Legislature Set to Gavel In Tuesday

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By Bill McAllister
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Story Created: Jan 17, 2012 at 10:10 AM AKDT

Story Updated: Jan 17, 2012 at 10:10 AM AKDT

State lawmakers gavel into session in Juneau Tuesday for election-year deliberations, in which all but one of them will have to run, if they want to keep their seats.

Oil taxes again will be the dominant issue of the session. But for the Republican-controlled House, that means a waiting game, as that chamber last year passed the governor’s bill to cut taxes by nearly $2 billion a year. It’s up the bipartisan caucus in the Senate to decide what happens next.

In the meantime, the House will begin the annual task of preparing a state budget. Democrats will push for an increase in the per-student funding for K-through-12 education.

Among non-monetary issues, the legislature will revisit its ban on texting while driving, in the wake of a judge’s decision that the law isn’t explicit enough.

As is typical going into session, there are recurring hopes of bipartisanship.

It all starts today. Governor Sean Parnell will deliver his State of the State address Wednesday evening. We’ll have a live report on that on CBS 11 News at 10.

 

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