House Speaker Bryce Edgmon explained that the Legislature is in a pickle because the House Finance Committee has not released the budget to the Rules Committee, and thus it can’t make it to the floor for a vote.
The Legislature is at a critical juncture, he said. The operating budget should already be in the hands of the Senate, but “now seems to be stuck in no-man’s land. The budget has not been transferred from the Finance Committeeee to the Rules Committee … Unfortunately because of extenuating circumstances in a whole realm of things, you could say everything from possible federal budget impacts to a global downturn and commodity prices, oil prices sort of slipping and sliding underneath us, and as crude is going down almost 14-15% in the last several days, not to mention that the spring revenue forecast that came out in March, which seems like an eternity ago, already really undercut our position from a year ago when oil was forecast to be $78 a barrel. Now, we’re looking at $68 a barrel going forward,” he said, as he introduced a press conference made up of leaders he handpicked when he became Speaker.
“And guess what? That $68 a barrel may be optimistic going forward in FY 26,” Edgmon continued.
Then he continued to talk about the need for more education funding and he blamed the governor for submitting a budget that has a legally mandated statutory Permanent Fund dividend, the House Republicans, the Senate, and seemingly everyone but himself, the leader of the Democrat majority.
“And we’d like to talk to you about that and be really honest with you and have the conversation that, ladies and gentlemen, we’re all in a pickle,” Edgmon said.
“It’s not just the House majority. It’s the House minority. It’s the governor. It’s the Senate majority. It’s the Senate minority,” he said, and continued to take no responsibility. “We are stymied because of the narrowness of the makeup of the House chamber.”
Speaker Edgmon then blamed the House minority for his majority’s inability to move forward on all its wants.
“I’ve [had] a number of conversations with minority members. Myself as well as others that have a concept … sort of set the pathway for working together. But at this juncture in house, you know, day 78, which is technically two-thirds of the way through the session … We have not had a cooperative relationship.”
The blame game continued:
“We have not, back in my memory since the early 80s, had such a sharply divided Finance committee with such difficult circumstances in front of them and it’s been a long time since we’ve had a House chamber that’s been closely divided — 21 and 19 — where one member essentially has veto power. We have a problem in front of us, folks, and that’s the purpose we’re here to talk with you about, and there are a number of pathways forward But the time is very limited and I’m gonna close before I turn it over to the Rules chair to once again implore the House minority.”
The budget imbalance began when the governor submitted a budget that was not fully funded.
But then, Rep. Andy Josephson, who chairs the Finance Committee, presented a revised budget that was also not funded, and he forgot to remove a portion of the Permanent Fund dividend. Now the budget requires rural members like Rep. Neal Foster and Nellie Jimmie to vote to strip a major portion of the dividend from their own constituents. They won’t do that. Rep. Josephson said that because they are rural, they get a pass.
The problem is not that the budget hasn’t been voted out of Finance, because it has. The problem is that the co-chairs won’t give the budget to Rep. Louise Stutes, who chairs Rules.
But Edgmon says it’s the House minority Republicans who are the problem.
Hence, the Edgmon Pickle.
In anticipation of future oil prices // royalties, here’s a perfect opportunity to cut 25% across the board of all agencies and then ask – demand that they do more with less.
Rob B. has identified the solution. CUT SPENDING.
Unfortunately when you talk about CUT SPENDING, the first thing they do is jump to the PFD as the first item…NEVER anthing like the school budget. They need to cut the subsidies from the Green Energies, now that Trump has declared they are not working. We’re spending to subsidize worthless “green energy”.
Yes, you are right. But they do not have the courage to do what is right. They want to give the school districts and everybody else more money that they don’t have and won’t have for the next couple of years for sure.
Yes, and 25% would be very easy to do from every standpoint. There is more than enough slop in every department for that reduction. If the House & Senate majorities leadership cannot stomach identifying specific reductions then a 25 percent across-the-board cut is not only doable but would help the private sector economy immensely.
Alternatively, the House and Senate minorities have leadership that could actually identify the best places to cut (even this late in the session) so the House Speaker and the Senate President could turn to them to accomplish the job. Either way, the state budget is far too large for a healthy economy.
I agree, in the absence of a full audit, a 25 percent reduction is a legitimate alternative.
It sounds like the elected representatives don’t or won’t do the job they ran to do, if they admit they are incapable of doing the job they wanted they should resign posthaste so that a capable person can do the job they refuse to do.
Steve-O I agree whole heartedly with you! I once worked in the Legislature, (73-74), before Oil $. Considering that at that time the State had essentially the SAME miles of Road that it does now, a very capable Marine Highway system, and did I mention that our schools were considered to be good, and not the Embarrassment that we have today.
How did those Legislators pull that off with the paltry sum they had to budget? To begin with they were men and women who were accomplished in life, they had made their mark and were serving, not looking for a career in politics! Furthermore, only the Chairman of Finance had a staff, lower ranked committee chairs shared a secretary. Nobody had an office or a staff beyond the above, (the Bush Caucus met at the Tri-Angle Club). And yet despite these deprivations these people delivered great services to the public!
We need to throw out these parasites and elect people who have life experiences that prepared them for leadership roles.
Absolute truth right there. There were decisions that were made every year that prioritized what had to be done and what could wait, before the oil flowed. Alaska worked on a very small budget and the State was not your daddy, it was a place of opportunity for those that wanted to DO things.
The state had an income tax at that time.
Anchorage Voter, yes the State had an income tax, and while it was painful for the Working Citizens, it didn’t add up to anything like what even 9 dollar oil would be today. I think the point expressed above was that the State had leaders who were accountable and spent miserly yet still provided the essential services.
Much $ is being blown, wasted and dare I say stolen???
Pigs should fly, too.
Just hop on a plane leaving Juneau on a long legislative weekend, you can see it for yourself!
Sarcasm is not the solution at this point. Reality is hitting with a very hard picture. With that, perhaps a 10 day contract with Musk and his Musketeers
might present a map and directions towards a solution. If not these folks, then mirror them with the process they are using to shift through departments identifying savings and the process to achieve those savings, which professional/elected and wanting souls refuse to admit .
Stated with no personal directions or intent.
Cheers,
Johnson-Ketchikan
al johnson, excellent response. It would not be that difficult to have an “IG’ type inspection to do a deep dig into all the state departments/functions. Look at redundancy, overlapping of daily functions, check every person’s job description to see if they are really doing what it says, do job descriptions overlap between workers, do away with outdated regulations/laws that should have been sunsetted, scrub the baseline budget and remove line items that are no longer used/needed, perform an entire manpower study to look at redundant staff positions, etc. It can be done. It must be done. The governor can get it done if he has the political will.
Edgmon has to be the most damaging bad faith actor in the legislature and that’s a hotly contested position.
The smart legislator would recommend a budget based on $60/barrel of oil and then let them justify their spending desires for getting more votes and staying in power.
I’ve got it. Take all of the useless politicians in Juneau, fly them to Anchorage, and put them up in a hotel. Take the homeless people staying in hotels in Anchorage, and put them up in Juneau. Let those people vote on the budget. Tell them that when they have passed it, they all get a prize, say a $200 gift card or something. After it’s passed, switch all the useless bums back again. Not seeing how it could turn out any worse.
Would need for that gift card to be restricted; otherise it’d ALL be spent of drugs/pot.
The house minority has tried to work with the pickle clutcher wielding the gavel… But budget cap, PFD payouts, budget cuts, long term fiscal plans… The exact things that the legislature spent an entire 30 day special session on a few short years ago… Have gone absolutely no where with Edgmon and Josephson…
So why the alligator tears Bryce?? You didn’t want to play nice before, so why should they throw a life line to the majority, to bail you outta a mess you created without their help?
Considering how long Mr. Edgmon has been drawing a salary from the Legislature, he appears to be in need of remedial education. He does not have the votes to move a bill he wants and is apparently too impaired to figure out how to get it done. The choices are two: Modify the bill or buy the necessary votes in some fashion. Apparently he is unwilling to do either. He has a personal problem.
Unfortunately, here in Alaska most of the press will actually give life to his “blame minority Republicans” approach. Mr. Edgmon is an unserious person.
Louise Stutues is a corrupt politician that needs some serious scrutiny.
Imagine this.
A state constitutional ammendment where if the legislature doesn’t finish on time it requires the legislature to move to attu island and finish the session without per diem. All food and shelter is operated by a man camp team and internet is only for official government business.
I’d prefer Amchitka.the residual radiation might motivate them to get done more quickly
This is what happens when democrats run things.
Instead of creating a budget based on lower revenue projections, these maroons lol for additional spending opportunities.
You folks down in the suburbs of Seattle (Juneau) have been stealing 50% of Alaskans PFD’s for years. Now you’re crying that you’re in a 1.9 billion dollar hole and refuse to cut any programs, YET you want Alaskans to take a 1000 dollar PFD to make up for your squandering. No. Start cutting. Somewhere down the line you forgot “your money” is in reality “our money”. We know deep down in your greedy little hearts that you want all of the PFD interest and slap a INCOME TAX on Alaskans. As soon as you slap an income tax on Alaskans, rope is going to get in short supply at the hardware stores.
Rope is already becoming scarce at my local hardware store ….
We’ve had it with these clowns.
Herman, Anchorage has become a clone of Seattle, where do you live? On the Moon? Mars?
BTW, who elected these idiots? Lemme give you a clue, Anchorage has half or more of the voters in this State…
1st, TOO MANY Committees, too many hands in the soup 2nd, Leave my PFD alone you freakin crooks!! 3rd move the capital to a road system and I bet they stop screwing around.
Edgmon has overstayed his welcome, and it’s painfully obvious. The fishing stocks are depleted thanks to trawling—something he’s conveniently supported through his cozy ties to the trawlers. Meanwhile, the local economy remains dead, and his family hasn’t even lived there for years. Why bother with the hometown when you’re busy plotting your next political move, like eyeing Senator Hoffman’s seat? His blame game and inability to take responsibility for the legislative mess only scream one thing: it’s time for him to pack it up and move on.
Its really simple- Put it to the people! Let Alaskans look at your spending projects and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. We don’t need government telling us what to spend our money on. We don’t need new roads if we can’t maintain the ones we have already. We don’t need railways to nowhere if there aren’t any economic benefits. We need a gas line for Alaskans and not just for trade. We need education brought back to standards and parents, not the unions. We need a booming fish industry. We need better economy not handouts.
I love to see the consternation among the politicians who are selling the citizens of Alaska down the river. A pox on all of them who steal our money.
The simple solution. Cut spending.
Let’s be honest, there is no way that our elected representatives should be shipped off to a remote location inhabited year-round by public sector employee union members who are supported by an invasive species (L48 lobbyists). The only practical way to resolve this is…..FOOD FIGHT!!
Any ” pickle” from them will be a sour ” Dill” for the public
I love pretty much all the comments here. <3
I still believe our Legislature Problems all stem from UNION CONTROL of our Legislature. The small Alaskan Communities are supported by Government -jobs–workers–Union Members–VOTERS. In a small community the Bread and Butter comes from the Government—UNION. When these small communities send their LegislaTORS to Junaeu they realized their Power In Numbers. All they needed was a few Cathy Geisels, Kelly Merricks, or Yunts, and you have a Union Friendly Uniparty. running the show. Union people in time become lazy and drunk on power. Bryce Edgmon is there.
Edgmon and others in the house majority own this whole mess. Just start cutting the budget of get DOGE to come to Alaska to get it done and fire all of the minority in both chambers and we might things fixed.
I mean the majority in both chambers
It appears this is what happens when a bunch of drunken legislators spend covid funds to create new programs they now cannot afford to fund. Fun and games.
Governor Walker knew what to do with an insufficiently funded budget presented to him by an inept Alaskan Legislature. He just took 1/2 of our PFD to fully fund the next physical year. Thus, setting up the escape plan for future spend happy legislatures. I doubt that there are enough easily available funds in Alaska’s piggy bank this year to cover the shortfall in the budget that will be presented to Governor Dunleavy. It is fun to watch the hand wringing of Majority Leaders Mr. Kopp and Mr. Stevens and Speaker Mr. Edgmon. Who thinks that there will be much of a PFD, or any PFD this year?
We have all our eggs in 1 basket after 46 years of rolling in money. So where did all our cash go ?? Not into developing other industries that’s for sure. Still no gas line and all the potential manufacturing that goes with that, limited mining and all the potential manufacturing that goes with that. Screwed up fishing industry. What we have is a mess with lots of potential.