Post by Logan on Mar 3, 2016 5:37:16 GMT -6
Are Alaska lawmakers heading toward another end-of-session meltdown?
JUNEAU — Alaska lawmakers say they’re taking steps to avoid repeating last year’s disastrous budget gridlock, which lasted nearly two months through a pair of special sessions.
But House minority Democrats, whose support is needed to unlock the state’s biggest savings account, say that so far, they’re not happy with their Republican colleagues’ direction when it comes to developing a state budget. If that disharmony continues, it could foreshadow more problems for this year’s endgame.
“The further the budget goes along without any bipartisan compromise, the less likely it is there’s going to be a bipartisan budget,” Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said in an interview. “Once something passes that one party loves and the other party doesn’t really like, it’s hard to unwind it.”
Lawmakers are trying to re-engineer last year’s $5.4 billion budget after a sharp drop in oil prices created a roughly $3.8 billion deficit.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160302/are-alaska-lawmakers-heading-toward-another-end-session-meltdown
JUNEAU — Alaska lawmakers say they’re taking steps to avoid repeating last year’s disastrous budget gridlock, which lasted nearly two months through a pair of special sessions.
But House minority Democrats, whose support is needed to unlock the state’s biggest savings account, say that so far, they’re not happy with their Republican colleagues’ direction when it comes to developing a state budget. If that disharmony continues, it could foreshadow more problems for this year’s endgame.
“The further the budget goes along without any bipartisan compromise, the less likely it is there’s going to be a bipartisan budget,” Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said in an interview. “Once something passes that one party loves and the other party doesn’t really like, it’s hard to unwind it.”
Lawmakers are trying to re-engineer last year’s $5.4 billion budget after a sharp drop in oil prices created a roughly $3.8 billion deficit.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160302/are-alaska-lawmakers-heading-toward-another-end-session-meltdown