Kohring touts budget streamlining plan, not taxes

MAT-SU -- Saying additional taxes for Alaskans were unnecessary, Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, recently unveiled a five-year plan he says would bring Alaska's budget back into the realm of safety.

Kohring announced in a Feb. 4 press release that he believes new taxes for Alaskans were unnecessary. While Gov. Tony Knowles and many legislators have put income tax, alcohol tax and a tourism tax legislation on the agenda for this session, Kohring said he is strongly opposed to the proposals that have been submitted so far.

"I oppose more new taxes [being] applied to hard-working Alaskans when many of them are having a hard time paying mortgages, insurance, childcare and other bills that already exist," Kohring said. "When legislators come along and steal from their constituents to pay for a huge and ever-growing bureaucracy, it seems a shame to me, when the budget can be cut more."

Instead, Kohring has outlined a plan that would eliminate approximately 75 percent of the budget deficit within five years. The plan, according to information from Kohring's office, calls for streamlining Alaska's government.

"Twenty-five percent of the employees can be cut, " Kohring said. "The top 1,000 workers make between $130,000 and $240,000 a year including benefits and the top-payed employee, making $240,000, is a staff psychiatrist working for Health and Human Services."

The key points of Kohring's proposal focus on the elimination of non-essential programs using a prioritization process in lieu of further cuts in basic agency operations such as roads, education, public safety and the court system.

In cutting and eliminating programs, Kohring suggests that the programs meet certain criteria:

Is the program constitutionally or federally mandated?

Were the programs added to the budget since 1978, when oil revenues began?

Are the programs unique to Alaska and not in effect in other states,with the exception of the PFD?

Are the programs within the "basic essential" category?

Kohring said he believes the Legislature can generate funds by selling off certain assets such as the Alaska Railroad Corporation, the Four Dam Pool, Alaska Housing Finance Corp. mortgages, and state owned land.

"Philosophically, I believe that the government shouldn't be a big landlord and I don't think we should be competing with private industry," Kohring said. He added that there are thousands of acres presently held by the state that could be used by private industry to create jobs and a stronger economy.

The proposal would also accelerate leasing programs to encourage more resource development and create incentives for departments to encourage efficiencies, Kohring said.

Kohring suggests repealing existing statutes to relieve the state of financial obligations and consolidate Administrative Hearing Officers into one central panel along with other departments and agencies. Consolidating state services, he said, could eliminate duplicate state services and achieve a one-stop-shopping type of efficiency.

Kohring also wants to restructure the Department of Education's foundation formula in order to to implement alternative forms of education, such as a voucher system and tax credits to homeowners that would return that money to the parents so they could choose where to send their children. Kohring's belief is that this would make the school system more efficient by making schools compete and better budget their expenditures.

With these changes in place, Kohring said he believes $600 million can be cut from the budget. This would take place over a length of time that would minimize the impact on the state's economy, Kohring said.

The plan, Kohring said, would also involve a minor change in accounting procedures. An income account, which could be consolidated into the state's existing "Rainy Day Account," would be necessary to handle the all the revenue sources -- including the unused Constitutional Budget Reserve, a state saving account. State officials estimate that it will be drained by 2004, if the state continues to use the account to offset budget shortages.

Kohring said he has been promoting this plan for two years, along with the proposal of moving the Capitol from Juneau to Anchorage, where he said that the government can be recreated and shrunk by 50 percent.