(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - The Alaska Legislature held a joint floor session Friday to consider an override of two of the governor’s major FY2020 budget vetoes.

Lawmakers voted on a measure to restore a $5 million investment the Legislature made in the Alaska Marine Highway System, and to fulfill the state’s promise to reimburse communities that issue bonds to construct and improve schools.

While a majority in the Alaska House and Senate voted to override the vetoes (37-to-20) the vote fell short of the three-quarter threshold needed to restore the funding.

“Alaskans deserve to know where their elected officials stand,” House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham) said of the vote. “Today, we saw clearly that most legislators stand with the Alaska Marine Highway System, and for keeping the financial commitments the state made to local communities. I want Alaskans to know unequivocally that last year’s budget is not the new normal. The governor’s vision does not support the level of services it takes to build the Alaska our children and elders deserve.”

Efforts to restore funding for Alaska Marine Highway System, school bond debt reimbursement, and other key services threatened by recent budget cuts will continue immediately through the supplemental budget process and in the FY2021 budget.

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham) and Senate President Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage) in a January 23rd joint press release announced that the Alaska Legislature would hold a joint floor session on Friday - January 24th to consider an override of vetoes made by the governor in the FY2020 budget.

House Minority Leader Lance Pruitt (R-Anchorage) issued a statement after what he called Friday's surprise joint session to take up budget veto overrides. 

Pruitt said, “As the House Majority clearly stated in their press release after the joint session, [Friday's] vote was about nothing more than creating material to use against other members in the next election cycle. The House and Senate leadership knew that they didn’t have the votes to be successful, yet they moved forward anyway, failing to consider the concerns of conservatives who are serious about being guardians of good government and fiscal restraint."

"That being said, we have several members who have been working closely with the Governor’s office to find solutions to both our immediate and long-term challenges for the Alaska Marine Highway System and school bond debt reimbursement. Voting YES on veto overrides today would have undermined progress made in those negotiations," said Pruitt.

"I’m happy that the voices of Alaskans were heard [Friday], through the sea of deception and dishonesty that was created by a few individuals for partisan political purposes,” wrote Pruitt in his statment.

Edited By Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska House Majority
www.akleg.gov

Alaska House Republicans
www.akleg.gov

 

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