Walker proposes $65M supplemental budget for current year

  • By Becky Bohrer
  • Wednesday, February 4, 2015 11:02pm
  • News

JUNEAU — Gov. Bill Walker has proposed a $65 million supplemental spending bill, including $50 million in unrestricted general funds.

The supplemental budget is intended to cover unanticipated costs for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Details on Walker’s budget plan for next year are expected Thursday.

Alaska faces multibillion-dollar budget deficits for this year and next amid a crash in oil prices. While the state plans to dip into savings to get by, Walker and lawmakers have been bracing the public for cuts.

Spending levels and oil prices will dictate how long reserves last.

In an email to state employees Wednesday, Walker said the fiscal situation “necessitates that we take swift action to trim spending and reduce the footprint of state government to a sustainable level.”

He said his budget proposal for next year includes staff reductions “and will initiate a challenging, but necessary, discussion among Alaskans.”

The supplemental proposal for this year includes Walker’s previously announced plan to cut $52 million in one-time education funding approved during the last session for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

That helps offset $92 million in extra expenditures related to accounting issues for advance payments to providers stemming from Alaska’s problem-plagued Medicaid payment system.

The budget released on the Office of Management and Budget website Tuesday also includes about $785,000 for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which is charged with writing regulations for the implementation of legalized marijuana in Alaska, and a proposed re-appropriation of $3.2 million left from completed projects to a fund used for cleanup of contaminated sites, nonemergency spill response and other activities, which faces a shortfall.

More in News

The waters of Cook Inlet lap against Nikishka Beach in Nikiski, Alaska, where several local fish sites are located, on Friday, March 24, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Unprecedented closures threaten setnet way of life

Setnetters have been vocal about their opposition to the way their fishery is managed

Legislative fiscal analysts Alexei Painter, right, and Conor Bell explain the state’s financial outlook during the next decade to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Legislators eye oil and sales taxes due to fiscal woes

Bills to collect more from North Slope producers, enact new sales taxes get hearings next week.

Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park

Bruce Jaffa, of Jaffa Construction, speaks to a group of students at Seward High School’s Career Day on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward students talk careers at fair

More than 50 businesses were represented

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

Jerry Burnett, chair of the Board of Game, speaks during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Board of Game decides on local proposals

Trapping setbacks, archery hunts and duck restrictions were up for consideration

Audre Hickey testifies in opposition to an ordinance that would implement a citywide lewdness prohibition in Soldotna during a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council kills citywide lewdness ordinance

The decision followed lengthy public comment

Samantha Springer, left, and Michelle Walker stand in the lobby of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Springer named new head of Kenai chamber

Springer, who was raised in Anchorage, said she’s lived on the Kenai Peninsula since 2021

Forever Dance performers rehearse “Storytellers” on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Storytellers’ weave tales with their feet

Dance and literature intersect in latest Forever Dance showcase

Most Read