The Alaska House of Representatives passed an operating budget Thursday for fiscal year 2020. While the budget reduces state spending by about $200 million, the cuts are much smaller than what Governor Mike Dunleavy proposed back in February.

The house’s budget would reduce the Haines Borough’s financial burden when compared to the governor’s budget.

At a town hall meeting in March, Borough Manager Debra Schnabel explained that the budget cuts proposed by the governor would reduce state funding for the borough by about $2.5 million.

Some of this loss can be attributed to the governor’s proposal to eliminate municipal funding from the state’s raw fish tax and merge the community assistance fund into the state’s general fund.

However, the most significant cuts for the Haines Borough are related to education. The governor has proposed to reduce the state’s base student allocation, eliminate grants for early childhood education and end the school bond debt reimbursement program.

The Haines Borough has relied on the debt reimbursement program to pay off the construction of the Haines School. If it is eliminated the borough manager has proposed to increase property taxes to offset the cost.

The House Operating budget passed yesterday would protect much of the Haines Borough’s funding from the state. The base student allocation, early childhood education grants and community assistance program would receive full funding. In addition, municipalities where raw fish tax is collected would continue to receive a portion of that revenue.

However, there are substantial cuts. Although much smaller than Governor Dunleavy’s proposed 75 percent reduction, the Alaska Marine Highway system would still lose 10 million dollars under the house’s operating budget. Department of Health and Social Services would be cut by $73 million.

In addition, the school bond debt reimbursement program would lose $50 million, or about half of its funding. The future of the program remains uncertain. Multiple bills in the House and Senate aim to eliminate it.

The House’s operating budget will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.