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The students now must decide whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

Seven minority-caucus Republicans voted against it and four were absent, leaving the bill one vote short of the level the state constitution requires to draw from reserves.

The Alaska House of Representatives failed again to approve funding for the capital budget Monday morning. A measure that would draw funding from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve fell one vote shy of the 30 necessary for passage.

The nonpartisan Legislative Finance Division says the numbers in the bill don’t add up — there’s a $102 million gap between projected revenue and expenses if the bill were to pass.

Update to this story: House Speaker Bryce Edgmon says legislators are reviewing their options regarding the location of the special session.

At Alaska’s state Capitol this week, there’s a lot of talk about something called “the sweep.” What is it, and why is it such a big deal this year?

If an amendment to the capital budget to pay full permanent fund dividends fails, the House minority leader expects there won’t be enough votes to draw from the Constitutional Budget Reserve.

For the first time in the Alaska Permanent Fund’s 40-year history, the Legislature has adopted a plan to draw money from the fund to pay for state government. Gov. Bill Walker says he’ll sign it.

It sets permanent fund dividends at $1,100. The Legislature didn’t pass a plan to balance budgets in the future.

With less than two weeks left in the session, Olson decided it was time for House Bill 376, which would apply a 35 percent tax to dividends.