With about a month left in the scheduled 90-day legislative session, lawmakers are trying to figure out how to pay the bills given the steep drop in oil revenue that’s left Alaska with a multi-billion dollar deficit.
There are plenty of positions and ideas, but there’s no clear consensus on a path forward.
There are a lot of pieces in play that would impact the budget, including taxes, a restructuring of the Alaska Permanent Fund to allow regular draws from earnings, bills aimed at cutting Medicaid and criminal justice system costs and changes to the oil and gas tax credit program.
Senate Finance Committee co-chair Anna MacKinnon says that what she’s heard to a great extent is that people are looking for fairness in whatever has to happen.
