More than disappointed, try mad as hell

We have a saying in the army: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Apparently someone doesn’t get it when it comes to sexual abuse in Alaska.

Alaska has one of the highest rates of child sexual abuse in the country. House Bill 44, or “Erin’s Law,” has great promise for taking sexual abuse head on. Or a least it did until a certain somebody buried it with partisan manure. The man holding the shovel with a smirk on his face is none other than the Valley’s own Sen. Mike Dunleavy.

The end result of his shovel job is a bill that is gutted and barely recognizable by the very people who wrote it up and fought for it. As I read article after article on this subject, the madder I got. Good thing is, I’m not alone feeling this way towards our good senator.

Butch and Cindy Moore, two of the backers of HB 44, are very upset. Why? Their own daughter was murdered and her boyfriend is being charged with the crime.

Her death turned them into advocates for Erin’s Law. They made their disappointment very public. Even the first lady of our great state, Donna Walker, has chimed in in support of HB 44.

Then there is the real reason for Erin’s Law, Erin Merryn herself. She is a sexual abuse survivor turned advocate and the driving force behind the legislation, which is the law of the land in 21 states.

We would have been number 22 and were well on way, too, after HB 44 cruised through the state House with broad bipartisan support and was sent to the Senate.

That’s when Dunleavy stepped in. As chair of the Senate Education Committee where the bill landed for a hearing, he was able to amend the bill away from its original intent.

It boggles the mind, when we live in a state with the highest rates of sexual abuse and domestic violence in this country, that someone would throw a major monkey wrench in the whole process. But he couldn’t have done it without a majority vote of the committee, which he got when Sens. Cathy Giessel and the Mat-Su’s own Charlie Huggins followed Dunleavy’s misguided lead.

Nonetheless, the contempt I feel is aimed right at Dunleavy. This isn’t the first time his actions have angered me. And sadly, it is unlikely to be the last.

But this sabotage can be remedied easily. That is going to take some guts from the ambitious senator. So I am going to be direct and very blunt.

Sen. Dunleavy, sir, it’s time to “man” up and admit you made a mistake. It was a doozy, frankly, but everyone screws up from time to time.

That was step one. Step two is to restore House Bill 44 to its original form that passed the House 34 to 6.

Step three is a no brainer, sir. Push to pass it in the Senate to go on to the governor’s desk for him to sign it into law.

Three easy steps sir, three easy steps to fix a mistake. This is entirely up to you. Be the senator that truly serves the will of the people of the great state of Alaska or you could end up keeping that shovel for work it was truly meant for, behind the south end of a northbound horse.

I would strive for suggestion No. 1, if I was in your shoes.