The Alaska State Capitol will be the site of a rally Monday, July 8, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

The Alaska State Capitol will be the site of a rally Monday, July 8, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Veto override rally shaping up to be big

Handful of organizations plan demonstration for Monday

A rally planned for Monday is shaping up to be a big one.

“Save Our State Rally for Overrides” is a joint effort among Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, Perseverance Theatre, Juneau Pro-Choice Coalition, University of Alaska Southeast and Juneau Central Labor Council AFL-CIO to show support for overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget vetoes.

Overriding a veto takes a three-fourths vote in a joint session and would need to happen within the first five days of the special session, which starts Monday.

[More than $400 million in vetoes announced, more planned for next year]

The rally, which showed up as a Facebook event Wednesday, has already attracted 231 interested people. So far, 113 people have indicated they’ll be attending.

“I think the vetoes undercut what is a social compact between Alaskans and their government,” said Bruce Botelho, former Juneau mayor and one of the rally’s co-organizers, in an interview.

He said representatives from a handful of organizations are expected to speak but a final lineup of speakers is still coming together in light of relatively short notice and the Fourth of July holiday.


• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.


More in News

The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Ships in Port for the Week of June 4

Here’s what to expect this week.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Thursday, June 8

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Rear Adm. Megan M. Dean (center) awaits her entrance during a change-of-command Friday in Juneau where she was sworn as the new command of U.S. Coast Guard District 17 at the Alaska Army National Guard Aviation Operating Facility in Juneau. Standing behind to her left is Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson and to her right is outgoing Rear Adm. Nathan A. Moore. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Coast Guard’s Alaska district under new command

Incoming Rear Adm. Megan M. Dean says she is excited about working with the people of Alaska.

A harbor seal pokes its head up near Low Island in Sitka Sound on June 1. The area was the site of a fatal charter boat accident May 28. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP)
Body of captain recovered 11 days after five die in Sitka boat sinking

Authorities have recovered the body of the captain of a fishing charter… Continue reading

From left to right, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sit side by side during a U.S. Coast Guard event in Juneau on Friday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Alaska delegation differs on Trump indictment

Murkowski, Sullivan say matter is serious, but clash on merit; Peltola says she trusts process.

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)
Washington-based group wants Endangered Species Act protections for Alaska king salmon

By Nathaniel Herz, Alaska Beacon A Washington-based conservation group whose actions have… Continue reading

Annie Bartholomew plays a song from her upcoming debut album “Sisters of White Chapel” on a clawhammer banjo on a bench at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park on Thursday. The longtime local folk musician said she learned the instrument specifically for the project, and both the character of the instrument and women who played it during the Klondike Gold Rush helped inspire the mostly original songs she performs on the album. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Musical revelations of the Klondike’s ‘White Chapel’

Annie Bartholomew’s new album shares surprising untold stories of sex workers during the gold rush

The author’s wife hikes down the ridge of a still snow-covered mountain. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
I Went to the Woods: The summer bod

It’s summer bod time. Not in a show it off at the… Continue reading

Former President Donald Trump listens as he speaks with reporters while in flight on his plane after a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, in Waco, Texas, on March 25 while en route to West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump charged over classified documents in 1st federal indictment of an ex-president

MIAMI — Donald Trump said Thursday that he was indicted for mishandling… Continue reading

Most Read