Page 1638 – Must Read Alaska

Poison pill in SB 26: What’s next in Juneau?

-

May 15, 2017

MOTHER SEATON STEWING: What will House Democrats do with that poison pill they stirred into SB 26 — the Permanent Fund restructuring bill?

The poison pill says SB 26 won’t pass unless lawmakers also pass income taxes (HB 115) and higher oil taxes (HB 111).

SB 26 uses earnings reserves from the Permanent Fund to pay for government, provides a steady dividend for Alaskans, puts a spending cap in place and makes needed cuts to government. No new taxes are required with SB 26.

House Democrats, led by crossover Rep. Paul Seaton, insist on income taxes and higher oil taxes. Senate Republicans will not abide by new taxes.

Then there’s Governor Tax Bill, who had Seaton advance the income tax bill for him and who now needs a budget without further drama.

Walker does not want to send out pink slips as he did in 2015, because he is already running for re-election. It is bad branding to be the “Pink Slip Governor,” who promised his nonpartisan advantage was that everyone would get along with him.

If he wants an income tax, Walker will have to put on his big-boy pants, come out from behind Rep. Paul Seaton’s skirts, and put his own name on the tax proposal.

It all makes one weary. Especially when income taxes would hit working Alaskans when they can least take it in this recession.

SB 26, as offered by the Senate, solves the fiscal crisis. Alaskans also will get solid dividends, as much as the economy is used to getting every year in Alaska.

But the Democrats have been hungering for income taxes for decades, so the fight goes on.

Budget conference committee starts today, and the pieces are in place to keep the government running one more year with help from the Earnings Reserve account of the Permanent Fund. In other words, the budget mimics SB 26 but doesn’t put it into statute. It’s not the ideal solution, but there is no need for a government shutdown, unless Walker wants one.

Questions:

Is Rep. Seaton going to come off his strong support of an income tax?
Will the House Democrat-led majority fall apart due to no income tax and a Permanent Fund restructure?
If there’s an extension on the extended session, will the House Democrat-led majority stop working on nonessential bills?
If SB 26 passed, would it draw an immediate citizens’ initiative, and give Mark Begich something to run on for governor?
Is a government shutdown in our future, say, starting July 1?
Will Rep. Seaton really take money from education, troopers and snowplowing and give it back to the Alaska Gasline Development Corp?

THIS WEEK IN JUNEAU

Monday:
11 am – Senate floor session
11 am – House floor session – HB 132, to allow ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, to be voted on.
1 pm – Conference Committee meets to hash out the operating budget, HB57, and the Mental Health budget HB59
1 pm – House Resources will discuss HB 173, the climate change commission that Rep. Geran Tarr and Andy Josephson want.
1:30 pm – House Finance takes up SB 23, capital budget. Look for additions from Democrats. Also will take up HB 105, special management area for Denali wolves.

Tuesday:
3 pm – HJR 20 – Reps. Andy Josephson and Justin Parish have a resolution urging Congress to retain Obamacare Medicaid expansion.

CONFIRMATION HEARINGS: Tuesday at 1 pm, expect a joint session confirmation vote for a certain attorney general, Jahna Lindemuth, and a certain board of game member, Karen Linnell, both controversial. But none are so controversial as Drew Phoenix, formerly known as Ann Gordon, who the governor wants on the Human Rights Commission. Mr. Phoenix has scrubbed his past so it passes the white glove test. Nothing before he transitioned to being a man is discoverable, and he didn’t call Must Read Alaska to fill in the details of his life. All anyone knows about him is what he has done since becoming a man, which is to be a champion for transgenderism, move to Alaska and start over, as so many end-of-the-roaders have done.

Dems target Alaska Native woman lawmaker

Suzanne Downing

-

May 13, 2017

0

*Rep. Charisse Millett speaks on the House floor on May 10, rebuking the comments of Rep. David Eastman but defending his constitutional right to free speech.*

In a ironic turn of events, Alaska Democrats are now attacking a Native Alaska woman lawmaker for not voting to censure a fellow lawmaker for insensitive comments about Native women.

The Alaska Democratic Party sent a fundraising email describing Mat-Su Rep. David Eastman’s “relentless attacks on women, particularly from the Alaska Native community, as well as black soldiers that built the Al-Can highway, and Hmong soldiers that fought for the US in the Viet Nam War. These comments embarrassed our state and made national headlines.”

Eastman had implied that women in rural Alaska were using pregnancy to get a free trip to the city, as part of his argument that abortion is a form of child abuse. It has been broadly interpreted by Democrats to mean Alaska Native women. He voted against a resolution singling out African-American construction workers and he voted against a specialty license plate singling out Hmong soldiers.

But the Democrats’ fundraising appeal took it a step further and attacked Rep. Charisse Millett, House Minority leader from Anchorage, for not voting to censure Eastman, as many Democrat House members did on May 10.

The Alaska House is controlled by a Democrat-led caucus. Millett, who is part Alaska Native, is a Republican from District 25, a more liberal district than Eastman’s. Alaska Democrats know that she’s in a vulnerable seat, and came close to removing her during the 2016 cycle. She won her seat by just a 79-vote lead over Democrat challenger Pat Higgins, in what was the narrowest victory in the 2016 legislative election.

Jay Parmley, executive director of the Democrats, asked readers to “Give $5 today so we can replace Rep. Millett in 2018.”

To deepen the irony, Parmley, who was hired by Alaska Democratic Party late last year to replace Kay Brown, has a long record of women and men accusing him of sexual harassment. He was also accused by an ex-girlfriend of infecting her with HIV. Follow this Must Read Alaska link for media audit on Parmley.

Last week, Millett spoke about why she would not vote to censure Eastman, even though she was repelled by his remarks.

“As Minority Leader, I apologize to the state of Alaska for his comments,” she said on the House floor. “Nobody in our caucus will defend him. With that said, Mr. Speaker, if this was a ‘sense of the House,’ I would be supporting it.

“Even if the member from District 10 doesn’t apologize, I forgive him, ” Millett said. “We talk about the right to free speech, and I think about what censure meant to this body, and as a matter of fact I haven’t found one we’ve done in this House.

“I think when we’re talking about our own body, we have to stop and think about what precedent we are setting. I don’t like what the member from District 10 said at all. It was awful. He has that right to say it under our Constitution. We have a right to take action against him. I want to make sure that our action is accurate…and what this body holds in the most egregious things we can do as members…I think a ‘sense of the House’ would be more appropriate.

What happens, Mr. Speaker, and what are you willing to do the next time someone gets up on the floor and I find something incredibly offensive? Or in committee? Will you take a stand for me? Will you censure the person that has offended me? – Rep. Charisse Millett

“So while I absolutely am devastated by his speech, I think we should take seriously the step the member from District 16 [Ivy Spohnholz] is proposing by censuring one of our members,” Millett said. “We are setting a precedent here if we do this and we are challenging the constitutional right to speak, even if I hate what was spoken.”

Other lawmakers spoke on the floor of the House in favor of constitutionally protected speech, but for fundraising purposes, the Democrats have singled out Millett for removal. She has served in the House since 2008.

“The Democrats don’t like Native women to be Republicans,” Millett said in an interview.

Senate votes down an income tax

Suzanne Downing

-

May 12, 2017

2

It’s been a disastrous week for Gov. Bill Walker. His natural gas pipeline project was gutted by the Alaska Senate, when it removed half of the funding needed to proceed through permitting.

Today the Senate also shot down Gov. Walker’s income tax, HB 115. Four members voted in favor of it — Sens. Tom Begich, Dennis Egan, Berta Gardner, and Donny Olson. Fifteen voted against it.

Even Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a diehard Democrat — voted against it taking $7 billion from Alaskans over the next decade.

House Bill 115 is a priority of the Democrat-controlled House and governor. If the governor still wants to fight for an income tax, he’ll have to introduce it in special session after the Legislature adjourns on Wednesday.

“Whatever agreement the Senate and the House come to this session, it will not include an income tax. Period,” said Senate President Pete Kelly, a Fairbanks Republican. “The Senate will not penalize Alaskans for having a job.”

“The Senate will not penalize Alaskans for having a job.” – Senate President Pete Kelly

Today’s vote ended the chatter about what senators might do on an income tax. It brought “clarity to working Alaskan families and the businesses that employ them that an income tax is off the table,” said Sen. Mia Costello, an Anchorage Republican, who chairs Senate Labor and Commerce.

The Senate Majority’s SB 26 solves Alaska’s fiscal problem – without taxing working Alaskans – through responsible reductions, a spending cap and strategic use of the state’s reserves, the Senate majority said.

“We do not support an income tax because Alaska does not need an income tax,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche. “Our Senate plan has been proven to fund Alaska’s government by closing the fiscal gap for many, many years without a burdensome income tax on Alaska’s families. It will protect the wages of working Alaskans.”

We do not support an income tax because Alaska does not need an income tax. – Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche.

Sen. Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican who has often been seen as a moderate, spoke about the deceptive nature of the bill and said he could not vote for HB 115 because, for one thing, it was lying in its very title. It calls itself an “education tax,” when only a small portion of the income tax would go to education, Stevens said.

But within 30 seconds of the vote, Gov. Bill Walker issued a statement that doubled down on the phrase “Education Funding Act,” in the headline of his official statement, which explained it as a broad-based tax:

“Consultants advising our administration and the legislature have consistently shown that a broad-based tax is necessary for us to close our fiscal gap. They have also advised that every other state in the nation has some form of a broad-based tax to provide a stable revenue source for funding government services,” Walker said. “We simply cannot continue to fund public safety, education and road maintenance by drawing down on our limited savings. I’m disappointed with the Senate’s vote this afternoon, but we’ll continue working with both bodies to fix Alaska’s fiscal crisis.”

While that is factually true that other states fund government with sales taxes or income taxes, Alaska is the only “owner state,” where Alaskans own the resources and receive royalties and severance taxes to pay for government. In terms of the amount of revenue per capita, the billions of dollars in oil revenue that comes to the State puts Alaska in second highest.

North Dakota ranks first with $7,438 per capita, and Alaska is second-highest with per capita collections of $7,005.

During floor debate, Palmer Sen. Shelley Hughes said, “I believe sucking dollars out of the private section is absolutely the wrong action that we should be doing. It’s a bad idea when you’re in a recession…And I actualy think it would be an insane action.”

She also brought up the importance of protecting retirees in Alaska, and the importance of multi-generations that could be diminished if older Alaskans had to move away.

Sen. Berta Gardner was unmoved by that argument, saying she had little sympathy for those who would choose to move out of Alaska.

Sen. Micciche said that with SB 26 as offered by the Senate, the State would only operate in a deficit for two more years before being able to rebuild reserve funds.

He cited the stale numbers the Walker Administration had offered, and the “$200 million that magically showed up, you are looking at a significant difference,” he said, when asked by reporters why the Senate’s plan was not lining up with earlier projections.

“The biggest take away from today is that government has reduced very slowly over time,” said Sen. Pete Kelly. “It expanded very rapidly over the years that it was really rolling in this state. Times have changed. We didn’t want to penalize people for having a job. I think we made a pretty clear statement that the private sector is the thing that is on top of our list.”

PRO-INCOME TAX VOTES DRAW FIRE

HB 115 passed the House along caucus lines April 18, with the Democrat-controlled majority voting in favor of a complicated scheme of income taxes devised by the Department of Revenue with the help of Connecticut tax attorney Richard Pomp.

Following today’s Senate vote, Americans for Prosperity-Alaska announced its campaign of mailers and digital ads holding House lawmakers accountable for their votes on the income tax.

Mailers were sent to the districts of Rep. Matt Claman, District 21, Rep. Jason Grenn, District 22, Rep. Chris Tuck, District 23, Rep. Paul Seaton, District 31, Rep. Dan Ortiz, District 36, and Rep. Louise Stutes, District 32.

The mailer points out that while legislators voted to implement an income tax, they voted against cutting items that may be non-essential in a recession.

A recent poll conducted by Dittman Research found 58 percent of respondents opposed an income tax.

AFP-Alaska Director Jeremy Price said, “Alaskans oppose an income tax, yet the House majority and Gov. Bill Walker insist on shoving it down Alaskans’ throats.”

Whether AFP-Alaska will also target the four senators who voted in favor of the tax is a question. “We just want to thank those senators who voted against the $700 million tax on working Alaskans.”

Due process: Pebble, EPA come to terms on lawsuit

Suzanne Downing

-

May 12, 2017

1

Due process: Pebble, EPA come to terms on lawsuit

The Pebble Partnership and the Environmental Protection Agency have kissed and made up: Pebble will be allowed to enter the permitting process under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. In return, there will be no lawsuit against the EPA for stalling the project for the past several years.

The copper and gold mining project, which had been prohibited by the Obama-era EPA from even applying for a permit, represents a huge supply of ore on state land in Western Alaska — land that was long ago set aside for mining.

It has been a controversial project because opponents say it could endanger a rich salmon fishery in Bristol Bay.

Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble Partnership, said the project is now smaller than previously planned and would have demonstrable environmental protections, including protecting the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed. But the company is not ready to release details on the meaning of “smaller.” That information will start coming out in the next eight months, according to Must Read Alaska sources.

Collier described the current EPA management as a different one than existed under President Obama, and said his company was fighting for due process: “That’s all we’ve been asking for all along here,” he told the Associated Press.

“It’s a day for Pebble Mine to really have a new start,” Collier said.

The coming year will be busy as the company defines the project further and makes the case to residents of Alaska about the benefits of jobs and economic growth in a non-oil industry.

But while the worst federal hurdles have been challenging for the company, Pebble must still go through the permitting process, which is daunting. And the company also faces a Walker Administration that has turned cold.

When Bill Walker ran for governor, he was in favor of the Pebble Project when he talked with miners, but he opposed it when he was talking to environmentalists.

Since taking office, he has come under the influence of hard-left Democrats such as Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who opposes the project.

With his re-election campaign now starting to turn its wheels, Walker faces a dilemma: There are a lot of potential votes from Alaskans who want to see the state emerge from its current recession, and who support jobs. The mine would create as many as 1,000 jobs, the company says, many of which would be filled by applicants from poverty-stricken villages in the region.

Many of those economy-jobs voters are unhappy with Walker’s performance, according to a poll released by the Alaska Chamber of Commerce.

On the other hand, Pebble remains the rallying cry of the Left, where Walker now enjoys strong support.

With the 2018 gubernatorial season now starting, the Pebble Project will become a lightning-rod issue for all who seek the state’s highest office.

Bristol Bay could become the next Standing Rock protest with mine opponents camping and standing in the way of bulldozers, and will likely be a strong fund-raising tool for environmental groups. For some opponents, it’s not just that Pebble is Pebble, but that it is the camel’s nose under the tent for the entire region.

Quaterra Resources, Inc. last month signed an agreement with Chuchuna Minerals Co. which gave it the option to buy a 90 percent interest in the Groundhog copper prospect, which is close to the Pebble mine prospect.

Tuesday night fights: Demboski-1, Governor-0; Senate pays tax credits

Suzanne Downing

-

May 12, 2017

1

GOV, YOU’VE BEEN DEMBOSKIED – Gov. Bill Walker attended the Anchorage Assembly meeting on Tuesday and spoke to the municipal body for a several minutes, making his case for an income tax before taking questions from the Assembly.

“You can’t run from it. It’s not going to go away,” he said. “It’s time we have to look at the other side of the equation. We have to look on the revenue side. We can’t fix the budget by cuts alone. We just can’t do it.”

“We need a compromise. I need to compromise. Not everyone’s going to get everything they want when they want it,” Walker said.

Assembly Member Amy Demboski took the governor to task on his income tax proposal: “Some will tell you that in fact we have a revenue problem. That’s what I hear you say. I hear others say we have a spending problem. Governor Walker, I think we have a leadership problem.”

She continued: “Alaskans are really tired of hearing we cut 44 percent when you and I both know it’s a numbers game.”

Assembly members were given three minutes to address the governor. Listen to what Demboski does with her three minutes:

Walker said he wouldn’t address her comments then, but would be glad to meet with her to discuss her points of view and invited her to discuss her concerns with his Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

SENATE PAYS TAX CREDITS – The Alaska Senate voted Thursday to make good on promises to oil and gas explorers who are owed tax credits. Those payments are, in some cases, overdue by nearly two years.

By a vote of 13-7, the Senate decided to use $288 million from a state savings account to pay the credits.

Several explorers have been waiting for their tax credits since Gov. Walker took office in 2014. He began canceling payments in 2015.

Earlier this week in Juneau, Revenue Commissioner Randy Hoffbeck said some oil and gas companies are on the verge of foreclosure. Hoffbeck, along with Rep. Justin Parish, was talking to a group of Juneau residents at a town hall:

“We know we’re going to lose a couple of companies through foreclosure. We’ve been hearing from their banks … if we cannot pay the oil tax credits. We need a broad-based tax to pay those credits. If we lost those companies, we will probably lose that oil production [forever].”

Hoffbeck went on to say that without a broad-based tax, two companies will go into foreclosure.

But on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, railed against paying the tax credits: “In what world is that OK? Explain to the people of Alaska. I hope they’re watching. I hope the people of Alaska are watching this vote right now…Do you stand for the people of Alaska?”

The tax credit vote was part of the $1.4 billion capital budget, which passed 13-5.

Gasline woes: Senate strips $50 million from agency

Suzanne Downing

-

May 11, 2017

4

Gasline woes: Senate strips $50 million from agency

The Alaska Senate just found $50 million to help defray the state’s fiscal gap, at least this year. It’s at AGDC, the gasline agency.

While passing a capital budget that is $35 million smaller than Gov. Bill Walker’s proposal, the Senate stripped money out of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, leaving the agency with just enough money to get through the end of this calendar year on fumes — at the current burn rate.

Meanwhile, AGDC President Keith Meyer is in China trying to line up customers and investors for the project.

Sen. Mike Dunleavy offered the amendment to remove $50 million from the Alaska Gasline Development Agency’s LNG fund and appropriate it to a variety of State program needs:

$5 million to the Department of Law for prosecuting attorneys
$10 million to Department of Transportation for road maintenance and plowing
$10 million to the Department of Public Safety for hiring more troopers, and
$24 million to the public school trust fund.

Dunleavy’s amendment passed without objection.

“What this means is that 100 percent of the senators felt that there are more important needs right now than the AGDC’s LNG funds,” said a source in the Capitol who watched the proceedings. “And it means the governor doesn’t have a friend in the Senate who will stand up for him and his gasline.”

In 2016, Dunleavy went on the record with his doubts about the gasline: “I have yet to be convinced that the overall project is economically viable. There are a lot of moving parts in this project, and with the world currently drowning in oil and gas I question the economics. In order for me to be supportive of the project I will need to be convinced by the administration that we have more than a reasonable prospect that the project will return above and beyond the amount of money the state will need to invest. With a price tag of $45-$65 billion dollars, this project needs to be scrutinized thoroughly.”

AGDC LNG fund had about $100 million in two funds before today’s cut. It’s not known how much is already obligated but $30 million had been set aside for work by various state agencies, such as Natural Resources, and $40 million had been appropriated for “cash calls” for the AK-LNG work plan and budget, things that are not likely to be needed soon.

The agency has a $102 million spending plan for Alaska’s gasline project, which was expected to drain the two gasline funds it holds over an 18-month period.

AGDC has three offices to support — one in Anchorage, one in Houston, and one in Tokyo. And it will need major funding to complete its work for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission application it filed last month.

AGDC formally launched its application for federal permits to build what is expected to be the largest project ever reviewed by FERC, a proposed integrated gas infrastructure project in three segments: A gas treatment plant at Prudhoe Bay, an 800-mile pipeline to Nikiski, five offtakes for Alaska communities, and a natural gas liquefaction plant at Nikiski to produce LNG for export to Asia.

Now, with barely enough funds to make it until the end of 2017, those gasline plans and the agency advancing them could be in peril.

It’s among a series of setbacks for Walker’s gasline. The gasline project in March lost a potential new partner, REI of Japan, which said the timing is just not right.

Less than a year ago, the major partners, BP, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips pulled out of the project, saying the economics were just not right. Knowledgeable sources inside the joint working group go a bit further. They say not only are the economics not right, but Gov. Walker’s confrontational and erratic approach with them did not justify continued investments, even at a much smaller level.

The capital budget now goes to the House of Representatives, where it remains to be seen if the Democrat majority will try to restore the money for the governor’s gasline by taking from public safety, roads, and schools.

In Democrat House, vote how they tell you to, or it’s ‘hate speech’

Suzanne Downing

-

May 11, 2017

20

*Rep. David Eastman, District 10, raised the issue of Medicaid abuse and has been censured by the Alaska House of Representatives.*

TRIGGER WARNING: THIS MAY HURT FEELINGS

The writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall in Friends of Voltaire wrote, ” I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

The Alaska House of Representatives didn’t get the Hall memo.

Rep. David Eastman was today censured by the House for his remarks in an official capacity about the abuse of Medicaid and abortion by some women in Alaska.

He endured more than an hour of being called racist and sexist by Democrats on the House floor. And when the vote came down, it was 25 to 14 telling him just how hateful his colleagues think he is.

A handful of Republicans voted to censure Eastman, along with all of the Democrats and both of the Indie-Democrats.

Times have changed since Hall wrote the defense of speech in 1903. Feelings are now easily hurt. Political speech is no longer protected in Alaska’s Capitol unless it’s “correct” speech.

Freedom of conscience, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, and the freedom to represent your constituency — these are things legislators now may be scolded for on the floor of the House of Representatives.

No Republican will be able to raise the issue of Medicaid abuse under this regime, or even ask for hearings on the topic. The topic of medical tourism on the public dime has been made toxic.

Freshman Rep. Ivy Spohnholz of Anchorage labeled David Eastman’s remarks as “hate speech,” and his actions as part of a “hate agenda.”

The term “hate agenda” has been widely used by the Left to describe the presidency of Donald Trump.

*Rep. Ivy Spohnholz told the House that Rep. David Eastman had not been contrite enough about his remarks.*

Spohnholz, an East Anchorage Democrat, lashed out at Eastman on the House floor, saying he had not apologized enough for his remarks about the abuse of Medicaid payments for travel by rural Alaskan women. He had not atoned for how much he had hurt people’s feelings, she said.

“A leader takes responsibility and ownership for those mistakes,” Spohnholz said. “They acknowledge the impact they’ve had on somebody else’s life, their feelings, their thoughts. They own them, and then they make amends. How do you make amends? You don’t say, ‘I’m really sorry that that made you feel bad.’ That is not making amends. Making amends needs to go a little bit further. You don’t say ‘You’re welcome to come to my office, and share your concerns and your perspective with me.’ That is not making amends.”

She went on: “When you make amends, you are internalizing the hurt that you inflicted on someone else. You have to go to the people that you’ve hurt and you have to try to understand their perspective and make it right. It means to mend, to put things back together again.”

In other words, legislators must give up their points of view in order to satisfy Spohnholz. She will be the one to determine what constitutes an apology.

Rep. Geran Tarr, another Anchorage Democrat, stated that Eastman not only said the wrong things, but he also voted the wrong way, and this showed pattern of bad belief and bad behavior. Eastman had voted against a resolution recognizing African-American contributions to the construction of the Alaska Highway, and against special license plates for Hmong veterans. The Hmong license plate bill was sponsored by Tarr.

During the discussion on those votes, Eastman said he is fundamentally opposed to race-based legislation. It is a matter of principle for him.

This afternoon Eastman was circumspect about his political learning curve: “I’ve never judged someone by the color of their skin. I wasn’t brought up that way,” he said. “Race politics is not a pleasant learning subject.”

On the floor as part of her closing remarks, Spohnholz said it was not about free speech. She called him racist and sexist, and said he had not taken responsibility for his behavior.

“Some people said, there was not bad behavior,” Spohnholz argued. “I’m going to disagree.” She went on to say that Eastman had made statements not only to a reporter, but then “…Our colleague doubled down on it and called for hearings. He brought that behavior into this hall.”

It’s the first time in Alaska state history that a House member has been censured, which is a nonbinding vote that indicates disapproval.

LEDOUX, RULES CHAIR, REMAINS SILENT

Earlier this year, Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, House Rules chair, advised members they may not use the terms “bureaucrat” or “slush fund.” Those terms were derogatory, she said.

She has made a habit of calling for points of order and preventing Republicans from speaking on the House floor, citing various infractions.

But today, LeDoux did not intervene while House members repeatedly impugned the motives of one of their colleagues.

The vote to censure has a chilling effect on free speech when a public body acts to curtail the speech of one of its members, said Tuckerman Babcock, chairman of the Alaska Republican Party. It is a governing body sending a stern warning shot over the bow of a fellow legislator, with an inference that other penalties could follow if the lawmaker does not toe the line.

“This is a bizarre step to try to repress someone’s freedom of speech, of thought, and even how they vote,” said Babcock.

“This is about public process,” said Eastman in an interview with Must Read Alaska. “I thought we were all Alaskans. I now know that some people believe that race separates us.”

House Republicans had already condemned the comments made by Eastman to a media outlet last week, with a brief statement that said his remarks on Medicaid and women seeking abortions had no factual basis and targeted women from rural parts of the state.

Today, the Republican minority issued a statement that said it still doesn’t like what he said, but members defended his right to speak out on issues that concern him:

“Never in the history of the Alaska House of Representatives has there been censure of a member. Censure is reserved for conduct that is damaging and disruptive to the legislative process or implicates a criminal act or ethical violation. Reprimanding a legislator for words spoken sets a dangerous precedent and infringes on freedom of speech.

“House Republicans continue to stand firmly opposed to the comments and sentiments expressed by Representative Eastman. Discrimination will not be tolerated by House Republicans. We will continue to embrace the diversity and spirit that makes our state stronger.”

Briefs: Pageant, Derby, conference committee, governor’s race

Suzanne Downing

-

May 10, 2017

0

*Rep. Neal Foster and Bernadette Wilson at the Derby party on Saturday.*

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON SB 26 CAN WAIT: The talk of the town last weekend was the annual Kentucky Derby Party in Anchorage at Simon and Seaforts on Saturday, but the talk of Juneau was “where’s Rep. Neal Foster, who is on the SB 26 Conference Committee?”

Well, we found him in Anchorage, at a Derby Party, with a derby in one hand and Bernadette Wilson in the other. And Alaskans wonder why the Legislature will likely need to go into special session. SB 26 is the restructuring of the Alaska Permanent Fund that would eliminate the need for income taxes.

FIRST TLINGIT TO COMPETE FOR MISS USA – Alyssa London, the first Tlingit to wear the Miss Alaska USA crown, will compete for Miss USA 2017 on Sunday, May 14. London’s Tlingit name is Yáx Ádi Yádi (meaning most precious child) and is Eagle of the Killerwhale clan. She attended Stanford University.

The pageant was owned by President Donald Trump between 1996 and 2015, when it was purchased by William Morris Endeavor (WME/IMG).

SEALASKA HERITAGE LECTURES REP. EASTMAN: Rosita Worl, of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, lambasted Rep. David Eastman in a letter to the editor for his statements regarding Medicaid and abortion. She said his statements are reprehensible and that he should apologize.

SENATE SAVES JUNEAU ACCESS PROJECT – The Alaska Senate today voted on the capital budget, and they disallowed the governor from moving Juneau Access money into other projects. That means the road to Juneau is not dead, even though the governor has tried to kill it and the jobs and economic strength the road would bring to both Juneau and Haines. The total reduction in the governor’s capital budget is $35.5 million. It advanced to third reading.

INCOME TAX BILL TO GET SCHEDULED FOR SENATE VOTE – Today on the Senate floor, HB 115, the income tax bill offered by Governor Bill Walker through his surrogate Rep. Paul Seaton, was waved through two committees and will go directly to the Senate floor so everyone can get on the record as voting for or against a state income tax that would be similar to the federal IRS tax structure, but with no deductions.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON HB 57, THE OPERATING BUDGET – The Alaska Senate voted to not back down from its amendments and then named its members to the budget conference committee for HB 57. Sens. Lyman Hoffman, Anna MacKinnon, and Donny Olson will negotiate with counterparts from the House: Reps. Neal Foster, Paul Seaton, and Lance Pruitt.

GARA OFFERS ANOTHER TAX, AND TOLL ROAD – Rep. Les Gara, who puts the D in Democrat, has filed another piece of tax legislation. HB 242 would establish landing tax for the Deadhorse Airport, and would create a toll road for three miles of the Dalton Highway. A tipster in Juneau said there may be an amendment to the bill creating a toll road through Gara’s district, up L Street-Minnesota Drive Expressway, from Snow City Cafe all the way to the turnoff for Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’s house. It could generate far more money than his proposal for the Dalton.

GOVERNOR MAKING CAMPAIGN QUERIES – Scott Kendall, the governor’s chief of staff, is said to be quietly meeting with some of the big donors around Anchorage to line up support for the governor’s 2018 re-run. No word as to whether Bill Walker will run as a Democrat or a nonpartisan. But we’ll be looking for those leave slips from Chief Kendall, Communication Director Grace Jang, and Walker’s campaign-manager-on-the-public-dime John-Henry Heckendorn.

Outdoors group pans Board of Game appointment

Suzanne Downing

-

May 10, 2017

3

LINNELL IS ON RECORD FOR SHARED MANAGEMENT OF GAME: The Alaska Outdoor Council is opposing Gov. Bill Walker’s appointment to the Board of Game. She showed her hand, and she was playing the Native preference card.

Karen Linnell, a life-long resident of the Copper River Basin, and an Alaska Native, was appointed by Walker in 2016. She is a subsistence hunter and fisher, and is a board member of Ahtna, Incorporated. She is also the Executive Director of the Copper River-Ahtna Inter-Tribal Resource Conservation District, and Chair of the Wrangell-St. Elias Subsistence Resource Commission. She has served on the Copper River Basin Fish and Game Advisory Committee for over eight years.

But it’s what she did immediately after her appointment that just didn’t cut it for the Alaska Outdoor Council, says Executive Director Rod Arno.

Three weeks after the announcement about her addition to the Board of Game, Linnell signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior to form a partnership between DOI and the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission providing a quota of moose for Alaska Native villages in the Ahtna region.

By signing the agreement with the Interior Department, Linnell established a conflict of interest — she is now a signatory to an agreement that allocates a public resource to a specific racial group. At the same time, as a board appointee, she is bound by the Alaska State Constitution to allocate game equally to all Alaskans. (Article VIII Section 3, Common Use).

The Outdoor Council says that on Jan. 13, Linnell, in her role as executive director of the Intertribal Resource Council, stated to the Federal Subsistence Board something that struck fear into the hearts of sportsmen:

“So why we’re here today is to talk a little bit about this MOA and what it can do. And this is going to — could lead to a unified tribal, State, and Federal co-management structure.”

That’s a disqualifier, the Outdoor Council says. State management of the public resources is the Alaska Constitution’s stated value. Co-management is not compatible and Linnell is now on the record in favor of giving up state authority.

This is the same problem that is tripping up Gov. Walker’s choice for Attorney General — an unwillingness to fight for Alaska state sovereignty, but instead to negotiate it away in an out-of-court, behind the scenes settlement with tribes, where the public has no visibility and no input.

As constitutionalists say, Walker is killing the Alaska Constitution with “death by a thousand cuts.”

It’s more like death by a thousand appointments, but the result is the same, said Arno.

More on how you can take action at the Alaska Outdoor Council website.

Poison pill in SB 26: What’s next in Juneau?

Dems target Alaska Native woman lawmaker

Senate votes down an income tax

Due process: Pebble, EPA come to terms on lawsuit

Tuesday night fights: Demboski-1, Governor-0; Senate pays tax credits

Gasline woes: Senate strips $50 million from agency

In Democrat House, vote how they tell you to, or it’s ‘hate speech’

Briefs: Pageant, Derby, conference committee, governor’s race

Outdoors group pans Board of Game appointment

About us

The latest

Juneau’s airport board running out of runway in search for new airport manager

Photos: RFK Jr. in Fairbanks, greeted by a straggle of protesters screaming for vaccines

Iditarod musher injured in plane crash near Willow