Alaska governor calls special sessions on budget, spending

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday called a special session that would begin next week, after the current regular session ends, and would focus on the budget and his proposals for the annual check residents receive from the state’s oil-wealth fund.

He also announced a second special session, scheduled to begin Aug. 2, that would address topics including a proposed spending limit, revenue and spending of federal recovery dollars.

Both special sessions would be in Juneau.

The first special session is scheduled to begin May 20, the day after the scheduled end of the regular session.

Still unresolved are state spending plans and a decision on the size of this year’s permanent fund dividend. For decades, a formula was used to decide dividends but that decision in recent years has been made by lawmakers amid a continued budget deficit. There has been interest in trying to settle the debate over the dividend program that has overshadowed other issues.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/alaska-business-government-and-politics-913d34a3fe09cc809e5575ce0cdbf996