Negotiators reach agreement on crime bill

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Latest on the Alaska Legislature (all times local):

12:50 p.m.

Alaska House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a sweeping crime package that one member says would repeal and replace a 2016 criminal justice overhaul.

The full House and Senate will still need to OK the package. A final vote is expected in the coming days.

The agreement was announced on the first day of the special session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy after lawmakers reached the constitutional limit of the regular session Wednesday with major issues unresolved, including a crime bill.

Details on the agreement’s cost were being finalized.

The bill is intended to address public outcry over crime. It is one of the issues on the special session agenda. Dunleavy has also asked lawmakers to finish work on state spending plans and the dividend residents get from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund.

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10:35 a.m.

Alaska legislators have convened a special session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy when they failed to complete their work by a constitutional deadline.

Lawmakers ended the regular session late Wednesday. Unresolved are state budgets, crime legislation and a decision on how to handle the dividend residents receive from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund.

House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to meet on the crime package Thursday. Disagreements over the dividend snarled resolution on a state operating budget.

Dunleavy’s office, in a release, indicated he expected lawmakers to consider a full dividend payout as part of their budget deliberations.

The special session agenda also includes a measure for school funding. Dunleavy raised constitutional questions about the appropriation lawmakers approved last year for the coming fiscal year. Legislative leaders have stood behind their actions.

AP-WF-05-16-19 2054GMT