Gov. Dunleavy vetoes 5 bills adopted by the Alaska House after legislative deadline

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Thursday that he had vetoed five bills that were adopted by lawmakers after the constitutional deadline for the end of the legislative session.

The Alaska Constitution requires the Legislature to conclude its work at the end of the 121st day of the legislative session, which occurred in May. In a move that some lawmakers said had never happened before, the Alaska House continued voting on bills after midnight after the final day of the session, approving five bills before concluding around 1 a.m.

Dunleavy earlier this week vetoed the five bills adopted by the House after midnight, citing a potential legal challenge under the state constitution.

“I understand the Legislature’s desire to keep working into the early morning hours of May 16 so its members could pass a few more bills before the conclusion of the 33rd session,” Dunleavy said in a prepared statement. But he said the Alaska Constitution is “unambiguous” about the deadline.

“All five bills passed after midnight of the 121st day, and the session was not extended by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each body. After consulting the Attorney General Treg Taylor, I determined the only course of action was to adhere to the constitution and veto the bills,” Dunleavy said.

Four of the five bills were sponsored by Republican members of the House majority, which is largely seen as aligned with Dunleavy. One of the bills was sponsored by a Republican who caucuses with the predominantly Democratic minority.

Dunleavy said the sponsors of the bills could reintroduce them when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

The vetoed legislation includes the following:

• House Bill 29, prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against elected officials. This bill passed the House at 12:01 a.m. It was meant to prevent insurance companies from charging higher premiums to lawmakers and other political figures, or canceling their policies altogether. The bill was sponsored by Big Lake Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe.

• House Bill 189, allowing employees to begin serving alcohol at age 18, instead of 21. The bill, which passed the House at 12:03 a.m., was meant to help alleviate a labor shortage in the service industry. The bill’s primary sponsor was Wasilla Republican Rep. Jesse Sumner.

• House Bill 122, allowing the Alaska Railroad Corp. to fund the replacements of its terminal facility in Seward. The bill passed the House at 12:08 a.m. with support from all but six Republican House members. Its primary sponsor was Fairbanks Republican Rep. Frank Tomaszewski. The Alaska Railroad Corp. announced earlier this year that it would advance a $137 million plan to construct a new facility that could be open by the summer of 2026, but the plan was contingent on legislative approval for issuing bonds.

• House Bill 203, allowing private employers to exclusively use electronic payroll systems. The bill, sponsored by Sumner, passed at 12:12 a.m. with support from all but three House members. Current law does not allow employers to exclusively use an electronic payroll system unless all employees consent to be paid electronically.

• House Bill 19, related to commercial boat registration. The bill passed the House unanimously at 12:14 a.m. Sponsored by Kodiak Republican Rep. Louise Stutes, it would have exempted documented vessels from duplicative registration requirements that had been created through the passage of another bill in 2018.

[Previously: After the Alaska House worked past midnight, some wonder: Does the legislative session deadline matter?]

Even as they continued to vote on bills past the midnight deadline, some lawmakers had expressed concern or anger about the votes. McCabe said on the House floor that the past-midnight legislating was “among the most disrespectful and terrible things I have ever seen done to our constitution and to the state of Alaska residents.”

Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an attorney, had previously said there was “a pretty fair chance” that bills passed after midnight would be deemed unconstitutional.