House and Senate add funds to state budget, Stevens says budget still has a long way to go

It’s still too early to see how Kodiak will fare in the state budget. Despite both the Alaska State House and the Alaska Senate standing firm in opposition to major cuts to programs such as schools and ferries, Kodiak’s Senator Gary Stevens says there’s still a long way to go. He said once the legislature passes the budget, the governor still has the chance to veto it, or line-item veto pieces of it.

 

It is still too early in the budgeting process for Kodiak residents to know just how the Governor’s proposed cuts to state funding will affect the community.

That’s according to Kodiak Senator Gary Stevens.

Stevens says approving the state’s operating budget is a long process and anything could happen, but one thing for sure stands out this year, and it could be good news.

“Both senate and house have pretty much rejected the governor’s, you know very drastic budget cuts. We’re still in great disagreement as to the Permanent Fund Dividend. I know that’s really important to folks. The senate bill that we passed has a $3,000 dividend in it. The house has a $1,200 dividend. We’re going to go to a conference committee to try to hash that out.”

            Most notably for Kodiak, the governor proposed deep cuts to education and the school construction reimbursement, as well as eliminating the local share of the fish tax.  The governor also recommended major cuts to the ferry service.

The house and senate versions of the budget bill includes fewer cuts than Governor Mike Dunleavy’s, but whether they make it past the governor remains to be seen.

Stevens said this is the first time in his 19 years in the legislature that the house and senate have been so in agreement on the budget—a sign of how much legislators disagree with the governor on his plans to cut the budget to the bone. The governor, on the other hand, has said the cuts are necessary to balance the budget and to give Alaskans a full dividend this fall.

“I have never seen the organization of the house, the senate, and the governor to be organized the way it is. Right now, the house and the senate are pretty much in agreement. We don’t want to see these enormous cuts to K-12 the Marine Highway System, the university. The governor has proposed those cut. This is the first time I have seen in my experience, the house and the senate pretty much against what the governor wants to do.”

Now a group of house and senate legislators will get together in what’s called a conference committee to hash out their budget differences. Once a revised budget is decided on, the budget bill will go back to both bodies for a full vote.

But any funds approved by the legislature still won’t be safe. A big unknown this year is the governor’s line item veto powers. Alaska law allows the governor to red ink any item he doesn’t want to spend state money on. He can also still slash the amounts down to his liking. While it is possible, it will be hard to over-ride the governor’s veto pen.

In order to override a governor’s line item vetoes, 75-percent of the combined legislature—or 75-percent of 60 people—must vote to override it. That means 45 legislators must vote to override.

“That’s what our concern is right now. We want to make sure we have as much cooperation of the governor’s office as we can have to try to make sure that our budget increases stay and we can keep the governor reasonably happy when it comes to the permanent fund dividend.”

Stevens said Kodiak residents should continue to let legislators and the governor know how they feel about proposed budget cuts or the proposed budget. The Kodiak Legislative Information Office can help you send a note to legislators and the governor.