Alaska Senate panel advances resolution to lower threshold for overriding governor’s budget vetoes

The Alaska Senate State Affairs Committee on Tuesday advanced a resolution that would lower the veto override threshold for spending bills.

The committee action, which paved the way for the resolution to be considered by the full Senate, was taken a day after the Legislature failed by one vote to override the governor’s veto of an education bill that earlier passed both chambers by wide margins.

Alaska’s constitution currently calls for a threshold of three-quarters of lawmakers, or 45 out of 60, to override the governor’s veto on budget-related bills. For all other bills — including the education bill considered on Monday — the threshold is two-thirds, or 40.

The resolution introduced by Sen. Matt Claman, an Anchorage Democrat, would lower the threshold for budget bill veto overrides to two-thirds, matching it to the threshold used for non-fiscal bills.

Claman said the existing threshold gives the governor disproportionate power that made sense when the constitution was written six decades ago but is less applicable today.

“The idea of ‘let’s start out and give the executive a bit more authority’ — I think at that time it made sense, but I think we’ve become a much more engaged population and much more sophisticated Legislature,” said Claman.

“Having a lower level for a veto override, I think, makes the public feel like they have more of a voice,” he said.

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Alaska has the highest threshold in the nation for overriding a governor’s budget veto. Dunleavy has often used the veto pen to shape Alaska’s spending plan by cutting line items — including $87 million in education dollars last year. Dunleavy has indicated he would again consider cutting some education funding from the budget currently being crafted if lawmakers don’t advance his priorities by the end of the session.

The Legislature has never successfully mustered enough votes to override Dunleavy’s vetoes. Lawmakers last overrode a governor’s veto in 2009, when then-Gov. Sarah Palin vetoed a federal stimulus package. Lawmakers overrode Palin’s veto with 45 votes, the minimum needed.

The practice of overriding vetoes was more common in the past and has happened successfully 43 times in the state’s history, according to legislative librarians. Lawmakers overrode then-Gov. Tony Knowles’ vetoes 20 times between 1995 and 2002. They overrode then-Gov. Jay Hammond’s vetoes 14 times between 1975 and 1982.

Because the veto threshold is written into the state constitution, it would take two-thirds of both bodies of the Legislature to pass the resolution proposed by Claman to send the question to Alaska voters. Only if a majority of Alaska voters favor the change through a ballot question, would it take effect.

After Monday’s failed veto override attempt, it remained unclear if the resolution to change the constitution could gain enough support this year to pass both chambers.

“I’ve talked with both Senate members and House members, and I think there’s interest in both bodies,” said Claman.