Legislator touts alternative plan

MAT-SU -- Wasilla's Republican representative, Vic Kohring, said while he did vote in favor of the state's $2.2 billion operating budget, which recently passed the House, he believes the budget has some serious problems. Problems, he said, which he hopes will be resolved in the remaining steps before its full passage -- and that could be addressed through his own budget proposal.

Kohring recently voted in favor of the operating budget which, according to state officials, would result in nearly 100 fewer state positions -- including a loss of six Alaska State Trooper positions, up to 32 child-care case worker positions, closure of several local parks and numerous other cuts.

Monday in a between-meetings interview, Kohring said some of the cuts made -- especially those to the Department of Public Safety -- were not what had been recommended by budget subcommittees. Kohring was a member of a House budget committee on Public Safety, which was responsible for coming up with an operating budget for that department. He said while budget cuts were made, his committee gave different directives as to where those funds should be cut.

"The intent of the Legislature was not to cut basic core essentials and things that have to do with public safety," Kohring said. "We didn't propose cuts to troopers …"

Kohring said when his committee proposed the cuts, committee members suggested any positions to be cut come from the management side. Not, he said, to needed trooper positions.

The impact statements released by department heads, Kohring said, are a political move on behalf of the governor's office.

"The fact is, he's [Gov. Tony Knowles is] playing politics by … making selective cuts … and making us look bad. A lot of cuts that the state is claiming that are going to have to be put in place are the result of choices made by administration," Kohring said. "It's politics. I think that, though, even if it is politics, … he [Gov. Tony Knowles] should not be playing with people's safety."

Knowles' office refuted Kohring's claim that any politics were played.

"When the proposed budget cuts were sent down … the governor's specific instructions [to department officials] were for no 'Washington Monument-type cuts,'" said Knowles' press secretary Bob King. "For the type of cuts that [the Legislature is] proposing, it's impossible to do that without an actual reduction in personnel -- including people who work on the [front] line. It's realistically impossible to absorb cuts of this magnitude without a reduction in services. I think it's disingenuous to try and tell the public that we can reduce the budget such as this without a reduction in services."

But nothing in the state's operating budget is final at this time.

"The budget process still has a long way to go yet," Kohring said. "What I'm trying to do is build support [for my plan]. If we can impose these reforms, I really feel that we can … eliminate the deficit."

Kohring touted his 10-point proposal at last Saturday's town meeting and, according to his figures, voters liked his proposal.

"People were very strongly in support of it," Kohring said. Approximately 50 people testified at the meeting, he said, and of that number, four spoke against the proposal and 30 spoke in favor of it.

The plan, according to estimates from Kohring's office, would slice $733 million from the state's budget over a three-year period.

The first action, Kohring said, would be to cut spending by $500 million in the first year and by $100 million for each of the next five years. Legislative sessions should be held every other year, and restricted to 60 days, according to his plan.

A moratorium should be placed on new taxes, Kohring said, and spending of the Alaska Permanent Fund should be prohibited. Along with that, Kohring recommends the removal of half the 4,000 laws enacted since statehood and the elimination of 80 percent of the tens of thousands of regulations created by government agencies.

The state's land holdings should be released to Alaskans, Kohring said, with no strings, and tax incentives to spur private-sector, small business growth.

The state's "government-controlled monopoly on schools" should be broken up, Kohring recommended, and parents should receive tax credits that would allow them to send their children to the school of their choice.

Money-losing rural campuses of the University of Alaska that are not on the state highway system should be closed and replaced with a video conferencing system, he said. Endowment levels of the University of Alaska should be increased, Kohring said, structuring the university's revenue program so the majority of operational funding comes from the endowment -- sales and development of its land holdings.

So-called non-essential government workers should be cut by 25 percent, and a hiring freeze and a salary cap of $70,000 should be enacted.

The Department of Administration should be eliminated, Kohring said, with its various divisions absorbed by the appropriate remaining divisions. Half of all state departments should be combined, and Kohring recommended combining the Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Fish and Game with the Department of Natural Resources.

The entire capital should be moved to the state-owned Atwood Building in Anchorage, and cash grants to private businesses, such as child-care facilities, should be eliminated and replaced with a system of tax credits and reduced regulation and permitting requirements, according to Kohring's plan. He also recommends a hiring freeze, privatizing government functions such as the Division of Motor Vehicles, contracting maintenance on state roads and highways, and privatizing prisons, medical labs and district recorder offices.

Kohring recommended cutting welfare and public assistance in half and halting revenue sharing to local municipalities.

The mention of stopping revenue sharing is something that often raises the ire of local city officials, but Wasilla's mayor Sarah Palin said she could concede to fewer state dollars in the city budget -- if it were done carefully.

"Even though I don't like the idea of cutting revenue sharing," Palin said, "… I'm supportive of it if it's part of a common-sense plan … a way to provide essential services more efficiently and more effectively."

Palmer city manager Tom Healy pointed out that the House's present budget does not include municipal revenue-sharing funds. According to the Department of Community and Economic Development impact statement, $12.9 million in state revenue sharing has been cut, along with $16.8 million in Safe Communities funding.

Healy said Palmer's economy may be strong enough to withstand what amounts to a 4-percent reduction in the city's budget, but it could affect other areas of the community.

"We pass through a fair amount of that money," Healy said. "We pass through about $40,000 to the hospital …"

Healy added that Palmer has alternative revenue sources that could make up for that money, although it's essentially a shifting of responsibility.

"We see it as just kind of a transfer of revenue requirement from the state to municipalities," Healy said. "[But the] smaller communities … that don't have a lot of other options in terms of revenue … I think they would be put in desperate straits by the elimination. The state is kind of dodging a responsibility there … and I think it's a pretty serious issue."

But there's more to Kohring's plan.

Tax dollars to tourism, fisheries, agriculture, public television, radio and the arts should be eliminated, Kohring said, and the governor's mansion should be closed.

While Kohring admitted that a significant amount of the money he's talking about cutting comes from the federal government in the form of grants that require a 20-percent match, he said less dependence on federal dollars would be a good thing for Alaska -- and for the federal government.

"I would go look at the bigger picture -- we need to reform at the federal level too," Kohring said. "I think the problem that we have goes way beyond the state level. I'm … saying that we've gone too far in our generosity to try to help people at the expense of the taxpayer. I see that as a moral issue."

Kohring said while he doesn't expect all of his plan to be implemented during this year's legislative session, he feels it's important that the public know there are alternatives to the proposed taxes currently under discussion.

"Obviously, I've bitten off a lot to chew on," Kohring said. "A lot of what I'm trying to do here is to educate the public."