Following in Dunleavy’s footsteps, Shower refuses caucus

JUNEAU —Senator Mike Shower will not join the caucus with other Republicans in the Senate. After the scramble of appointments following a vacant Senate seat E, Shower registered as a Republican to be officially appointed to the seat. Arriving in Juneau without power to introduce bills or sit on committees, Shower describes the budget as the elephant in the room.

The consequence of joining the caucus is that Shower would have to vote with his party on the budget. By not joining the caucus, Shower loses resources right away. He will not be awarded extra staff nor will he be involved in party strategy sessions.

“Those are a few things that will make it difficult to be as effective as I could be,” said Shower.

Shower’s sole focus, without the possibility of introducing legislation or sitting on committees, is to become educated on a budget he feels is bloated and in need of cuts. Tying his vote to the caucus would hinder his ability to do that.

“Because I have a concern that the budget is going to be a significant increase, that is not something I would like to see. Nothing to do with anything else other than I’m just not sure where the budget is going to be” said Shower.

Shower sees the benefit of joining the caucus, and has not sworn off joining a caucus in a future session, but sees the main budget concern as too big to ignore.

“I would love to join the caucus. I’d like to present a united front, but it ties my hands to the budget that just may be too big. I’d like to see cuts. I don’t think we can afford to be spending money right now,” said Shower.