Regional reps ready to protect bush from budget cuts

Senate and House representatives from the Nome area have powerful positions on legislative finance committees but their opportunities will be to protect rural Alaska from cuts rather than to bring home capital projects.
Sen. Donny Olson and Rep. Neal Foster met with the Nome Common Council in a work session on Monday evening before the regular council meeting.
The pair has a strong hand, but few chips on the table. Still, there are cuts that could affect rural Alaska more deeply than urban areas. They have to play defense.
“This is a historic moment when we have two of us positioned in finance,” Sen. Donny Olson said, “but we have no money.”
The Senate would go along the same with cuts, but the House had new ideas and Gov. Bill Walker wanted a long- term fiscal plan, he said.
“Any more cuts will be next to the bone,” Nome’s Rep. Neal Foster said. Foster holds a co-chair on the House of Representatives Finance Committee, which has happened only once before in 57 years. The committee has strong influence on all House bills and capital budget as well as issues coming up on income and excise tax and Permanent Fund Dividend. Sen. Donny Olson has a seat on the Senate Finance Committee.
“We want to be there to make cuts happen across Alaska fairly,” Foster said. “We don’t want to balance the budget on backs of rural Alaska.”
With a senator and a representative on finance committees, it means big changes will be made, Foster said.
“You will have two people in positions to have influence whatever happens,” he said.
He hasn’t taken a position on specific cuts; he wants to hear from the public, but his guiding principles are three-fold, Foster said. “We must focus on long-term fiscal planning; a fiscal plan must be comprehensive, sustainable and fair; and a fiscal plan cannot balance the budget on the backs of rural Alaska,” he said.
“We need to do something to give businesses some stability for planning, and give individuals some information,” Foster said.
As regards the Permanent Fund Dividend, Foster would like to see less taken from persons who have less. A cut of $1,000 can be 10 percent of the village resident’s income, while $1,000 from a person making $100,000 per year, is zip. The constitution does not allow treating people differently, but a thought was that people of low income could have credits to preserve their dividend.
A sales tax would be progressive in that rural Alaska with high prices would pay more. A fuel tax would cut deeply where energy costs are high, where the weather is cold, Foster noted.
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux (R—Anchorage), also part of the rural Musk Ox Coalition, holds the House Rules chair and has a lot of leverage, being able to say yay or nay on letting bills go out of committee.
“She’s the last person bills go to,” Foster said. LeDoux is representing East Anchorage, but formerly was a legislator from Kodiak, which has rural issues.
Sen. Anna MacKinnon (R—Eagle River), majority leader, is adamant on cutbacks, but supports the construction industry.
In general, the House wants a long-term comprehensive fiscal plan, but the Senate wants to keep cutting, Foster felt.
Olson said if there had to be cuts, there were still areas to be cut, like the marine highway system that sucks billions, “but doesn’t do anything for us up here.”
Cuts to Bypass Mail would affect rural Alaska’s cost of living. “These things stir my innards,” Olson declared—talking about cuts.
The legislators advised that it would be good to have some projects ready to go if money became available by some miracle. If there should be a bond package available, Nome should have some paperwork ready.
In other business, the Council in regular session:
• Introduced an ordinance into first reading requiring candidates for elected and appointed office to be current in all undisputed financial obligations owed the City of Nome.
• Unanimously voted support of a list of transportation priorities going to the State of Alaska DOT and PF to provide access to older adults, people with disabilities, people of low income. The effort is backed by public, private and nonprofit organizations —over a dozen. Representatives met by telephone, via the Internet and met for a work session Nov. 18.
• A resolution awarding a bid of $503 for the city manager’s stolen and wrecked Ford 150 pickup to Nome Machine works, the only bidder.
• Approved an increase of 10 percent in water and sewer service prices so that the sector of utilities will no longer need to be supported by electric service revenue.
Councilman Stan Andersen, acting mayor, made appointments and received approval from the Council to fill three vacancies on the Port Commission: Shane Smithhisler, Derek McLarty and Scot Henderson. The Council approved reappointment of Howard Farley to his expiring seat on the Museum and Library Commission.

The Nome Nugget

PO Box 610
Nome, Alaska 99762
USA

Phone: (907) 443-5235
Fax: (907) 443-5112

www.nomenugget.net

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