The Alaska State Senate passed their version of the House Bill 281, which makes appropriations for the operating and loan program expenses of state government and for various programs, including capital funds and amending appropriations. It passed on a 15-5 vote and now heads to the House of Representatives for a concurrence vote.
Along with the previously announced energy relief check of $1,300, what passed the Senate includes a Permanent Fund Dividend of roughly $4,200. Senate President Peter Micciche told KSRM:
“This has been a tough year. There’s no doubt that a permanent fund dividend is more important for folks this year than it has been. I mean, inflation is high. Energy costs are high. People are struggling and we reflected that with a higher PFD and an energy relief check. I think it’s important to Alaskans. I certainly have friends and relatives that are struggling around not only the Kenai but around the state. I think it was an important addition this year, particularly with the energy relief. This year has been beneficial to the state as far as oil and gas prices that have been good for the treasury, and it was important to share with the people of Alaska.”
Sen. Micciche sets his priorities on trying to help residents of the Kenai Peninsula with what’s included in the budget:
“There’s some very important things in that bill. What I always focus on are roads and public safety and the things that Alaskans care about in the middle of winter when they can’t get from here to Anchorage. So, we have $281 million for road projects on the Kenai Peninsula. We have funding for the Silvertip Station, so we don’t have to worry about that being cut again. We have Bluff Stabilization for Kenai, safety equipment for our firefighters with a separate item that I got from Girdwood to Homer, the highway corridor. You know, we had to fight an increasing budget. The administration came in with a lot of new employees. We cut where we could. We have (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) dollars that are picking up a lot of the sum of the capital projects, so the budget is up a little bit because of that, the federal dollars that came in.”
Hashing out the differences in conference committee is expected, but in asking the Senate President the likelihood of the House simply concurring with HB 281, Sen. Micciche said:
“There’s always a chance that the House concurs, but it’s unlikely. That just doesn’t happen. I think there’s work to do between the two bodies. Leaving it all up to the governor for him to do all of the hard work, I mean, we have to work through the differences together. We have some reductions to make, there’s no doubt about that. What you’re seeing now is a collection of the both bodies and if we were to hand them this budget, which I think is too large, to the governor, we leave it all up to him.”
Click here for full details on HB 281.
