The Alaska Legislature on Friday extended Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s disaster declaration related to the storms that wrought havoc in Western Alaska last fall. The 30-day extension allows state agencies to continue responding to ongoing needs associated with the storm through early April.
The Senate approved the measure unanimously on Friday.
“While progress has been made, the impact remains severe, infrastructure damage continues and ongoing emergency actions are still required,” said Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat.
The House voted more narrowly to approve the extended disaster declaration two days earlier, on Wednesday, in a 25-15 vote that followed a contentious debate.
Minority Republicans largely opposed the extension on procedural grounds. Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican and the minority whip, said extending the disaster declaration with a resolution, rather than a bill, would open it up to legal challenges, mirroring a similar debate a month earlier.
“With anything ongoing in Western Alaska, that is a clear need for funding, a clear need for support, a clear need for this state to rise up and do what needs to be done,” Ruffridge said. “This is about whether or not what we do here will withstand any challenge.”
The dispute stems from the fact that the Legislature was not in session in October when the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Disaster declarations by the governor are only valid for 30 days, and lawmakers didn’t return for their regular session until late January.
While the Legislature was out of session, the House speaker and Senate president approved extensions of the declaration on lawmakers’ behalf. House Republicans argued that, according to their legal analysis, lawmakers would have to pass a bill to make the extension valid.
But members of the largely Democratic House majority coalition rejected the argument, saying Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy had requested the resolution. Majority lawmakers voted down minority efforts to bring a bill directly to the floor.
Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay representing the Y-K Delta, said she was disappointed by the debate.
“The devastation this storm left behind is unbelievable. So is this the way the debate is playing out today?” she said. “Let me remind you, the body: These are Alaskans. Pass this resolution.”
