{"id":85,"date":"2026-05-14T18:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=85"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:09:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:09:57","slug":"alaska-senate-approves-13-9-billion-draft-state-budget-including-1150-payments-to-alaskans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=85","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Senate approves $13.9 billion draft state budget, including $1,150 payments to Alaskans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Alaska Senate has finalized its draft of the state\u2019s operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, moving lawmakers closer to the end of their last regular session before the 2026 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Socioeconomic status a key factor in understanding Alaska test data, lawmakers hear<\/a><\/p>\n

In a 17-3 vote, Senators approved a <\/span>$13.1 billion proposal<\/span> that includes a $1,000 Permanent Fund dividend for 2026, plus a $150 \u201cenergy rebate\u201d for PFD recipients.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate plan conflicts with a different version drafted by the House. Legislators are expected to convene a committee to negotiate a compromise plan that will be sent to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, following standard policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the budget leaves the Legislature, the governor may veto individual line items but cannot add or increase items.<\/span><\/p>\n

The operating budget is one of four budget bills that pass through the Capitol in a typical year. One, the supplemental budget, <\/span>has already become law<\/span>. A second, the <\/span>$2.5 billion capital budget<\/span>, is being considered in the House. The third, the state\u2019s mental health budget, is advancing in the Senate as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

With lawmakers\u2019 attention focused on legislation addressing <\/span>a possible trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline<\/span>, this is the first time in several years that the budget isn\u2019t the top unresolved item in the Capitol.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok, said legislators entered the year <\/span>anticipating a $500 million deficit<\/span>. High oil prices caused by the Iran war erased that gap and left lawmakers with more than enough expected revenue to balance the books.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Senate did a really good job of trying to stay fiscally responsible and keeping a balanced budget at a certain level,\u201d Cronk said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more A huge data center could rise on Alaska\u2019s North Slope<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you do that, there\u2019s a lot less to argue about in the end,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, was the lead drafter of the operating budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the war may have made things easier for his committee, but it has made things much harder for the people of Alaska, because of the price of oil.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat gave us more money to spend, but it provided additional hardships to the people and the organizations of the state of Alaska,\u201d Hoffman said of the war. \u201cThat\u2019s why we tried to concentrate on using that one-time money to give some more money to the individuals, through the dividend energy relief, helping school districts out \u2026 and to double the amount for community assistance so those communities can get some relief from the high prices of oil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Alaska Division of Elections made an unusual last-day request \u2014 a $4.75 million increase to cover spending for the 2026 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senators instead approved $650,000 on Thursday, including $100,000 intended to cover the cost of prepaid envelopes for absentee ballots. Until now, the state has required absentee voters to pay for their own postage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very unusual,\u201d Hoffman said about the last-minute request, \u201cbut I felt we couldn\u2019t ignore it. We don\u2019t want to be blamed for a dysfunctional election, so we added the money at the last minute, so hopefully it will result in a better election.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska lawmakers raise concerns with Dunleavy\u2019s attorney general pick ahead of confirmation vote<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers\u2019 next step is combining the Senate plan with a different version approved last month by the Alaska House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaska Senate approves $13.9 billion draft state budget, including $1,150 payments to Alaskans - Moving to Alaska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=85\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaska Senate approves $13.9 billion draft state budget, including $1,150 payments to Alaskans - 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