Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has called the Alaska Legislature back for a second special session to begin at 1 p.m. today, after lawmakers failed to pass an operating budget.
Without a budget, the state government will shut down in two weeks.
The House called it quits for the first special session Thursday night after pushing through an operating budget on short notice. The Republican minority caucus strongly protested.
This morning, the more conservative Senate adjourned without acting on the House’s budget. Democratic Sen. Berta Gardner got the last word in before Republican Senate President Pete Kelly gaveled out.
“It’s unacceptable to shut down without passing a budget. And we have to keep working at it,” Gardner said.
House leaders said negotiations with the Senate were not going well, and that legal deadlines to adopt a budget compelled their unorthodox route to passing a budget.