One of the leaders of the Alaska House majority said Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office didn’t act in good faith in negotiations over a major crime bill.
North Pole Republican Rep. Tammie Wilson said Dunleavy’s office agreed to provisions of House Bill 49 in private discussions that the administration has since criticized.
“All I can do is tell you, in every meeting I had, they were 100 percent on board with what we were doing, and it’s very disappointing that they came out and basically said that that did not happen, because it did,” said Wilson, the co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
Dunleavy proposed four crime bills. The House consolidated them into one bill. As House members wrote the bill, they communicated with Dunleavy and his office.
Dunleavy spokesman Matt Shuckerow said Dunleavy’s position on the bill was clear.
“I can’t comment on the characterizations by the co-chair,” Shuckerow said. “Frankly, there are a lot of discussions being had in the final days of the Legislature. And we’re hoping to get a lot of this done before our time is up.”
Shuckerow emphasized that the Senate’s version of the bill is closer to what Dunleavy wants than the House’s.
The entire Senate began the floor debate on the crime bill on Monday. It plans to continue the debate Tuesday.
Andrew Kitchenman is the state government and politics reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO in Juneau. Reach him at akitchenman@alaskapublic.org.
