A proposal to more firmly cap the state budget is advancing in the Alaska Senate.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, boosted by public testimony firmly in support, the Senate State Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill 196<\/a>. The measure advances to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration.<\/p>\n If approved by the full Senate, the House, and Gov. Bill Walker, it would limit the state’s undesignated spending to $4.1 billion per year. The figure would be revised annually<\/a> based on inflation and state population.<\/p>\n State spending is already limited by an amendment to the Alaska Constitution, but that limit has never been approached and many lawmakers, particularly in the 13-member Senate Majority, say a tighter limit is needed.<\/p>\n “We must control our spending in order to refill our savings accounts and sustain the programs Alaskans rely on in their everyday lives,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, as he presented the bill to the committee. “Now is the time to pass an effective statutory appropriation limit.”<\/p>\n Micciche’s comments were backed by public testimony. Six callers, all from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said they want to see a smaller state government and less spending. (Others offered support by email<\/a>.)<\/p>\n “We have a governor who is like, in the candy shop and 4 years old, eating as much candy as his parents will let him buy. I wish you would cut the governor’s budget and pass a 196 or a companion bill,” said Beth Fread of Palmer. “I just really believe we have gone way off track with our spending and our dipping into other people’s pockets for the money government should be able to handle.”<\/p>\n Jeremy Price, of Alaska’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, testified in person.<\/p>\n “Boy, I hope we get these spending limitations in place and take care of (the state’s debt obligations),” he said.<\/p>\n After public testimony, the committee advanced the bill to the Senate Finance Committee, which drafted the measure and views it as a key component of a long-term solution to Alaska’s multibillion-dollar annual budget deficit.<\/p>\n Each year, Alaska’s budget is paid with money from three main sources: the federal government, fees and program earnings (such as ferry tickets and university tuition), and the state’s general fund. SB 196 limits that last category of spending but carves out exemptions for the Permanent Fund Dividend, state debt payments and the state’s construction and renovation budget.<\/p>\n