I got the opportunity to involuntarily tour Southeast Alaska on Monday.  Due to low lying fog over the Juneau airport for most of the day Monday, my flight was diverted to Sitka where I got to spend the day.  I had the chance to catch up with my colleagues who were likewise stranded and talk on my cell with my staff while waiting for the fog to clear and the resuming of flights back to our capital city.   After leaving Kenai at 5:10AM, I reached my final destination at about 7:30PM the same evening.  I usually like to head back on Sunday nights, however the flight was full and the only seats available were Monday morning.  All in all, it made for a long day.

The deadline for House Subcommittee Closeouts is this Friday.  The Governor’s FY 11 amendments were submitted last Wednesday and Subcommittees have been scrambling to review and incorporate these requests where appropriate.    These closeouts are the hard work of the 18 subcommittees who have reviewed the Governor’s request over the last six weeks.  Co-Chair Hawker will incorporate the closeouts into a Committee Substitute for review of the full Finance Committee.  Further House action on the budget will include Public Testimony, amendments in House Finance and finally Floor Action.  This process will occur in the next three weeks.

Both the Deferred Maintenance and Supplemental bills are scheduled for hearings in House Finance this week.