Alaska lawmakers cannot hold two taxpayer-funded positions at the same time. It says so in the Alaska Constitution. That means if you work for government entities, you can’t at the same time serve in elected office.
Sen. Roger Holland had to quit his job at Department of Transportation before he filed for office last year for Senate Seat N. So did Sen. Josh Revak, when he filed for the House of Representatives District 25 back in 2018.
But Rep. Liz Snyder, District 27, is serving in the Alaska House of Representatives and is advertising for enrollment for a class she will teach in the fall at University of Alaska Anchorage. Her class is advertised with her aka name, Elizabeth Hodges.
Snyder’s public official financial disclosure shows she was paid up to $100,000 last year by the University of Aalska.
Rep. Geran Tarr, District 19, who lists herself as adjunct faculty at UAA. Tarr’s public financial disclosure shows she made between $2,000 and $5,000 last year for classes she taught, while she also served as a legislator. She’s been teaching classes at UAA since 1999, and has been a legislator since 2013.
In 2018, Snyder was quoted in a news article saying she knew that she could not hold both an elected position and another state position. That’s why she wanted clarity about a sabbatical position she had taken with the university while running for office.
“You cannot hold two taxpayer-funded positions at the same time,” Snyder said at the time. But this year, she’s teaching an upper-level class between August and December.
Must Read Alaska has asked the University of Alaska Anchorage to clarify whether Snyder and Tarr are indeed still employed at UAA, as they appear to be on various official rosters.
The Alaska Constitution lays out the sideboards:
SECTION 5. No legislator may hold any other office or position of profit under the United States or the state. During the term for which elected and for one year thereafter, no legislator may be nominated, elected, or appointed to any other office or position of profit which has been created, or the salary or emoluments of which have been increased, while he was a member. This section shall not prevent any person from seeking or holding the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or member of Congress. This section shall not apply to employment by or election to a constitutional convention.
