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Senators converse during an At Ease in a floor session of the Alaska State Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Senators passed a budget bill with a Permanent Fund Dividend of $1,100, but there's disagreement over the fund sources that may lead to legal action. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Senate passes budget bill, $1,100 PFD hours before deadline

Next stop: The governor’s desk.

A bill aimed at helping Alaska's hospitals died Monday after provisions were added by lawmakers barring vaccine mandates. In this file photo, a nurse holds a phial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Guy’s Hospital in London, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool)

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Bill aimed at helping hospitals stalls after anti-mandate language added

Distracting debate.

State Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, participate's in an October 2020 march and rally in Juneau. Hannan on Monday apologized for comments made during a state House of Representatives floor session in which she suggested Nazi medical experiments led to gained knowledge. ((Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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Hannan apologizes for Nazi experiment comments

State rep calls her remarks “incorrect, insensitive and hurtful.”

An ICU nurse, moves electrical cords for medical machines, outside the room of a patient suffering from COVID-19, in an intensive care unit at the Willis-Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport, La. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a nurse staffing crisis that is forcing many U.S. hospitals to pay top dollar to get the help they need to handle the crush of patients this summer. (AP Photo/ Gerald Herbert)

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Gov amends session to allow lawmakers to tackle COVID

‘Move at the speed of trust.’

Lawmakers at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this Jun. 7, file photo, heard a bill that would make it easier for hospitals to hire workers from other states on Tuesday, with only a week left in the Legislature's third special session of the year. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Lawmakers fast-track bill to aid health care hiring

Workers are strained.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered the release of certain state funds Wednesday, including for the Alaska Performance Scholarship, which helps Alaskans pay for things like classes at the University of Alaska Southeast, shown in this October 2020 file photo. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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State releases scholarship, medical school program funding

Scholarships and public health.

House Speaker Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, center, leaves the House chambers on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021 following marathon floor sessions that morning and Monday night. The House passed an appropriations bill but not before members of the minority voiced deep objections. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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House passes budget bill, calls for $1,100 PFD

Fractious floor sessions.

Rep. Ivy Sponholz, D-Anchorage, left, listens as Legislative Finance Director Alexei Painter gives a presentation to the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. Lawmakers have less than 30 days to try and both complete the state's budget and find resolution on the state's long term fiscal problems. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Legislators aim to finish budget, find fiscal solutions

Less than 30 days.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds up a graph showing the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund during a new conference at the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Lawmakers have asked the governor to amend the call of the special session, allowing them to address the budget which remains only partially funded. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Lawmakers, governor spar over direction of special session

Lawmakers return to the capital city.

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file Former Gov. Bill Walker, seen here in 2016, filed to run for governor once again in 2022, picking former Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Heidi Drygas to run for lieutenant governor.

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Former Gov. Walker files to run again as an independent

‘Our goal is to be a fiscal solution.’

A map from the Alaska Energy Authority showing all the communities in Alaska eligible for the Power Cost Equalization program which subsidizes power costs in rural areas. Funding for the program has been caught up in year-to-year budget battles and lawmakers are hopeful they can address the issue in the next special session of the Alaska State Legislature. (Courtesy image / Alaska Energy Authority)

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Lawmakers want to amend call to special session

Lots of public testimony.

Lawmakers will be back at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this file photo, on Aug. 16, and after spending several weeks on background hearings and public testimony, members of the work group say they’re ready to get into solutions. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Fiscal working group readies for policy proposals

Making progress.

A Juneau resident holds up a Recall Dunleavy signature collection page when the campaign first began in August, 2019, but the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday the campaign's application for recall was legally sufficient. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)

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State Supreme Court sides with recall campaign, draws Dunleavy’s ire

High court affirms superior court decision.