House Speaker Mike Chenault said and the Governor share a common goal: passing a fully funded budget. However, the two state leaders haven’t seen eye to eye on how best to get there.
Chenault says it wasn’t suitable for the Legislature to continue their work in Juneau…
Speaker Chenault(R-Nikiski): “The Chambers are tore apart, there’s guys working around the building in HAZMAT suits and a lot of banging and clanging going on. They’re retrofitting the Capitol building with new earthquake measures to keep the building form falling down in case of an earthquake. The city of Juneau has tried to find us offices, but trying to get 60 offices that are set up with phones and computers and 95% of everyone has to fly through Anchorage to get to Juneau, so in this case, it makes sense.”
The Governor has previously said he’ll call another special session if he’s not happy with the results on May 27. Chenault said the Legislature may call their own session, though they hope to have the budget resolved soon…
Speaker Chenault(R-Nikiski): “Nobody wants to lay off all the State employees, nobody wants to go down that path, but it’s a matter of being able to put the pieces together that allow us the funds to be able to pay for the 2016 budget.”
