Hard Up for Cash, Alaska Considers New Sources

With state budgets under stress, lawmakers looking to keep up the spending are searching in new places for money to keep their favorite programs going. In some cases that may mean they'll be spending money that was approved before but hasn't yet been used.

That's called “reappropriation,” or sometimes “clawback,” where legislators take back money that was appropriated in past sessions. In other cases, they're looking at money appropriated for endowment-type funds in which earnings are expected to provide ongoing program funding.

“Everyone is trying to turn over every rock and stone we have, it’s down to pennies, nickels and dimes,” said Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Among possible sources of funds are projects, especially controversial ones, with extra money appropriated to them in the past when their legislative supporters had the power.