(The Center Square) – Alaska lawmakers passed a $6.2 billion budget that includes a $1,300 permanent fund dividend and does not draw on the state’s budget reserves.
The one-day special session ended months of haggling between the House and Senate, but not all lawmakers were happy. Fourteen House members and three Senate members voted against the budget.
The budget also includes just short of $175 million in new money for education.
“We have a balanced budget at $73 per barrel of oil with the single largest education funding increase in history and a reasonable dividend,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, operating budget chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “By pursuing these goals of a balanced budget, being fiscally responsible, and getting our children educated along the way, we can increase the financial strength of the state. This will lower our cost of borrowing and possibly increase the state’s credit rating.”
The spending plan leaves the state with an $84.2 million surplus. Lawmakers also averted any additional taxes. Gov. Mike Dunleavy met with lawmakers during the regular session to discuss a possible 2% statewide sales tax. The bill was never drafted.
“This budget is not only reasonable, but it is also responsible,” said Senate President Gary Stevens. “The hard work that members of Senate Finance did make it possible to find solutions to balance the budget and provide a path to pay back our savings, all without spending down our savings, which is commendable.”
Lawmakers will make significantly more when they begin the 2024 legislative session. The State Officer’s Compensation Commission recommended an increase in pay from $50,400 to $84,000 a year. House Bill 135 by Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, introduced a bill that would block the pay raises. The House passed the bill, but the Senate did not consider it.
The governor, lieutenant governor and state agency heads will receive 20% pay bumps.
