Juneau results a mixed bag in tough year

This editorial originally appeared in the Sunday edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The end of the school year looms, and local students are likely to be done with classes before the Legislature finishes its business. Given the end of the academic and legislative sessions, it seems an appropriate time to release some unofficial grades for the Alaska Legislature and its performance so far this year.

Natural gas pipeline: D

Gov. Bill Walker made changes to the state’s Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline, intended as a backup in case the AK LNG line being planned along with North Slope producers falls through, to make it a sensible project for the state’s needs and for gas export. The problem: That makes it look like a competitor to the AK LNG line. The Legislature passed a law barring the governor’s changes, but Gov. Walker vetoed it and legislators failed to override his veto before the end of the session.

Alaska is still where it was before the session started on natural gas, albeit with a huge rift between the legislative and executive branches because of their philosophical differences. There was much time wasted to get to this point. The only reason this isn’t an outright F is that, so far, there’s no evidence the AK LNG line has been adversely affected by all of the bickering.

Education: C-

The Legislature did a good job making difficult cuts, and education is one of the hardest places to apply those cuts fairly. But some cutting may have gone too deep, particularly Sen. Pete Kelly’s proposed reduction of formula funding for students after the end of public comment on the budget. And the decision to end construction bond reimbursement, whether by accident or not, gave Anchorage one more go at state funding than other school districts around the state.

Marijuana: B

Despite strong disagreements over the intent of voters in legalizing marijuana, the Legislature managed to complete the two essential tasks required of it on the issue this session: changing laws relating to legality to reflect the drug’s new status, and setting up the framework for a Marijuana Control Board that can deal with looming commercialization, on track to begin next year.

Medicaid: Incomplete

Signs so far aren’t good; the Republican-led majority has opposed Medicaid expansion at every turn. This appears to be clear partisanship; data from the state Department of Health and Social Services, and independent studies show benefits to states accepting expansion. But the group has been called to special session to consider this, so they won’t get a grade for unfinished work.

Erin’s Law: Incomplete

There’s no good reason for the Legislature to not have passed this already, but it hasn’t. Lawmakers might still act on it in the special session if they get down to business on May 12 after their recess ends. Given the majority’s lackadaisical attitude with regard to the bill’s fate so far, however, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up.

Budget: C- (Partial grade)

Legislators deserve credit for making sizable and sometimes unpopular budget reductions — doing the finances for a state that’s in the red is a hard thing to do, and those tasked with it will inevitably hear plenty from those negatively affected by decreased spending. On the other hand, some legislators also made small cuts that didn’t help the fiscal situation much and appeared to target funding sources they simply didn’t like. That’s petty.

Also, most legislators refused to consider additional revenue in addition to cuts, which is indefensible. The budget can’t be balanced without new sources of revenue, and constituents have been calling for them for more than a month. Legislators receive the C- provisionally, but if they can’t find a way to actually fund government for a full year — which they have yet to accomplish because of a standoff between the Republican-led majority and minority Democrats — they’ll get an F.