Despite a looming shortage of skilled workers in several Alaska industries, Alaska legislators deferred legislation that would boost vocational training and education as they adjourned the 2007 regular session May 16.
The bills are in advanced stages of consideration by the Legislature, however, and new efforts to get them passed will be made next year.
A bill sponsored by Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, would make a slight increase in state unemployment insurance premiums paid by workers to finance a 50 percent increase in the state technical vocational education programs (TVEP).
Senate Bill 124 would also add training centers in Fairbanks, Nome and Delta to a list of training facilities around the state already receiving funds from the unemployment insurance payments.
Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, would allow private contributions that support high school or post-secondary vocational centers to be counted as credits against several state taxes paid by business and industry.
State law now allows tax credits for contributions to the University of Alaska or other higher education institutions. House Bill 61 would expand the list of educational institutions eligible for the tax credits to high schools and post-high school vocational programs.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development would certify the high school or post-high school vocational program as eligible for the tax credit under HB 61.
Another related bill, also sponsored by Neuman, is HB 2, which establishes a vocational education account within the state school program administered by the state Department of Education.
Having a separate account to hold funds designated for vocational education, whether state general fund appropriations or private charitable contributions, will allow money for vocational education to be kept separate from funds for general education.
Neuman argues that vocational education in many school districts, particularly in rural areas, has been pushed aside because educators have had to focus on academic subjects. He cited an example of a high school in McGrath with new, up-to-date shop facilities, but no money for a vocational teacher.
With new funds designated for vocational training, and particularly more private contributions, schools will be able to resurrect basic shop classes and different types of career education programs, he said.
“Alaska is facing a critical shortage of qualified workers in many areas of our economy,” Neuman said. “We have heard that message from industry, unions and academia. Vocational education is the cornerstone in building a prepared work force.”
Slight bump in taxes would fund training programs
Olson's Senate bill would increase funding for the state TVEP by 50 percent, or $3 million a year, by increasing the unemployment insurance contribution for training from 0.01 percent of the tax paid to 0.15 percent. The bill would include three new training providers in the funding, the Alaska Works Partnership Inc., a union-affiliated nonprofit that coordinates training in many areas of the state; the Northwest Arctic Career and Technical Center in Nome; and the Delta Career Advancement Center in Delta.
Unemployment insurance tax funds now help finance vocational training at the University of Alaska, Galena Vocational Training Center, Kotzebue Technical Center, Southwest Alaska Vocational and Education Center, and Yuut Elitnaurviat Inc. People's Learning Center.
Alaska Works Partnership would coordinate its programs with a new pipeline training center planned to be built in Fairbanks.
Olson argued for bringing the union-affiliated Alaska Works Partnership under the TVEP program to link several programs Alaska Works now manages in rural Alaska with increased pipeline training in Fairbanks.
“A key component in any effort to train Alaskans for gas line construction jobs, or any public construction jobs for that matter, are the state's union apprenticeship programs,” Olson said in his sponsor statement for SB 124.
“Alaska Works Partnership has put together a program that offers the training expertise for all the trades operating under one umbrella organization,” Olson said.
He credited Alaska Works for reaching out to work in rural Alaska through cooperative agreements with local organizations. “These efforts have proven to be very effective in providing skilled workers on rural construction projects from residents of a village or a region,” Olson said.
Tim Bradner can be reached at
tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com.
