While Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to cut $87.5 million of the $175 million one-time education funding the legislature approved attracted significant attention and headlines, it was just one of 46 line-item vetoes totaling $200 million. This is the final installment in a series taking a look at some of the other vetoes beyond the budget line language and figures.
THE VETO
Dunleavy clipped $125,000 for administrative support services with the Department of Health.
WHY IT MATTERS
Alaska’s Department of Health oversees the Division of Public Assistance, which you might have heard has had a lot of problems administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, the federal food assistance benefit. Since fall 2022, Public Assistance has been taking too long to process most applications, which violates federal law. The paperwork backlog left more than 10,000 Alaskan families hungry while waiting for food stamps for months.
While state officials publicly blamed the backlog on a 2021 cyberattack and post-public health emergency paperwork, reporting by KTOO’s Claire Stremple revealed that internal sources pegged the backlog on chaos caused by chronic understaffing and cuts. Federal data also revealed that the state’s payment error rate for administering food stamp benefits was the highest of any in the U.S. during the last fiscal year.
“Our state SNAP agency has clearly been struggling for quite some time to administer the program efficiently,” Food Bank of Alaska’s Cara Durr told the ADN. “So it’s not surprising that our error rate is so high. And it’s just another reason why increased staffing and technology for the Division of Public Assistance is so important.”
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
While the $125,000 budget line might not stand out initially amid $200 million in vetoes, the purpose of the funding was especially critical at the moment. The funds were intended to add a human resource technician in order to “address agency recruitment challenges.” The reason given for the veto was Dunleavy’s boilerplate “preserve general funds for savings and fiscal stability.”
Significant progress has been made after a lawsuit by the Northern Justice Project pushed the state into an agreed timeline and pro-bono assistance from Alaska Legal Services helped applicants through the process. But while thousands of Alaskans are still struggling waiting for their food stamps, it seems the Department of Health could use all the help it can get to right the ship as quickly as possible. Understaffing appears to be a significant cause of the problem and proper staffing will be the only way to avoid more issues in the future.
BOTTOM LINE
Dunleavy’s cut might further slow hungry Alaskan families from receiving the food benefits they need.
