"Bert Stedman"

Alaska legislators concluded their session last month and passed a budget that included a one-time increase in education funding of about $680 per student.

The measure would establish an eight-member seafood industry task force, with four state senators and four state House members and with the Senate president as chair.

The Senate’s operating budget chair, Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said the state has been “blessed” the last couple of years by high oil prices. But Stedman warned that high prices won’t last forever.

Lawmakers are hoping to pass the operating budget out of the House by mid-April. Senators hope to finalize the budget by the closing days of the session in mid-May.

Deena Bishop has been vocal in defending Dunleavy’s latest budget proposal, released Dec. 14, which notably did not include raising the Base Student Allocation, known as the BSA.

The biggest single expense would be $2.3 billion for permanent fund dividends.

Financial returns have been less than needed to keep the fund’s spendable account full, potentially endangering the state budget.

“People in the financial arena recognized the fire alarm is starting to ring,” Stedman said.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy immediately called the Legislature into a 30-day special session to pass a budget starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. 

The state Senate is planning to present a take-it-or-leave-it budget option to the House on Wednesday.