As budget talks continue in Juneau, the Senate Finance Committee has begun taking public testimony on the large cuts proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy. In addition to individual Alaskans, organizations are weighing in, including the Mat-Su Health Foundation. KTNA’s Phillip Manning spoke with chief executive officer Elizabeth Ripley about the foundation’s priorities for state spending.
Governor Mike Dunleavy’s budget proposal has dominated discussion in Juneau and around the state during the legislative session thus far. The proposal makes significant cuts to state funding for healthcare, education, and a variety of other programs. Mat-Su Health Foundation CEO Elizabeth Ripley says she and her team are focusing on demonstrating what the proposed cuts will mean locally.
“We tell the Mat-Su story. We really try to show our local delegation members, the Governor and his staff, and other members of the Legislature…the Mat-Su story…. This is what it looks like. This is why these investments are really critical to the health of our community.”
Instead of addressing the broad range of cuts in the Governor’s budget, Ripley says Mat-Su Health Foundation is focusing on three priority areas. The first area is Medicaid. Former Governor Bill Walker expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income Alaskans, but the current proposal would reduce funding for that coverage.
Elizabeth Ripley says nearly three in ten Mat-Su residents benefit from Medicaid, and that almost half of those are children. She contends that coverage can help people stand on their own, and could actually end up saving healthcare dollars.
“Medicaid gives people access to physical and behavioral health services that serve as a path to self-sufficiency. It also allows people to receive care in the lowest-cost setting as soon as problems present, as opposed to having to visit the emergency department.”
Ripley adds that, while Medicaid coverage is beneficial, that it’s important to consider practical reforms for the system going forward.
“We do think it could be more efficient. We do think it could be more impactful. We do think we could get more value for the dollars that the state is spending on healthcare.”
Healthcare is a growing industry in the Mat-Su, and Elizabeth Ripley says private-sector investment in new facilities is providing additional opportunities for care as well as living-wage jobs.
The second focus area for the Mat-Su Health Foundation is early childhood development. Elizabeth Ripley says that priority comes in part from forums held by the foundation.
“In those forums, Mat-Su residents voted that their number one goal in Mat-Su was that all Mat-Su children are safe and well cared for. Early childhood programs are a key prevention strategy, really, to ensure that happens.”
Those childhood programs include things like Head Start, which funds pre-Kindergarten education. Ripley says proposed cuts would mean sixty students losing Pre-K programs, and more than a dozen lost jobs in the Mat-Su. She adds that studies show that early education opportunities pay significant dividends later in life.
“Third-grade reading rates are higher. Graduation rates are higher. Incarceration rates are lower. The ability to find living-wage jobs is higher.”
The third area of focus for the Mat-Su Health Foundation when it comes to the state budget is homelessness prevention and support funding. Elizabeth Ripley says the proposed cuts would impact emergency shelters, rent and utility assistance, and re-housing programs in the Valley. She says shelter insecurity plays a significant role in health outcomes.
“If people don’t have adequate shelter, we can do all kind of interventions, but they’re not nearly as successful without shelter…. Having a healthy, safe, warm shelter is critical to everything else that happens in your life.”
The budget process is far from over. The House Finance version of the bill has put back some of the funding cut by Governor Dunleavy, and the Senate Finance committee will continue hearing testimony and deliberating on their own version of the budget. The two chambers will then attempt to reconcile their spending priorities before sending them to the Governor.
