A bill strengthening the ability of the state’s legislative auditors to obtain information “in the form or format requested” will become law after the Alaska Legislature on Saturday voted to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of the measure on a vote of 43-16. Lawmakers have said the somewhat obscure policy is significant in the face of missing oil tax information.
Senate Bill 183 cleared the Legislature in May on a 49-10 vote. In an op-ed jointly authored on July 28 by Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, they characterize it as a necessary move to “address a serious and ongoing problem.” They said Dunleavy’s administration has since 2020 “withheld essential audit information from the Legislature, obscuring the accuracy of potentially billions of dollars in oil production tax revenue.”
“Oversight is not optional, especially in a resource-dependent state like Alaska, where a single percentage point in tax reporting error can result in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue,” they wrote. “Alaskans expect their representatives to verify, not just trust, that the state’s largest industries are paying fairly and that public dollars are properly managed.”
Dunleavy vetoed the bill June 27, writing in a letter to the Legislature that the bill oversteps the separation of powers between Alaska’s legislative and executive branches.
Five of the six lawmakers who represent the Kenai Peninsula — Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, Sen. Gary Stevens, Rep. Justin Ruffridge, Rep. Bill Elam and Rep. Louise Stutes — voted in favor of the override. Rep. Sarah Vance, a Homer Republican, was the only Kenai Peninsula lawmaker who voted in opposition.
Speaking in Kenai last week, Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, said the override vote for the veto of SB 183 shouldn’t be overshadowed by the more high-profile vote on education funding that happened the same day.
Reached after the vote on Saturday, he said he voted in favor of the override to support accountability for oil and gas tax audits by the Legislature.
“Our constitution deliberately balances power between the branches of government,” he said. “Exercising and maintaining that balance is part of the Legislature’s job.”
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
