This week in Juneau: Alaska Senate awaits next moves from House on deficit-reduction plan

Good morning from Juneau, and welcome to the last week of the legislative session.

Or not.

Lawmakers here are poised to blow through their 90-day deadline set by voters in a 2006 initiative — instead saying they'll aim for the 121-day limit set by the state Constitution.

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In the end, a 90-day session proved out of reach for the Republican-led Senate and the House majority coalition, which is mostly made up of Democrats. The House is still trying to assemble the votes for the key pieces of legislation in its deficit-reduction package: a restructuring of the Permanent Fund, a broad-based tax and higher oil taxes.

The delay "is certain to rub some people the wrong way," House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, wrote Friday on Facebook.

"But with the state at such an important crossroads, and with a set of substantial measures under consideration that are crucial to solving the fiscal crisis, we're more than willing to take the pushback," he said.

The Senate majority, meanwhile, argues that only budget cuts and a restructured Permanent Fund are needed this year — meaning that it's now left waiting to assess any additional measures that emerge from the House. Anchorage Republican Sen. Natasha von Imhof published a Sunday op-ed in Alaska Dispatch News detailing her arguments against an income tax.

Here's a recap of Alaska Dispatch News' coverage of the past week in Juneau:

—Monday's big event was the unrolling of the Senate's final budget proposal — a plan that emerged in the finance committee with a few surprises. We described how it would slice spending on schools, the state university system and a scholarship program while establishing a new innovation grant program for schools.

—The Senate also effectively killed the U-Med road in its budget proposal — a long-sought project by Anchorage's university campus that had attracted local opposition.

—On Tuesday, we published an interview with Gov. Bill Walker in which he took an accommodating view of lawmakers' progress on deficit-reduction measures this year, saying: "My focus is what we get done, not when we get it done."

—On Wednesday, lawmakers mourned the death of Dan Fauske, a skilled bureaucrat with a unique sense of humor who ran the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. and then the state's gas line agency before his 2015 resignation. Some Republican legislators considered him the most competent official in state government.

—Also Wednesday, we crunched the numbers on the Senate's budget proposal and found that at least $100 million of the majority's claimed savings of nearly $300 million would be replaced by spending from other accounts, or in future budgets.

—On Thursday, things got busy. First, we recapped House Speaker Edgmon's performance in the Juneau folk festival. (He had a final appearance Sunday night with Anchorage Democratic Sen. Tom Begich, and Anchorage Democratic Rep. Chris Tuck on the recorder.) Second, we wrote about how Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman staged a one-man protest against a bill to commemorate the work of black soldiers in building the Alaska Highway during World War II. Third, we covered new state oil-tax guidance that's delayed the state's annual forecast of government revenue. And finally, we covered Wasilla Republican Sen. Mike Dunleavy's vote against the budget, which risks his exile from the GOP-led majority.

—On Friday, lawmakers approved a big batch of bills, including a measure from Anchorage Republican Sen. Kevin Meyer restricting lobbyist donations to political action committees; legislation from Anchorage Democratic Rep. Ivy Spohnholz to increase transparency of health care charges; and a measure sponsored by North Pole Republican Sen. John Coghill to partially roll back some of last year's criminal justice reforms.

—Also on Friday, the House majority unveiled a new, substitute version of its legislation to restructure the state's oil tax regime, which passed the finance committee Saturday.

—On Saturday, we wrote about how the House majority had split apart its bill to both levy a state income tax and to restructure the Permanent Fund — saying the move was prompted by the threat of a lawsuit.

Even if lawmakers are already acknowledging that their 90-day deadline is unreachable, this week will likely be packed as the House tries to make as much progress as possible before Sunday night on its deficit-reduction package. Coalition leaders told reporters at a briefing Friday that they're aiming to send all the elements of their deficit-reduction plan to the Senate by then.

"Our intent is to get our major pieces of legislation over to the Senate before the 90-day period expires," Edgmon said.

First up appears to be the House's oil-tax bill, which popped out of the finance committee Saturday. It's on the House floor calendar for Monday.

Next appears to be the House's substitute version of the Senate's legislation to restructure the Permanent Fund, Senate Bill 26, which is up for public testimony in the House Finance Committee at 4 p.m. Monday. The House's broad-based tax proposal will come later in the week.

The Senate is continuing work on its suite of education bills, which has a hearing in the finance committee Monday afternoon. The Senate majority also still needs to finish work on its capital budget proposal, which is still stuck in the finance committee with public testimony scheduled at a hearing 9 a.m. Tuesday.

One big outstanding question is whether either chamber will move legislation to the floor to bring Alaska into compliance with the REAL ID Act — which without legislative action could cause big headaches for Alaskans who travel or visit military bases.

Another question is whether any of Walker's appointees will be vetoed by lawmakers in Thursday's joint session of the House and Senate for confirmation votes. One nomination to keep an eye on is Walker's attorney general, Jahna Lindemuth — her final confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee is Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the vote.

She's been criticized by some Republicans for the Walker administration's work on a settlement with a Native corporation over access to a remote road near Copper Center.

Stay in touch as we keep you up to speed on those developments and more — and feel free to let us know if you have suggestions or ideas for stories. I'm at @nat_herz on Twitter; email me at nherz@alaskadispatch.com or call or text me at 907-793-0312, a number that also works with the encrypted messaging app Signal.

Have a great week.

Nat