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The start date for the next special session of the Alaska state legislature has been pushed back from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4, the governor’s office said.
The session will be the fourth of the Legislative Assembly of the year and is so far devoted to finding a solution to the state’s budget deficit. Many lawmakers and the governor say addressing the state’s long-term fiscal problems is a priority, but there are deep divisions over how best to do it.
Earlier this year, the state House of Representatives took more than a month to organize due to stubborn divisions within the body. After a hectic session, Dunleavy called two special sessions for the summer, one of which was originally dedicated solely to deficit resolution. But deep divisions over the state budget, the size of the Permanent Fund dividend, and efforts to provide additional support to Alaska’s healthcare infrastructure ended up consuming most of what turned into three special sessions.
A fiscal policy working group was established following one of the special sessions and produced a report with recommendations for lawmakers to follow.
Lawmakers are limited in what they can debate during special sessions, and when a session is called by the executive, the governor sets the agenda. Dunleavy changed the appeal from the last special session at the request of lawmakers who wanted to finalize the process for allocating state funds, including payments for a PFD.
The amended appeal announced on Tuesday includes the appropriation for an additional PFD, a law or laws relating to the PFD program, constitutional changes related to the Permanent Fund, constitutional changes related to a spending limit and increased expenses. income.
Contact reporter Peter Segall at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnuEmpire.
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