JUNEAU -- The Alaska Legislature has announced that it will move its sessions to Anchorage, in defiance of Gov. Bill Walker's special session call for the meetings in the capital.
Members of the Juneau legislative delegation are questioning the legality of the move, as well as the reasons behind it. At a press conference in Anchorage Monday, Walker questioned the move as well.
"As long as I'm governor the capital of the state will be Juneau, and that's where they need to do the state's business," Walker said.
Walker specified Juneau as the location of the special session he called on April 28, when the Legislature adjourned without passing a budget that included enough money to cover its spending. He also added two of his other priorities to the special session to-do list for lawmakers -- expansion of the federally funded Medicaid program and passing Erin's Law, a child abuse education and prevention program.
Republican legislative leaders have been reluctant to hold the special session, and to hold it in Juneau, from the beginning. First, they asked Walker for permission to take some time off following the conclusion of the regular session, and then resume in Juneau, but he refused.
The Legislature voted to do so anyway, voting strictly along caucus lines with the Republican-led majorities in each chamber voting in favor and Democrats voting against taking a 12-day recess. Since they returned from the recess, they've held a series of "technical" sessions, in which a handful of legislators go through the motions of gaveling in and out so as to comply with the constitutional requirement of meeting every three days.
Now, they say they are intending to resume actual sessions, but in Anchorage.
A press release for the House Majority from House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, gave no specific reasons or legal justification for the move, but suggested it would be a continuation of the current special session.
"Both bodies will continue work that is in progress on finalizing a funded budget for (the 2016 fiscal year) and consider other legislation on the special session proclamation including Alaska Safe Children's Act and Medicaid Expansion," Chenault spokesman Will Vandergriff said in the press release.
The sessions were scheduled to begin later in the week in the newly remodeled Legislative Information Office in downtown Anchorage.
Rep. Sam Kito, D-Juneau, doubted the legality of a moved session, or any actions taken there.
"To violate the governor's call, actually there's some question as to whether that's legal," Kito said.
In an opinion provided to Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, Doug Gardner, the Legislature's director of Legal Services, agreed the session needed to happen in Juneau.
"To comply with the Constitution of the State of Alaska and the Alaska statutes, unless otherwise directed by the governor, the legislature must convene in Juneau for the governor's special session," Gardner wrote.
He later said in a legal opinion provided to Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, that courts would likely find floor sessions held in Anchorage to be invalid unless agreed to by the governor. However, if the Legislature meets in Anchorage simply to end the special session, it "seems unlikely" the courts would invalidate that action, but there is some risk that could happen.
If the Legislature called its own session, it would allow lawmakers to name the location they prefer, as well as decide which matters to consider.
Kito said he's reviewing legal options for keeping the session in Juneau.
"I guess the majority is saying 'Who's going to file the suit?' " he said.
"If there's a legal action I can take I'm going to look to take it. I want to make sure we're doing everything above board," he said.
While Chenault and Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, did not elaborate Monday on their reasons for the move, they've previously spoken of the difficulty of holding sessions in the Capitol while it is undergoing renovation work this summer. Meyer toured the construction Friday.
Egan acknowledged the construction work made the Capitol noisy, but said alternative committee meeting rooms, legislator office space and room for sessions had been secured in the interim.
"I'm really upset. We bent over backwards to get them space, to get them meeting rooms, to get them office space, we made deals to hook up phones and things like that," he said.
He agreed with Kito that moving a session called for Juneau to Anchorage was not legal.
A regular session of the Legislature has never been held outside the capital, although two brief special sessions called to override gubernatorial vetoes have been held in Anchorage.
Walker said that if the Legislature had continued meeting in Juneau, it would likely have a budget solution by now.
"If they would focus and spend as much time on getting the business done as where they are going to get the business done, maybe it would get done," he said.