Губернатор Аляски Майк Дунлеви отклонил законопроект о включении преподавателя в совет попечителей университета

JUNEAU — Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have added a University of Alaska faculty member to the institution’s Board of Regents. Sponsored by Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Ashley Carrick, House Bill 10 passed in May on an 18-2 vote in the Senate and a 26-14 vote in the House of Representatives, with support from lawmakers in both the bipartisan majority and Republican minority caucuses. The University of Alaska Board of Regents is currently made up of 11 members, including one university student, and makes policy and management decisions for the university system. Members of the board are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature for eight-year terms, with the exception of the student appointee. Proponents of the bill argued that adding a seat for a faculty member would bring institutional knowledge and experience from working within the university system that would better inform decision-making. Dunleavy’s veto letter said that requiring a University of Alaska employee to serve on the Board of Regents creates “inherent conflicts between the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities and the faculty member’s interests as an employee,” and that the expansion from 11 to 12 members creates more opportunity for tie votes and gridlock. “Faculty input is important and can be provided through existing governance processes without compromising the independence and effective operation of the Board of Regents,” the letter said. Carrick said that she believes the recusal system already in place for student board members would address any potential conflicts of interest for a faculty member. She also pushed back on Dunleavy’s assertion that this change would create gridlock due to tie votes because language in the bill would have also required votes from seven members of the board to pass any measure. Carrick said she believed Dunleavy’s concerns could have been resolved had he agreed to discuss the bill. “We’ve requested over a dozen meetings over my time in office the last four years with Gov. Dunleavy or his staff, we’ve been denied all but one of those requests in all of that time,” Carrick said. “And I think if the governor wanted to have a more informed perspective on this or other legislation, he would simply just have to talk to legislators about their bills.” Dunleavy, who is termed out from seeking reelection, vetoed another University of Alaska policy bill sponsored by Carrick in August. The bill would have required the University of Alaska to notify students when imposing new mandatory fees. It passed the Legislature with unanimous support in the Senate and approval from 33 out of 40 House members. Dunleavy vetoed the bill, citing his concern that it would have placed “unnecessary statutory requirements on the governance and day-to-day administration of the University of Alaska.” Carrick said she plans to bring up both pieces of university system legislation next year under a new governor. Dunleavy’s rejection of Carrick’s bill brought the governor’s veto total for the current two-year legislative cycle to 32. A series of vetoes from Dunleavy last month broke the previous record for most vetoes during a two-year legislative session previously set by Gov. Tony Knowles during the 1995-96 cycle, when he vetoed 25 bills.