The State Legislature is gearing up to get back into session as Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a fourth special session that’s set to begin on Monday, October 4th.
Senate President Peter Micciche spoke with KSRM’s “Sound Off” on if there are any current bills that can be picked up that Dunleavy placed on the special session agenda:
“They’re all in place. I know there are some senators working on some revenue bills as well. Senate Bill 53 is actually on the floor, if you remember, we tabled it; that is the PFD bill for a 50/50. The constitutional amendments are still in play. We can move them to the floor. A priority for us is a spending cap. There’s at least three of them in play. There’s some revenue bills in play, but there are all available. The call was wide enough where it calls out a bill and says, ‘or a similar piece of legislation’. That means we can drop new bills; we could adapt bills that are already there. My recommendation to my senators are to begin working on amendments for existing bills. You don’t have to recreate the wheel. We’ve got the framework available. That’s what we need to do. We need to adapt those bills to work accordingly.”
Senate Bill 53 relates to the use of income of the Alaska Permanent Fund, the amount of the Permanent Fund Dividend, providing for an effective date and relates to the duties of the commissioner of revenue.
In discussing Senate Bill 53, Sen. Micciche says that there’s a conditional effect on the tabled version of the bill that he doesn’t support:
“It says that once $700 million of new revenue is passed, then you can get to that 50/50. The PFD is not to fund the government. The increase in the revenue, if there is an increase, is to fund the government, not the PFD. The way that’s set up is say ‘if you want a larger PFD, then you’re going to have to have a fairly astronomical number in revenue.’ We don’t believe that’s the case. The reason there’s a step up is that you naturally get there over time to where you can afford the 50/50 and if there’s a gap to cover, it’s a temporary one in the meantime to get you there quicker. That conditional one is clearly set, in my view, to discourage getting there sooner to a 50/50, which is what I support, what I think we can afford.”
Gov. Dunleavy amended his initial Executive Proclamation convening the 32nd Legislature into a fourth special session, which will be held on Monday, October 4th at 2:00 p.m.
