Seventeen of Alaska’s twenty state senators and senator-elects joined forces to form a bipartisan majority coalition whose members pledge that it will be moderate, consensus-focused, and consist of seventeen senators and senators.
Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, and veteran lawmaker, will once again be the president. He previously held this role from 2009 to 2012.
“It’s a pleasure to announce that we have an extremely healthy majority and we’ve found ways to share responsibilities among all of us. Stevens stated that he believes we have a great organisation at an Anchorage news conference on Friday.
Cathy Giessel, a Republican representing South Anchorage will be the majority leader. Sen. Bill Wielechowski from East Anchorage will be the chairman of the Rules Committee. This committee, which decides with the president what bills are voted on, Stevens announced. He said that the powerful budget-writing Finance Committee would have three co-chairs: Republican Senator Bert Stedman from Sitka will oversee the operating budget, Democratic Senator Lyman Hoffman of Bethel will handle the capital budget, and Democratic Sen. Donny Osson of Golovin will manage other bills.
Two days after the state Division of Election had completed a final count of all ballots in the state’s new ranked-choice system, the announcement of the new organization was made. This confirmed that the Senate will include 11 Republicans and 9 Democrats. The results are a two-seat increase for Democrats. Some Republicans saw the results as a confirmation of the value of bipartisan work in the past.
Among those Republicans is Cathy Giessel who was the Senate president from 2019 to 2020, but lost her seat due to criticism for working with Democrats. Giessel was able to win her seat this time thanks to part of the new ranked-choice system. She beat the far-right Republican who had defeated her in the 2020 GOP primaries.
In some ways, the new majority is a reprise of past Senate alliances. From 2007 to 2012, the Senate was led from the presidency by a bipartisan caucus. Wasilla Republican LydaGreen served as president for two years.
The new majority also formalizes the de facto coalition that was formed in recent years from Senate Democrats and moderate Republicans. Stevens stated that this experience is a strong argument in favor of a bipartisan majority rather than an all-Republican majority. These senators have fought against unplanned withdrawals from Alaska Permanent Fund over the past four years as well as deep cuts to government services proposed by Gov. In 2019, Mike Dunleavy proposed.
“I believe this is an acknowledgement of the realities of the past four years. We have not been in a position to convince many of our senators that they support the budget. He said that we had to work around them and bring in the Democrats to pass the budget.
Three senators were left out of the majority group: Sen. Mike Shower of Wasilla and Sen. Shelley Hughes from Palmer. Sen. Robert Myers, of North Pole, are conservative Republicans who voted against budget 2021 before voting for the year’s budget. They called for higher Permanent Fund dividends.
Stevens stated that he would like the three minority members to hold committee positions and that he will continue making overtures to them in order to be part of the legislative process.
The three senators from outside criticized their Republican counterparts in a statement.
Hughes stated in the statement that “it’s very troubling that my fellow Republicans were not willing to have any conversation about joining together in the betterment Alaska.” Hughes stated that the overwhelming majority of voters supported a “right -of-center majority.”
“Alaskans are worried about high inflation, gas prices, and energy costs; Biden’s antiresource development policies, which are detrimental to our state; and leftist policy that harms families and children. She stated that Alaskans voted for the state Senate because they preferred policies that were conservative in nature and would open up new opportunities, promote strong economies, strong communities and strong families.
Myers stated in the statement that “Unfortunately, this new coalition is bound to terms counterproductive to my ran on” and seemed to be focused on maintaining status quo.
Shower agreed with these sentiments. He stated that it was difficult to justify their arrangement considering that roughly two-thirds (or more) of the first place votes in Senate races went to Republicans.
Giessel stated that she was in three of the senators’ positions. In 2011 and 2012, Stevens was the last Senate president. She was considered one the most conservative senators and one of four outside the majority. She said that this approach does not work.
She said, “You know what, what I learned during that two-year period is that nothing gets done without you working with everyone,” and recalled later successes achieved through cooperation with Democrats. “Over the years, my healthcare legislation was passed with the help of House Democrats. It’s a learning experience that all of us go through, I believe, when we come in with our own ideas, our narrow perspectives, and then realize that there are other valid ideas out there.
Giessel stated that the bipartisan approach reflects voters’ preferences.
She stated that “one message that was heard loud and clear was that Alaskans want people in the Legislature that will work together to get something done, get those important things done that Alaskans have been waiting for to be accomplished,” she stated.
Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson from Midtown Anchorage is a Democrat. She noted that a majority Alaskan voters are not affiliated with any political party. She stated that the fact that she and I have pledged ourselves to working together is representative of what Alaskan citizens want to see.
As was the case during the previous legislative session, the state House has a history with cross-party majority coalitions. The organizational makeup of the House is still to be decided, as 21 of its 40 seats will be held by Republicans during the next session.
No matter what their leadership style, the next session’s lawmakers will need to deal with future budget problems.
Oil prices are falling and the Department of Revenue’s monthly forecasts show a decline in the amount of money that will be transferred to the Treasury over the next and current fiscal years.
The latest estimate released Nov. 16 forecasts that total fiscal 2023 revenue for state spending will be $372million less than was anticipated when the budget was passed last year. Also, the November estimate forecasts that revenue for budgets that begin in July 2023 will fall by $580.6 million from last spring’s.
The current fiscal year ends June 30th. Alaska North Slope oil prices will average $94.65 per barrel. If the average year ends up below around $87 per barrel then the budget for the current year would be in deficit and would need to be filled by savings.
The budget for the current fiscal year was calculated using an assumed average oil price of $101 per barrel last spring. However, the latest Department of Revenue estimate adjustments that downward. According to the department, ANS oil prices ranged from $89 to $99 per barrel since October 1.
Senators from the majority coalition said that the drop was alarming.
Stedman stated that oil should drop below $90 in a short phone interview following the news conference.
Although majority members have agreed that they will work together on the budget and support whatever product emerges, there is still no agreement about how to deal with the problems posed by falling oil prices.
Wielechowski stated that the majority would “put our partisan differences aside” to find solutions. He said this will require compromise from all sides.
He stated that although we all have different ideas about how to solve the problem, or how to solve many other problems, I believe what you’ll see and what I hope you will see is that we all will work together.”
The Alaska Beacon originally published this story. It is republished with permission.
