Alaska lawmakers are back at work Monday after failing to pass a budget by the constitutional deadline last week.
It’s the first day of a special session called by Governor Bill Walker.
Lawmakers now have 30 days to try to do what they couldn’t in the past four months: agree on a budget and make some progress towards closing the state’s $4 billion deficit.
There are several deadlines looming.
If there’s no budget in place by June 1st, the administration will have to send out layoff notices to state workers.
If there’s still no budget in place by July 1, the state could face a government shutdown.
In addition to the budget, Walker has asked lawmakers to consider several bills that have so far proved immune to compromise.
Those include an overhaul of the state’s oil and gas taxes and a proposal to restructure the permanent fund — as well as a range of new taxes, including an income tax.
The House will convene at 11 a.m. Monday, followed by the Senate at noon.
Rachel Waldholz covers energy and the environment for Alaska's Energy Desk, a collaboration between Alaska Public Media, KTOO in Juneau and KUCB in Unalaska. Before coming to Anchorage, she spent two years reporting for Raven Radio in Sitka. Rachel studied documentary production at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and her short film, A Confused War won several awards. Her work has appeared on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace, among other outlets.
rwaldholz (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8432 | About Rachel
