ANCHORAGE – Today, Governor Walker announced his intention to veto the portions of House Bill 72 that deal with fiscal year 2016. This is due to the fact that the House and Senate Majorities passed a largely unfunded budget, which could result in a shutdown of state government beginning in July.
Read More →The House Independent Democratic Coalition and the Senate Democrats are holding public hearings across Alaska in response to the disappointing lack of progress and opportunity for public involvement in the special session. The public hearings will focus on listening to the Alaska public on the special session issues of the state budget, Medicaid expansion, and Erin’s Law.
Read More →JUNEAU – The House Democratic Independent Coalition and the Senate Democrats will be holding a press availability at 1pm, TODAY, at the Anchorage LIO to discuss the disappointing lack of progress in the special session and to announce a plan of action for public hearings.
Read More →
Juneau legislators announced the capital city has space set aside for use as legislative chambers and committee rooms throughout the special session. As work begins on the seismic upgrades to the Capitol itself, the city has space dedicated for chambers and committee rooms for the legislature through at least the end of May.
Read More →Dear Neighbors,
Just a quick update this afternoon. The House Finance committee is meeting in Anchorage to discuss the budget. Here’s the schedule
Read More →JUNEAU – The Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition concurs with Governor Bill Walker in his call for lawmakers to continue working towards a fully funded budget before taking a break from the special session in Juneau. On Monday, without support from the 13 members of the Coalition, the House and Senate Majorities approved a FY 2016 budget that includes a five percent cut to public education and spending over $3 billion more than available revenue. This flawed budget could result in the elimination of vital state services as soon as August.
Read More →Yesterday, the Legislature adjourned, which should have been cause for relief (or celebration), but wasn’t. Here’s why: the Legislature passed a budget that is not fully funded – which means the state would run out of money before the next session. Despite days of negotiating, we were unable to reach an agreement on a budget that works for all Alaskans. As a result, Governor Walker called us back into a special session, starting today, Tuesday, April 28 at 10 am.
Read More →
Dear Neighbors,
Given the increased activity in the home stretch of the session, I’ll be posting more frequent editions of Southeast Spotlight. Please also check out my Facebook and Twitter pages for daily updates and postings.
Read More →
The legislative session has picked up the pace as we near the home stretch. With less than a month left, the House is holding Floor sessions nearly every day. The operating budget will be a big focus as we close in on the end of session, but since there is a lot of information out there already (see “Fiscal Reality with David Teal” and “As the Alaska Legislature makes cuts”), I’d like to focus my comments on something even MORE engrossing: audits.
Read More →
Dear Neighbors,
Happy Spring Equinox! In this week’s newsletter, we will touch on Medicaid, an Alaska Natural Gas pipeline, and finish up with a couple of shout outs and reminders. A very big thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, wrote, and visited the office this session – it’s great to hear from you.
Read More →
Follow