What others say: Ready for Round 3?

  • By Ketchikan Daily News editorial
  • Wednesday, June 21, 2017 12:23pm
  • Opinion

We’re headed into Round 3.

The Alaska House adjourned Thursday without compromising with the Senate on a state operating budget and coming to a solution to the budget deficit.

The House majority simply adopted its own version of the budget, combining the operating and capital documents, and, by moving out of session, basically told the Senate to “deal with it.”

This hasn’t been received well by the Senate, nor did the House minority applaud the process.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

People, whether it’s Alaskans or others, don’t respond well to just-deal-with-it statements. It smacks of a dictatorship, of which Alaska isn’t, and, of course, it fails to endear the ruler to the ruled over.

It appears the House leadership is maneuvering to gain politically with its adjournment. House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat, told The Associated Press that the House majority acted to prevent a government shutdown.

Ending the session as the House did won’t prevent a shutdown. The Senate didn’t accept the House’s budget version before session’s end, and it won’t find it more palatable because of a grandstand move by the House.

Edgmon also stated the Senate refused to consider any deficit-reduction opportunities other than reducing Alaska Permanent Fund dividend payouts. But both bodies proposed dividend reductions in the course of the legislative session.

The House’s proposed budget restores the full amount of the permanent fund dividend and the $69 million taken out of K-12 education by the Senate.

As for the deficit, it remains at $2.5 billion.

If the House and Senate were coming to a compromise as Sen. Pete Kelly indicated following the House’s adjournment, the House majority’s move possibly will reduce the likelihood of that and add to an already tense situation.

Even Gov. Bill Walker admits neither body will get it all its own way; there must be a compromise. It won’t come easy, given the House is controlled by Democrats and the Senate by Republicans.

In the meantime, a July 1 government shut down looms.

Walker called a second special session Friday, but until Alaskans squawk about lost services, the likelihood of further sessions producing a budget appear remote.

The situation isn’t sufficiently real to legislators’ constituents yet. Services are still being provided. But when they aren’t, and if Alaskans feel affected as a result, that’s when legislators will become more willing to work across party lines to prepare budgets, reduce the deficit and relieve the distress of displeased constituents.

Round 3 — the special session that started Friday — might not be the last.

— Ketchikan Daily News,

June 17

More in Opinion

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building at the University of Alaskas Anchorage. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: UAA’s College of Health — Empowering Alaska’s future, one nurse at a time

At the University of Alaska Anchorage, we understand the health of our… Continue reading

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: A noncongressman for Alaska?

It’s right to ask whether Nick Begich is a noncongressman for Alaska.… Continue reading

Boats return to the Homer Harbor at the end of the fishing period for the 30th annual Winter King Salmon Tournament on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Funding sustainable fisheries

Spring is always a busy season for Alaska’s fishermen and fishing communities.… Continue reading

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in