Is 11th time a charm for moving sessions to Anchorage?

By
Suzanne Downing
-
4

THE ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

You can almost feel the angst emanating from Juneau in the wake of a proposed ballot measure being certified that, if approved by voters, would move sessions of the Alaska Legislature to Anchorage.

Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer and the Department of Law cleared the way Wednesday for Equal Access Alaska to begin gathering the 28,501 signatures it will need to get the question on the ballot in 2020.

If the measure reaches the ballot and is approved by voters, it likely would cause a sea change in Alaska politics as more Alaskans finally would have access to lawmakers and the Legislature while the legislative session is underway.

You can be sure Juneau, as always when the question of moving the capital or Legislature comes up, will fight tooth and nail to keep the Legislature meeting in that Southeast city.

Read the rest of this opinion at Anchorage Daily Planet:

http://www.anchoragedailyplanet.com/153587/the-11th-time-may-be-charm/

4 COMMENTS

  1. I live in Anchorage, but am not too enthusiastic about this. I know the city is pretty blue already but placing the capital here will turn the city solidly blue and turn us into the Chicago of Alaska.

  2. I, the solely appointed chair of the committee to keep the Legislature far from Fairbanks, have long maintained it would go largely noticed if they met in an empty kiosk in one of the larger Anchorage malls.
    I share BB’s fear, only far greater if the Legislature and staff moved to tiny Fairbanks. Fairbanks would go from purple to wild blue yonder.
    I also argued having the Legislature in Anchorage would empower the rest of the State’s representatives. Because Anchorages reps could not be able to escape their real day jobs. They wouldn’t have time to bury tennis courts in the budget. Of course, while I’m certainly unanimous in this, you could show me wrong by counting those who don’t have day jobs. Hmm.
    Yes, BB, “God bless the Legislature. God keep them far from us.”

    • The last serious effort to move the capit(a/o)l to Wasilla came somewhere in between the decline and demolition of the Cottonwood Creek Mall. I always felt that it would have made for a perfect replacement capitol building. And don’t forget that there was a law office located in a kiosk in the Dimond Center for many years.

  3. While I’m not wild about importing more Demoncrats to Los Anchorage, they already control it. Like Austin, TX, it is a great blue blight in a sea of red; but if it means giving the bulk of the population access to their legislators and the ability to hold them accountable; then I’m all for it. In the past ten years, I’ve seen my party (Rep) elect people, send them to Juneau and then they lose their minds. At least if that happens here, they are closer to API.

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