Delays in the Alaska State Senate meant the state’s budget bill wasn’t debated on the floor until Wednesday evening, meaning it would likely be several more days before the Legislature could finalize a budget.<\/p>\n
By 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Senate had not yet begun debating the omnibus budget bill, a combination of operating and capital budget bills that still needs to be sent back to the House of Representatives for concurrance.<\/p>\n
Once the budget is passed, it’s likely both bodies with appoint members for a conference committee which will negotiate a compromised version of the bill on behalf of their respective bodies.<\/p>\n
However, the Senate Finance Committee incorporated elements of the operating budget bill passed by the House last week, and the final version of the budget caught some lawmakers off guard.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee co-chair Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said a few more days might give lawmakers time to consider the budget.<\/p>\n
“It’s a big budget with a lot of moving parts,” Stedman said.<\/p>\n
Republican senators spent most of Wednesday in caucus, delaying the Senate’s floor session until the afternoon. The Senate’s floor session was initially scheduled for 10:30 a.m. but didn’t actually meet until just after 1:30 p.m. Senators spent about 30 minutes in session before recessing so Republican senators could meet in caucus again.<\/p>\n
Democrats in the Senate Minority balked at the final version of the budget as well, with Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, saying minority members felt pushed out of the budget process.<\/p>\n
“We thought we had an understanding and yesterday that understanding broke down,” Begich said.<\/p>\n
Begich said the minority had worked well with the majority and proposed items they felt had statewide appeal. But disagreements over unemployment insurance and tourism revitalization funding caused a rift, Begich said, in the unity displayed in the Senate for most of the session. The minority was willing to use its six votes as a bloc to impact the budgeting process, Begich said.<\/p>\n
Democrats submitted a number of amendments for a floor vote Wednesday but Begich said, they were not given a fair hearing in the finance committee. Despite the disagreements, Begich said he was optimistic about the situation.<\/p>\n