Clever resolution would allow legislature to override vetoes

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Editor’s note: This breaking news story will be updated later in the day).

The Alaska House of Representatives today will discuss HCR 10, to be offered by Rules Committee Chairman Chuck Kopp. If agreed to by the Senate, it would likely result in a couple of important events:

  • The resolution seeks to set up a working group between the House and Senate to deliberate the issues surrounding the use of earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
  • The resolution calls for a special session at an unstated time, but would likely be at a time when the Legislature could conveniently also vote on overriding vetoes of the governor.

Gov. Michael Dunleavy is expected to veto at least some of the spending currently in the House and Senate budget that is working its way through the budget compromise process called conference committee.

If the resolution passes both bodies, a group of eight legislators, to include a member of the minority caucus of both bodies, would meet to discuss and provide policy recommendations on the future use of the earnings of the Permanent Fund.

Here is the language in this resolution:

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10                                                                   
01 Relating to the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund; establishing a bicameral                                         
02 legislative working group on the use of earnings of the Alaska permanent fund; and                                      
03 relating to a special session for the sole purpose of deliberating the issues surrounding                               
04 the use of the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund.                                                                   
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS the Alaska permanent fund is a sovereign wealth fund unique in the                                      
07 United States and critically important to the citizens of the state; and                                                
08       WHEREAS, for more than 30 years, the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund have                                 
09 primarily been used for the disbursement of dividends to the citizens of the state and for                              
10 inflation proofing the principal of the fund; and                                                                       
11       WHEREAS, because of the declining oil revenue of the state, and in pursuit of the                               
12 diversification of the state's revenue sources, a portion of the earnings of the Alaska                                 
13 permanent fund is currently being used to fund essential public services; and                                           
14       WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature supports the objective of the managers of                                  
15 the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to meet their fiduciary responsibility to grow the                                
01 Alaska permanent fund and supports a sustainable permanent fund dividend in perpetuity; and                             
02 WHEREAS the debate over the future use of the earnings of the Alaska permanent                                        
03 fund and the formula for the calculation of the permanent fund dividend requires the                                    
04 undivided attention of the Alaska State Legislature in a manner only a special session can                              
05 facilitate; and                                                                                                         
06 WHEREAS that debate involves unresolved issues, including the division of an                                          
07 annual draw on the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund, the transfer of funds from the                                
08 earnings reserve account in the Alaska permanent fund to the constitutionally protected                                 
09 principal of the Alaska permanent fund, and whether the earnings of the Alaska permanent                                
10 fund should be contained in a separate fund; and                                                                        
11 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes that, in finding a long-term fiscal                                   
12 solution for the state, the resolution of issues surrounding the future use of the earnings of the                      
13 Alaska permanent fund is paramount;                                                                                     
14 BE IT RESOLVED that a bicameral legislative working group is established to                                           
15 review the use of the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund; and be it                                                  
16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group will consist of four members from                                           
17 the House of Representatives and four members from the Senate appointed by the presiding                                
18 officer of each house and will include minority caucus representation from each body; and be                            
19 it                                                                                                                      
20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group will meet and provide policy                                                  
21 recommendations on the future use of the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund to the                                   
22 Alaska State Legislature during a 2019 special session; and be it                                                       
23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature will call itself into a                                            
24 special session at a time and date to be determined for the sole purpose of deliberating the                            
25 issues surrounding the use of the earnings of the Alaska permanent fund.                                                

11 COMMENTS

  1. There’s no reasoning with the speaker of the house. He’s gotta be stopped before he takes Lyman Hoffman seat in the next election. Lyman Hoffman isn’t running.

    It’s time for the Republican party to step up and actually help candidates out here in Western Alaska.

  2. this headline is so misleading and dumb. Of course the legislature has the legal right to overturn vetos.

    there is no scam or effort
    they are just preparing to follow protocol

    • Perhaps you missed the point, DB. The resolution says nothing about vetoes. It only discusses the Permanent Fund. It appears the author is saying it is a Trojan Horse measure. That the intention is to call special session at a time that would be strategic for overriding vetoes. That was how I read it.

  3. Legislators already had too much time in Juneau with little to NO progress.
    End the session on time for this year…
    Send everyone home and save the state some money…
    Let the Governor write us each the $6,700 check that was promised.

  4. ????
    no matter what the legislature has the right to overturn vetos

    there is no trojan bunny

    hence the headline implies following the ak constitution is some how wrong or trickery. strange way to view our state constitution.

      • ???
        Just a citizen that can read the alaska constitution. I expect SD to do better. She is a good writer-investigator. She doesn’t need to put out fake news, she can do better.

  5. Bunch of political double talk. The sole reason for the “special session” appears to be intended to give the dims the opportunity to steal the PFD with the least opposition possible. I’ll guarantee that the “special session” will be called, either in secret (legal or not), or at the least, when few, if any, opposing views to the dim agenda are present. “Funding essential services”, my rear end. Essential services to the dims are the socialist takeover of all Alaskan resources, to fund their socialist/lib/dim BS. To hell with real Alaskans that need the PFD, and the spending cap to limit “essential service” spending to state revenue. They want it all and will stoop to any level to get it. Alaskans aren’t stupid, as the dims seem to think. Remember these fools well, Alaskans. Voting time will come around. Remember what they are doing to Alaska. Remember!!!

  6. Any Special Session called for should be done with no pay andp no per diem. If you can not finish your job in the given time by the Alaska Constitution then you should not be compensated. Maybe instead of playing around in Juneau your first and only business until passed is the budget process. Too many times you hold votes on non-essential business first.

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