By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is hoping for a different outcome when the Alaska House once again takes up the “effective date” vote on legislation a second time.
“It’s Day 2 and it’s really just been a continuum since the effective date vote failed, and the governor shared his novel interpretation of the effective date clause,” Kreiss-Tomkins said Thursday. “We’ll likely take up the effective date clause again and Republicans will vote yes because their position is impossible to defend.”
State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins reads from a proclamation issued March 19, 2020, by the Alaska Legislature honoring the life and contributions of the late Kaagwaantaan clan leader Andrew Gamble Jr., who died January 12, 2020. Standing left to right with Rep. Kreiss-Tomkins at the Sitka National Historical Park last Saturday are Linda Blankenship, Ed Young and Ray Wilson. (Sentinel Photo by Reber Stein)
Kreiss-Tomkins spoke to the Sentinel on Thursday, a day after the second special legislative session convened, and a week after 15,000 state workers were issued layoff notices over a possible government shutdown.
At issue is a position taken by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and some 16 members of the House Republican minority who voted against the effective date clause. The clause cited is the section that says bills go into effect 90 days after they are approved unless two-thirds in each House and Senate pass a new effective date.
The Senate reached its two-thirds for the July 1 effective date for the budget but the House fell short. Dunleavy said the budget bill was “constitutionally defective” and called a special session last Friday to give legislators more time to pass the effective date.
Kreiss-Tomkins, who is in the bipartisan House majority, said he thinks the tide is turning among the ranks of minority Republicans who voted against.
“I think it’s relatively likely we will take up the effective date clause vote again,” he said. “And the minority Republicans will vote yes, and that will solve the issue.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said he agreed with many of Sen. Bert Stedman’s comments when he was interviewed Friday. Stedman was equally frustrated by the House minority’s move.
Kreiss-Tomkins was one of 23 to vote for the July 1 effective date, but 27 votes are needed. Sixteen of 21 Republicans voted against the July 1 effective date, including those who supported Dunleavy’s position on such issues as the Permanent Fund.
“Their position is patently wrong, and untenable and destructive,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “The (feeling) in the building is people are starting to relent in their position.”
As to the strategy selected to block implementation of the budget, Kreiss-Tomkins said it’s one he hasn’t seen or taken in his nine years in the House.
“I was in the minority for four years, and we never contemplated voting ‘no’ on an effective date because it’s such a scorched earth and pointlessly destructive thing to do,” he said. “I’m amazed and confused on what they’re doing, aided and abetted by the governor. ... This has never happened in the Legislature’s existence that a minority intentionally failed making a budget effective as a negotiation tactic.”
He said he also does not believe the legal argument that failure to pass a new effective date causes a government shutdown and lamented that state workers are “being subjected to unnecessary uncertainty ... I think it’s unlikely there will be a government shutdown but getting the notices is incredibly unfortunate. It should’ve never happened but unfortunately it has happened.”
