Gov. Bill Walker and his new administration are still settling in as state legislators are packing up to head to Juneau for the 2015 session.
The annual political poker game begins Jan. 20 when the state Legislature convenes.
Walker will be at the table. So will House Speaker Mike Chenault; Senate President Kevin Meyer; House Democratic Minority Leader Chris Tuck; and Senate Democratic Minority Leader Berta Gardner.
What’s different about the game this year is that the chips on the table will be painful budget cuts instead of new money for projects and programs that Alaskans have enjoyed for years.
No more, at least for now. With oil prices still less than $60 per barrel and back-to-back $3.5 billion budget deficits pending it seems like a bleak year ahead. Two credit rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, have issued warnings about Alaska’s finances.
Still, the sky isn’t falling. Alaskans have been through these times before during prolonged oil price slumps in 1986 and in 1998 and a more recent, brief dip in 2009.
The state’s economy still seems on sound footing, however. Jobs are increasing, though at slower rates, but employment in key industries like petroleum are at record highs, according to state Department of Labor and Workforce Development data.
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image credit Alaska Journal of Commerce, illustration Nadya Gilmore
