House Finance Committee hears testimony in Dunleavy country

WASILLA — When the House Finance Committee brought its budget road show to Wasilla, it heard what’s been coming from the third floor of the capitol building since Gov. Mike Dunleavy took office. Members of the public who spoke to assembled House Finance Committee members made it clear that they want what they were promised: a repeal of SB 91, a full Permanent Fund Dividend, and no new taxes.

When Ron Johnson stepped to the microphone, he let House Finance know what 12 of the 13 speakers before him had already exclaimed.

“Welcome to Dunleavy country. We fully support this governor and his budget plan,” Johnson said. “I fully expect to see some pain from this budget, I fully do. And I’m willing to take it for prosperity.”

Johnson was among a large majority of others who came to tout the governor’s campaign promises as the budget they want to see passed in Juneau. Brian Endle said that he voted for Dunleavy based on what he was promised.

“I did not vote for those that have come here to this Valley to tell us that just men should fear criminals. I did not come here to this meeting, I did not vote for those that came here that said that we should be giving up our PFD and that stealing is okay. I did not vote for those people who said that they want to increase the budget and take our hard earned money through taxes. I support the Governor Dunleavy in his budget,” Endle said.

Endle’s wife Julie said that those who don’t want a full PFD should simply not apply and that she did not want her tax dollars to support what she described as ‘welfare children.’ A great deal of the dissatisfied emotion coming from the voices of speakers was directed at House Speaker Bryce Edgmon. While Representative David Eastman shook hands with sign wavers outside in favor of a full PFD, Edgmon stared uneasily at the crowd, mostly full of Dunleavy supporters.

“Until we have a state government that has been resized to be sustainable by the working population of Alaska, there should be no new taxes. As for the whining that has been going on about all the special programs that will go away, I ask those of you involved to step up, think creatively and find a fiscally responsible solution from within your industry,” Kim Bergey said. “To educators who hold the largest portion of the budget in your hands I say this to you: you can and must do better. Many educators in Alaska are in denial about our education system. As a product of the old system I can tell you that the basics are best. Alaska does not need a Cadillac when a Kia will do the job just as effectively. There are millions of dollars that can be saved in education if educators will just come together to meet their constitutional obligation through consolidation without adding all kinds of fluff and special programs. The governor’s proposed budget is intended to change the future of Alaska for the better.”

However scarce, there were those who did not alert their legislators that a full PFD was their first priority. Dan Page retired from the Army and taught in the Valley for seven years. He describes himself as a fiscal conservative but took a different approach than many when listing his priorities.

“I really don’t care about my PFD. I don’t need a PFD. If you’re going to give me one, I’ll take it. It does belong to the people, but if we need it to run the government then we run the government with some of the PFD. I have no problem with that. What I really don’t want to have is an income tax,” Page said. “I voted for Governor Dunleavy. I support his budget, but I’m also a realist and I believe that there’s got to be some compromise in there. So I have no problem with a little bit of giving money back. I think his budget is, I would call it draconian. I think it’s a wakeup call and I don’t think, I don’t expect you guys to pass exactly. I expect you guys to switch it around a little bit.”

Many members of elected bodies and board presidents were in the room to hear the open budget discussion. Co-Chair of Finance Representative Tammie Wilson ran the meeting, and Reps LeBon, Johnson, Tilton, Speaker Edgmon, Eastman, and Senators Shower and Eastman were in attendance. Representative Colleen Sullivan-Leonard and Sara Hannan listened online.

“I don’t know the total numbers but full repeal on the commission on human rights would be a great first step since under state and federal law this commission is not needed. In addition, most recently the Executive Director has shown a bias against first amendment rights of others. This has caused great concern in the effectiveness of this commission protecting our rights in a cost effective and constitutional manner. How this House Finance Committee is working this budget is anything but transparent. This idea of setting out for hearings to push this budget over the present Governor’s budget is a slap in the face to the voters who elected the Governor and a majority in the House,” Mike Coons said.

Among the willingness to accept Governor Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts in the crowd, a handful also begrudgingly mentioned an effort to move the legislature away from Juneau, along with the other oft-promised result of the November election.

“The people want their money, their PFD that was promised to them and we want it now! that’s it, that’s all I’ve got to say, and also one more thing. Repeal SB 91,” Joe Schlanger said.

Through the parade of those who are in favor of Dunleavy’s budget cuts, there were very few who opposed. Michael Chambers suggested that funding be restored to Medicaid to stop opioid overdoses.

“There’s more to the equation. It’s not just this versus that and one of the things that’s rarely mentioned and overlooked is the oil tax credits. I mean the past year we paid one-and-a-quarter billion dollars. We’re subsidizing the oil industry. If you took that money and we put it in the current budget, everyone could have a full PFD just about, and maintain our current services. The oil companies aren’t going to go anywhere because we don’t give them a tax credit,” Warren Keogh said.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.