Talk is good -- if reality comes into play

Frontiersman editorial board

It's refreshing to hear legislators taking part in debates over measures meant to close the fiscal gap -- such things as long-range fiscal planning, potential taxes and other methods of increasing revenue to the state. After years of talking about talking about such issues, at least legislators have moved to the next step.

Well, some have. Some are still mired in Juneau's fog of parallel reality, attempting to resurrect grand plans of reform that could serve to send Alaska's relatively stable economy into a severe tailspin.

Although we tip our hat to Rep. Vic Kohring for his willingness to step out on a limb and come up with an unconventional plan to reform the state budget, it seems our hard-working representative has climbed out on the limb of a slightly shaky spruce-bark beetle-killed tree.

There are significant faults in Kohring's plan, just one of which could have damaging ripple effects.

Kohring proposes to cut so-called non-essential government workers by a quarter and institute a salary cap of $70,000.

Although this looks good on paper and would result in a significantly smaller state budget, such an act would have extensive effects on the state's economy. In the Valley, state jobs account for more than 700 positions. Divided by a quarter, that would mean more than 175 Valley residents would be looking for a job. The effect would be the same as firing every one of the borough's approximately 180 employees.

But that's not the full picture. The 700 employees mentioned above are only employees who work at offices located in the Valley -- that's not considering the large number of workers who commute to state offices in Anchorage or elsewhere.

It's politically safe in Alaska to decry big government and claim we would all be better off with a minimalist government, but many legislators conveniently forget that our economy, right or wrong, depends to a significant degree on state employees. Many state employees buy homes, patronize gas stations and grocery stores and get their oil changed here in Mat-Su. Dollars from state jobs turn over several times in Alaska's economy, and axing hundreds of jobs will not only decapitate the economy of the state as a whole, it would likely devastate private-sector businesses that depend on the passage time and again of those dollars through their tills.

Wouldn't we get more for our tax dollars if representatives concentrated on offering changes to what's on the table instead of endangering the livelihood of their constituents?