Senator Lyman Hoffman (D – Bethel) is soft spoken and usually doesn’t say much. But he veered from that persona this week with two big actions. First, he sent out a memo instructing finance subcommittees to not make any additions, start any new programs, or accept and additions from Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) except ones related to Medicaid. The Alaska Political Report first obtained the memo.

Hoffman has been in the Legislature since the 1980s and is a powerful force. He has sat on or co-chaired the Senate Finance Committee since 2001. This year he is overseeing the operating budget. And based on the above memo, he means business. 

The second big action he took occurred this afternoon. Hoffman showed up to the final meeting of the Senate Health Finance subcommittee, of which he is not a member. Finance subcommittees are more informal than standing committees and are not subject to the Committee on Committees – which decides committee membership. That being said, it’s rare for the chairman to just show up to a subcommittee and vote on amendments, but Hoffman did just that today.     

The Health subcommittee meeting was scheduled for 7:45 am but was bumped to 1:15 pm, likely by design.

Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Alaska), the majority leader, had an amendment to add grant money for youth behavioral health. Senators Elvi Gray-Jackson (D – Anchorage) and Forrest Dunbar (D – Anchorage) both voted yes. But Hoffman, Senator Bert Stedman (R – Sitka), who chairs the committee, and Senator James Kaufman (R – Anchorage), a member of the minority, voted no. The amendment failed 3-3. If Hoffman had not been there and voted, it would have passed 3-2. 

The same thing happened with another amendment from Senator Gray-Jackson. Her amendment proposed to add $1.5 million for dementia training for adult service providers. That failed 3-3 on the same lines as Giessel’s amendment. 

Hoffman and Stedman must have figured out that the amendments from Giessel and Gray-Jackson had the votes to pass. So instead of letting Stedman get rolled by the committee, and then later have the full finance committee attempt to undo the additions to the budget, Hoffman decided to get a bit Soviet and make sure the amendments did not pass in the first place. 

Dwindling revenues combined with pressure to spend money on education, dividends, programs, and capital projects, are making things difficult for both finance committees. Hoffman’s actions show he’s serious about not increasing spending. But they also highlight a fracture within the Senate majority. Senators Giessel and Gray-Jackson can’t be happy about Hoffman showing up and killing amendments that otherwise would have passed. 

It’s day 72 of the legislative session, and these tensions are only going to grow between now and the end of the 121-day regular session. One thing is for sure. Hoffman is the leading contender for this week’s Loose Unit!