Anchorage (AP) – The Alaska House and Senate are moving their work from Juneau to Anchorage.
Floor sessions are scheduled for Anchorage, starting today. The decision was announced Monday, the same day Gov. Bill Walker sent an email to state employees warning of layoff notices if a budget deal isn’t reached soon.
Since May 12, a handful of House and Senate members have been gaveling in and out during floor sessions, for which attendance is not required. There has been nothing for the full Legislature to vote on during this special session, with no budget agreement and other issues tabled or still pending.
The Capitol is undergoing scheduled renovation work. Members of the Juneau delegation have said alternate space would be available for lawmakers to work if Capitol rooms are not suitable.
Senate President Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage) said it had been his intent to reconvene in Juneau. But he said given the noise at the Capitol and the cost of flying everyone back to Juneau, it makes sense to hold sessions in Anchorage. He said he couldn’t see Walker challenging lawmakers on that point.
Gov. Bill Walker told state workers Monday that he has little choice but to veto unfunded items in the budget plan passed by legislators late last month.
Layoff notices will be sent to most state workers in early June if the Legislature fails to pass a fully funded budget by then, Walker said in an email to state employees. The state has until July 1 before it would have to begin shutting down government operations not necessary to protect the life, health and safety of Alaskans, he wrote.
“However, we have contractual and moral obligations to let our employees know they may be temporarily laid off on July 1st if the budget is unfunded,” he wrote.
Walker planned a news conference Monday afternoon in Anchorage. He said he hopes legislators can finish their work.
The budget passed last month during an extended legislative session uses money previously set aside for education to help cover costs for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Walker said he will sign the portion of the budget package for the current year.
However, the package failed to fully cover costs for the fiscal year starting July 1. The House fell short of the threshold needed to tap a budget reserve fund, and talks to that end have shown little sign of progress during the special session that began April 28.
Support from the Democratic-led minority is needed to reach that threshold, but the minority opposes the budget’s cuts to education funding and its rejection of negotiated union pay increases, among other things. They also want expanded Medicaid, something the Republican-led majorities have indicated they will not advance during the special session scheduled to end next week.
Legislative leaders have balked at adding to the budget given the multibillion-dollar deficits the state is facing amid low oil prices. Senate leaders have said they are willing to be flexible but that minority Democrats need to be, too.
Walker has until Tuesday to decide what to do with the budget. Lawmakers had cited confusion on how to proceed given there was still a live, viable budget in play. Walker also had introduced a new budget bill for the special session, largely similar to what lawmakers passed but which also includes more funding in areas the administration believed were cut too deeply, such as education, as well as Medicaid expansion.
Walker, in a recent interview, said lawmakers had the choice of fixing the budget they passed or working off the plan he proposed in a bid to jumpstart talks. The difference in spending between the two is about $94 million, which doesn’t include federal money.
The shutdown talk comes even though the state has billions of dollars in reserves. Aside from the constitutional budget reserve, which calls for a three-quarter vote in each the House and Senate to access, there are pots of money available that are more easily accessible but politically could prove tricky, such as the Permanent Fund earnings reserve account or pools of money set aside for student scholarships and energy assistance.
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