Alaska Senate to weigh dividend bill after House maneuver

Alaska Public Media | By Becky Bohrer

Published September 14, 2021 at 4:58 PM AKDT

A hearing room with a bunch of people sitting on a desk — The Alaska Senate passed a state budget by a margin of one vote on Wednesday, the day after the House passed it. This year’s permanent fund dividend would be $525 if the Legislature doesn’t add more funding later. A motion that would have funded the dividend at $1,100 failed to receive support of three-quarters of the members of each chamber, which was required for it to pass. A program to lower the cost of electricity in high-cost areas and university scholarships also are not funded in the budget due to the failure of the votes to draw from the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Lawmakers in both chambers have said they support funding these programs. But a compromise may not be possible before Friday. The special session must end by then. That means the Power Cost Equalization program and university scholarships may not be funded starting on July 1, the first day of the new budget. The Senate budget approval came after drama. It failed in an earlier vote. But Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman moved to rescind the vote. On the second vote, Hoffman changed from no to yes, allowing it to pass, 11 to 6. Hoffman has said the state should make changes that would allow for higher dividends without drawing down the amount of money available in the permanent fund’s earnings reserve.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House canceled its floor session Tuesday, the last day of the special session, leaving the Senate with what amounted to a take-it-or-leave-it decision on the roughly $1,100 the House had previously passed.

House Speaker Louise Stutes said legislative rules bar concurrence the same day the other chamber passes legislation and said there was no time left for a conference committee if the Senate made any changes. Legislators could waive those rules with two-thirds support in each chamber, but Stutes did not believe she had those numbers in the House, said House majority press secretary Joe Plesha.

In a statement, Stutes, a Kodiak Republican, said she was “assured that the bill is safe in the capable hands of the Senate.”

There have been different views on whether some of the funds targeted for use for the dividend in the House bill are readily available. Without those, the dividend would be estimated at $585, according to the Legislative Finance Division.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy told reporters he wants to see what the Senate does.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday sent the House version of the bill to the Senate floor. The bill could be amended there. If the Senate adopts changes, the bill dies, committee co-chair Bert Stedman said.