It was a long and contentious day in the halls of the Capitol. Most of the day saw legislators in and out of caucus meetings, and Senate leaders in and out of House Speaker Cathy Tilton’s office. Deals appeared to be being made, fast and furious, and the problem with having a nonbinding majority caucus was more evident than ever.
The House convened in the early evening to vote on the Operating Budget, which had been delivered to the body just 24 hours earlier.
It appears that some wrangling involving capital project money being moved around had been enough to secure the some of the votes needed to concur with the Senate’s amended budget, which has a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend, less than half of what the House had proposed in its own budget. The total added to the capital budget by the Senate for these votes was about $34 million.
It’s a rare occurrence for the House to simply concur with a Senate budget; almost always the differences are worked out in conference committee.
By a vote of 26-14 the operating budget passed rather quickly Thursday evening, including yes votes of the minority. But 13 majority members, including Speaker Tilton and Majority Leader Dan Saddler, voted no.
The rationale for concurring or not concurring was different or everyone. Rep. Neal Foster voting against concurrence, while Bryce Edgmon voted for it, and those two almost always vote in lockstep. The special session ended in one day, with a victory for the Senate budget, which does not dip into savings to pay a Permanent Fund dividend.
Several legislators were making a dash for the Juneau airport, trying to get on an 8:40 pm flight to Anchorage.
