House restores most funds vetoed
by Dunleavy
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Dear Neighbor,
The House just voted to restore most funds vetoed by Governor Dunleavy, and this morning we passed a $1,600 PFD bill that will not drain the Permanent Fund itself. I am optimistic the Senate will restore vetoed funds and a sustainable PFD as well.
As I said on the House floor
, these are life and death decisions for survivors of domestic violence, seniors, and Alaskans in need of essential medical care. Please: Keep weighing in with LTEs and op-eds, because the Senate will be voting on restored funding soon, and we could face another round of veto overrides.
Since Governor Dunleavy vetoed $440 million from the operating budget in late June, I’ve heard from more than 3,000 Alaskans, 98.7% of whom have asked me to override the vetoes. The House Finance Committee took testimony from more than 2,600 Alaskans, who overwhelmingly asked the legislature to override vetoes. A wide range of business groups including the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau Chambers of Commerce, ANCSA Regional Association, Alaska Native Village Corporation Association, the Alaska Bankers Association, the Alaska State Home Builders Association, and numerous individual business owners warned that failure to override vetoes will cast Alaska into a recession.
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Zara and I visited Youth Employment in Parks workers as they worked on the Chester Creek Single Track Project. Thanks to the mayor, the assembly, Parks and Recreation staff, Christina Grande, and the Anchorage Park Foundation.
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Perhaps even more remarkably, the Governor has held the capital budget hostage, using allies in the House minority to prevent funding to match nearly $1 billion in federal transportation funds. To top it off, the Governor confiscated Alaskans’ scholarship funds and PCE endowment, sweeping these and numerous other self-sustaining funds.
Why?
Is it to fulfill a demagogic campaign promise to pass super-sized PFDs?
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I think the answer is both: Dunleavy recognizes a political need to act on a campaign promise—hence the obsession with a massive, unaffordable PFD. But on an ideological level, his administration is stacked with mercenaries like Donna Arduin, Koch Brothers acolytes whose goal is to annihilate well-run public programs and institutions (while enriching themselves along the way).
This is a very challenging reality for Alaskans to confront. The Alaska Constitution provides the Governor a great deal of power, and it is completely unprecedented to have an administration so hell-bent on destruction.
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Most legislators, like most Alaskans, are trying to protect our economy from potentially massive job losses. We are trying to save the lives of our friends and neighbors from whom Dunleavy has taken food, shelter, and life-saving medical treatment. We are trying to defend institutions like the University of Alaska that are in our Constitution. As UA President Jim Johnsen said, it is remarkable how quickly one person can destroy what it took generations, and countless Alaskans, to build up.
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Zara checking out at Alaska Mill and Feed.
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To some extent, the path to saving our state runs through the legislature and the courts. We need a few more minority House Republicans to vote their conscience on these very consequential votes. There are already numerous court cases where judges will decide whether Dunleavy’s attempt to govern by fiat—such as his unprecedented liquidation of PCE funds, or his obstruction of forward funding education—is constitutional. But most importantly, the path to saving the state runs through you. An unprecedented outpouring of public support continues to bring together legislators in defense of Alaska. The extent to which you stay active and engaged will determine whether we can all save Alaska from Mike Dunleavy—including in the current fight to restore vetoed funds.
Zack
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Representative Zack Fields
907.465.2647
rep.zack.fields@akleg.gov
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