Leaders of the Alaska House and Senate said Thursday that cutting spending will be their top priority in what they expect will be a tumultuous session in Juneau, with municipal revenue sharing and the popular home energy rebate program among the items potentially on the chopping block.
“Everything is on the table,” said Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, incoming Senate president.
Meyer said it’s important to look at cutting programs that were instituted starting about 2007, after the state rode out the last downturn in oil prices. The increase above $100 a barrel fueled years of budget surpluses and provided billions in savings the state is living on. Oil prices now have crashed below $50 a barrel.
“If we got by with not having (the programs) back then, why do we still need them today?” he asked.
Some programs that could be cut, he said, are municipal revenue sharing, launched to help municipalities when oil prices drove up local-government costs but brought the state additional income; a renewable energy fund created to find alternatives for rural residents strapped with high heating fuel costs; and the home energy rebate program that provided cash incentives for Alaskans who weatherized and upgraded homes.
Expanding Medicaid, a prominent promise Walker made during his campaign, isn’t off the table but it doesn’t have a promising future, House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, said. “What we can’t do is continue to look at new programs, and expansion of Medicaid is a new program,” Chenault said. While Medicaid will currently be paid for by the federal government, it will cost the state $10 million to $12 million to institute the program and set up departments, he said.
