THE LINK: WINTER 2025 36 State House split 21-19, featuring thin margin of control by new coalitions With a notable difference the Legislature in 2025 looks a lot like 2024. There are a lot of familiar faces, all veterans, in the leadership of both the state Senate and House. The Senate is once again controlled by a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans with a partisan lineup similar to the last Legislature. There’s a coalition organization in the state House, too, but this one is led by Democrats, moderate Republicans and independents. The Senate leaders are veterans: Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, is again Senate President after having served in that position in several Legislatures. Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, is again Senate Majority Leader and chair of the Senate Resources Committee, a committee she has chaired before. The Finance committee is controlled by veteran cochairs: Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, and Donny Olson, D-Golovin. All three have previously served as Senate Finance cochairs. Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, also an experienced legislator, will chair the Senate Labor and Commerce committee as well as the Transportation Committee. While the new Senate organization looks familiar things are more interesting in the state House. The House is split 21-19 with a razor-thin margin of control by a new coalition of Democrats, moderate Republicans and independents, nonaligned House members. This essentially flips the House control from the last Legislature when a Republican majority controlled the body with a thin margin. Narrow margins can make for uncertainty on floor votes because it takes 21 affirmative votes in the 40-member House to pass a bill (a 20-20 tie vote defeats it). If one or two votes in the Majority peel off to vote with the Minority, there are problems. Typically the leadership will make sure there are at least 22 or 23 votes among members present to give margins for control. Absences from floor votes due to travel and illness create complications. In the last Legislature, House Republican leaders were able to keep a tight rein on their votes on several controversial bills including an attempted override of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of education funding, which was sustained by just one vote. This year, control of the House will be by experienced legislators just as in the Senate, with Rep. Bryce Edgmon, an independent from Dillingham, as Speaker. Interestingly, Edgmon, also a former House Speaker, served as co-chair of the House Finance Committee in the last Legislature that was controlled by Republicans. Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, will co-chair the House Finance Committee and will be in charge of bills. Foster, like Edgmon, co-chaired the committee in the last Legislature controlled by Republicans. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, a veteran on the Finance Committee, will also be co-chair and will be in charge of the House version of the operating budget that pays for state operations. Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, who was Minority Leader in the last Legislature, will be the third Finance co-chair and will manage development of the capital budget, mainly for construction, in the House. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, is House Majority Leader, and is returning to the House. Kopp served in a previous Legislature. Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, will be Rules Chair in the House. Stutes is an experiVeteran legislators lead Senate, House CATHY GIESSEL MIKE SHOWER BRYCE EDGMON GARY STEVENS
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