The Alaska Senate on Thursday moved its business to Anchorage, voted to conclude a Juneau special session ordered by Gov. Bill Walker and declared a new one of its own.
But the vote to end the session called by Walker goes against the opinion of the Legislature's own attorney, who says it may violate the state constitution.
Walker last month ordered the Legislature to consider three bills dealing with the state budget, prevention of sexual abuse and expansion of the public Medicaid health care program. But the Senate didn't vote on any of those before ending Walker's special session and beginning the next in Anchorage.
The vote to conclude Walker's special session was 11 to 3, with the three opposing votes coming from members of the Senate's Democratic minority. Six senators were absent.
During the debate over the decision, Anchorage Sen. Bill Wielechowski said the Senate was violating the Alaska Constitution.
That's a position bolstered by an opinion from a legislative attorney, who said in a memorandum this week that the Legislature must meet in in Juneau to comply with Walker's order convening the special session there.
But Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, the majority leader, maintained that the move didn't violate the constitution.
"The action today at this point is to tell the governor that no action is the action at this point," Coghill said. "We're just adjourning, which we could have done the very first day."
Wielechowski is an attorney, while Coghill, vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is not.
After the vote, Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, rapped his gavel to conclude Walker's special session at 11:25 a.m. Ten seconds later, he rapped it again to convene the Legislature's new special session.
The senators said the pledge of allegiance a second time and heard a second daily prayer, in which Coghill asked for "divine guidance" to help the Legislature through its work.
The Senate Finance Committee introduced a new version of the state's spending bill for consideration in the new special session, and Meyer said the sexual abuse prevention measure could also be considered.
But there was no legislation on the Senate's calendar, so it adjourned shortly afterward until Friday.
In a prepared statement, Walker said he was "disappointed the Legislature did not bring to a vote any of the three items on the special session call before adjourning in Anchorage."
"I am deeply concerned about the Legislature's lack of progress on a fully funded budget," Walker's statement added.
For now, the Legislature remains stuck without a budget deal that includes enough money to pay the full cost of government for the state's approaching 2016 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
A package passed by the Legislature last month included $5 billion in spending but only $2 billion to pay for it. Republican leaders in both the House and Senate are currently negotiating with the House Democratic caucus, whose agreement is needed to clear a three-quarters constitutional vote threshold required to access billions of dollars in a state savings account.
The House was expected to meet at 1 p.m. for a similar series of procedural moves to the Senate's.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing