Senate Finance co-chair says governor's budget not balanced

State Sen. Bert Stedman, who represents Sitka and central and southern Southeast, including Wrangell, is in his 20th year in the Senate, serving much of that time as co-chair of the budget-writing Finance Committee. As lawmakers prepare to resume work Jan. 18 in Juneau, Stedman said Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget appears to be balanced — and not balanced — at the same time.

“It’s balanced, but not when you compare recurring revenues to recurring expenditures,” Stedman said. “We’ve got to unwind that. The structural deficit is going to be $375 million at least. Then we have to see what’s...