"...This was nothing more than a publicity stunt by the House..."

It was nothing of the kind kiddo. It was the House doing the only thing it could do to save the PFD program from being raided and destroyed by Micciche and the Senate.  
It was,..what`s a good word... "Brilliant" and "Honorable" come to mind. 
Publicity stunts, as you term it, don`t cut it in the real world of Alaska politics.  The people who will lose jobs, lose education and career opportunities, from a Senate refusal to act like adults are not a publicity stunt I`m afraid.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trickle-down-economics-is-a-nightmare-kansas-proved-it/2017/06/12/c2d7aae0-4fa6-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html?utm_term=.dde925b15ecb