Good luck to our Mat-Su legislators

Frontiersman editorial board

It is once again time to send our delegataion to Juneau, and with them we send our perpetual hope to get more for less.

It's not all that surprising -- just like customers in a grocery store, we constituents are always looking for the best bargain. We want straight, safe roads and good, high-scoring schools, and we want it all cheap.

But after years of having a conservative Legislature pinch pennies and tighten belts, we may be nearing the point of having to choose between paying more in taxes, giving up some of our dividends or having fewer essential services.

"Cut the fat" has clearly been the slogan of our elected officials, but we are beginning to wonder just how thin we can go as a state.

Our delegation appears to be holding tight to that old slogan. Rep. Vic Kohring says we don't have a revenue problem, but instead a spending problem. Rep. Scott Ogan, too, has said it may simply be a matter of doing without.

Sen. Rick Halford said he gets mixed messages from state administration that muddy the issue. Administration, he said, often brings up the ever-looming budget gap that could put the state in a difficult position if a costly disaster strikes. At the same time, Halford said, administration recently asked for a budget increase of more than $200,000 just to meet year-to-year needs.

We recognize that our delegation is between a rock and a hard place. Valley residents are calling for more money to improve roads such as the Old Glenn and Trunk. At the same time, Valley residents have made it clear they are not willing to give state government another dollar, whether it be in the form of taxes or a smaller dividend check.

One way to answer both these demands is to gratefully accept an infusion of federal funds in the form of GARVEE bonds. While we understand those who say the bonds should go to a general vote and those who are concerned the money may overheat our economy, we think the benefits vastly outweigh the disadvantages. If we indeed are facing a fiscal gap, why turn down money for much-needed road improvements that will only get more expensive the longer they're put off. Among the projects to be funded, according to the state Department of Transportation, is an expansion of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, reconstruction of Trunk Road and rehabilitation of the Old Glenn Highway -- all projects our readers have said they are concerned about.

We realize, however, that road improvements are just a few of our many demands. We also want more education dollars and more money for law enforcement and courts, and we don't want to have to pay a single dime more for any of it.

As we place such demands upon legislators, perhaps we can only realistically make one request of them -- Bring home the biggest piece of the dwindling pie as you can manage.