Senate committee adds $3,000 PFD to bill reversing most budget vetoes, but prospects remain uncertain

JUNEAU — Over the objections of its two co-chairs, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee on Saturday approved legislation to pay a $3,000 Permanent Fund dividend this year.

The legislation, known as House Bill 2001, would also reverse approximately 80% of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s operating budget vetoes if signed into law.

HB 2001 could be voted on by the entire Senate as early as Sunday afternoon, but the fate of the dividend remains uncertain. While the committee voted 5-4 in favor of a $3,000 dividend, the Senate as a body has been unable to approve that amount. In early June, a bill paying a $3,000 dividend twice failed to pass the Senate.

The bill has already passed the House, but at the time, it only included the partial budget veto reversals and not a dividend amount. The House instead voted Friday to approve a $1,600 dividend in a piece of separate legislation, House Bill 2003, that has been shelved by the Senate for now.

Regardless of the dividend amount the Senate approves, HB 2001 would have to return to the House, where lawmakers would be asked to approve the Senate’s changes. Only if the House agrees would it go to the governor for approval or veto.

With HB 2001 moving through the Legislature, the House and Senate are approaching key votes on the four immediate fiscal challenges facing the state of Alaska: Dunleavy’s line-item vetoes to the operating budget, this year’s PFD amount, the capital budget and an action known as the “reverse sweep” that affects dozens of program-specific savings accounts.

On Monday, the House will vote for the final time on legislation that would fix problems with the state’s capital budget and the reverse sweep that have defunded scholarship programs, road and airport construction, vaccine subsidies, rural electrical subsidies and dozens of other programs across Alaska. Senate Bill 2002 has already passed the Senate 19-0, and would need to pass the House with 30 votes and be signed by the governor before taking effect.

Lawmakers, unable to gather enough support to directly override Dunleavy’s decision to veto $444 million from the state’s operating budget, have proposed HB 2001 to restore much of that funding. In a call with reporters Thursday, Dunleavy said he would carefully consider any legislation passed by the House or Senate, but he implied that if the legislation goes too far in reversing his cuts to the budget, he reserves his right to veto some or all of it.

[Unapologetic, Dunleavy stands behind budget vetoes and $3,000 dividend]

“I think there will be additional vetoes, and we’ll just have to deal with it later,” said Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, during Saturday’s committee hearing.

The Permanent Fund dividend remains unresolved, with HB 2001 now serving as the taxicab carrying legislative discussion. A majority of the House supports a $1,600 dividend this year, the governor continues to back a $3,000 dividend, and the opinion of the Senate will be determined Sunday or Monday if its schedule holds.