Legislature puts its focus on future of our state Contributed Photo Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon (D-Dillingham) leads a house majority consistently at odds with the Senate and Gov. Mike Dunleavy over both balancing the Alaska budget and water policies affecting resource development.
The scale of the reductions as well as the larger PFD — $3,000 per resident compared to $1,600 paid in 2018 and $1,200 paid in 2017 — quickly became points of contention with legislators. .SLYRP T^ OTʯN`W_ ?SP 7PRT^WL_`]P `YOP] heavy pressure from school districts and mu- nicipalities rejected most of the governor’s re- ductions and passed a budget with only modest cuts. Dunleavy may have the last word through his line-item vetoes of spending. Many of the governor’s budget cuts were aimed L_ []ZR]LX^ SP _SZ`RS_ bP]P _ZZ TYPʯNTPY_ Z] which could be paid by users or local taxpayers. Those included the state ferry system; Alas- ka’s Medicaid program, which pays health care for lower-income Alaskans; schools and the uni- versity, and state payments to municipalities in
PFD, budget, water issues still remain unresolved
BY TIM BRADNER
For The Alaska Miner It has been an unusual 2019 legislative ses- sion, putting it mildly. Last spring, new Gov. Mike Dunleavy moved aggressively to put his vision of leaner state government in place. His plan included substantial reductions in spending but also a substantial Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) paid to residents. The proposed budget reductions totaled $1.6 billion, from a state budget of about $4.6 billion in general fund spending.
The Alaska Miner
July 2019
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