They’ve been wrestling together during one of the most intense three months of any legislative session. They’re locked like moose horns in a stalemate over the final budget vote. It’s spring outside. They’re in Juneau. Let them breathe. Recover some sanity. And get back to work. This story by Alaska Public Media explains the reasoning for the legislative vote to meet elsewhere in a couple of weeks.
Since the special session went into effect on Tuesday, the issue of where and when the session is held has taken up about as much time as anything on the session agenda. On Wednesday, the governor denied a request from legislative leadership to relocate the session to Anchorage. And now, on Thursday, the House and Senate voted to stop holding floor sessions in Juneau for the next two weeks.
“As the governor, he can call us in here,” said House Speaker Mike Chenault, in an interview. “But he can’t tell us where our committees are going to meet.”
House Speaker Mike Chenault says the resolution allows the finance committees to hold hearings in Anchorage, something they could not do without a recess. Under the Legislature’s rules, they must meet in the main House and Senate chambers and hold floor sessions as a whole body every three days at minimum. That basically chains the Legislature to Juneau.
“What it means is we won’t have House floor sessions until the 12th — that’s all this means,” said Millett. “Every other business will continue on, but we won’t come to this floor and push buttons when we don’t have a budget bill in front of us.”
See Full Story at Alaska Public Media
