Valley Legislators prepared to get to work on 31st Alaska Legislature

WASILLA — While Rep. Cathy Tilton may not be the most senior member of the Alaska State Legislature, the Wasilla representative is no stranger to working in government on the state and local levels. As a result of her wealth of experience, Tilton was named Chair of the House Rules Committee heading into the 31st Alaska Legislature, which will begin in Juneau in January.

With the election of Mike Dunleavy from Wasilla as Alaska’s next governor, the Valley delegation of legislators is poised to make an impact when session begins. Republican House members named David Talerico as Speaker of the House, despite lacking the guarantee of 21 members required for a majority. When the legislature begins its session, Republicans will hold majority leadership in the House of Representatives, Senate and governor’s office.

“We have a good team put together that will be able to work well with the governor and the Senate, and I can see great things on the horizon for Alaskans,” Tilton said.

Tilton’s rules chairmanship will involve overseeing much of the organization and strategic positioning in the legislature. Tilton will determine seating arrangements, assign office spaces, and oversee day-to-day operations of the legislature during the legislative session.

“The other part of the job is in the capacity of the day-to-day flow of the legislation as it goes to the floor, and the rules on the floor, and the decorum,” Tilton said.

Since announcing Talerico as speaker and gaining power as the Majority on Thursday, the leadership has not had the opportunity to assign many committee assignments. The committee on committees has not met, and Tilton expects for many committee assignments to be announced Tuesday. Tilton worked for years as a legislative aide and in the mayor’s office in Wasilla before being elected to the House in 2014.

“My previous experience, not only as an aide to legislative council which gives me that experience in running of the administration of the legislature, but also as being in local government. I was a staff for several years there and running my own business. Being an owner of your own business helps you to understand how you’re going to deal with situations, because there will be situations you have to make decisions on,” Tilton said. “I have been dubbed an extremely organized person and I also believe that I can look at things in a fair and pragmatic way when it comes to making office assignments.”

Nearly every race for office was called on Tuesday, though absentee ballots have yet to be counted and finalized. Senate Seat A in Fairbanks is separated by only 11 votes and will likely come down to absentees. However, Valley legislators won in runaway fashion, sweeping the competition, and there will be no changes to those elected. Many legislators will be considered for leadership positions and important committee assignments, though most are yet to be determined.

“The valley delegation is strategically placed in very good seats, we will be able to express more and put those chairmanships out once we get things adjusted...I’m very pleased and the delegation is set to be put in strategic places,” Tilton said.

As far as defining principles of the new House Majority Caucus, many of those are yet to be determined as well. Many of the same issues that candidates focused on during the election season will carry over into the actual legislating in January.

“I think that we’re all in agreement that we will be looking at public safety, resource development, the basic principles of the Republican Party, state spending, looking at the budget, public safety and resource development and how to move our state forward. We don’t have any formalized mission measures and guiding principles, yet. We’re working with the caucus to come up with those so they’re official,” Tilton said.

One Valley legislator with a history of walking to the beat of his own drum, David Eastman, has not yet officially joined the Republican House Majority Caucus. Eastman would be the crucial 21st member, if and when he decides to join.

“There’s always a concern when you are on a very thin line of voting and that means every person has to be very dedicated to being there and doing whatever position they are doing,” Tilton said. “That would be the best situation would be to have all the Republicans aligned, but that's a decision for Mr. Eastman.”