Gov. Bill Walker signs House Bill 44 in a ceremony under a temporary tent Thursday evening at Jewel Lake in Anchorage. At left is Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage. (Screenshot)

Gov. Bill Walker signs House Bill 44 in a ceremony under a temporary tent Thursday evening at Jewel Lake in Anchorage. At left is Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage. (Screenshot)

Walker signs bill that will block lawmakers’ per diem expenses if budget is late

Walker signs ‘good governance’ bill today in Anchorage

A late budget will now bring consequences for Alaska’s lawmakers.

In a Thursday evening ceremony in Anchorage, Gov. Bill Walker signed House Bill 44 into law. A “good governance” measure sponsored by Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage, HB 44 will (among other provisions) prohibit lawmakers from collecting per diem expense payments past the constitutional end of the legislative session unless they have already approved a state operating budget.

“This is a day for good governance,” Grenn said at the ceremony.

Walker said the bill is “significant for Alaskans to have faith in the process in Juneau. It changes the way things are done in Juneau, and it’s about time.”

The signing ceremony took place on a sunny evening at Anchorage’s Jewel Lake. With children splashing in the background and spectators nearby eating ice cream, Walker put pen to paper beneath a tent.

“On a day like this, it’s maybe the best place in Anchorage to be,” Grenn said.

House Bill 44 was designed by Grenn in 2017 as part of a package to eliminate conflicts of interest within the Legislature. As originally drafted, HB 44 was intended to be paired with House Concurrent Resolution 1. Put together, the two measures would have required lawmakers to declare their conflicts of interest on specific pieces of legislation, and then their fellow lawmakers would have been allowed to decide whether those conflicts are significant enough that the relevant lawmaker should be barred from voting.

HCR 1 came up for a vote in April 2017, but it needed 27 lawmakers to back its passage; only 21 did. Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau, joined every member of the House Republican Minority to vote it down.

HB 44, meanwhile, advanced through the legislative process in 2017 and 2018, then in the final months of the 2018 session, was amended to include the text of a ballot initiative being pushed by Grenn; Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka; and an Anchorage Republican, Bonnie Jack.

That ballot intiative, the so-called “good governance” initiative, included the cuts to per diem. It also placed tougher restrictions on gifts to lawmakers and on foreign travel by legislators.

“It eliminates things that build up walls between people and their lawmakers,” Grenn said.

The Alaska Constitution calls for a ballot initiative to be removed from the election if lawmakers approve a “substantially similar” measure. HB 44 met that criteria, according to the Alaska Department of Law.

While the measure was removed from the ballot, Grenn and Walker each said the existence of the initiative was critical to passage of the bill.

“This is a bill that would not be here without what he did and his team,” Walker said of Grenn and initiative supporters.

“I was the sponsor of this bill, but it was Alaskans that made this happen,” Grenn said.


• Contact reporter James Brooks at jbrooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 3

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Nesbett Courthouse in downtown Anchorage on Oct. 7, 2024. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
After controversial correspondence school decision, Anchorage judge faces voters in election

Adolf Zeman is one of 19 judges on Alaska’s ballots, but he’s the only one with a campaign against him.

The outcome of the struggle for control of both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future. Shown is the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 9, 2024. (Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
Will control of Congress shift? The results hinge on a handful of states and races

Narrow Republican Senate majority would allow Murkowski to wield outsized influence, expert says.

A sign on Egan Drive reminds motorists at midday Friday a lower seasonal speed limit is in effect in an attempt to reduce collisions at the Fred Meyer intersection. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Reduced 45 mph speed limit goes into effect on Egan Drive in vicinity of Fred Meyer intersection

Change in effect until Jan. 31 intended to improve safety; JPD reports normal number of traffic stops.

People voting ahead of Election Day line up inside the Mendenhall Mall annex on Friday, Oct. 25. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Juneau an afterthought for candidates ahead of Tuesday’s election, but early voting at a record pace

Toss-up U.S. House race, minimum wage increase, repeal of ranked choice voting on ballot.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo
Tesla Cox (left) explains the damage done to her home and possessions by record flooding Aug. 6 to a delegation of municipal, tribal and federal officials on Aug. 11. The City and Borough of Juneau is considering a memorandum of agreement with the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska for public safety issues such as emergency response, plus a similar agreement involving solid waste operations.
City leaders, Tlingit and Haida considering operational pacts for public safety, solid waste

Assembly members Monday will also discuss flood barriers, short-term rentals, homeless.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Tongass National Forest near Sitka on Oct. 10, 2024. The remains of a hunter who the authorities believe was fatally mauled by a bear were recovered on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, from a remote region in Alaska where such attacks are rare. (Christopher Miller/The New York Times)
Deer hunter is killed in apparent bear attack near Sitka, authorities say

The remains of a hunter who authorities believe was fatally mauled by… Continue reading

Most Read