Alaska Senate Accepts Override Vote Invitation on Five Vetoed Bills

Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed nine bills on June 18, the final day of the second special session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. The Alaska State Senate on Friday accepted the House's invitation to meet in joint session to consider override votes on five of those bills.

The governor's veto messages, read into the record during the floor session, covered SB 21, the Alaska Work and Save Program; SB 24, covering tobacco, nicotine, e-cigarette age, and e-cigarette tax; SB 41, public schools mental health education; SB 258, contract licensing software applications; HB 23, the State Commission for Civil Rights; HB 52, minors and psychiatric hospitals; HB 195, physician associate scope of practice; HB 314, covering architects, engineers, and surveyors; and HB 280, apportionment of taxable income.

Separately, the governor let 16 other bills become law without his signature during the same session. Those measures covered topics ranging from fisheries electronic monitoring and ADA workforce housing to school nutrition, civics education, and physician assistant scope of practice.

Override Attempt

The House invited the Senate to meet in joint session on Friday, subject to the call of the chair, to vote on possible overrides for five of the vetoed bills:

• SB 21, the Alaska Work and Save Program, a voluntary retirement savings option linked to the PFD Investment Account

• HB 195, covering physician associate scope of practice

• HB 52, on minors in psychiatric hospitals

• SB 41, the public school mental health education bill

• HB 314, covering architects, engineers, and land surveyors

The Senate accepted the invitation by unanimous consent and then recessed to the call of the chair. The joint session was to be convened the same day upon the chair's call.

Mental Health Education

SB 41 drew attention during the legislative session for its focus on youth mental health. Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, who championed the bill, described it at an April 22 House Finance Committee hearing as a response to Alaska's youth suicide crisis. She cited the state's high youth suicide rate and the particular severity of the problem in rural communities. The bill was titled "Public Schools Mental Health Education" in the governor's veto message.

The Override Bar

Alaska requires a supermajority of legislators to override a governor's veto. Anchorage School District Superintendent Jarrett Bryant noted at a June 2 school board meeting that in the entire history of Alaska governance, the legislature has overridden a sitting governor only four times, three of them last year on school funding. He described the override threshold as "one of the highest bars in the entire country." A 2026 constitutional amendment on the November ballot would reduce the vote required to override a governor's veto of revenue or appropriations bills from three-fourths to two-thirds of each house.