Legislative Council sends FY27 budget request to finance committees, seeks $2.58M in session-expense increments
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Summary
The Legislative Council voted to transmit its FY27 proposed budget to the House and Senate finance committees, including a $2,579,900 increment request to cover rising session expenses, gavel-to-gavel services and other operating costs. The vote passed unanimously.
The Alaska Legislative Council voted Feb. 11 to transmit its FY27 proposed budget to the House and Senate finance committees, including a $2,579,900 increment request to cover increased session expenses and statewide broadcast services.
"This brings the total increment request in the FY 27 legislative council request to $2,579,900," said Jessica Geary, executive director of the Legislative Affairs Agency, as she summarized the request. Geary told the council the package includes two appropriations: funding that supports legislative council functions (administration, special committees and offices such as ethics and the ombudsman) and the legislative operating budget (session expenses, House and Senate operating, and legislator salaries and allowances).
Geary outlined the major components of the increment request. She said the session-expenses allocation includes a $2,552,200 increment to support a regular session and that the package contains line items including $912,200 for costs tied to supporting a regular session and $855,000 to maintain statewide gavel-to-gavel broadcast services. She also said a negotiated reduction in lease estimates reduced a facility rent increment request to $27,700 and that an additional $35,000 in receipt authority for the legislative lounge was requested.
Members asked for details on what the session-expense increment would cover. Representative Kerrick questioned how broadly the $912,200 figure could be applied; Geary replied that prior staff-relocation and lodging-stipend costs had been absorbed without separate increments and that the requested increment reflects a number of accumulated cost pressures, including statewide salary adjustments, benefits and per-diem fluctuations. "When the lodging stipend went from $30 per day to $37.50 per day there was a small increment of a $117,000 that was added," Geary said, and she noted other long-term expenses had not previously been budgeted for as increments.
Finance manager Joel Rogozinski told the council the agency’s fiscal year 2025 audit was clean. "The outcome of the fiscal year 2025 audit was a clean audit with no exceptions," Rogozinski said.
After the presentation and questions, the council took a roll-call vote to transmit the request; the motion passed with 11 yays and 0 nays.
The transmittal sends the Legislative Council’s FY27 request to the two finance committees for their review and any further adjustments. The council’s action authorizes the finance committees to consider the request, not final appropriations by the Legislature.
