APOC funding critical to good government

In yet another sign that Gov. Sarah Palin is serious about Capitol house-cleaning, she announced Friday that her first proposed budget will include funding for an investigator at the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Calls by Palin for the reinstatement of the popular longevity bonus, a monthly payment to Alaska senior citizens axed by Gov. Murkowski, and municipal revenue sharing, also cut by Murkowski, may have grabbed the headlines - and the public's attention - following the governor's budget announcement, but the increased APOC funding is every bit as relevant.

With one former legislator recently indicted on corruption-related charges and an ongoing FBI investigation into a possible money-for-votes scandal involving other legislators and oilfield services company VECO, the need for APOC and its services can't be more clear.

Founded by voter initiative after the Watergate scandal in the mid-1970s, APOC has been the public's watchdog agency in matters of campaign finance and lobbyist activity since then. Indeed, part of the organization's mission is &#8220to encourage the public's confidence in their elected and appointed officials by administering Alaska's disclosure statutes …”

APOC has undergone incremental changes since then. Driven generally by voter calls for tighter restrictions or better enforcement, the organization has evolved to its present form.

Sadly, while the public was clamoring for less big-money influence in state politics, the previous governor and his majority henchmen in the Legislature were busy doing what they could to dismantle APOC and cripple its enforcement capabilities - all in the interest of keeping the campaign-finance gravy train rolling out of the spotlight of public scrutiny.

After reducing the staffing level to a point where APOC had its hands full just posting candidate disclosure statements in a timely manner, Murkowski and others then criticized the agency for not doing its job and called for its absorption into the state bureaucracy. Under such a plan, APOC would have been under the direction of political appointees, effectively driving the final stake through the heart of this advocate for the public interest.

People who care about honest, open, accountable government know how vitally important a healthy and independent APOC is. Alaskans just elected a governor who not only understands this, but is acting on that understanding.

Palin's proposed budget is a long way from being finalized, but it has much in the way of early promise. We are happy for seniors, most of whom likely need the monthly stipend provided the longevity bonus. And we are happy for cash-strapped communities and taxpayers who live in them, who will definitely benefit from a return to municipal revenue sharing.

But we are also happy for Alaskans everywhere, who need to trust and feel good about those who represent them again. Reinstating APOC's investigating arm will go a long way in rebuilding a fully functional and effective tool in protecting the interests of regular Alaskans against the excesses of those who would abuse or take advantage of the system.