We're ready for some courage out of our legislators

Frontiersman editorial board

Today we begin the Conference of Alaskans. While no one seems to be chewing their fingernails in anticipation of recommendations resulting from the gathering, the event at least gives local TV political pundits something to pontificate about, and it provides editors with a few more logs to turn into kindling.

With only three days to reach some sort of consensus about what the permanent fund means, and what should be the fate of Alaskans' dividend checks, it seems likely the conference will produce more rancor than results, but we hope we're wrong about that.

Whatever the conferees decide, it will be the decisions made in Juneau this session that will be analyzed in the coming years. It still seems like a great political risk to talk about dipping into the permanent fund. Almost as risky, though looking more appealing all the time to Alaskans, is the prospect of new or increased taxes in the state. History tells us that risk is a four-letter word our legislators have omitted from their collective vocabulary. Though the state faced serious financial challenges last year, the Legislature ended having made no significant progress in either raising more revenue or cutting expenses. They left the task to Gov. Frank Murkowski, and he whacked away at the expense side of the equation.

This time, however, Murkowski has placed the Legislature on notice -- accept his solution, including some use of the permanent fund, or come up with a better one. No debate. If you're going to collect a paycheck for working in Juneau, then work in Juneau, the governor seems to be saying. Something, it seems, is going to happen in the state capitol this year. Something always happens when an animal, even a scared political animal, is backed into a corner. Whether you call it courage or panic is up to you.

We hope the session produces some heroic behavior. We hope some legislators will place the health of the state ahead of their own political ambitions. Mostly, we hope our own Valley legislators will be among the first to step forward and recommend something creative and useful -- even if it scares the devil out of everyone. We'll be disappointed if our legislators wait until they're backed all the way into the corner before making a desperate, squealing bid to save their own hides. We've seen that one too many times, already.