Legislature gavels to session for the 26th time amid talk of unity

January 21, 2009

Members of the 26th regular session of the Alaska State Legislature were sworn in Tuesday. (Jason Kohler/KTUU-TV)

by Rhonda McBride
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The 26th session of the Alaska State Legislature began Tuesday.

When the House gaveled in at 1 p.m. the ceremony was in keeping with tradition. But there's one change from past sessions -- the House has a super majority, made up of four rural Democrats who joined the bipartisan work group.

For the second session in a row the Senate also had a bipartisan majority coalition.

Leadership in both branches hope that these super majorities will lead to more bipartisan cooperation. That is especially important now with the price of oil dropping and budget gaps growing.

"We've got to look out for the interests of the State of Alaska and try to include all of Alaska, and not just certain areas," Speaker of the House Mike Chenault of Kenai said. "So you know, as we go through it, I just hope that unity is probably a word that we could use to try and unify Alaska. And I think certainly our caucus, with the addition of some of the rural legislators, is a great benefit -- not only to our caucus, but to allow everyone to have their voices."

Senate President Gary Stevens of Juneau echoed Chenault.

"This coalition and the last one pretty much deals with issues we can agree on," Stevens said. "Obviously what the Legislature does is try to find agreement."

And of course Gov. Sarah Palin is in the mix.

Stevens says Senate leadership has had some meetings with her and they're encouraged. Palin gives her State of the State speech Thursday night in which she'll outline her legislative priorities.

While it's still the honeymoon phase at the capitol right now, the minority coalitions do have concerns.

In the Senate there are fears that there will be too much compromising on spending and that the majority coalition will spend down budget reserves.

On the house side the Democrats have taken a big hit to the majority and worry that they'll lose clout and their districts will suffer.

Some veteran aides say lawmakers aren't used to dealing with budget deficits. The state has had it good the last four years, so they say there's more potential for some bitter fights.

Contact Rhonda McBride at rmcbride@ktuu.com

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