The last piece of legislation to come out of the special session will go to the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy Wednesday.
HB 2001, which contains money for the state’s operating budget but also appropriates an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend of $1,600, will either be signed or vetoed by Dunleavy in the coming weeks.
The state constitution gives the governor 20 days, not including Sundays, to take action on the bill. Thursday, Aug. 29, marks the end of that period.
Wednesday at midnight also marks the end of the special session. If Dunleavy lets the bill become law, the Legislature will not meet again until January 2020. However, if the governor does veto the bill, that would leave holes in the budget and still no amount allocated for the PFD.
The Legislature can be called into yet another special session either by the governor or by two-thirds vote of the Legislature, or 40 votes. Once that happens, the five-day clock to override a veto begins.
It is not yet clear what the governor will do once the bill reaches his desk, but the governor has made a $3,000 PFD a priority for his administration.
