Alaska House again delays budget vote as pressure mounts | #alaska | #politics

JUNEAU — The House majority again delayed on Friday a vote on a budget that includes megasized dividend payments that could drain state savings, as lawmakers face mounting pressure from interest groups to oppose the bill passed by the Senate earlier this week.

The Senate’s version of the budget, which passed Tuesday, would dip into state savings to cover $5,500 cash payments to Alaskans, on Tuesday.

The House was originally expected to vote on whether to concur with the Senate’s version of the budget on Wednesday. However, with Gov. Mike Dunleavy reportedly putting pressure on House members to vote in favor of the Senate plan, House Speaker Louise Stutes, a Kodiak Republican who leads a bipartisan majority, has delayed the floor session repeatedly with the hope of securing enough no votes to ensure that the budget is instead sent to a conference committee. There, members of the House and Senate majority and minority would have to agree on a compromise between the Senate and House versions of the budget.

The Senate’s decision to pass a full statutory $4,200 Permanent Fund Dividend on top of the $1,300 energy relief checks would cost the state $3.6 billion and do away with the Senate’s original plan to leave more than $1 billion for savings that could be used to forward fund education spending beyond the coming fiscal year.

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Dunleavy, a Republican, has not spoken publicly about his position on the Senate budget. But he has long been a supporter of the full statutory Permanent Fund dividend. Earlier this year, he asked the Legislature to pass a budget that included a dividend of at least $3,700.

The operating budget that passed the House last month included around $1,300 in energy relief payments and a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend, for a total of $2,600 — half what the Senate included in their version of the budget this week.

The House has historically rejected the Senate’s version of the budget almost always. The last time there was no conference committee on the operating budget was in 1982.

The House is now set to convene Saturday at 10 a.m., but that could be delayed again by Stutes. The House is constitutionally obligated to meet no later than Sunday. The Legislature has until May 18 to pass a budget or they may be forced to enter a special session.

“The determination of when to go on the floor is taking longer than anticipated, but the delay is not being made lightly,” said House majority spokesperson Joe Plesha in a statement. “The decision whether to concur or not with the Senate’s budget will have far-reaching impacts on the future of Alaska. The House coalition was founded on the principle of fiscal responsibility and they take that obligation too seriously to rush the outcome.”

[Earlier coverage: House delays vote on budget that could send $5,500 to Alaskans and drain state savings]

Constituents have been reaching out lawmakers’ offices, asking them to either support or oppose the plan that would put an a lot of cash in constituents’ pockets but depends on oil prices remaining high to avoid a fiscal cliff.

Those groups have so far included Alaska AFL-CIO, the Alaska Chamber, the Alaska Bankers Association, and Keep Alaska Competitive — a coalition of businesses tied to the state’s resource economy.

“We are concerned that the unsustainable budget action taken in the Senate this week, and the potential response by the House to solidify that action in these remaining days of the legislative session, will destabilize our system now and into the future,” wrote Todd MacManus, President of the Alaska Bankers Association, in a letter sent to lawmakers and the governor’s office.

The budget as currently drafted “is broken,” MacManus said. “If enacted, we would anticipate negative downstream effects, including prolonged uncertainty and increasing risks leading to higher costs for Alaska’s businesses and families and a lower level of economic opportunity in the future.”

Dunleavy’s office on Friday declined to comment on the letters urging the Legislature to reject the Senate’s budget.

This is a developing story and will be updated. Iris Samuels reported from Juneau and Nathaniel Herz reported from Anchorage.

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