Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s second State of the State address is expected next week.
A joint session of the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate in the House Chambers is listed on the Senate’s schedule for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, and that date was announced on the Senate floor Tuesday.
The House, which adjourned until 10:30 a.m. Friday before the Senate met Tuesday, still needs to make a formal request to finalize that time, and that will likely come Friday.
The governor’s speech will be live streamed. For those who wish to see it in person, some seats in the Elizabeth W. Peratrovich Gallery of the chambers are expected to be open to the public, said House Sgt.-At-Arms said Micaela Bradner in a phone interview.
“Most of the (Warren A.) Taylor Gallery is completely reserved for staff and family of the governor,” Bradner said. “We do have some seats that will be open, and they will be first-come, first-serve.”
In last year’s address, the governor’s first state of the state, Dunleavy declared “war” on criminals, outlined some of his policy goals and referenced the then-recent earthquakes that rocked Anchorage in late 2018.
For those looking to plan their evenings around the speech, last year’s clocked in at just short of 24 minutes, according to the time-stamped video of the speech on the governor’s office website.
However, recent addresses have been about twice as long.
Former Gov. Bill Walker’s 2018 address lasted 49 minutes and in 2017 it was about 46 minutes, as previously reported by the Empire.
• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.
