Lawmakers hope to finalize a state budget before the end of the week even as several key issues remain unsettled.<\/p>\n
Both chambers of the Legislature passed several pieces of legislation Monday, but a budget bill was not one of them.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are using the time afforded to them by the special session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week to work on a state budget bill. The special session is set to begin Thursday, effectively extending the regular session by 30 days. The House of Representatives already passed bills for the state’s mental health and operating budgets, and the language in those bills will be added to a Senate bill for the state’s capital budget to create a single bill.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Senate President Peter Micciche said he hoped to see a budget bill on the floor of the Senate Sunday or Monday, but as the week began the various budget bills remained in the Senate Finance Committee. That committee has been meeting almost every weekday for months, sometimes twice a day, to process the many bills that have to pass through it.<\/p>\n
The committee briefly reviewed revisions to the bill made by the Dunleavy administration Monday afternoon, and committee co-chair, Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, said amendments for the bill were due noon Tuesday. Lawmakers have said the state’s budget amounts are similar to the governor’s proposed budget introduced in December.<\/p>\n