Senate passes spending limit bill after Democrats walk out in protest

Senate Minority Leader Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, answers questions at an impromptu press availability in her office in the Alaska State Capitol on March 23, 2018.
Senate Minority Leader Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, answers questions at an impromptu press availability in her office in the Alaska State Capitol on Friday. Her entire caucus had just walked out of the Senate floor session in protest of how her caucus’s proposed amendments to Senate Bill 196 were handled. The bill would impose a spending cap on the Legislature. From left to right facing the camera are Anchorage Sens. Berta Gardner, Bill Wielechowski, and Tom Begich; Golovin Sen. Donny Olson, and Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

The Alaska Senate passed a bill Friday intended to limit state spending. But not before Democratic senators in the minority caucus staged a protest, leaving the Senate floor.

Senate Bill 196 says the state should limit the portion of state spending on state agencies that the Legislature directly controls each year to $4.1 billion starting next year.

Minority-caucus senators offered 13 amendments. None of them passed. Senate President Pete Kelly, a Fairbanks Republican, ruled three of them out of order, which means senators didn’t debate or vote on them. That’s what sparked the protest.

Senate Minority Leader Berta Gardner of Anchorage said Kelly was wrong that the amendments weren’t relevant to the bill.

“Just because the chair says something is so — and the caucus members are obligated to follow their leader – does not make it so,” she said.

Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, leaves the Senate chambers in the Alaska State Capitol on March 23, 2018. All of the Senate's minority Democrats walked out of floor session in protest of how their proposed amendments to Senate Bill 196 were handled. The bill would impose a spending cap on the Legislature. The senators wanted to amend it to protect Alaska Permanent Fund dividends.
Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, leaves the Senate chambers in the Alaska State Capitol on March 23, 2018. All of the Senate’s minority Democrats walked out of floor session in protest of how their proposed amendments to Senate Bill 196 were handled. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/KTOO and Alaska Public Media)

Gardner then walked out, followed by four other Democrats. The amendments would have required the state to draw at least as much from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings for dividends as for state government spending.

After the minority members walked out of the chamber, the measure passed 13 to 0. Bill supporter Natasha von Imhof, a Republican senator from Anchorage, said it would set a precedent for future budgets.

“This bill is a an agreed-upon set of principles which this Legislature and future legislators can utilize when setting an annual budget,” she said.

The bill faces a difficult path in the House. Even if it becomes law, it’s not clear if it would have an effect in the future.

Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski said future lawmakers would ignore the measure.

“I think it’s important to be straight with Alaskans about this bill,” he said. “And the truth is that Alaskans want fiscal restraint, but this statute doesn’t change a thing.”

While Democratic senators said the bill won’t have a long-term effect, they said it was important to protest Kelly’s ruling because it diminished their role.

In the Alaska House, debate continued on the operating budget for a fourth day Friday. The focus was on the size of permanent fund dividends. The House budget debate is scheduled to continue Monday.

Andrew Kitchenman

State Government Reporter, Alaska Public Media & KTOO

State government plays an outsized role in the life of Alaskans. As the state continues to go through the painful process of deciding what its priorities are, I bring Alaskans to the scene of a government in transition.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications