Alaska Legislature passes last-minute oil tax deal, but capital budget is still pending

The Alaska Legislature passed a late-night deal Saturday to end cash payments to oil companies, beating a midnight deadline to end its special session with an hour to spare.

The House vote was 33-6 and the Senate's was 18-0, in actions that both came after 10:30 p.m. Saturday. There was no public or industry testimony on the legislation, House Bill 111, which emerged at a joint House-Senate conference committee meeting earlier in the evening after hours of delays.

There was also no agreement on what would come next for lawmakers, who have been meeting continuously since January and have struggled to reach agreements on legislation to reduce the state's $2.5 billion deficit, as well as on Alaska's annual spending plans.

The Senate, just before its 11:58 p.m. adjournment Saturday, voted 17-1 to invite the House into another special session to address the still-pending state capital budget. But the House didn't take up the question, which to pass requires 40 votes from the 60 lawmakers split between the two chambers.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2017/07/16/alaska-legislature-passes-last-minute-oil-tax-deal-but-capital-budget-is-still-pending/