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Locals testify on state budget

Locals ask state budget committee to replace funding for Imagination Library and public broadcasting.

Members of the public from several areas of the state provided testimony to members of the House Finance Committee Wednesday on the state’s operating budget.

In Dillingham, Robyn Chaney asked the finance committee to restore some funding to the Best Beginnings program, which was slated for a 100 percent cut.  Chaney chairs the Dillingham Imagination Library, which receives about half of its $6000 in funding through Best Beginnings.

"All of the money that we receive as grants or contributions goes to primarily books. A  very small portion might go to materials if we do an event but we try to rely on donations for that," said Chaney. "So all of the people you've heard testify, all the people in the rural Imagination Libraries are volunteers. So it would have a huge impact on us."

Imagination Libraries across the state work to improve childhood literacy. In Dillingham, the library has 205 children in several communities enrolled. They receive a new book each month from birth to age five delivered to their post office box.

"And so if half our funding was cut, we would either have to stop supporting our rural sites, we would have to limit our enrollment, I don't know how we would do that or our program would die," said Chaney.

Another program the finance committee heard testimony on was public broadcasting. Residents of rural areas of the state spoke to the importance of public tv and radio stations. A disclosure here: KDLG Public Radio received about 132-thousand dollars in state funding for fiscal year 2015, which was just over 30 percent of this station’s overall budget.  Among those offering testimony today was Suzie Jenkins-Brito of Dillingham:

"The services provided by KDLG are imperative to our Bristol Bay region, bring job opportunites and other summer internships," said Chaney. "I don't know what we would do without KDLG to bring us up to date news. A proposed budget cut of 59 percent is disproportionate and excessive. And I ask that you revisit this to a more realistic level of roughly ten percent."

Others spoke Wednesday in support of keeping funding for Alaska Legal Services, broadband internet support for rural schools, and other education programs.