With special sessions concluded, I have been busy visiting communities, settling in to new temporary office space, and catching up with constituents. I have also hired Crystal Koeneman, who will be working in my Juneau office this interim with Bianca. Please say hello to her when you call my office.
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On Wednesday, the House sent a letter to the Senate inviting them to join us in a joint session on Friday to review the Governor’s budget vetoes – Friday being the last day for the Legislature to vote to override any of the Governor’s decisions. The Senate declined the invitation, effectively allowing the vetoes to stand. On Friday, after a week of few public meetings or hearings, the House adjourned, sine die, thus ending the 5th special session.
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Juneau – Today, the Alaska House of Representatives adjourned the Fifth Special Session of the 29th Alaska Legislature. Lawmakers were unable to reach consensus on the components of the fiscal plan proposed by Alaska Governor Bill Walker. Despite the setback, the members of the Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition (AIDC) remain committed to finding acceptable solutions to close the budget gap that can garner approval from the Governor, the Alaska Legislature, and the people of Alaska.
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We all know Alaska is in a bind. Oil prices are currently stabilized, but at a relatively low level, which means that our state income from oil is now in the neighborhood of $705 million unrestricted general funds (UGF). Add in $500 million from non-petroleum revenue and we have about $1.2 billion UGF. While that sounds like a lot of money, we are looking at a General Fund budget of around $4.5 billion. This means that we have a hole of more than a $3 billion in our state budget.
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Dear Neighbors,
I’ll be visiting Gustavus and Skagway next week, and I hope to see you around town or at an event. See dates and times below.