Bankers, home builders, Alaska Natives, health care professionals, nonprofit leaders and more all had one message for the Legislature: Override the governor’s vetoes.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday afternoon’s House Finance Committee meeting, there were almost two hours of invited testimony delivered in support of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s 182 line-item budget vetoes totalling over $400 million. At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, a joint session<\/a> of the House and Senate is scheduled for consideration of veto overrides.<\/p>\n “I can’t put into words how serious this is and how important it is to override the governor’s veto package,” said Steve Lundgren, who spoke on behalf of the Alaska Bankers Association.<\/p>\n He said while the association generally favors smaller government, it does not support governor’s approach — more than $400 million in vetoes — to the Legislature-approved budget is the best option.<\/p>\n Lundgren said slashes to support for the University of Alaska and school bond debt reimbursement could hurt bond ratings and banks throughout the state.<\/p>\n [Live: Coverage of Tuesday’s talk of ‘the sweep’ and veto overrides<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, co-chair of the committee, asked if spending at a defecit hurts bond ratings.<\/p>\n Lundgren said over a long enough timeline it could but in the immediate future it would not be as damaging as the the governor’s vetoes.<\/p>\n “We do believe that a step-down approach would be looked at favorably by the rating agencies, but the significant decrease will create so many unknowns, and I think that’s what got the attention of rating agencies,” he said.<\/p>\n Similarly, Jeff Twait of the “right-leaning” Alaska State Home Building Association voiced his organization’s support for a veto override out of concern that the vetoes could cause an economic downturn.<\/p>\n