The Alaska House on Monday approved a fast-tracked spending bill totaling nearly half a billion dollars intended to cover higher-than-expected costs in the ongoing fiscal year. But for now, after the failure of a supermajority vote that would allow lawmakers to access state savings, the bill is unfunded.
House Bill 289 combines several requests from Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Among the estimated $490 million in spending included in the bill is $70 million that construction companies and labor groups say is necessary to make up for a Dunleavy budget veto last summer, along with additional funding to respond to wildfires and disasters such as Typhoon Halong.
“This is extremely time-sensitive,” said Rep. Zack Fields, an Anchorage Democrat. “Many hundreds of Alaska construction workers’ livelihoods are on the line with this funding, and the survival of some of our longest standing contractors in the state.”
Millions more in the bill are earmarked to make up for cost overruns at state agencies, including the Department of Health and the Department of Corrections, and to refill a college scholarship fund lawmakers tapped last year to cover a deficit as they struggled to find the votes to access the traditional savings account.
Members of the Democrat-heavy bipartisan majority caucus argued lawmakers didn’t have much choice but to approve the spending plan.
“We don't get to pick and choose which bills we pay after the fact,” said Rep. Chuck Kopp, an Anchorage Republican and the House majority leader. “Good governance requires that we meet all our obligations in full, not partially and not selectively, and not just when it's convenient for us.”
But the bill’s hefty price tag prompted pushback from House Republicans. Glennallen Rep. Rebecca Schwanke was one of a variety of minority-caucus members to say they were hesitant to draw that much from the state’s limited savings without more scrutiny.
“If this is the process, that we just pay whatever bills are put in front of us on a supplemental basis, and we don't ask those hard questions, and we don't force the issue of, where does the money come from, then, what is the legislative branch even doing?” she said.
Minority Republicans tried unsuccessfully to pare the bill down to what they saw as the most urgent items, including funding for construction projects, disaster relief and fire suppression. But the Democrat-heavy bipartisan coalition that controls the House stymied those efforts during a lengthy session on Wednesday.
“We were voted down over and over and over again, so those arguments that speed and time is of the essence are starting to fall … a little flat,” said House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, a Palmer Republican.
Though the bill passed, 16 Republicans successfully opposed a supermajority vote necessary to fund it from state savings. (Republican Rep. Mia Costello of Anchorage asked for a re-vote, expected Wednesday, which may change the final total.)
The failure of that three-quarters vote leaves the bill with no way to pay for its expenses as it heads to the state Senate.
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to consider the bill later this week. After the Senate makes its changes, it’s expected to come back to the House for a final vote, including another vote on the savings draw.
