Rep. Doogan in Anchorage: SPECIAL BIG, BIG, BIG BUDGET EDITION
June 3, 2011
In case you missed it, here’s a Compass piece I wrote earlier this week.
State Budget, Spending Generate a Bunch of Exceptions
I don’t know if you’ve got enough money to be worth talking about. I don’t. But together, we — and every other Alaskan — have a pile of money. Not a Denali-sized pile, but nothing to sneeze at.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Pre-Saturday Rapture?!?!, Post-Unspecial Session Newsletter
May 20, 2011
You were probably as surprised as I was to wake up and find out there’s a guy in Florida who says the rapture will be tomorrow. I guess I always thought I’d get more notice before the end of the world.
I owe you a post-session e-news, and given what might happen tomorrow, I don’t think I have any more time to procrastinate on this. Though it would be nice to get more notice next time if this guy is wrong, like he was in 1994. I’d like to have my house and chores in order before an apocalypse. But I guess, so would everyone else.
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Rep. Kawasaki’s Juneau Note: Special Session Wrap Up
May 18, 2011
Final Wrap Up
After going 27 days out of 30 days, the Special Session came to an end on Saturday night with a crack of the gavel. The dust is just settling on the 1st Session of the 27th Alaska State Legislature, so it may be too early to tell the impacts of our deliberations over the last four months. During the summer and into the fall, I hope to meet with you about the legislature and how I can make it more efficient, effective and citizen-friendly.
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Rep. Doogan in Juneau: SPECIAL THIS IS (MAYBE) THE END EDITION; Deep Pockets and Little Shame
May 13, 2011
There’s some chance that this will be the final e-news for awhile.
That sound you hear is me cheering.
I’m more than ready to go home. We have spent most of the past month engaged in spectacularly unproductive politicking. There are lots of reasons. You can argue about them if you have the time and energy. What do I think? Let’s just say that the people with the most political power have earned the most blame and leave it at that.
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Rep. Petersen’s Report from the Capitol: Special Session Continues - Budget Puts $1 Billion into Savings; Energy Projects Scrutinized; Fighting for Neighborhood Needs
May 9, 2011
The special session is continuing and there is still no agreement over the capital budget, but I am happy to report that we reached an agreement on and passed the operating budget.
$1 Billion for the State Savings Account
The operating budget funds the day to day operations of the state, while the capital budget funds construction projects and other mostly one-time items. I am particularly glad that as part of this budget, we deposited $1 billion dollars straight to the state savings account. While Alaska is in a better financial situation than most states, I strongly believe that we need to be fiscally responsible and put savings away for the future.
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