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Final week push shows momentum in Bronson campaign, malaise for Dunbar

Suzanne Downing
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37
Final week push shows momentum in Bronson campaign, malaise for Dunbar

In the final week before the May 11 runoff election, the Forrest Dunbar campaign is ramping up with ads and flyers that paint a picture of an opponent who calls names, rather than offers solutions. Dunbar leads with his 10-point plan to repair Anchorage and his push to keep people masked and vaccinated for their own good.

Bronson also has a 10-point plan: Nine new Assembly members and a mayor. And he did say in a recent debate that Dunbar doesn’t have the sense God gave an anvil, but that descriptive phrase falls short of actual name-calling.

The Bronson campaign is driving the message home that everyone already knows what Dunbar has done while on the Assembly. He’s broken the city, everyone knows it and that, “We’re done with you, Dunbar.”

The ad is playing on cable and on radio stations in Anchorage, with Bernadette Wilson saying, “Forrest Dunbar, you think Anchorage residents are stupid?”

Hard hitting messages are nothing unusual for the final week, but what’s really driving the voters is not the noise over the airwaves, but what is taking place behind the scenes with direct targeting, text messages, and get-out-the-vote efforts. Each side is looking to see who their voters are, which of them has not yet voted, how the candidate talks to those potential voters, and how to motivate them to turn in a ballot.

“It’s a test of the breadth, and depth of the campaign and it’s purely about momentum,” said Art Hackney, campaign consultant to the Bronson campaign. “So many campaigns play all their cards too soon. In the final few days, you are making everything come together.”

The challenge for the Dunbar campaign is his well-known radical leftist history and his record of pushing Critical Race Theory tenets, such as when he said the U.S. Constitution is shot through with race. His ads have attempted to paint him as a conservative in a town that still leans conservative. But there is no visible momentum building on the Dunbar campaign in the final week.

Neither campaign has sprung an “October Surprise,” or in this case a “May Surprise,” some damaging bombshell about an opponent that leaves the targeted person little time to defend against it. Time is running out for bombshells; if lobbed too close to the end of a mail-in election, they could backfire.

Both candidates are now required to register their incoming funds with the Alaska Public Offices Commission every 24 hours. So far, it appears Bronson has the campaign fund-raising advantage, but only one day’s reporting has been logged.

Runoff election: Over 41,000 ballots have been cast in runoff for mayor of Anchorage

Runoff election: Over 41,000 ballots have been cast in runoff for mayor of Anchorage

Suzanne Downing
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23
Runoff election: Over 41,000 ballots have been cast in runoff for mayor of Anchorage

Over 41,000 Anchorage residents had cast a ballot in the runoff for mayor of Anchorage. by the close of business on Monday, May 3, according to the Anchorage Election Office.

That’s over one-third of the ballots election activists say they expect to be cast in the contest between candidates Dave Bronson and Forrest Dunbar.

And it’s more than half of the 75,441 ballots cast in the April 6 election, when there were 15 candidates to choose from. Today, voters have just eight days to vote for either Bronson or Dunbar.

Randy Ruedrich, who has observed Anchorage elections for decades, said he expects as many as 100,000 votes to be cast by the close of the runoff election at 8 pm on May 11.

Volunteer canvassers for Bronson have been busy. They have reached more than 13,000 households over the past two weeks, while paid canvassers from out of state are now in Anchorage working on behalf of Dunbar and have reached an unknown number of doors in an attempt to catch up. The paid canvassers are also ballot harvesters, similar to how Al Gross’ senatorial campaign did ballot harvesting in the November, 2020 election. Ballot harvesting is when people ask you to give them your ballot so they can take it to the drop box for you.

Secure drop boxes for ballots are located at:

For those needing to vote in person for any reason, you can vote at If you need assistance voting, or if you need to replace a lost or damaged ballot, or if you didn’t receive a ballot, please protect our community in the public health crisis and call 243-VOTE (8683).

If the April 6 election is any indication, lines could be long at the three in-person voting centers next Tuesday.

Locations:

City Hall
632 West 6th Avenue, Room #155
Weekdays, May 5 – 10, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 8, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 9, noon – 5 p.m.Election Day, May 11, 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Eagle River Town Center 
12001 Business Boulevard, Community Room #170
(same building as the library)
Extra Hours: May 4 – 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Weekdays, May 5 – 10, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 8, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 9, noon – 5 p.m.
Election Day, May 11, 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Only Chugiak-Eagle River ballots will be available at this location. 

Loussac Library3600 Denali Street, First Floor, Assembly Chambers
Extra Hours: May 4 – 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Weekdays, May 5 – 10, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 8, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 9, noon – 5 p.m.
Election Day, May 11, 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

At Anchorage Vote Centers services: Voters can vote in person, return a mailed ballot, replace a lost or damaged ballot, receive a ballot package if they didn’t receive one in the mail, receive voting assistance, or get help with other voter questions. Voters who are voting in-person or requesting a replacement ballot will be required to show identification. 

For voters who wish to vote at home and didn’t received a mailed ballot, please call the Voter Hotline at (907) 243-VOTE (8683) for a replacement ballot.  Replacement ballot requests must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, to allow sufficient time for mailing. 

Voted ballots being returned by U.S. Postal Service mail must be postmarked no later than Election Day, May 11, 2021, and received by noon May 21, 2021. If mailing during the last 48 hours of the election, ask a postal official to hand-cancel/ hand-stamp the envelope with a postmark.

If you would like to vote by email, you may request that a ballot be sent to you via email by completing the Application to Vote by Email, contact [email protected] or (907) 243-VOTE (8683). All applications to vote by email must be received by the Municipal Clerk’s Office by 5 pm on May 4. Applications to vote by email received after this date will be processed as time allows, through May 10 at 5 pm.

Keep in mind that by using electronic transmission to return your voted ballot, you are waiving a portion of your right to a secret ballot and you are voluntarily disclosing personal identifying information. The method is not secure, as data can be compromised in transit.

Democrats mum on Anchorage’s lifted mandates, but deplore that the statewide disaster declaration was ended by governor

Suzanne Downing
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30
Democrats mum on Anchorage’s lifted mandates, but deplore that the statewide disaster declaration was ended by governor

Democrats in Alaska’s Legislature expressed disappointment that the year-long state disaster declaration was ended on Friday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. They said so in a press release and on Twitter late Friday.

“With thousands of potentially unvaccinated individuals traveling to Alaska and many unknowns about the impacts of COVID-19 variants, I pray this decision will not have disastrous consequences,” said Rep. Bryce Edgmon of Dillingham), adding he was ” dumbfounded by a unilateral move to eliminate tools we may need during a busy tourism and fishing season that will attract thousands of visitors.” Others, such as Rep. Liz Snyder and Rep. Zack Fields echoed the sentiment.

Even the Republican crossover Speaker Louise Stutes of Kodiak said she was unhappy with Gov. Mike Dunleavy ending the emergency, saying that he “opted for politics over policy and decided to gamble with the health of Alaskans and with our economic recovery.”

Also last week, the Anchorage Assembly voted for a surprise ordinance to remove nearly all restrictions on Anchorage residents, a move seen as a political “Hail Mary” for mayoral candidate Forrest Dunbar. There was no outcry from Anchorage Democrat legislators. The move ended restrictions for gatherings and businesses.

The Democrats are following the fearful scenario set forth by Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who with academic friends from Stanford University and other organizations last year predicted that 35,000 Alaskans would die of Covid-19 by fall of 2020. The information he provided has been used to craft policy in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. About 350 Alaskans have died from Covid, according to official records.

According to Rep. Fields of Anchorage, “Good news: We’ve captured federal Covid SNAP relief. Bad news: Gov nixing declaration means no mandatory testing for incoming travelers, increasing risk of dangerous variants.”

Dunleavy signs disaster declaration bill HB 76, then a proclamation: Covid disaster over

Bert Stedman: American Rescue Plan requires federal spending guidance

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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7
Bert Stedman: American Rescue Plan requires federal spending guidance

By SEN. BERT STEDMAN

The American Rescue Plan was passed by Congress and signed by the Biden Administration a few months ago. Many people have already received their stimulus checks from this bill. However, the state is still waiting to receive its portion of the money approved for state spending.

Last Monday, we heard a presentation from the governor’s Office of Budget and Management (OMB) about some of the guidelines for some of the money that have already been released. 

The bill related to this money is SB 128, an act relating to special appropriations from the American Rescue Plan Act. There is money that came to Alaska that is not included in SB 128, which includes money that went directly to people (stimulus checks), or money that went directly to tribes, local governments, and businesses. However, we are still working on figuring out the best way we can spend the $1.19 billion for the state.

Last year, with the CARES Act, the Legislature gave up our authority to appropriate this money so that the governor could do it in a streamlined manner since we did not know how the pandemic would affect us. However, the Legislature is the appropriating body.

This time, we are going to take advantage of that power and decide where that money will be spent. But we are still waiting for many of the guidelines for how the money can be spent from the federal government, which is expected to be released on May 12, 2021. We do have some time to spend this money, so we could wait until a special session to appropriate it.

In the meantime, OMB has been working with the federal government to start laying out a plan for the special appropriations with the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Senate still needs to have some discussions on how we want to handle this $1.19 billion and work with the other body and the administration. It would be very easy to miss the mark on this money. It is unlikely that the Legislature would give blanket appropriations without knowing what the structure would be. We have got some work to do, but we have got a time frame crunch with our deadline on May 19 (The 120 day constitutional limit for the legislative session this year). 

We want to have consideration from Senate members to decide if we will set half or more of this money aside for a future gathering of the Legislature.

One benefit of having a special session sometime later this year is that it gives more time for analysis on how to allocate it, which could help us get maximum bang for the buck. This could help us have a clearer vision of the constraints on this money, that way we can create a more targeted rescue plan. Some states are also dealing with it later this year in the fall.

The more information is fed into the administration and Legislature about guidelines on how to spend this money, the more I think that waiting a few months might be better for the overall welfare of the people of the state.

It is in everybody’s best interest that the Legislature and the executive branch sit at the table together and work this process out. Not only do we have this $1.19 billion, we have the potential of a large infrastructure bill coming out of Washington, as well, which might happen before next session in January of 2022.

However, we are not going to close a blind eye to our appropriating authority. We are continuing to flesh out a plan for this special appropriation and our normal budget so that we can sustain and support Alaska’s economy.

Sen. Bert Stedman represents District R in Southeast. A fourth generation Alaskan, he was born in Anchorage and spent his childhood between Petersburg and Sitka.

Bronson event at friendly watering hole attracts 100 enthusiastic supporters

Suzanne Downing
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11
Bronson event at friendly watering hole attracts 100 enthusiastic supporters

Bernie’s Bungalow, a downtown bar with outdoor garden seating, so appropriate in these Covid-19 times, is normally considered a gay-friendly establishment and has the rainbows to prove it.

It was the venue for another large Bronson for Mayor campaign event on Monday evening, under cloudy skies and calm winds.

About 100 people gathered after work at the popular hangout to hear Dave Bronson talk about his vision for an open economy, safe streets, and a city government that is not the enemy of small businesses.

Dave Bronson fan club at Bernie’s Bungalow Lounge.

Bernies is considered Anchorage’s original martini lounge, and has been open since 1997 at 626 D Street. TravelGay.com lists it as an LGBTQ+ friendly bar with live music, DJs and specialty martinis.

On May 6, Bronson has a rally in Eagle River at the Lion’s Club, featuring Gov. Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young. Check back for details.

Editor’s note: The headline on this story was changed after some readers objected to the original headline, which said it is a gay-friendly bar. They maintain it is an all-friendly bar.

Sullivan looks back at challenging year and forward toward Alaska’s opportunities

Suzanne Downing
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16
Sullivan looks back at challenging year and forward toward Alaska’s opportunities

In an optimistic, realistic, and forceful speech to the Alaska Legislature on Monday, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan acknowledged the grave challenges of the past year, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the election of a president hostile to Alaska’s economy, and the rise of the threats from Communist China.

But he also spent much of his speech envisioning a path forward for the state.

Using the story of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War, Sullivan described the U.S. Marines who were outnumbered and pinned down by North Korean fighters in all directions but one. There was nothing to do but retreat back to the sea.

He drew on the words of famed Marine Col. Chesty Puller, who once said, “We’re surrounded. They’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time.” 

That, in some ways, is where Alaska is, with the coronavirus and Biden Administration policies pinning down the economy of the 49th state in all directions, allowing China to be emboldened militarily and economically.

Sullivan said President’s Biden’s attack on oil and gas and his empowering of China should “make every American pissed,” citing the “essentially slave labor” that China uses to produce the solar panels and equipment for America. “It’s outrageous. It’s nonsensical,” he said.

Something that also irritates him is how Biden withdrew the land orders that would have allowed the transfer of land allotments to Vietnam veteran Alaska Natives. He expressed strong disappointment that the effort to get those guaranteed lands into the hands of veterans, something fought for for decades, has been set on ice.

But there are bright spots: NOAA has relocated the cutter Fairweather to be home-ported in Ketchikan, which will bring 50 families to Alaska’s First City. He is optimistic about fully funded Arctic strategies for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, taking advantage of the state’s strategic footprint. He cited the F35s coming to Fairbanks, with families and jobs.

The Willow project on the North Slope, if released by the Biden Administration, will bring hundreds of jobs as well. Sullivan challenged the Biden Administration to release the project that will put more than 180 million barrels of oil in the Trans Alaska Pipeline and boost Alaska’s economy, and royalties. He described Willow as the most environmentally sound oil project on the planet.

Sullivan also passed out an outline of an energy document that he hopes to make an alternative to the Biden Administration’s current job-decimating direction.

He talked about how the pandemic has restructured much of the workforce, allowing people to move from cities that are badly managed to places where they can enjoy the lifestyles that they crave — places like Alaska. This is an unforeseen opportunity for the state, he said.

Although Sullivan was highly critical of the Biden Administration, he said Alaska Democrats could play a big part in advocating for what is important to Alaska, and he asked Democrats in the room to use their voices to convince the Biden Administration to not lock down Alaska.

He summarized his theme for the day by going back to the story of the Chosin Reservoir:

“When all seemed lost and the U.S. military was on the verge of defeat and being pushed in the sea in 1950, the Marines did the amphibious invasion at Inchon, and turned the tide.”

That’s where Alaska is, he inferred. Things may look down, but in the spirit of Chesty Puller, the promise of victory is all around Alaska.

Sen. Sullivan weighs in on FBI raid at Homer residence in search of Pelosi laptop

Add Homer to list of times Alaskans recall federal agents ‘going Waco’ on them

Suzanne Downing
-
12

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Alaskans were shocked last week to learn that the FBI and other federal agents busted down the door of a Homer, Alaska couple, looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop computer, which is supposedly missing after the Jan, 6 surge into the U.S. Capitol by protesters and Trump supporters. The agents never found said laptop, but their raid is part of a pattern of federal law enforcement that Alaskans know too well.

Paul and Marilyn Hueper were asleep in their Kachemak Bay-side home when FBI, Capitol Police, and other unknown agents broke their door down, handcuffed them and their houseguests, and interrogated them for hours last week. The agents said they were searching for proof that Marilyn Hueper had entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Marilyn and Paul had indeed gone to the nation’s capital for a Trump rally, but did not go inside the building. Marilyn says it was a case of mistaken identify.

[Read: FBI break down door of Homer home, looking for Nancy Pelosi laptop]

We’re believing the mistaken-identity explanation. But Alaskans could be excused for chalking it up to yet another case over federal law enforcement excess. We are not unfamiliar with federal raids that turned up nothing but injustice.

Some of our memorable heavy-handed federal agent actions in recent Alaska history:

2007: Sen. Ted Stevens’ home in Girdwood was raided by FBI and IRS agents on a hunt for evidence about Stevens’ relationship with businessman Bill Allen, who was under investigation for corruption. Stevens, 84 at the time, was indicted on July 29, 2008 on several counts of failing to properly disclose the remodel costs of his home and alleged gifts from VECO Corporation CEO Bill Allen. Stevens was up for re-election in 2008, thus he requested a speedy trial to resolve the matter. By then, Allen had already pled guilty to bribing Alaskan state legislators and his sentencing was delayed until after he testified in the Stevens’ case. 

Stevens was found guilty on all counts on Oct. 27, 2008. He became the fifth sitting U.S. senator in history to be convicted of a crime and he lost the election a few days later. Until being replaced by Mark Begich in January, 2009, Stevens had been the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history. 

Just three months later, an FBI agent admitted that the FBI had withheld evidence that would have been in Stevens’ favor. The agent’s affidavit also alleged that a female FBI agent had an inappropriate relationship with Bill Allen. Washington D.C. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over the trial, held the prosecution in contempt for failing to turn over documents. Later, the Department of Justice dropped all of the charges.

2007: John Sturgeon was navigating his boat on the Nation River on his way to a legal moose hunt in the Yukon Charley Preserve, when federal agents told him he could not proceed because the river was on federal land. National Park Service Rangers threatened to cite him for violating a National Park Service ban on hovercraft in federal park units.

Sturgeon fought the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled not once but twice in favor of the moose hunter, and agreed that navigable waters in Alaska are under state jurisdiction. Sturgeon fought the feds for 12 years and it took $1.2 million in legal fees to vindicate the rights of Alaskans to use their rivers.

2013: Chicken, Alaska miners at a small placer outpost near the Canadian border were shocked when FBI and ATF agents descended on them for violating the Clean Water Act. The agents wore bulletproof vests and were well-armed in case the raid became hostile.

Gov. Sean Parnell opened an independent investigation, which found that the federal agents would not cooperate with the investigation, and also found there was no need for a criminal assumption against the eight placer mines in the first place.

Federal agents have made blunders elsewhere in the country with sometimes-deadly consequences that we’ve not seen in Alaska, where so many are well armed in their homes, on their hunts, or at their mines.

In a 1993 Waco, Texas raid, ATF agents tried to execute a search warrant on the Branch Davidian compound and its leader David Koresh. In that raid, four ATF agents were killed and 16 were wounded, and five Davidians died.

The 2014 Bundy standoff was an armed confrontation between cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and his supporters and federal law enforcement. It occurred after the Bureau of Land Management got a court order for Bundy to pay over $1 million in  grazing fees for Bundy’s use of federally owned land next to his ranch in southeast Nevada. The Bundy family has confronted federal officials for years over grazing rights. Those disputes continue in courtrooms and refuges across the West.

Pebbled: When the government dictates ‘advanced prohibition’ of any project

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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26

By MARK HAMILTON

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series by Mark Hamilton about the history of the Pebble Project in Alaska.)

Part of our collective awareness must be the recognition of the opponents to our responsible development.

It is important that Alaskans understand the degree to which preservationists will go to stop development.  The National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) is already a “guilty until proven innocent” event wherein a planned project must demonstrate compliance with every regulation governing the permits required for a project.

I think that is appropriate. Alaskans want to be certain that any approved development project results in the least environmentally damaging plan. The NEPA process demands that. Later, we can examine in detail the NEPA process, but for now it’s important to understand that preservationists don’t want projects to even enter the permit process.

How can they do that?  The Environmental Protection Agency purports an authority to stop a project prior to any evaluation by the NEPA process.  In the case of Pebble mine, discussions were underway at EPA as early as 2005—that is even before the parent company had secured 100% of the claims in the area.

In true government fashion, EPA wants you to believe this is good for you, that it will facilitate planning by developers and industry.  They claim it “will eliminate the frustrating situations in which someone spends time and money developing a project for an inappropriate site and learns at an advanced stage that he must start over.”  

Who do you think would be the authority to determine “inappropriate” sites?  Exactly how would that be determined?

Get ready for the next promise.  “…in addition, advance prohibition will facilitate comprehensive rather than piecemeal protection of wetlands.”

Let’s digest this one for a moment. The phrase “advance prohibition” should make you take a breath. Advance of what? In this case, any science, even the pathetic Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, pseudo-science at best, had not yet begun.  Advance of public input?  Advance of a development plan?

Concerned yet?  How about “comprehensive rather than piecemeal protection.”  That way no one needs to deal with a single development project, we can skip site specific assessment, size of development, environmental baseline assessments, the whole array of environmental safeguards that might apply to a “piecemeal” evaluation.

With this claimed authority, EPA can zone massive regions with advance prohibition. Indeed, the conclusion of Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment was “no mine of any size” should be allowed in Bristol Bay.  They had hoped to have the effort serve as a model for a new wave that they termed “proactive watershed planning.”  There you have it 
Alaska, prohibitive zoning of a piece of land as large as the state of Ohio.

With the end game revealed, you can start to see the reason and the purpose of the massive narrative of fear campaign carried out by EPA and its host of environmental activists.

But EPA had a problem. Years after their initial discussions about the prospect of a preemptive veto (in bureaucratic terms “preliminary determination”), EPA had no case, no science, in short no reason for the veto they so desperately wanted as a model.  

And worse, the developers were getting closer and closer to submitting their permit application. Once in the NEPA process, EPA would have to depend on careful and scientific assessment, not exactly what they had in mind.  

That’s not a guess; later the developers sued EPA (to be discussed in more detail in future columns) and, as you probably know, with that legal action, Freedom of Information Act allowed access to their emails. 

There is no need to conjecture about the intent and the mood of EPA; it’s all there in their emails.  

EPA announced the plan to conduct the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment with the statement that it would not be used for a regulatory decision.

EPA’s cover story was so convincing that Alaska’s senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski stated that no veto decision would occur until all the science had been evaluated.  

Reacting to her statement, a senior EPA official said in an email, “an interesting spin of EPA’s announcement/decision,… her statement would suggest that no [“veto”] would be done until all the science is in …Obviously, that’s not what we have in mind…”

So, don’t beat yourself up if you were fooled. Our own senator with tons more access than you or I have, bought it hook, line, and sinker.

In the end, Murkowski was hopelessly pebbled.

The “Pebbled” series at Must Read Alaska is authored by Mark Hamilton. After 31 years of service to this nation, Hamilton retired as a Major General with the U. S. Army in July of 1998. He served for 12 years as President of University of Alaska, and is now President Emeritus. He worked for the Pebble Partnership for three years before retiring.

[Read: Pebbled: The secret history of ANWR and the human hand that shaped it]

[Read: Pebbled: Environmentalists have fear mongering down to an art]

[Read: Pebbled: Virtue signaling blocked the project of the century for Alaska]

Operating budget fails House after marathon weekend session

Suzanne Downing
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18
Operating budget fails House after marathon weekend session

Due to a baby ready to be born in one legislator’s family, and a sick child in another member’s family, the House didn’t get the budget passed on Sunday.

The House leadership was trying to rush the budget through because Rep. Grier Hopkins had to get to Anchorage for the arrival of his child, and Rep. Zack Fields had to return to Anchorage due to a sick child.

There went the majority.

But Sunday at least ended in with a path forward in the Alaska House of Representatives, as the Operating Budget was sent back to the Rules Committee. Without the two men who left for Anchorage, the majority doesn’t have the votes to pass the budget, and won’t have a majority for a few days. On Monday, the House will instead meet in joint session with the Senate to hear remarks from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.

[Read: Republican input not welcome, as Democrats cut off amendments midstream]

Sunday was high drama, but much of it behind caucus doors.

In a procedural move that was very much “in the weeds,” the House majority voted earlier on Sunday to refused to allow HB 69, the Operating Budget, to go back to “second reading,” to help Speaker Louise Stutes stop the amendment process in its tracks, with over 30 amendments thrown in the trash, something liberal members like Rep. Ivy Spohnholz and other hard-left members of the majority wanted to do, since too many of the Republican amendments were passing.

Outtakes from Saturday’s House floor session that show the frustration Speaker Stutes was experiencing.

The fragile Democrat-dominated majority had made a mess of things over the weekend and had forgotten, it appears, that it would need the Republican votes to get into the Constitutional Budget Reserve and to sweep funds left over from last year into this year’s budget. Throwing out their amendments before they were even offered on the floor was the worst strategy possible.

Rep. Sara Rasmussen and Rep. Josiah Patkotak finally approached the dais on Sunday and appeared to break with the Democrats to tell Speaker Stutes they could not vote in favor of a budget that had disenfranchised so many representatives from being able to make their amendment motions.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, the immediate past speaker, also approached the dais three times and appeared to warn Stutes she needed to adjourn because she was losing control of the House. Finally, the budget was sent back to the Rules Committee. When it comes back to the House Floor, the Republicans will be able to offer their amendments.

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