Gov. Mike Dunleavy expressed frustration on Tuesday saying that legislative lawmakers in Juneau failed to provide Alaskans a functional PFD. He stopped short of saying that he will veto it, but did say that Alaskans have been dealt a terrible hand in that they could receive the lowest dividend on record when accounting for inflation, according to the governor. Dunleavy, however, did say that he is calling the legislature back into session on October first.
He said:
“On one hand, a veto of this half measure would seem appropriate, but at this stage of the game that would aid and abet those that don’t care about individual Alaskans, small businesses and the economy. As a result, I will not veto this partial PFD, but will call the legislature back into session October 1 to get the rest of this year’s PFD and to solve the state’s financial problems with a complete fiscal plan.”
At an August press conference, Dunleavy was asked of the possibility of a fourth special session:
“If we don’t call them back in, then how does this get solved. I would hope that they could call themselves back in. I would have hoped that this would have been solved months, if not years ago. If we don’t do that, and we don’t have a permanent fund dividend, we don’t have solutions to the fiscal issue going forward. So what we end up doing is continuing to have uncertainty and, to some extent, chaos. Chaos meaning what are we going to do here in a couple of months? What are we going to do in a year? This is problematic and it doesn’t have to happen. It doesn’t have to happen. This is not a mechanical issue. This is really a political issue. Everybody’s going to have to take a step in. We’ve taken a step in. The caucuses are going to have to take a step in to get a solution. This is how government runs. This is how it was put together. I’m not planning on a special session because I’m hoping that everything gets done here over the next 30 days.”
The state Senate on Tuesday approved an $1,100 dividend payment on the final day of the third special session of the year, which follows the state House of Representatives canceling their floor session and members of the Alaska Senate Finance Committee unanimously voting to advance the $1,100 dividend payment to a vote on the senate floor.
In scheduling the fourth special session, Dunleavy said:
“While we continue to debate the fiscal future of this state, the people of Alaska need help now.”
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