2008 Legislature one-third of way through 90-day schedule

Lawmakers must adjourn April 13 if they stick to the schedule. Work on the budget, one of the Legislature’s main pieces of business, is proceeding on a fast track. Finance subcommittees on the operating budget are to have their proposals complete by Friday, Feb. 15, so the full finance committees can begin work the week of Feb. 18.

In a briefing earlier this week, Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, says he hopes to have a bill providing increased state funding for schools out of the Senate Finance Committee by March 1, to clear the deck for the budget bill and other legislation. Stedman is co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, said he is concerned that state budget growth may match last year’s 15 percent increase in spending, well beyond Gov. Sarah Palin’s target of 4 percent growth. With a big revenue surplus on hand legislators are under intense pressure from constituents to increase funding for programs, Hoffman said. With oil production declining it may be difficult to sustain many programs in a few years, Hoffman warned.