Bradners’ laska Legislative Digest A- Commentary on Alaska issues and policy PUBLISHERS: Mike Bradner, Tim Bradner / Business Office: (907) 440-6068 / 3037 South Circle Anchorage, AK 99507 / Fax: (907) 345-5683 Digest No. 1/2021 Jan. 22, 2021 Senate: Seasoned hands at the helm The state House, split 20-20, has yet to organize but the Senate organized itself quickly and smoothly last week, dispelling fears that differences among the 13 Republicans would cause delays. Senate leaders include experienced hands Sens. Peter Micciche, R-Kenai, as President; Bert Stedman, R-Sitka and Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, as Finance Committee cochairs, and Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, as Rules chair. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Mat-Su, is Majority Leader. Senate organizers threw the hard-right crowd a bone by giving Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, chair of the Judiciary Committee. There are seven Senate Democrats. As expected, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, joined the Senate Majority, as he has in the past. Rural lawmakers representing large districts must be pragmatic and often set aside partisan affiliations to represent constituents. The Senate’s new leaders, all experienced, also know it is better to have the canny Hoffman inside the tent than outside. Fears of control by Mat-Su, governor averted There were fears initially that the Senate would wind up being controlled this year by hard conservative senators from the MatSu with Gov. Mike Dunleavy pulling strings behind the scenes. In that scenario, the key issue would have been the governor’s push for large Permanent Fund dividends, which most senators feel can’t be afforded. Although moderate senators wound up in leadership the PFD issue is still there. That’s because a key condition We resume our weekly Legislative in the Senate organization deal is no “bind- Digest on Monday, Jan. 25 ing caucus” condition on votes. The means every Also next week: State in the oil business; senator is free to vote his or her wishes on a AIDEA in ANWR, pros and cons floor vote for a bill. – Continued on next page Our reports are protected by Copyright. Please do not forward to others without permission. © COPYRIGHT Email: [email protected] No “binding caucus” a key condition? – Continued from previous page A binding caucus rule requires a legislator to support the majority caucus position on key issues like the budget or bills with big fiscal impacts like on the PFD. In an open-vote scenario the large PFD passes. It would take a courageous lawmaker to vote “no” on this and have to explain to constituents the math behind why we can’t afford large dividends with $74 billion in the Permanent Fund. The no binding-caucus agreement was likely a condition of Mat-Su sena- tors like Mike Shower and Shelley Hughes in going along with Micciche, Stedman, Bishop and Stevens in the Senate organization. The House will take time to get organized The House will take time to get itself organized, and although this will really slow things down experienced House members say this isn’t a bad thing. With an evenly-divided House of 20 Republicans, 16 Democrats, one dissident Republican Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak) and three independents aligned so far with Democrats, a coalition of some kind is required for the House to be able to function. In this sense, having one independent, as an example, shift over to give a one-vote advantage to a Republican majority isn’t enough. Rep. Eastman holds key cards In a 21-19 world Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, holds a key card in the House because of his history of voting “no” on every bill. With such a thin margin Eastman effectively blocks any bill, even the budget, from getting 21 votes needed to pass the House. Unless a budget is passed by June 30 state government shuts down (that may be Eastman’s goal). Republican moderates fear other newly-elected Republican House members may join Eastman this year, creating a hard-right bloc within a Republican majority. The only practical solution is for a group of mod- erate Republicans to join with Democrats and the three independents to form a coalition. The coalition needs to have about 30 in it to create the flexibility to deal with sensitive issues like the Permanent Fund Dividend. Creating a coalition like that will take some time but it’s better to do that than rush things with a narrow majority that will either fracture quickly or have to be managed so rigidly as to create hard feelings. Some say that happened with the House coalition in the last Legislature. Legislature is slow in getting started Not surprisingly, with the COVID-19 restrictions and the delay in organizing the House the Legislature is very slow in getting started. There are limitations to accessing the Capitol except for lawmakers and key staff, and a few reporters. The House delay means none of the prefiled bills, or new bills by the governor and legislators, can be assigned to commitees and commit- Page 2 – Continued on next page Alaska Legislative Digest No. 1/2021 Could House do temporary, ad hoc organization? – Continued from previous page tee hearings held. The House could organize itself temporarily, as it did in 2018 under similar circumstances, with temporary co-presiding officers from both parties and committees made up with equal representation by both and committee cochairs, which is already done. As an expe- dient the House could to this again if there is a protracted delay. It would be cumbersome, but it could work. The Senate is organized, of course, but as of Friday, Jan. 22, had not yet assigned bills to com- mittees. Even in the Senate there is a slow startup for committees. Next week the Departments of Natural Resources, Revenue and the governor’s Office of Management and Budget will present information on oil production forecasts, revenues (all sources) and information on the governor’s budget to the Senate Finance Committee. These topics are traditionally covered in the first week of session, so we see a one-week delay. Holding up the governor’s State of State address? The delay in House organization appears to be holding up the governor’s annual State of the State address to the Legislature. This is an important presentation where Gov. Dunleavy will lay out his priorities. Right now there’s no House Speaker to join the Senate President at this joint session, however. We expect a work-around on this, perhaps a temporary Speaker sitting in. Senate commmittee appointments Education Committee: Sen. Holland, Chair; Sen. Stevens, Vice Chair; Sen. Hughes; Sen. Micciche; Sen. Begich Finance Committee: Sen. Bishop, Cochair; Sen. Stedman, Cochair; Sen. Hoffman; Sen. von Imhof; Sen. Wilson; Sen. Olson; Sen. Wielechowski Health and Social Services Committee: Sen. Wilson, Chair; Sen. Hughes, Vice Chair; Sen. Costello; Sen. Reinbold; Sen. Begich Judiciary Committee: Sen. Reinbold, Chair; Sen. Shower, Vice Chair; Sen. Hughes, Sen. Myers; Sen. Kiehl Labor and Commerce Committee: Senator Costello, Chair; Senator Holland, Vice Chair ; Senator Revak, Senator Stevens; Sen. Gray-Jackson Resources Committee: Sen. Revak, Chair; Sen. Micciche, Vice Chair; Sen. Bishop; Sen. Ste- vens; Sen. von Imhof; Sen. Kiehl; and Sen. Kawasaki – Continued on next page Page 3 Alaska Legislative Digest No. 1/2021 Could House do temporary, ad hoc organization? – Continued from previous page State Affairs Committee: Sen. Shower, Chair; Sen. Reinbold, Vice Chair; Sen. Costello; Sen. Holland; and Sen. Kawasaki Transportation Committee: Senator Myers, Chair; Senator Shower, Vice Chair; Senator Bishop; Senator Micciche; and Senator Kiehl Rules Committee: Sen. Stevens, Chair; Sen. Micciche, Vice Chair; Sen. Hughes; Sen. Stedman; and Sen. Begich Coming next week in our Legislative Digest: • New banking bill by Rep. Chris Tuck • Early education, by Sen. Tom Begich • Alcohol regulation reform, by Sen. Peter Micciche • State energy policy, retrofit of public buildings, by Sen. Tom Begich • School districts set maximum class sizes, grant program, by Sen. Tom Begich • Certificates of out-of-state teachers, by Sen. Gary Stevens • Repeal of health provider Certificate of Need, by Sen. David Wilson • Health insurance reform, by Sen. Shelley Hughes • Early education, school performace, by Sen. Shelley Hughes • Audits of municipal CARES act funds, by Rep. George Rauscher • Liability immunity, business/employees, COVID-19, by Rep. DeLena Johnson • Oil spill discharge penalties, by Rep. Andy Josephson Page 4 Alaska Legislative Digest No. 1/2021.