Delegates present their successes

PALMER -- Wednesday's weekly Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting gave the five Alaska Mat-Su legislative delegates an opportunity to sum up the year and discuss what will be on the plate for the next session. Sen. Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, Sen. Scott Ogan, R-Palmer, Rep. Bill Stoltz, R-Chugiak/Mat-Su, Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, and Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, spent the lunch hour discussing their successes and pitfalls with chamber members.

"This was one of those years when every day was filled with anticipation," Green said.

Green's contributions to this year's legislative session included the introduction of 11 pieces of legislation; eight of them passed and were signed into law. This includes Senate Bill 41, which established the crime of medical assistance fraud, and Senate Bill 95, which requires public school employees intending to strike to provide a 72-hour written notice before the strike.

Green said one of her major focuses for next session will be to bring home the 600 to 800 Alaska prisoners housed in prisons in Arizona, to bring them closer to their families.

Ogan chaired the resource committee this year, and said his major focus was on developing Alaska's natural resources.

"Alaska needs to be a place where we're not just talking about [resource development] … we need to be a place where we mean business," Ogan said.

Ogan helped legislation pass that transferred Alaska Coastal Policy Council office functions to the Department of Natural Resources, and made a number of changes to resource development legislation.

He will soon visit British Columbia to study its successes; the province has cut 35 percent of it's overall budget, and cut one-third of its regulation for resource development. He pledges to continue pushing for resource development in the upcoming session.

"As the newcomer, realizing the complexity of the job and knowing that every push of the [voting] button makes changes for everyday people and business … has been important," said Stoltz, who previously worked as a layman in Juneau for a number of years.

Stoltz said he has worked closely with his counterpart, Sen. Lyda Green, on the different prison deals in the state, including the question of privatization. He pledges to continue focusing on this in the upcoming session.

Stoltz also promised that as a legislative member of the Knik Toll Authority, he will assure that some of the authority meetings will take place in the Mat-Su, bringing business into both Palmer and Wasilla.

Kohring informed members of the chamber that the past year had both its ups and downs for his office and staff. The good: Resource development was getting the attention it deserved. The bad: As a long-time advocate for no taxes, Kohring was disappointed that there were some new taxes passed this last session.

"Realistic alternatives [to taxes] like developing our resources also means reform and cuts to our bureaucracy," Kohring said. "I am against taking the money out of the earning public."

Kohring called the discussion of the state-wide sales tax "pre-mature," and vowed he would continue to fight against new taxes during the next session.

"When we got together [before the year started] and decided who was going to be what, I didn't think I was going to be anything," Gatto said. "I ended up the chair of education; that's an 800-pound gorilla in the budget."

Gatto's push on education resulted in the passing and signing of four education-related bills, including a student transportation bill, which allows districts to cut costs in their bus transportation budget and incorporate the left-over finances directly into the classrooms.

Gatto vows that next session he will continue making positive and significant changes in education, while working with his colleagues whom he praised for their teaching and support during the luncheon.