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Judiciary to Consider Fiscal Plan Measures
Balanced Budget, Spending Cap, Inflation-Proofing on Oct. 19 Agenda

(ANCHORAGE) - The House Judiciary Committee will meet in Anchorage on Friday, Oct. 19 to take public testimony on several legislative proposals that represent the foundation of a long-range plan for Alaska's fiscal future.

"Understanding the need to keep state government on sound financial footing today and into the future, the Legislature has been working on various ways to improve our budget and financial planning process to deliver smaller, smarter government for all Alaskans," Rep. Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said today.

Rokeberg said the committee plans to take testimony on three proposals currently under consideration in the Legislature to place constitutional amendments before Alaska voters:

• House Joint Resolution 15, sponsored by the House Rules Committee by request of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, would protect the integrity of the Alaska Permanent Fund principle and the Permanent Fund dividend program by establishing the Fund as an endowment.
• Senate Joint Resolution 23, sponsored by Sen. Dave Donley (R-Anchorage), co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, would enforce state fiscal discipline by capping Alaska's constitutional spending limit at approximately $3.1 billion, and limiting future increases.
• Senate Joint Resolution 24, sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee, would lower the cost to access the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) by restoring the simple majority vote of all legislators originally required to access the fund, eliminating the need to add extra millions in spending each year to win the support of three-quarters of the Legislature.

"By passing SJR 23 and 24, the Senate has already laid two essential cornerstones in the structure of a long-range fiscal plan," said Donley. "With this hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, we can continue building a budget process that makes sense for Alaska."

Members of the public are welcome to attend and testify at the meeting, to be held in the second-floor conference room of the Anchorage Legislative Information Office building at 716 W. Fourth Ave., starting at 11 a.m. Those unable to attend the meeting in person may contact their local Legislative Information Offices for instructions on how to testify by teleconference.

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