Juneau – Earlier today, the leadership of the Alaska Senate Majority reversed course and called for action during the Second Special Session on legislation to fix Alaska’s flawed system of subsidizing the oil and gas industry on the North Slope through overly-generous tax credits. The Alaska House Majority Coalition welcomes a renewed focus on this important issue.
Just after I wrote last week’s enews, late last Thursday evening, with just a week before the government would have shutdown, the legislature reached a compromise on the operating budget. While this relieves the immediate pressure of a looming shutdown, measures to enact a fiscal plan were not passed so we have not completed our work for this year.
In a major step forward, the Legislature has passed a compromise operating budget with a bipartisan vote of 31 to 8 in the Alaska House. This budget is not ideal, but it is necessary to prevent a government shutdown on July 1 which would have brought a halt to Alaskans’ ability to provide for their families at the most crucial time of year for many economic activities.
On Thursday evening, the legislature passed House Bill 57, the FY18 operating budget. Passing this budget compromise means the state will continue to provide government services when the state’s fiscal year begins on July 1. Although passing the operating budget is a step in the right direction, the legislature has not adopted a responsible action plan to address Alaska’s financial challenges. There is more work to be done for a long-term solution.
I am excited to finally be returning to my family in Fairbanks, hopefully to enjoy the remainder of the summer at home; but of course I don’t know when I might have to go back to Juneau. I hope you have been taking advantage of these long summer days to spend time with your friends and family.
Greetings from Juneau. Late Thursday evening, the legislature was able to pass an operating budget to avoid a government shutdown. The budget includes several compromises between the House and Senate versions; the final version cuts $128.7 million in unrestricted general fund spending from last year’s budget. The House held strong on the commitment to fully fund K-12 education and pupil transportation.
After five month of challenging work, the House and Senate passed the Operating budget late last night. This budget is not one that I am celebrating—it’s an austerity budget—but it ensures that we avert a possible government shut down and protects K-12 and pre-K education.
Last night, both the House and the Senate agreed on a package of funding compromises for the Operating Budget following weeks of negotiations. The primary catalyst for the success of our recent talks was lawmakers’ shared determination to avoid the government shutdown That would have occurred if we had failed to pass the budget by July 1st.
