34th Alaska Legislature gavels in smoothly — now the hard part begins

With the usual ceremony and an unusual lack of leadership battles the 34th Alaska Legislature gaveled in on Tuesday for the start of a two-year session expected to be lean in terms of revenue available, but with lawmakers nonetheless looking to significantly boost education funding while taking on a range of resource development issues in the wake of President Donald Trump’s reelection.

The 20-member Senate gaveled in at the Alaska State Capitol shortly after its scheduled 1 p.m. start time and the 40-member House did likewise an hour later, with Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom swearing in all of the legislators who were reelected or newly elected in last November’s election.

Leaders of each chamber were then selected and, unlike the beginning of recent two-year sessions when leadership of the House went unresolved for days or weeks, Senate President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham) quickly were elected to chairs each has sat in during previous years.

Both majority caucuses are bipartisan with Democrats accounting for most of their members. The 14-member Senate majority has nine Democrats and five Republicans (three fewer Republicans than the coalition had the past two years), while the 21-member House majority has 19 Democrats/independents and two Republicans. The minority caucuses in both chambers consist entirely of Republicans.

During the opening day, per tradition, whatever differences the lawmakers at the Capitol might have during the next 120 days were glossed over.

“This is a great body to belong to and there’s a lot of really important work for everybody in the state of Alaska in this end of the hall or the other end of the hall,” Dahlstrom told the senators after the swearing-in ceremony.

“Everything will work out well as long as you remember your word is all you’ve got, and it’s very important to keep it and to show respect for others when we are disagreeing. Disagreeing is a wonderful tool so that we can learn how people think and what their priorities are, and then we can come together and work, and I’m confident you’re going to do that.”

Also per tradition for the first day of the session, the presentation of colors and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by about ten local members of the Girl Scouts of Alaska. The Alaska Flag Song was performed in the Senate chamber by Josiphiah “JoJo” Aevion Mason and in the House by the Juneau vocal ensemble Vox Borealis.

Members were sworn in four at a time by Dahlstrom at the front of each chamber, with pauses so family members and others in the audience galleries could swap places with others waiting outside. Juneau’s all-Democratic delegation — Sen. Jesse Kiehl, and Reps. Sara Hannan and Andi Story — were all elected to their fourth terms in their current offices last November.

Senate leaders in the majority and minority caucuses each held press conferences to discuss their agendas, and how those will overlap and conflict both within the Legislature and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s agenda — along with the impact of Trump’s return to office and day-one executive orders intended to fuel resource development including oil, mining and logging.

Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said oil prices during the coming years are likely to be so low that lawmakers will need to tap into the $2.9 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve to cover deficits in the state budget. That requires a three-fourths vote of both chambers, which will give the minority caucuses significant power in making requests in exchange for their votes.

But Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican, declined on opening day to specify what some of those “asks” might be.

The 121-day constitutional limit for this year’s session expires at 11:59 p.m. on May 21.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.