Alaska Senate Adjourns With no Budget Fix and 36 Months Left in Savings
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Morris News Service-Alaska/Juneau Empire] By James Brooks - July 19, 2016
JUNEAU — Lawmakers have officially ended the fifth special session of the 29th Alaska Legislature.
At 11:45 a.m. Monday, Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, dropped the gavel on the Senate’s session, following in the path of the House, which gaveled out on Friday. Under Article II, Section 10 of the Alaska Constitution, if the Senate had not gaveled out, it would have forced the House to return to Juneau for additional work.
With the House unable to make progress on a fix to the state’s $3 billion budget deficit, that action had been considered unlikely.
“It is disappointing … to stand ready to work and have our friends in the other body not be able to move forward,” said Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Anchorage.
MacKinnon’s remarks followed those of Senate Majority Leader Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage: “To say I’m disappointed feels inadequate.”
According to Gov. Bill Walker, the Legislature’s inability to pass a budget-balancing bill...
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