Governor would do well to heed popular opinion

Isn't it a wonder how greatly oil prices in excess of $50 per barrel can change things. A few short years ago, when oil was relatively cheap, there was talk among legislators of a "fiscal crisis." Endless legislative battles were fought over what to cut and what to fund in order to make up for projected deficits. Legislators worked across the aisle to develop a workable plan to bridge the huge budget gap. Then, when the state could least afford it, expensive special sessions seemed to be regular occurrences.

This year, thanks in large part to state coffers overflowing with oil revenue, and a majority party making the big budget decisions without any meaningful input from the minority, there is even talk of the Legislature adjourning a few days early. Still, it does not appear that the May 10 adjournment date is going to come and go quietly.

Gov. Frank Murkowski has stirred up a hornet's nest of sorts with his latest attempt to upgrade the means of official air travel. The House and Senate have both already refused this session to approve his request for $1.4 million in state funds to lease a jet. Failing a legislative blessing for his plan, the governor says he'll use executive fiat and sell one of the 25-year-old turboprop aircraft in the state fleet to pay for the jet lease.

We can appreciate the governor's desire to have something more modern than a 25-year-old aircraft for official state business. It does not reflect well on Alaskans, especially to visiting dignitaries, that this is the best we can do. But neither does our underfunded education system, our outdated infrastructure or a host of other smaller, more worthy causes around the state that have endured funding cuts in recent years.

It is most illuminating that public outcry over this has been so widespread, and that even among members of his own party in the Legislature, the governor has no support for his effort. Nonetheless, as the state's top executive, he is free to follow through with his plan. But the $1.4 million cost of doing so may prove to have a heftier cost in the political arena.