This week Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he will approve funding for the Senior Benefits Program, early education services including Head Start, and will approve a smaller reduction to university than he sought: a $70 million cut to the University of Alaska over three years.

“I suspect that indicates that the outrage of Alaskans in unprecedented numbers can in fact change his mind,” said state Sen. Jesse Kiehl on Monday, after finding out that the governor had restored senior benefits.

On June 28, the governor vetoed more than $400 million in state funds. He eliminated senior benefits that provide monthly supplemental income for more than 11,000 low-income Alaskans including 87 Haines residents. He defunded Head Start, and cut almost $1.7 million in early education grants, which would have affected at least 20 low-income preschoolers in Haines. He vetoed $130 million from the University of Alaska system in one year.

“We got more and more, I think, fantastic feedback from seniors, from their families,” Dunleavy said Monday at the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center. “That feedback really resonated, not just with myself, but a lot of our legislators.”

“It tells me that when the boss speaks, the boss in this case is Alaskans, (the governor) will in fact listen at some point. That’s important. It’s also a first,” Kiehl said.

The governor’s restorations were made as a statewide “Recall Dunleavy” campaign has gathered almost 20,000 signatures. Local volunteers say they have gathered 318 signatures from Haines.

When Upper Lynn Canal legislators Sen. Kiehl and Rep. Sara Hannan visited Haines this week, they warned that Haines should expect more budget cuts.

“All we talked about this session were cuts and crime,” Representative Hannan said.

“You should expect, come January when the legislature convenes, we will have a fight about school year funding. The governor’s proposal in February was to cut kindergarten through 12th grade by 23 percent. He has not expressed any interest in changing that,” Kiehl said.

The legislators said that cuts to the ferry system are already causing economic harm to Southeast. They said non-profits that provide essential services to Alaskans are teetering.

“I think it’s important for Alaskans to talk not just about cuts, but about revenue,” said Hannan. “You can cut and cut and cut, but what are people willing to pay to have a functional state government?”

Hannan said she supported generating revenues through a statewide income tax, rather than a sales tax. Currently, Alaska has no income or sales tax, though municipalities in the state have enacted local sales taxes. The boroughwide sales tax in Haines is 5.5 percent. Alaska is one of only seven states in the nation without an income tax.

“It is time to look at revenues and that’s never going to be a fun discussion,” Kiehl said. “We need to look broadly. If we don’t, we’ll find ourselves, in three years, in a dire position with an economy that is reeling, and even communities as well positioned as Haines will feel pain.”

The governor has until Aug. 30 to accept or veto House Bill 2001, which restored roughly 80 percent of his $400 million in vetoes. He says he will continue to make decisions on the bill throughout the week.

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