Kudos to reps who stood up for Alaskans

There has not been much to cheer in the legislative process so far this year. Despite a voter mandate that the Legislature take care of the people’s business in 90 days, the current session continues to drag on, as a protracted stalemate over the budget has now pushed legislators beyond 120 days and into a second special session.

To be fair, low per-barrel oil prices put the state in dire financial straits this year, creating a more challenging context for putting together an annual spending plan. But it is worth noting that the state was hardly blind-sided by this, and many of the alleged fiscal conservatives in the Legislature now talking about cutting expenses are the same people who helped escalate state spending in recent years.

The persistent stalemate over the budget has been driven largely by intransigent legislative leadership apparently still snacking on sour grapes over Gov. Bill Walker’s election in November. But in their transparent stubbornness and obvious unwillingness to concede anything to the governor, they have also thumbed their noses at the same Alaskans who entrusted them with elected office.

Despite the millions in revenue and thousands of jobs Medicaid expansion would mean for Alaska, and despite the clear desire of both Gov. Walker and broad support by a majority of Alaskans for such expansion, legislative leaders have refused to consider it.

Additionally, a version of Erin’s Law, a measure designed to increase awareness of sexual abuse and dating violence, remains unpassed, despite the support of the governor and a broad majority of Alaskans.

Sadly, several Mat-Su legislators in key legislative leadership positions have been front and center in fueling this stalemate. It’s sad because with a little less knee-jerk partisanship and a little more statesmanship, they could have made a positive difference for Alaskans.

In the Senate, Education Committee chair Mike Dunleavy offered amendments this past week to the House-approved version of Erin’s Law that essentially gutted it. His changes were supported by fellow Mat-Su Sen. Charlie Huggins, who is also a member of the Education Committee.

On the House side, the powerful Finance Committee is co-chaired by veteran Mat-Su lawmaker Mark Neuman. Rep. Lynn Gattis, also one of ours, sits on Finance, too. More than any other committee, Finance has the ability to smooth the budgeting process. Instead objective discussions of differing opinions, the committee’s actions have been marked by partisan bullying instead of inclusive.

So it was encouraging to see the week end on a positive note, with another one of ours — freshman Rep. Jim Colver — in the spotlight. The Hatcher Pass-area Republican joined five other House members in a bipartisan stand against a majority ploy to end the budget stalemate aimed at avoiding compromise with the minority or the governor.

The key to settling the budget impasse is coming up with funding to match expenditures. The state has billions available for such purposes in the Constitutional Budget Reserve.

But accessing it requires the approval of three-quarters of the Legislature. Which means the majority needs minority votes that would require compromise on issues like education funding, Medicaid expansion and Erin’s Law.

An exception to the three-quarters requirement can be made if there is insufficient money to cover the deficit in the earnings reserve of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Majority leaders had considered transferring funds from the reserve into the main Permanent Fund account to allow them to access the CBR with a simple majority vote.

That’s when Colver and the other five — Paul Seaton, R-Homer, Gabrielle Ledoux, R-Anchorage, Louise Strutes, R-Kodiak, Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, and Neal Foster, D-Nome — said no. They believe, rightly, that such a move should not be made without public input and approval.

We applaud them for their courageous stand. Their action has opened the door to a compromise settlement and provided an opportunity for a meaningful resolution of the budget impasse that more accurately reflects the will of the people of Alaska.