summarized four current judgments and settlements, and outlined the status and recent spending of multi‑year statehood defense appropriations.","actionData","errors"]

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University of Alaska seeks $5 million for enrollment initiatives, flags FY24 receipt authority shortfall

State asks for $4 million supplemental in high‑profile child‑welfare lawsuit; outlines other judgments and statehood defense funding