Costly special session labors on in state capital

May 24, 2005

In a sign of progress over the weekend, the Legislature reached agreement on one of the key pieces of the puzzle that could get them out of Juneau while the salmon are still running. A compromise workers compensation reform bill passed on a party-line vote, handing the governor and Senate majority a victory of sorts on one of their big-ticket items.

Whether it adds up to a victory for working people and taxpayers seems doubtful, given the less-than-clear tenets of the bill, which some critics say will lead to more cases ending up in costly litigation. For now, though, we will give the compromise agreement the benefit of the doubt.

What is adding up for taxpayers, though, is the bill for this special session. As lawmakers creak and crawl toward the two-week mark of the $30,000-a-day special session, all the oft-repeated rhetoric of the majority party about fiscal conservatism seems to ring a bit more hollow. This would be less disappointing were it not for the overwhelming advantage enjoyed by the majority in the legislative chambers.

The deck is stacked so much in favor of members of the majority that they continue to debate the budget question behind closing doors, undemocratically thumbing their noses not only at the minority, but also at the 75 percent of registered Alaska voters who do not share their party affiliation.

What gives? Never mind what the minority says is "arrogance." It seems "like-minded" people who paint themselves as wise stewards of the people's money ought to be able to avoid such a needlessly expensive working out of their differences. It was enough last week to cause one member of the House majority to admit that he was embarrassed to be a part of the process this year.

Such is the nature of Alaska politics, where gridlock is even possible within a caucus.

As for the root of that gridlock, most fingers point to the Senate, whose hard-line members have held the budget - and its education funding - hostage until the House agrees to support pension reform for teachers and public employees. It is a costly game of chicken at taxpayers' expense.

One senator, the Valley's own Lyda Green, tried to downplay the rising tensions and lack of progress last week in a comment to a Capitol reporter. "In two months, I will have to think hard to remember what happened in this building."

While the comment was likely intended to be innocent, it also portends more of the same shenanigans for future legislative sessions, which voters would do well to remember come the next election.

Green went on to downplay the session's gridlock further: "I think the rest of Alaska will forget, too."

On this, Green and her re-election-minded Senate colleagues are most certainly banking.