Another capital proposal

WASILLA — It may not be the most popular bill on offer this session — at least not in Southcentral Alaska — but state Rep. Mark Neuman is again looking to move the Legislature out of Juneau.

“I’ve had legislators from Southeast say, ‘Mark I wish you wouldn’t introduce a bill like that,’” Neuman said Friday.

But Neuman, who represents the Valley from Meadow Lakes north, points to polling data saying a majority of Alaskans would support a move in explaining his motivation.

“If that’s what they (public) want then that’s what I have to do. The choice isn’t up to me,” he said.

The bill he’s introduced is much the same as the one he put forth last year. That go-round the bill made it out of the state House’s Finance Committee but stalled in the Rules Committee — the group that decides what bills make it to the floor.

Given his druthers, Neuman would like to see the Legislature move to the Point MacKenzie area. But the bill he’s put forth mentions no specific area of the state. Instead, it invites various local governments to throw out proposals for the Legislature to consider.

“I would expect several proposals to come before the Legislature if this bill were to pass,” he said.

Juneau, Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks, Nome all could have a shot, Neuman said.

“It’s just about getting access to the Legislature. We are their voice in government and when people don’t have a readily accessible voice when laws are being made when budgets are being developed that affect all of us as Alaskans that’s not a good thing.”

Neuman said he’s looked into the feasibility of a move.

“You can put a bill out but it’s nice to see if it will actually work,” he said, and toward that, “I went to developers and was able to find a developer that was willing to put in his own money to build a Legislature.”

He said there are folks out there willing to build a Legislature and then rent it to the state for a dollar a year.

The move wouldn’t necessarily mean whatever city got the Legislature would be the state’s Capitol. Indeed, whether the administrative branch or governor’s office stays in Juneau is up to someone else entirely, Neuman said.

But Neuman said he understands the concerns of Southeast. They’d be losing jobs in the deal. He thinks there could be a silver lining, though.

“Juneau could be looking at maybe a world-class convention center,” Neuman said. The city should, “look and see how they can use this to their advantage.”

Of course the move is far from a done deal. And Neuman was cagey when asked about his bill’s chances in this year’s legislative session.

“We’ll give it our best shot and see what happens,” he said. “It’s a public process and I’m one of 60.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.