Austerman Not Predicting Capital Spending Levels

Jay Barrett/KMXT
The Alaska State Legislature’s new session is a week old, and the governor has forwarded his proposed budget to the House and Senate. Kodiak Representative Alan Austerman, a co-chair of the Finance Committee, says it’s too early to tell what the final budget might look like.

— (Legislature 1 21 sec “As we all know the governor’s … a conservative budget.”)

House Speaker Mike Chenault of Nikiski agreed, saying individual legislators all have projects in their districts they’d like to see in the budget:

— (Legislature 2 19 sec “Is the starting point of the governor’s … their communities grow.”)

Austerman said the House Majority is still a few months away from fixing on a spending target for the Operating and Capital budgets:

— (Legislature 3 28 sec “As we get closer to March … the revenue projections are.”)

Almost all of the state’s revenue comes from oil and gas, and Austerman said Friday there will be a lot of discussions about that, especially in light of the governor’s request to reduce the amount oil companies pay the state in royalties:

— (Legislature 4 20 sec “A number of different things … and go through that process.”)

The legislature already has one consultant on contract, for up to $1.65-million. That’s PFC Energy, which assisted lawmakers last year.