JUNEAU -- Disagreements on how much money should go to the state's neediest seniors threaten to prevent swift passage of a bill to extend SeniorCare when lawmakers convene in a special legislative session in Anchorage on Tuesday, just days before the entitlement expires Saturday.
Funding for the seniors got ensnarled in end-of-session politics before lawmakers adjourned May 16 without continuing the program.
The governor then found money to extend SeniorCare for a month, and state legislators soon strongly endorsed returning to work -- this time for their first special session ever outside of Juneau -- to keep senior aid alive.
Leaders have said in recent weeks they expect this week's work to go quickly, perhaps lasting just one day.
But they are now facing several options for how much the program should cost the state, and that could complicate how long this week's session lasts. Lawmakers could opt for extending SeniorCare as is for $10 million a year, or increase the program's monthly payments for up to $19.4 million a year.
Rep. Kevin Meyer, a Republican from Anchorage and a co-chair of the budget-writing House Finance Committee, said he anticipates a push from House Democrats to fund the program at the highest level. He's concerned that tinkering with the $16.5 million already approved by senators could jeopardize swift passage of SeniorCare funding this week, he said.
The special session could drag on if the House and Senate can't agree on the same number, he said.
SeniorCare is a state-funded program providing monthly checks of $120 to single elderly seniors living on less than $16,133 a year and to couples living on less than $21,641. The $10 million program started in 2004 and serves 7,000 seniors.
Bills this year to continue the program beyond June 30 became mired in squabbles over how and by how much to fund the program.
A bill proposed by Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, called for increasing payments to as much as $250 a month on a graduated scale according to income levels. Hawker's bill also included language to officially kill the Longevity Bonus program -- a senior benefits program not funded since 2003.
Gov. Sarah Palin proposed reinstating the $34 million longevity bonus to assist all seniors, regardless of their incomes. But several lawmakers disagreed, saying it was too expensive. Meyer's House Finance Committee cut proposed funding for the bonus one day before adjournment last month.
In the Senate, Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, proposed extending SeniorCare and increasing payments to $175 for the poorest seniors; his bill didn't address the Longevity Bonus. Olson's bill passed in the Senate but stalled in House Finance as members struggled with opposing views on what to do with the Longevity Bonus.
On the last day of the regular session, Democrats called for a vote on Olson's bill. It failed when Republicans rejected it, with some of them questioning the need to continue expensive entitlement programs in addition to the state's other senior assistance programs.
"We couldn't internally make it happen then," said House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez. "If you have members with strong convictions on the subject, it just isn't going to happen."
House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, said expunging the longevity bonus became a "poisoned pill" that eventually caused the issue to fail.
"We should have passed this during the regular session, but the politics of personalities trumped policymaking," said Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks.
Harris was more optimistic that the special session's discussion of the SeniorCare bill would proceed smoothly. The House plans to take up the bill first Tuesday and discuss any amendments before passing it out and moving it to the Senate for concurrence, he said.
"It's always a disappointment when you have to call everyone back and change your schedules for something that should have been done during the regular session," said Senate President Lyda Green. "But that's the process."
Lawmakers will have to agree to change the name SeniorCare to Senior Benefits to avoid conflicts with the name of an Anchorage company.
"My deep hope is that we can work with the majority to get a good, well-funded program in a quick way," Kerttula said. "If you're an indigent senior Alaskan, you should be getting this help from the government. I don't want them to be facing this in their senior years."
Find Sabra Ayres at adn.com/contact/sayres or call her in Juneau at 1-907-586-1531.
User's guide to the special session
• WHY: Lawmakers will debate a bill to extend the SeniorCare program beyond its expiration date of June 30. The main bill in play will be Senate Bill 4. Look it on the Legislature's Web site at: www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp?session=25
• WHEN: Session begins when the House gavels in at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The House Finance Committee will begin a hearing on SB 4 at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Anchorage Legislative Information Office at 716 W. Fourth Ave. The hearings are open to the public.
• WHERE: Anchorage's Egan Center, lower level
• HOW TO WATCH: The floor session will have room for public viewing. KTOO's Gavel-to-Gavel will audio-stream the proceedings on its Web site at www.ktoo.org/gavel.
• PARKING: Egan Center recommends parking in the Fifth Avenue garage.
