Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants legislators to be settling the future of the Permanent Fund dividend for decades to come but first they have to decide what it will be this year.
Official work to finish the state’s 2022 fiscal year budget has slowed and it doesn’t appear lawmakers will give Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to overhaul the Permanent Fund and constitutionalize the dividend much time in the coming weeks.
Alaska Legislature rejects Pebble employee for state Board of Fisheries Published 2 hours ago
Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, center left, and Speaker of the House Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, center right, are framed by Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla (left) and Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla (right) during a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (James Brooks / ADN)
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Print article JUNEAU The Alaska Legislature rejected one of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s picks for the Alaska Board of Fisheries but otherwise broadly supported the governor’s choices for his cabinet and state boards and commissions during a rare joint session of the state House and Senate.
Print article JUNEAU The Alaska House of Representatives has postponed a key vote on Alaska’s state operating budget after Republican members objected to a schedule that would have cut off debate. The budget was removed from the desks of the 40-member House late Sunday and put in the House Rules Committee, causing the House to take a step backward in the process to approve the budget needed to keep state services operating past July 1. The delay is being caused by several factors, including organizational problems within the 21-member majority coalition. Debate isn’t expected to resume until at least Wednesday.
Print article JUNEAU State Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, is being sued by a constituent who says Reinbold violated her free speech rights by banning her from the senator’s official Facebook page and removing comments critical of Reinbold. With a legal complaint filed Friday in Anchorage Superior Court, Chugiak resident Bobbie McDow is seeking legal fees and an injunction against Reinbold that prevents her from removing posts that criticize her. Reinbold said Friday morning that she was unaware of the lawsuit and couldn’t comment on it. The suit says Reinbold has been removing comments that criticize her anti-mask viewpoint and that McDow was banned from Reinbold’s senatorial Facebook page this week.