Knowing the governor does not have the funds to reimburse school bonds anymore, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and the Assembly let them go to the ballot in April with barely a warning to voters.
Now, home ownership taxes have gone up again, about $80 a year for the average home in the $380,000 range. The average yearly property tax paid by Anchorage residents already amounted to about 3.84 percent of their yearly income. But wait….
The assessments and invoices arrived in mailboxes in Anchorage on Saturday and homeowners were surprised to see the note from Mayor Berkowitz blaming higher taxes yet to come on Gov. Michael Dunleavy and the Legislature. Perhaps in a special mid-year assessment? He also says that the cost of municipal government is down, except for public safety, when actually, the budget is the highest in municipal history, at $515 million plus.
With state government on track to shut down July 1 at the beginning of the new fiscal year if no operating and capital budgets are approved, the looming battles over the Permanent Fund dividend take on a life of their own.
There will be fireworks in the coming days and weeks over the dividend’s amount, how it is figured and whether it should be protected by the state constitution.
Much of the angst over the dividend springs from actions by former Gov. Bill Walker in 2016 and the Legislature in the two following years that cut the annual payout by about half. What they did was bad enough; how they did it, even worse. They ignored the traditional method of calculating the dividend that is set in law, and made the amount paid to Alaskans subject to political whim, endangering the payouts in the future.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he wants a dividend figured by the traditional method included in the operating budget for the next fiscal year. That would amount to about $3,000 for each and every Alaskan. He has offered a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would protect the traditional calculation from lawmakers shaking the bushes in the future for quick cash.
The MRAK Almanac is the place for political, cultural, and civic events, places where you’ll meet political leaders or, if you are interested in getting to know your state, these are great places to meet conservative- and moderate-leaning Alaskans.
By KOBE RIZK
May 20: The Alaska Senate gavels in at 10 am, followed by the Alaska House at 3 pm. Special session.
May 20: Annual Arbor Day celebration in Wasilla at Iditapark, starting at 11 am. Mayor Cottle and Smokey the Bear will be present. Great for kids. More info here.
May 20: Anchorage Chamber of Commerce’s “Make it Monday” forum focuses on reducing homelessness in Alaska’s largest city. Details here.
May 20: Have you ever wanted to visit Fort Greely? The small base about 15 minutes south of Delta Junction will be hosting their 2019 Education Fair from 10am-3pm. It will be an open base event. Please visit this page for details.
May 20-24:Boating Safety Week in Alaska. Wear your life jacket to work on Monday. Details here.
May 20: Free boating safety presentation at the Palmer Train Depot at 6:30pm. Detailshere.
May 20: Ketchikan Borough Assembly, 5:30 pm. Details here.
May 20:Petersburg Borough Assembly, 6 pm. Details here.
May 20:Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole. 6 pm. Details here.
May 20:U.S. Senate markup of Armed Services budget; U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan chairs Readiness subcommittee. Markup subcommittees for this committee held at the “Secret” level. 4 pm Eastern.
May 21:Public hearing regarding on-site consumption of cannabis before the Anchorage Assembly. 5pm at the Assembly Chambers (Loussac Library Room 108, 3600 Denali St). More info here. Click here to visit municipal page on cannabis licensing.
May 21:Anchorage Assembly meeting, Loussac Library, 5 pm. Agenda here.
May 21: $1 short stack of pancakes at Muldoon Road IHOP in Anchorage from 7 am-7 pm. All proceeds will go directly to college scholarships for the Children of Fallen Patriots organization.
May 21:Wasilla Chamber of Commerce will host their annual Military Appreciation Lunch. This is a ticketed event. More info here.
May 21: Mat-Su Borough Assembly meeting, 6 pm. Details here.
May 21-May 23:Alaska Chamber of Commerce Community Outreach Trip in Denali, Alaska. Various member networking events and tours of local businesses. More details here.
May 22:Alaska Fighting Championship at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. 7 pm. More info and tickets here.
May 22:Access Zoo Day at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. One of two Wednesdays in May in which the Alaska Zoo will offer free motorized transportation around the grounds for animal viewing to those with limited mobility. Visit this link for more information.
May 22: Joint Kenai & Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon at 12pm. Details here.
May 22:Eagle River Farmer’s Market from 8:30 am-1:30 pm.
May 22: The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation will hold a regular board meeting at 9 am. Open to the public. Location and details here.
May 22:Tanana Valley Farmer’s Market from 11 am-4 pm in Fairbanks.
May 22: Fly Casting Night at Twin Lakes in Juneau. Free BBQ, intro casting lessons, and a casting contest. Info here.
May 22-23: Alaska VA Healthcare System forums in Homer and Kenai. All veterans and family members are encouraged to attend these town-hall format meetings to share their perspectives on the VA Healthcare System in Alaska. Details for Homer event here and Kenai event here.
May 22:Wasilla Air Show Advisory Committee, Wasilla City Hall Council Chambers, 6 pm.
May 23-27: Join the Kodiak community for the Annual Kodiak Crab Festival. Visit their Facebook page here.
ALASKA HISTORY ARCHIVE:
May 21, 1913: John F.A. Strong was sworn in as the second governor of the Alaska Territory, succeeding Walter Eli Clark. Strong oversaw various important developments in the new Territory, including the creation of the University of Alaska, the authorization of the Alaska Railroad, and the granting of U.S. citizenship to Alaska Natives. Strong resigned in 1918 amid rumors that he had never relinquished his Canadian citizenship.
May 22, 1906: The Great Fairbanks Fire started in a dentist’s office along the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks’ business district. Around seventy structures—virtually all of downtown Fairbanks— were destroyed in the blaze. The next month, the Fairbanks City Council awarded firefighters a raise from $100 to $150 dollars per month.
An aspiring journalist from Connecticut, Walter Eli Clark became the 7th governor of the District of Alaska on May 20, 1909.
He served in the role of Alaska’s last district governor until 1912, when Alaska became a territory. Then, he was the first governor of the territory until he left office in May of 1913.
Born just four years after the Civil War ended, he was a Republican during a time when Americans associated the party with the freeing of the slaves and the cause of the Union against the seceding South.
Clark was born in Ashford, Conn. to a farming family. Ashford was known then as the hometown of the first Union general to die in the Civil War, and Clark would have been schooled in the history of that war, as well as the Revolutionary War, which was also prominent in the community’s memory. George Washington had come through there, and likely spent the night.
Clark attended the Connecticut State Normal School, and became a school teacher as a teenager, as was common in those days. By age 19, he was the principle of the Manchester, Conn., elementary schools.
He continued his education at Williston Seminary and Wesleyan University, and earned bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Then, he took up a career in journalism, reporting for the Hartford Post in Hartford, Conn., the Washington Times, in Washington, D.C., the Toronto Globe and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. During a pause between jobs, he traveled to Alaska as a prospector, and although he found no gold, President William Howard Taft thought he was enough of an expert to be appointed the governor of the District.
Clark, the New York Times wrote on May 19, 1909, was a man “unusually well-informed on Alaskan affairs.”
And while some Alaska newspapers groused that he was a carpetbagger, Clark was instrumental in resolving some political battles that stood in the way of Alaska becoming a state.
In January of 1913, the newly formed Alaska Territorial Legislature had unanimously voted to grant women full suffrage, the right to vote. It was a full seven years before that happened on the national level, and it occurred in Alaska without any real organized effort on the part of women, except for Cornelia Hatcher, who organized the petition and took it to the Legislature for their first territorial session. Clark signed that bill into law.
But he did not care for politics, and in 1913 submitted his letter of resignation to then-President Woodrow Wilson. Clark left the job on May 21, 1913, having served four years in office.
Clark moved to Charleston, West Virginia, and purchased the Charleston Daily Mail and continued his career in newspapers. He died Feb. 4, 1950 at the age of 81, and is buried in Charleston.
It is the 110th anniversary of Clark becoming governor of the District of Alaska, and the 106th anniversary of his departing office, making way for John Strong, the second governor of the Territory.
Must Read Alaska is breaking down the changes that HB 49 makes to the current criminal justice laws that SB 91 created in 2016, the crime bill signed into law by Gov. Bill Walker that led to a breakdown of law and order in Alaska.
This is the first in a series that discusses various aspects of the changes.
WHERE HB 49 STANDS IN THE LEGISLATURE
HB 49 is the work of several senators and representatives. They had to fight Rep. Matt Claman, who chairs House Judiciary Committee, to get SB 91 repealed. Claman blocked and delayed passage until it was forced into special session. They also had to fight Rep. Chuck Kopp and, to an extent, Rep. Tammie Wilson, both who defended major provisions of SB 91 and who serve in the Democrat-led caucus.
On the Senate side of the Legislature, fighting to repeal SB 91 were, as pictured above from the left, the champions of the new legislation, Sens. Lora Reinbold, Mia Costello, Mike Shower, Shelley Hughes, and Peter Micciche.
In the final version of HB 49, Claman, Kopp, and Wilson lost their battle to spare criminals from consequences. Claman and his wife are trial attorneys; more of their clients will be going to prison under HB 49.
The final version of HB 49, the “repeal and replace” bill that deep-sixes the liberal laws of SB 91, has been negotiated and printed, agreed upon by conference committee, and now just awaits final votes by the House and Senate. It’s all but passed, and then will need a governor’s signature. It may go to the House for a vote on Tuesday, but it has not been scheduled for either a House or Senate vote. The Legislature is in special session.
There’s no time to lose, according to those who have been victims of crime.
Every day that SB 91 is still in place, people across the state are being victimized by the lenient sentences and revolving door policies the state put in place at the urging of the Pew Charitable Trust, said Sen. Peter Micciche in Kenai on Saturday.
Micciche, who carried HB 49 on the Senate side for the governor, was also a former sponsor of SB 91.
When he spoke to Alaskans this weekend, he said that the Legislature had fallen for a bill of goods sold by Pew Charitable Trust.
“They (Pew) get states to pass legislation and then they use those states to get other states to pass the same legislation. We fell for the false narrative,” he said, talking about SB 91.
“This year we said no. They lied to us. We tried it. We repealed it,” Micciche said.
Sen. Peter Micciche
“By passing this bill we are making a statement. We are saying that as legislators, your representatives, we stand with victims and support safer communities. We are making a statement to drug dealers, car thieves, violent offenders and sexual offenders of our children and of women, and producers and distributors of child pornography, that they will be going to jail for a very long time,” Micciche said.
“For less serious criminals, we will be making the statement that we will help you turn your life around, but you will first pay the price for your crime.”
As for how HB 49 may have been watered down in the conference committee, Micciche said: “We gave up nothing.”
He expanded on that by explaining how, of the 31 sections that had differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, the Senate side accepted just three small changes from Reps. Claman and Kopp, and the final version of HB 49 contains 28 of the strengthening provisions from the Senate side.
The stronger laws include the “marriage as a defense for rape” provision that House Republicans were trying to repeal against the overwhelming votes of the Democrat-led Majority. It’s unclear why that majority thinks rape inside of marriage is defensible, but Rep. Tammie Wilson has spoken at length about not wanting the law to get involved inside of marriage.
CHANGES TO PENALTIES FOR SEX OFFENSES
Sexual Assault in the Second and Third Degree: Changes the required mental state from “knowing” to “reckless” when the offender engages in an assault with a victim who is mentally incapable, incapacitated, or unaware.
Sexual Abuse of a Minor Sentencing: Makes sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree a sexual felony when there is a six year age difference, thus increasing the sentencing range from 0-2 to 2-12 years.
Indecent Exposure: Makes indecent exposure when the offender masturbates a Class C felony and a Class B felony in the presence of a person under 16 years of age.
Unlawful Exploitation of a Minor: HB 49 makes unlawful exploitation of a minor an unclassified felony from the current Class B felony if the person has been previously convicted of exploitation of a minor or the victim is under 13 years of age.
Presumptive Sex Offense Sentencing: Clarifies that any prior felony counts as a prior felony for presumptive sentencing purposes in sex cases.
Out of State Sex Offender Registration: Requires anyone convicted of a registerable sex offense in another state to register in Alaska.
Indecent Viewing: Makes indecent viewing or production of a picture of a child and an adult a registerable sex offense and sentenced as a sexual felony.
Soliciting Sex From a Minor: Deletes “online” from the crime of “online enticement of a minor,” making solicitation of a minor for sex a B felony.
Unwanted Images of Genitalia: HB 49 makes repeatedly sending unwanted images of genitalia to another person harassment in the second degree, a Class B misdemeanor.
Marriage Defense to Sexual Assault: Repeals marriage as a defense to sexual assault except in cases where there is consent or when the defendant can prove the victim was lucid during the event, and that the sexual event was consensual.
Our Permanent Fund Corporation, which is tasked with growing the Permanent Fund, has been achieving record growth and the fund is now valued at $64 billion. There is more money in the Earnings Reserve Account today than there has ever been in the history of the Permanent Fund, roughly $19 billion. Your past PFD half-payments sit in the Earnings Reserve Account, growing interest for the state.
Some politicians might tell you the state simply “cannot afford” to pay a full Permanent Fund dividend. Can this be true?
This legislator says, transfer to the people what the law says belongs to them.
Your legislators stand at a crossroad. As we head into the special session, lawmakers will be forced to answer critical questions about priorities.
Will we ensure education is funded for FY20 or continue to play a prideful game of chicken with the governor?
Will we repeal the mistakes of SB 91, or only pretend to be tough on crime?
Will we pay out a full PFD, as is required by law, or perpetuate a recession to take more money from the pockets of Alaskans?
Make no mistake: decisions made this week will speak volumes about the values of your elected officials.
I believe in a full, statutory permanent fund dividend and will continue to fight for this cause. Alaska’s resources are our birthright and the PFD is our inheritance. As shareholders of the state’s wealth, the dividend is the ultimate expression of Alaskan sovereignty. You should have priority over any government funded project. Let us not forget that paying a full, statutory dividend is required by law.
This crisis was deliberately manufactured to create an environment where theft appears justified in the eyes of the public. Alaskans have been sold a story that the PFD system is broken and needs fixed. It’s fake news. Our economy continues to crumble while Alaskan families struggle to put bread on the table.
More than $72 million was stolen from the economy of my district. How about yours? If there was such a crisis, why didn’t the Legislature inflation-proof the fund for 3 years in a row in order to maintain its value?
Thirty-three bills regarding the PFD are currently moving about the Capitol. Several bills rising to the top include transformative words replacing “shall transfer” to “may appropriate.” With edits like these, the Legislature would have the power to decide if, when, and how much to pay a dividend.
Words matter. Intent is everything.
Nothing else stimulates the Alaskan economy quite like the PFD. It is critical to the fabric of Alaska’s economy.
The original intent of the Fund was to offset a downturn in oil prices. With earnings the Fund has produced, we could have been sowing the dividend into our local communities to curb our state’s 4-year economic recession. Instead, for the past three years, we’ve allowed politicians to shrink our dividend check to ensure money is available for their pet projects. The state already gets 75 percent of the royalties to spend on bloated government. How much is enough?
Sarah Vance represents Alaska’s District 31 in the House of Representatives.
‘I AM LITERALLY THE MOST LIBERAL PERSON WHO LIVES IN THE MAT-SU VALLEY’
Kimberly Strassel: Some know her as a member of the editorial board for the Wall Street Journal who writes about the FBI investigation into the Trump Administration.
Wasilla residents know her as just another mom who rides her snow machine through town. Listen to Kimberly Strassel as she weaves stories of Alaska into her talk about the Left and its abandonment of the First Amendment.
‘ALASKA FLAG SONG’ BY PAUL ROSENTHAL PLUS NATIVE JAZZ
Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka has reauthorized the the Alaska Music on Hold project, with some new selections.
Concerns raised by Must Read Alaska about a couple of the dark and discordant songs that had been chosen for the State of Alaska’s official “hold” music led the department to put the whole thing on pause. It was that bad.
The former playlist had been approved under the Walker Administration, but at least one song had lyrics relating to self-harm and despair — conditions not wholly appropriate for the official music of Alaska.
“When concerns were validated, project partners made a coordinated effort to ensure they were addressed appropriately. The Arts Council and the Department of Administration then partnered closely to develop a new track of music from Alaskan artists,” the department announced on Friday.
The new playlist includes classical music by Paul Rosenthal, playing variations on the Alaska FlagSong on violin:
“Art is a significant element of Alaska culture and the Alaskan quality of life, Tshibaka said. “It contributes to the health of our communities and economy and brings our people together.
“I greatly appreciate the role the arts play in the lives of Alaskans and am excited for this opportunity to draw attention to a few of Alaska’s exceptional artists. I appreciate their creativity and skill and am glad they are a part of this wonderful project,” she said.
Portugal. The Man had issued a few nasty Twitter messages about the project being paused. The band had supported Mark Begich for governor.
The band called “bullshit” on the “conservative blogger” who raised the concerns: “If you listen to anything a blogger says except how to make the best cookies you are a fool,” the tweet-storm continued.
But happily, the band’s very original and upbeat “Feel It Still” song with its staccato lyrics “Rebel just for kicks now” remained in the rotation. The band has Alaska roots but is now based in Portland. (But don’t take it from this blogger — keep watching for cookie recipes here at Must Read Alaska.)
The choice of Paul Rosenthal will resonate well with many Alaskans who support the arts. He and his wife Linda Rosenthal moved to Alaska in 1974 and have travelled the state teaching music to children, and Paul was the longtime artistic director and founder of the Sitka Summer Music Festival. He began learning to play the violin at age three and attended Julliard School in New York.
Former Commissioner Jonathan Quick had been the one to decide that the project needed another listen, and when Tshibaka became commissioner, she agreed, and directed a collaborative effort to make sure the music doesn’t offend.
“We are proud to sponsor and highlight Alaskan artists included on the track: Paul Rosenthal, Feeding Frenzy, the native Jazz Quartet, and Portugal. The Man,” Tshibaka said. “The Alaska State Council on the Arts, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, GCI, and the office of Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins have all contributed to the success of the program.”
On Friday at a speech in Kenai, Tshibaka joked with the audience that they should all call the State on Monday and ask to be put on hold, because they’ll really like the music. She made the remark in response to a question from the audience about the hold music.
A recent APRN news article got my attention. It was headlined: “In Anchorage, emotionally preparing students for the scary prospect of climate change.”
After reading it, I was scared, but not about climate change.
The APRN reporter visited two Alaska classrooms to learn “how teachers and students are navigating these difficult conversations.”
According to the article, for the past 13 years, teachers have been working with a curriculum that gives little guidance on how to explain the science behind climate change.
A middle/high school class teacher who was profiled must “struggle with social complexities of teaching about climate change in an oil state, and then there are the emotional (complexities).”
“The future can appear increasingly uncertain, dangerous and even scary” for kids, who must deal with “increased anxiety and depression as Alaskans grapple with a changing environment.”
The future is so bleak, explains the instructor, that “some of his younger students have asked him to dial it back.”
Apparently, help is on the way.
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is revamping its science standards. The Alaska state board of education unanimously approved a draft of new state science standards on March 29, 2019 — and climate change is included.
As parents, we know how critical it is that basic education be taught in our public schools. These foundational subjects, Math, Language Arts, and Science are important enough that our educational institutions are required to measure student proficiency in them at various points between kindergarten and high school.
It’s no secret that Alaska’s scores in all three of these areas have historically been disappointing when compared to other states.
Curricula changes can be beneficial, but they also present challenges.
This is most evident in science where the temptation to advance political agendas turns controversial issues into opportunities for indoctrination.
Climate change is real. Teaching the science behind our changing climate is a good thing. The controversy lies is in what we can realistically do about it.
Today, we are bombarded by politicians and pseudo-scientists who claim fossil fuel use must end and that an energy revolution is possible. “Clean energy” in the form of wind turbines, solar arrays, and batteries, they say, is about to become incredibly cheap, making a “new energy economy possible.”
Unfortunately, what is unspoken is their general opposition to the expansion of the three most obvious sources of existing clean energy: natural gas, nuclear power, and hydroelectric dams – leaving us with few choices.
Mark P. Mills, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a faculty fellow at Northwestern University, author of The New Energy Economy: An Exercise In Magical Thinking, states the problem.
“Never mind that wind and solar—the focus of all “new energy economy” aspirations, including its latest incarnation in the Green New Deal—supply just 2 percent of global energy, despite hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies.”
“It takes the energy equivalent of about 100 barrels of oil to manufacture a battery that can store the energy equal to one oil barrel. That means that batteries fabricated in China (most already are) by its predominantly coal-powered grid result in more carbon-dioxide emissions than those batteries, coupled with wind/solar, can eliminate. It’s true that wind turbines, solar cells, and batteries will get better, but so, too, will drilling rigs and combustion engines. The idea that “old” hydrocarbon technologies are about to be displaced wholesale by a digital-like, clean-tech energy revolution is a fantasy.”
Mills explains the only way we will change the “energy status-quo” is through foundational discoveries in the sciences – not by subsidizing yesterday’s technologies, including wind and solar.
Allowing students to skip classes to protest on the Capitol steps doesn’t teach them anything about atmospheric science, geology, geography or oceanography.
Emerging technologies that will help solve climate change issues are only possible if our current crop of high school students are grounded in foundational subject matter like mathematics and the earth sciences.
So yes, our schools should be committed to updating and teaching all science subjects – including climate change. That’s the only way the next generation will meet this challenge with more than scare stories.
Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
