BREAKING: The Legislature passed a budget with roughly $3,200 in cash payments for each Alaskan. There was late-night drama before the session ended.
Three quarters of the House and Senate needed to support drawing from a savings account to pay for half of the energy relief check. The Senate got the minimum 15 votes to do that but the House fell one vote short.
There was a second chance to vote on the size of the energy relief check to make it $1,300. Some last minute arm twisting failed to get legislators to the 30-vote threshold to approve disbursing $3,800 in cash payments this year.of the $3,800 figure on Wednesday afternoon after the Senate passed the budget but before the House held its final vote. He urged legislators to approve it, saying it would help Alaskans alleviate the burdens of high inflation and high energy prices.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, called the final budget bill a “compromise” with a big dividend, extra funding for schools, and major investments in deferred maintenance and for the Port of Alaska and the Port of Nome. Fellow Republican Sen. Mike Shower had been pushing for a full statutory dividend at $4,200, but he said the $3,800 check would make a big difference for Alaskans.Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, supported the Senate’s budget last week with a full PFD, but she voted against it on Wednesday after the dividend had been cut. She called the budget “bloated” with its spending on state services.
Wasilla Republican Rep. Chris Kurka, who is also running to be governor, voted “no” in the House, calling it a “giant” budget. He also opposed how negotiations led to
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