After nearly seven hours of delay, the Senate Finance committee has moved an operating budget with $700 million in cuts.
Late Thursday afternoon, the committee passed an amendment to cut education funding by nearly $100 million. The cuts go into the education funding formula, too, and amount to a $200 decrease in the base student allocation — the money the state pays per pupil in the classroom.
The committee also accepted an amendment to block Gov. Bill Walker from unilaterally expanding Medicaid, and an amendment to break the lease on the controversial Anchorage Legislative Information Office.
