Alaska House adopts capital budget in near-unanimous vote

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska House adopted the capital budget in a 39-1 vote Wednesday, displaying a rare moment of cohesion between the Republican-controlled majority and the more progressive minority.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent who oversaw the capital budget in the House as co-chair of the House Finance Committee, said the appropriations bill — which allocates around $500 million in state general funds to infrastructure and facility maintenance projects — was the result of "a very open, transparent" process.

The total budget amount exceeds $4 billion, and is mostly funded using federal dollars.

"By and large, this entire budget is built around life, health and safety needs around the state," Edgmon told lawmakers.

In recent years, the capital budget has been included in a single bill with the operating budget, which funds state services, meaning that lawmakers could not vote separately on each of the appropriation plans. This year, leaders in the House and Senate agreed early on to follow a set schedule that would allow them to consider each bill separately and still meet the annual deadline for the passage of a spending plan by the middle of May.

"We did our best to be fair," said Edgmon.

The Senate last month adopted a $3.9 billion capital budget, with three conservative Republicans opposed to the plan. Minority senators said their districts did not receive as many capital projects as the districts represented by the 17-member bipartisan Senate majority. The House then added just over $100 million to that plan under a prearranged agreement between the House and Senate.

The plan as adopted by the House includes nearly $63 million for 26 school maintenance projects across the state, the largest figure seen in recent years dedicated to K-12 education facilities.

The bill heads next back to the Senate, which must approve or reject the House's changes to the bill. If the Senate approves the bill, it will go to the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Edgmon said the budget process went smoothly thanks to "a commitment to sticking to the process of funding off a statewide list as well as allowing members to have individual projects to be put in the budget."

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