The Alaska legislature’s extended session wrapped up last week after enacting a greater percentage of bills and resolutions than any other session in the last decade.
Sen. Peter Micciche of Soldotna stopped in to KSRM to speak about the session.
Sen. Micciche: “We stuck to the core issues that we thought were important, education, the natural gas project budget issues, I think we did the things that we need to do for moving forward in Alaska’s future, I think our increased production of 35,000 barrels a day pushes out that little foot of where we think we might have a funding issue in the future so if we combine being more responsible with spending and a smaller operating budget in the future with hopefully additional revenue we are likely to get to the point where new gas, new revenue will carry us forward.”
During the 28th session the Alaska House and Senate passed a total of 268 bills and resolutions which was 36 % of all those introduced. This is more than any legislative session since the one that ended in 2004.
The 27th session that ran from 2011-2012 saw a 26% passage rate when the senate was controlled by a bipartisan coalition.
The number of bills and resolutions continue to decline, with only 744 introduced in the 28th session. That trend began before 2008 when sessions were shortened from 120 to 90 days.