Not today — House Republican Minority refuses to let Democrats raid Alaska’s savings

By SUZANNE DOWNING

March 13, 2026 – In the Alaska Legislature, the supplemental budget is usually one of the most insider-baseball votes of the year. In fact, it’s a snoozer  process to which few Alaskans pay heed.

It’s essentially a cleanup exercise. Agencies have already spent the money, emergencies have already happened, contractors have done the work, and the Legislature simply levels up accounts for things like disaster response, Department of Transportation costs, and occasionally education fund adjustments. The size of the supplemental varies from year to year, but the concept is straightforward.

That’s why what happened Thursday on the House floor was so interesting to insiders.

The Democrat-led House majority rushed the supplemental budget to a vote, even though the spring revenue forecast from the Department of Revenue was scheduled to be released the very next day. That forecast provides the most up-to-date picture of how much money Alaska actually has to work with.

The revenue forecast released Friday shows Alaska North Slope oil prices averaging $75.26 per barrel for the remainder of this fiscal year (ending June 30), with an actual average price of $67.34 per barrel for the first eight months of the fiscal year and a forecasted average price of $91.09 per barrel for the final four months of the fiscal year.

The price forecast for FY 2027 is $75.00 per barrel, which assumes that prices will begin in June at over $80.00 per barrel and drop off throughout the fiscal year.

The forecast shows another $300–$400 million in additional revenue for the state. In other words, the Legislature was just hours away from knowing whether additional money was already coming in. Yet the Democrat majority insisted on voting first.

So why the hurry? Because the majority also wanted to pull millions of dollars out of the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which is the state’s primary savings account.

The maneuver was simple: Move money from the CBR into the general fund, then use the general fund to pay for items in the supplemental. But that shift would have had an important side effect. By using savings unnecessarily now, the majority could effectively create more room to spend in the upcoming FY2027 budget.

In other words, if they could convince the minority to help unlock the savings account, it would free up additional money for next year’s spending plan.

The Republican House minority saw the move for what it was. They supported the supplemental budget itself, because the expenses were legitimate and had been adequately trimmed down. But they refused to vote for accessing the CBR.

Their argument was simple: Why rush to raid the state’s savings account when the spring revenue forecast was literally hours away?Why not wait for the numbers. Let’s see how much revenue the state actually has, then decide whether dipping into savings is truly necessary.

Instead, the majority tried to force the issue immediately. The tactic backfired. Every member of the House minority stood firm and declined to participate in the raid on the CBR.

The message was clear: Not today.

With the votes not lining up the way leadership expected, the bill was ultimately sent back to the House Rules Committee, stalling what had been intended as a fast-tracked supplemental budget.

Now the timing looks even worse.

Friday afternoon, lawmakers could now see that the state’s revenue outlook is stronger than assumed. If the projections hold, the effort to tap the CBR will look less like fiscal necessity and more like a premature grab for savings.

And that brings us back to one of the oldest truths about the Alaska Capitol: Inside that building, above  all, your word matters . Legislators argue fiercely, but the institution still runs on a basic understanding that members negotiate in good faith.

When one side believes the other is trying to slip something past them — especially something involving the state’s savings account — that trust erodes quickly.

On Thursday, the minority decided the situation didn’t pass the smell test. And by noon Friday, when the revenue forecast arrived, it was more than apparent.

Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.