Alaska lawmakers unlikely to pass budget before special session ends

Friday is the end of a special session in Juneau, and lawmakers have not passed an operating budget to keep state services running past July 1.
At this point, passage of a budget is possible, but procedurally difficult because lawmakers must have the bill on their desks for 24 hours before taking a vote — and that timeframe has already passed. Still, legislators could vote to waive that rule.
“But that would mean that our conference committees would be meeting now negotiati