Latest news with #AlaskaConstitution
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy asks some lawmakers to stay away from special session he called
Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses proposed education legislation at a news conference on Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) In a meeting with Republican members of the Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy had what he called an 'unorthodox' request. He asked that the 19 members of the House's Republican minority caucus stay away from the first five days of a special legislative session he called for Aug. 2 in Juneau. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Legislature must vote to override or sustain a governor's vetoes in the first regular or special session following the vetoes. If those Republicans are absent, it increases the odds that his vetoes will be sustained. An absence is as good as a 'no' vote when it comes to getting the 45 votes needed to override a veto of line items in a budget bill or the 40 votes needed to override a veto of a policy bill. In May, lawmakers voted 46-14 to override Dunleavy's veto of a policy bill that permanently increases the state's public-school funding formula. Eight of the 19 House minority members voted for the override. Now, they're being asked whether to override the governor's decision to only partially fund that formula. The governor's opponents will have a difficult task. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, are expected to be unavailable for the special session. Dunbar has been deployed with the National Guard in Poland. Others may have family commitments that are obstacles to attending. If minority-caucus legislators heed the governor's request and avoid the special session, they will be largely immune to last-minute lobbying by their colleagues or members of the public. 'If you want the veto override to fail, when we're talking about less than $50 million here on a multibillion-dollar budget, I guess you pull out every stop, and this is a stop that I've not seen pulled out by any governor,' said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and a supporter of the override. Reporters were not invited to the meeting between the governor and the House minority, but Jeff Turner, the governor's communications director, confirmed the details, first reported by KTUU-TV. 'Governor Dunleavy asked house minority members to not show up for the first five days of session because like any governor, he does not want his vetoes overturned,' he said by email. Dunleavy has designated education policy and the creation of a Department of Agriculture as the subjects of the special session. Turner said the governor planned to introduce an education bill for lawmakers to consider during the session. 'Arriving on the sixth day also means legislators begin the session with a clean slate for conversations on public education reform policies. The Governor is also willing to reinstate the $200 BSA increase, if he and lawmakers can reach an agreement on the education bill he will introduce next month,' Turner said. House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, did not return a call seeking comment, but other members of the minority spoke freely about the governor's request. 'I will use the governor's exact word: Unorthodox. It was definitely an unorthodox request that took me by surprise,' said Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna. While the governor's official special session proclamation lists education and a proposed Alaska Department of Agriculture on its agenda, 'he was very clear that a big portion of the strategy for him was, he did not want to be overridden on anything: bills, budget, all of it.' Ruffridge voted in favor of the prior override and indicated that he's willing to vote the same way in a special session. 'I've taken the approach sort of since day one, that if I vote yes on something, that my yes means something, I know that probably doesn't always align with the political winds that might blow, but I think that's something that my constituents at least respect,' he said. Ruffridge said he absolutely intends to show up at the special session. 'If a special session is called, I think all representatives and senators have an obligation to attempt to be there, if at all possible,' Ruffridge said. 'I think that's part of what we signed up for when we signed up to do the job. And I mean, if you're not going to show up, I think essentially, you're just afraid of taking hard votes at that point.' Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, has a different perspective. 'I think that's fine,' she said of the governor's request. 'It costs a lot of money. It's $300 per diem per day. You have to pay for flights and hotels. I think it's a good idea. Those who do want to continue to override, they could go ahead and go down there, and those of us who don't, it's an automatic no vote for us when we don't go there to vote.' 'My job is to make sure we save as much money as possible,' she said. 'And again, if we're not in Juneau, it's an automatic no vote. If you show up in Juneau, then I believe those individuals are going to be voting yes or wasting taxpayer dime.' Jeremy Bynum, the Republican representative from Ketchikan, said he intends to show up in Juneau on Aug. 2, even though it means missing Ketchikan's largest annual celebration, the blueberry festival. He's interested in attending the special session because he hopes that legislators will take up education policy, even though he doubts that will happen. The multipartisan House majority caucus controls the legislative agenda, and it isn't clear that there is sufficient common ground between the majority and the governor to enable progress. Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, said she's still considering her options and is undecided about whether to travel to Juneau. Before the House minority's meeting with the governor, Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, said he doesn't see the governor's call for a special session as significantly different from legislative committees' attempts to advance or derail legislation by using legislative procedures or schedules. He pointed to the way that the Senate Finance Committee has used take-it-or-leave-it tactics with regard to the state budget. Rep. Elexie Moore of Wasilla said she's likely to attend in order to vote against an override and to sustain the governor's veto. Earlier this year, she was absent from the Capitol on a day that unexpectedly brought a key vote on the Permanent Fund dividend. She was dragged on social media for three weeks afterward, she said by phone. People expect their legislators to be in the Capitol, she said, and most people aren't able to follow the maneuvering that might explain an absence. 'I think that's the perspective of somebody who doesn't understand what it means not to go,' Allard said when told about Moore's thinking. '(Not attending the session) means that you're a no vote. But if she wants to go and spend, you know, $5,000 to $10,000 in taxpayer money, that's fine. I understand she was dragged on social media, but those were some bad decisions that were made — not necessarily by her — but on information about what she was doing. But I would recommend that she stay with the caucus and don't go down there.' 'I think it's a good idea,' said Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole, about the governor's request. Prax supports the governor's position and said he believes the special session is a good idea, because it settles the school funding issue early. Without a special session, lawmakers would have to wait until January to decide whether to override or sustain the governor's decisions. The Fairbanks North Star Borough school board voted in June to finalize a budget that expects lawmakers to override the governor. If an override fails, Prax said, it's better that it fails early, so the district can change its budget before school begins. While members of the House and Senate majority caucuses have indicated that they intend to take up only the veto overrides during the special session, Prax said he hopes lawmakers will stay and consider education policy. While lawmakers have convened an education task force to discuss future changes, he doubts the effectiveness of that group, given the Legislature's failure to adopt the recommendations of a prior fiscal policy working group. The task force deadline to make recommendations is January 2027, after the next election. 'I am not at all optimistic that there's even any intention, frankly, of the task force coming up with something,' he said. Edgmon, the House speaker, said that his recommendation 'to any legislator, is to show up to Juneau, get their work done and make the tough vote whether they are a yea or a nay.' Legislative rules allow any lawmaker to issue a 'call on the House' that compels legislators to attend. Edgmon said that might be deemed dilatory and out of order in this case. In the end, will absences even matter? Lawmakers who stay away are likely to be those most likely to support the governor. 'That could be the case for sure,' Edgmon said, 'and it'll be the voters in their districts that will judge whether or not they're doing the right thing.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mat-Su mayor files to run as a Republican for Alaska governor
Jun. 12—Edna DeVries, mayor of the Mat-Su Borough, announced on Thursday that she is running as a Republican to be Alaska's next governor. DeVries, 83, has been mayor of the Mat-Su since 2021. She moved to Palmer in 1969 and was mayor of the city for over five years. She served two years as a state senator in the 1980s. In a Thursday interview, DeVries said there are many issues facing Alaska and that she wants to focus on "listening to people, transparency in government and limited government." DeVries, a conservative, said that she feels "very strongly" about election integrity and touted a 2022 ban on voting machines in the Mat-Su borough. She said that she supports following a statutory Permanent Fund dividend, and said Alaska needs to "rein in spending" to address its fiscal challenges. "We need to live within our means. And I don't see the state doing that right now," she said. DeVries said that she is a supporter of school choice. She was critical of a substantial education funding boost approved by the Legislature this year. She said that "we need to have some accountability." DeVries on Thursday filed a letter of intent with the Division of Elections to run as governor next year. That is the first step in launching a campaign, allowing the candidate to raise and spend money. DeVries said filing that letter is "sort of a testing of the waters." "Let's see what the response is out there, and get out and talk to the people to see if they see the same needs in our state as I do," she added. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, is in the penultimate year of his second term. The Alaska Constitution forbids governors from holding office for a third consecutive term. Three other Republicans have filed letters of intent to run for governor in the November 2026 election: Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, former Fairbanks Sen. Click Bishop, and business owner Bernadette Wilson.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska state budget and other bills head to Gov. Mike Dunleavy
The Alaska State Capitol is seen on the last week of the 2025 session on May 19, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) The three pieces of legislation that make up Alaska's annual state budget are on Gov. Mike Dunleavy's desk. According to legislative records, the state's operating, capital and mental health budgets were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday, giving the governor until June 19 to veto the bills or sign them into law. The governor has the ability to use a line item veto to reduce or eliminate specific items within the budget, and Dunleavy has previously indicated that he may reduce funding for public schools below the amount prescribed by a formula in state law. State legislators voted to raise that formula in the session's last days, overriding Dunleavy's decision to veto the bill containing a $700 increase to the base student allocation, the core of the state's school funding formula. If Dunleavy reduces education funding below what's called for by the formula, it would be unprecedented and akin to former Gov. Bill Walker's decision in 2016 to veto part of the Permanent Fund dividend: Since the education funding formula was created, every governor has followed the law. Two policy bills also were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday. The first, House Bill 75, cleans up some state laws pertaining to the Permanent Fund dividend and was uncontroversial in the House and Senate. The second, Senate Bill 183, would require the executive branch to deliver reports in the form requested by the Alaska Legislature's auditor. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Alaska Legislature has audit authority over the executive branch, but since 2019, lawmakers have been unable to analyze the performance of the section of the Alaska Department of Revenue that audits tax settlements with large oil companies. Lawmakers say the Department of Revenue has switched policies and no longer provides a report that once allowed them to examine the section's work. Members of the department testified that they have turned over raw data, but the legislative auditor testified that her department lacks the information and capability to turn that data into actionable information on the state's oil revenue. The bill was transmitted to the governor's office with a letter from the Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, asking Dunleavy not to veto it. 'This letter accompanies the bill not as a routine legislative communication, but as a reflection of the extraordinary nature of the circumstances we face,' it read. 'The ongoing obstructions by the DOR must not be allowed to become a precedent for future administrations. We must reinforce, not erode, the norms of oversight and accountability that are vital to Alaska's republican form of government.' If Dunleavy does veto a bill, the Alaska Legislature is not expected to consider an override until January, when lawmakers reconvene in regular session.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dunleavy administration is blocking billion-dollar audit of oil tax disputes, legislators say
Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, speaks in the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Legislature is moving rapidly to pass a bill that would force Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration to disclose reports that could show the state settling oil tax disputes for significantly less than what is owed. 'This bill shouldn't be necessary, but here we are today,' said Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage and chair of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, in a Thursday hearing by the House Rules Committee. 'Either the Department of Revenue has already compiled the information requested in the special audit for its own use and is deliberately withholding it from the legislative auditor, or it has failed to do the basic work of calculating the tax, interest, and penalties assessed for each audit cycle,' she said. 'Frankly, I'm not sure which of those scenarios would be more troubling.' The Senate passed Senate Bill 183 on a 19-0 vote Monday. The House of Representatives could vote on it as soon as Friday. Dunleavy could veto it, allow it to pass into law without his signature, or sign it. If enacted, it would require the executive branch to disclose information 'in the form or format requested' by legislative auditors. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Legislature is responsible for overseeing executive branch operations, but since 2019, the legislative auditor has been unable to properly examine the part of the Department of Revenue that audits tax payments by oil and gas companies. 'In the past, the Department of Revenue provided the Legislature with organized summaries showing the total amount of additional tax, interest and penalties assessed for each annual tax cycle,' Gray-Jackson said. 'However, the department now claims it is only required to provide access to raw data, not to compile or categorize information in a usable format, as it had done previously.' Though legislators can examine raw data, they don't have the resources to process them. The change makes analyzing the executive branch's actions impossible, Gray-Jackson said. Legislators have written letters and asked for access, to no avail. 'Unfortunately, the issue remains unresolved, and the auditor still cannot complete this important audit, which concerns the oversight of billions of dollars in state oil and gas revenue,' she said. Until 2019, the first year of Dunleavy's administration, Department of Revenue tax auditors regularly published a memo summarizing total tax and interest assessed after its annual audit cycle. By combining that information with the amount paid in settlements, lawmakers and the public could see what share of assessed taxes and interest were being paid. Without the tax and interest information, it's not clear how oil companies' settlement payments compare with the original state assessments. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Legislature is responsible for overseeing executive branch operations, and the memo was part of that oversight. When the memos stopped, legislative auditors asked for them and were told that they were now confidential. At the time, members of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee were so concerned that they commissioned a special audit of the executive branch's auditors. For five years, they've been unsuccessful. Members of the executive branch say they're not required to turn over compiled reports, only raw data. 'That interpretation overturns long-standing precedent,' said legislative auditor Kris Curtis, 'and it essentially limits the oversight by the Legislature. The fear is that state agencies from here on out will refuse to provide or compile data in any type format for future legislative audits.' Destin Greeley, an audit supervisor for the Department of Revenue, testified Thursday that providing what Curtis requested 'is creating this new work product that is very time-consuming and trying to put a square peg in a round hole for us.' Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, said she doesn't understand why that suddenly became difficult for the Department of Revenue to do. 'I am not buying your story, and this is a huge red flag for me,' she said. 'When you've got hundreds of millions of dollars involved, I'm worried,' Stutes said. Legislative attorney Emily Nauman said she believes the new bill will resolve the ongoing dispute 'if the department complies with the law.' If not, she said, the topic could head to the courts. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature will vote Tuesday on school funding veto, with override not expected
Students file past Gov. Mike Dunleavy's offices in the state Capitol as they protest his veto of a wide ranging education bill on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon) Alaska's state House and Senate are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday to vote on whether or not to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of a bill increasing the state's per-student funding formula. Multiple lawmakers have said that the Legislature likely lacks the votes for an override. Under the Alaska Constitution, the votes of 40 of the Legislature's 60 members, meeting in joint session, are required to override the veto of a policy bill. House Bill 69, which seeks to increase the base student allocation — core of Alaska's per-pupil funding formula — passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 32-25. HB 69 proposes an increase of $1,000 to the BSA, or $253 million per year in total. Last year, legislators proposed a $680 increase to the BSA, and the related bill passed the House and Senate by a combined vote of 56-3. Legislators failed to override Dunleavy's veto of that bill by a single vote. Public education advocates say years of flat state funding has led to significant cuts to Alaska's public schools, which have had to deal with inflation-driven cost increases. The governor, and a decisive number of legislators who support him, say funding increases must be paired with policy changes intended to improve school performance. Two years of negotiations have failed to result in a suite of policy changes that are acceptable to the governor and a majority of legislators. Without the formula change, the public-school funding level in the state's annual operating budget will be decisive. The House has voted in favor of a budget that includes one-time bonus funding equivalent to a $1,000 BSA increase, but because the House's budget also includes a significant deficit, the Senate may propose a smaller increase. The Senate's draft budget has yet to emerge from the Senate Finance Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
