By REP. KEVIN MCCABE
After celebrating fleecing Alaskans of their Permanent Fund dividends yet again, the House Democrat Coalition and its allies began the drumbeat designed to pivot away from the damage they just inflicted upon Alaskans.
Now, the only thing that matters to them is the number of COVID-19 cases.
House leadership wants Alaskans forcibly masked, they want vaccinations, they want decreased capacities, and they want you to shutter your business and stay home.
I ran for office during the original disaster declaration and every single constituent I talked to wanted it to end. They believed, as do I, that the cost to our economy and the loss of jobs, businesses, freedom, and liberty were not worth the limited positive effect such a declaration had. Every single person told me that the government’s cure was, in aggregate, worse than the disease.
As President Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to the problem, Government IS the problem.” Alaska cannot afford another shut down or even decreased business capacity at a time they are fighting to recover from previous Declarations and facing yet another fleecing of their annual PFD checks. Covid-19 is big business with lots of dollars being made on the backs, and the psyche, of Alaskans.
In response to the constant drone from the House Democrat Majority, Gov. Mike Dunleavy quickly moved to make the tools, already in the legislative process, available on the call to special session by adding HB83/SB67 to that call.
These bills are exactly what our hospitals and special healthcare systems are asking for; Acts relating to licensure of nursing professionals and relating to telemedicine and telehealth, healthcare capacity and workforce improvements that will accelerate the State’s ongoing response to Covid-19. These bills need to be heard and moved out of committee immediately if not sooner.
In 2020, when the Legislature needed to get out of Juneau quickly due to Covid-19, they worked fast and furious. They were out of Juneau in 84 days. The House Democrat Coalition needs to get back to Juneau, hold hearings on the bills outlined above and move them through committee and over to the Senate so we can pass them in the most expeditious manner possible. These are the tools that will help our medical community, not a Declaration by the Governor who has stated many times that he does not need a disaster declaration.
Keep in mind that this issue is “so important” to our colleagues that the ink wasn’t even dry on their press releases calling for action to fight Covid before they were on planes home to their districts to enjoy the holiday weekend; they couldn’t even allow a minority member enough time to clarify his one question of the hearing so they could adjourn.
I’m angry. And every, single Alaskan has the right to be angry.
Those in power in the House are assuming the average Alaskan is too ignorant to see the game being played. The House Democrat Coalition took Alaskans PFDs down to the studs – then openly politicized our state’s response to the virus – for their own benefit.
Granted, this game has a sympathetic ear with the media, which ran breathtaking opinion pieces from House Democrats as well as officials from former Governor Bill Walker’s administration, without disclosing their role in the recent recall campaign against Governor Dunleavy.
If the folks in Big Lake, who sent me down here, ask me what’s going on, I’ve got one answer: dirty politics. It’s time for those in House Leadership to get a rag and do some cleaning. I’m here to help with that and that is why I will continue to write #thetruthmatters articles.
Rep. Kevin McCabe represents House District 8, Big Lake.
