House Bill 183, which would expand voluntary prekindergarten funding by moving districts from 0.5 to 1.0 average daily membership (ADM), was moved out of the House Education Committee on May 2 with an attached fiscal note and committee recommendations.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Story, told the committee the measure is intended to increase access to quality pre-K across Alaska and align with the goals of the Alaska Reads Act by supporting early literacy and reducing later remediation and special-education costs.

Supporters said the bill would make funding available to more districts by increasing that per‑student funding level, and they noted regulatory and administrative barriers remain that affect how many programs qualify. Director Heather Heineken of the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) told the committee the fiscal estimate is uncertain because DEED must forecast how many additional districts will qualify for early education program grants under current information.

Representative Story said, “This bill moves the current funding from a half a FTE for our pre-K programs to a full FTE, which will really help our districts be able to offer quality pre-K.” She framed the change as part of a strategy to improve third-grade reading outcomes by investing earlier in children’s learning.

DEED’s Heather Heineken provided the committee detail on the fiscal note and the base student allocation (BSA) assumptions. She said the current BSA used in the fiscal estimate was $5,960 and that a proposed BSA increase of $700 (to $6,660) was used in an updated calculation. Heineken described the fiscal-note uncertainty this way: “As we move forward, adding programs into the qualifying list, we don’t have exact numbers. . . . It’s kind of a moving target for us.”

Mike Mason, staff to Senator Lukey Tobin, summarized legislative context: a prior change in last year’s House Bill 148 removed the requirement that some programs meet full Head Start standards; DEED regulations to reflect that change are expected in June, and many observers expect more districts to qualify once the regulations are issued. “The change that is before you today . . . simply moves that 0.5 ADM to the full ADM,” Mason said, calling the bill a measure that could “turbocharge pre‑K” if regulatory and participation factors align.

Committee members pressed DEED on fiscal-year projections and the uneven pattern in the fiscal note that showed a larger initial year cost followed by lower annual amounts. Heineken explained the first-year increase includes both the BSA change and an anticipated initial “bolus” of districts coming online; subsequent years were projected with slower growth, but DEED cautioned that larger districts (she named Fairbanks and Matsu as examples) could substantially increase costs if they apply and are approved.

Action: Representative Deibert moved HB 183, version A, from the House Education Committee with the attached fiscal note and recommendations; there were no objections and the committee advanced the bill with the attached fiscal note and individual recommendations. The committee record does not show a roll-call vote; the motion carried by unanimous consent. (Motion text read on the record; no amendment was adopted at the committee hearing.)

Discussion versus decision: the committee’s vote to move the bill was a formal action. Substantive discussion about regulatory changes (House Bill 148), how DEED implements the Alaska Reads Act, and fiscal‑note uncertainty were discussion elements that committee members and DEED staff acknowledged would affect implementation and cost.

The bill now proceeds from committee with the attached fiscal note and recommendations; DEED and sponsors identified outstanding regulatory and participation questions as the primary uncertainties affecting the program’s ultimate cost and reach.