Protecting Your Rights: Serving West Anchorage

August 5, 2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Saturday, the Legislature voted to override two items that the Governor vetoed this summer. We voted to restore over $50 million in education funding by a vote of 45-14. That vote marks the first time since 1987 that the Legislature overrode an appropriations veto. And we voted to override the veto of Senate Bill 183, which ensures transparency in collecting oil and gas taxes.

Is 45 out of 60 legislators too high a requirement to overturn an appropriations veto when our Constitution only requires 40 out of 60 legislators to overturn any other veto? Read on about a proposal to balance this requirement in the Alaska Constitution.

The Legislature Votes to Override the Governor

On Saturday, August 2, the Legislature met in Juneau for a Special Session called by Governor Dunleavy. As required by Article II, Section 16 of the Alaska Constitution, we met in a joint session to reconsider the Governor's vetoes. We overrode two vetoes: the veto of over $50 million in statutory Base Student Allocation (BSA) funding from the budget and the veto of Senate Bill 183 regarding accurate and usable information to the Legislative Auditor.

In approving the operating and capital budgets in June, the Governor's largest veto to the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget cut funding for public education by $51 million. This lowered the $700 increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA), approved by the Legislature in House Bill 57, to a $500 BSA — $200 less than the statutory amount. The Governor vetoes a total of $76 million from school funding. Increasing public education funding was the Legislature's top priority in response to calls for greater support from our schools and families across Alaska. The Saturday vote to override this veto was the first time since 1987 that the Legislature overturned an appropriations veto. The override passed by a vote of 45-14.

We also overrode the veto of Senate Bill 183 by a vote of 43-16. SB 183 requires the Department of Revenue to release certain records of tax payments to the Legislative Auditor. In recent years, the Department of Revenue has refused to comply with requests for oil and gas tax records, meaning that the Legislative Auditor cannot determine whether oil and gas companies are paying all of the taxes they owe. Before the Special Session and in response to the Governor's veto of Senate Bill 183, the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee voted to issue a subpoena to collect the information required to assess oil and gas taxes collections.

The Legislature declined to accept the Governor's Executive Order to create a Department of Agriculture and returned the Executive Order to the Governor. The Governor had introduced a similar executive order that the Legislature rejected during the regular session. Governor Dunleavy is the first governor since statehood who has attempted to introduce an executive order during a special session. Legislative attorneys advised that introducing an executive order during a special session may not comply with the Alaska Constitution.

When the Legislature rejected the Governor's original Executive Order in regular session, the Senate Rules Committee introduced Senate Bill 128 which addresses food security and aims to support mariculture and agriculture industries in Alaska. The Legislature will resume hearings on SB 128 in the next regular session.

After overriding the vetoes, the Legislature went into recess. This recess will prevent the Governor from calling us back into an additional special session during the month of August.

This month, the Task Force on Education Funding will begin its work to make recommendations to improve school maintenance, attendance, student achievement, and more. The Task Force will examine some of the policy proposals requested by the Governor. The first meeting is scheduled for August 25.

Balancing the Veto Override Requirements: Senate Joint Resolution 2

The vetoed items that we reconsidered during the Special Session required different voting thresholds to pass. Under Article II, Section 16 of the Alaska Constitution, bills to raise revenue and appropriations bills, including the operating budget, require a three-fourths vote of the Legislature in order to override a veto (45 out of 60). Other vetoed bills, such as Senate Bill 183, only require a two-thirds vote (40 out of 60).

The requirement of 3/4 of the Legislature to override the Governor is the highest in the nation. This high vote threshold means that the Governor holds great power over the Legislature. For example, the education funding veto override last Saturday was the first of its kind since 1987. Most states require a 3/5 (60%) or 2/3 (66 & 2/3%) vote to override the governor. Some states only require a majority vote. Research shows that only two other states have a 3/4 (75%) override requirement for some legislation: Arizona for revenue (tax) bills--but not appropriation bills, and Arizona and Oklahoma for emergency bills. People are asking whether this strong executive branch model is working for Alaska or whether it takes too much power away from the Legislature and the public.

Balancing the veto override standard requires an amendment to the Alaska Constitution. Senate Joint Resolution 2 proposes placing that question before the voters in the next general election. Should Alaska change the veto override requirement for revenue and appropriations bills from 3/4 to 2/3? The amendment, if placed on the ballot and approved by the voters, would balance revenue and appropriations bills with non-appropriation bills and require a 2/3 vote to override.

You can read more about SJR 2 here.

Community Events

Annual Ship Creek Fall Cleanup

When: Saturday August 16th 11-12:30

Where: The Bait Shack, 212 W Whitney Rd

Join us once again for the annual fall Ship Creek Cleanup! Help preserve the cleanliness and beauty of Ship Creek as we wrap up the 2025 salmon season. There also will be giveaways!

Please dress in layers – the temperature is often cooler along the creek. Bring rubber boots or waders. Wear gloves, such as latex or nitrile gloves. Wear an orange or yellow safety vest if cleaning roadways or intersections near the creek.

We look forward to seeing everyone out on the banks of Ship Creek. For more information, click here.

Naloxone Training

When: Thursday, August 28th 1-3pm

Where: Mountain View Library (120 Bragaw St.)

Learn how to use naloxone, a nasal spray that is free, easy to use, and can save the life of someone in distress from a heroin or opioid overdose. Complete the training and receive a free overdose rescue kit.

In Anchorage, come to the Mountain View branch of the Anchorage Public Library. Trainings are held the last Thursday of the month, from 1 to 3 pm.

ONLINE OPTIONS

If you live outside of Anchorage or prefer Zoom, there are also Naloxone online video-conference-based trainings. These are held monthly the last Friday of every month during two training sessions -- one at 11 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, click here.