Gov. Bill Walker called a fourth special session of the Alaska Legislature to address the state’s fiscal crisis.
The crisis may be one of the few things that will not get attention from lawmakers this week. At the top of legislators’ priority lists is Senate Bill 54, a measure that promises to partially roll back the criminal justice reform bill known as Senate Bill 91.
That bill, which passed the Legislature in 2016 and has not been fully implemented yet, became law at the same time that Alaskans experienced a surge in property crime. That has led many to link the surge to the bill, though evidence of a link is scarce.
Nevertheless, lawmakers and Gov. Bill Walker have listened to their constituents and are acting on the topic. SB 54, which was approved by the Senate in a 19-1 vote earlier this year, will be taken up by the House State Affairs Committee immediately after the start of the special session on Monday.
During the regular session, SB 54 was referred by Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon to three House committees. That’s a level of vetting normally reserved for Constitutional amendments. For regular bills, that level of attention is normally a kiss of death because lawmakers aren’t willing to devote so much time to a single measure during the regular session.
A regular session is different, however, and lawmakers have only two bills on their docket.
The House State Affairs Committee could pass SB 54 to the House Judiciary Committee as early as Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
If the judiciary committee moves quickly, it could move SB 54 to the House Finance Committee by midweek. Given Finance Committee approval, the bill would go to a floor vote.
If the House changes SB 54, the Senate would then be given a chance to accept the House’s changes. If it rejects those changes, the House and Senate would send the measure to a conference committee charged with ironing out the differences between the two versions.
While all this is happening, other members of the Legislature will be tackling other subjects. A Legislative working group tasked with examining oil taxes will start meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday and may hold additional meetings during the special session. That group includes members of the House and Senate resources committees.
The Senate will hold its own meetings to examine the state of crime and justice policy in Alaska, and the Legislature’s audit committee on Thursday will examine how well the Alaska Mental Health Trust is functioning.
• Legislative scheduleHouse and Senate convene at 11 a.m. Monday
• House State Affairs Committee: 12:30 p.m. Monday (SB 54)
• House Judiciary Committee: 1 p.m. Monday (if State Affairs approves SB 54 in time)
• House Judiciary Committee: 9 a.m. Tuesday (if State Affairs approves SB 54 in time)
• Oil tax working group, 9 a.m. Tuesday (organizational meeting)
• Senate Finance and Judiciary committees: 3 p.m. Monday (crime and justice policy hearing)
• Senate Finance and Judiciary committees: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday (crime and justice policy hearing)
• House Finance Committee: 1 p.m. Tuesday
• Legislative Council: 9 a.m. Wednesday
• House Finance Committee: 1 p.m. Wednesday
• Legislative Budget &Audit Committee: 9 a.m. Thursday (Mental Health Trust Authority audit)
• House Finance Committee: 1 p.m. Thursday
• House Finance Committee: 1 p.m. Friday
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 523-2258.
