Eutrophic (you-tro'fik) adj. 1. designating or of a lake, pond, etc. rich in plant nutrient minerals and organisms but often deficient in oxygen in midsummer season. 2. designating or of a legislative body rich in hubris but often deficient of civics during the session season.
     Okay, I made up definition number two. Only number one is real. It's the dictionary definition of a biological condition where algae blossoms, depletes oxygen, and chokes out other life forms in a body of water. Kind of like what happens when bad legislative ideas suddenly bloom and impair the body politic.
     It's no surprise the Alaska legislature is not exempt from blooming, eutrophic-inducing ideas. But what does surprise and dismay are the number of these ideas that thrived like algae in the small-pond Alaska Senate--legislative ideas that can choke the oxygen from the body politic in the same way algae can choke oxygen from a body of water. Here's a few quick examples:
     SB187 (24th Legislature)--This idea made it a criminal offense to tell anybody an ethics complaint has been or will be filed against a legislator or legislative employee. The bill, designed to keep ethics complaints top secret, was so tight that if you told your spouse you were thinking about filing an ethics complaint, and then did so, you could go to prison for a year and be subject to a $10,000 fine. This eutrophic bill bloomed in the Senate and passed 11-8. All Republican members present voted 'aye' and all Democrats voted 'nay'. It died in the House.
     SB186 (24th Legislature)--This bill tried to accomplish the same thing in the administrative ethics act that SB187 (see above) tried to do in the legislative ethics act--criminalize and impose the same sanctions for revealing an ethics complaint against a member of the executive branch. This eutrophic bill passed in the Senate 11-8 with all Republican members present voting 'aye' and all Democrats voting 'nay'. It died in the House.
     SB119 (23rd Legislature)--This bill doubled the amounts individuals and groups can contribute to political candidates and political parties. Wealthy contributors who previously were topped out at $500 could donate $1,000 to individual candidates. This eutrophic idea passed the Senate 12-8 with all Republican members voting 'aye' and all Democrats voting 'nay'. This bill passed the House and was signed into law but voters vetoed the higher donation limits by approving, 3-1, Ballot Measure 1 on the August primary ballot.
     HB145 (23rd Legislature)--This bill made it far more difficult for public interest litigants to challenge government actions. It overruled long-standing practices established by the Alaska Supreme Court. In the Senate, all the Republicans voted 'aye' and all the Democrats voted 'nay' on this eutrophic idea. It is now law.
     SB89 (23rd Legislature)--This bill changed the definition of lobbyist. Before passage of this bill, a person was a lobbyist if he or she spent more than 4 hours per month lobbying. This bill changed that by a factor of 10--up to 40 hours. This bill allowed folks like Veco czar Bill Allen to avoid registering as a lobbyist. That's important because he then can hold fundraisers and give to legislators who represent districts he doesn't live in. All 12 Senate Republicans voted for this eutrophic idea, along with 2 Democrats. The bill became law but voters cut the hours back from 40 to 10 when they passed Ballot Measure 1 in the August primary.
     HB563 (23rd Legislature)--This bill codified the closed meeting practices used by the legislature and stymied a Legislative Ethics Committee initiative to let more sunshine into caucus meetings. This eutrophic idea was introduced with seven days left in the regular session and flew through the legislature and was signed into law. All but one of the Senate Republicans voted 'aye' and all but two of the Democrats voted 'nay'.
     SB35 (23rd legislature)--The Senate Finance Committee stripped all language in an artifact bill from the previous year and inserted a completely new idea. Committee leaders did not list the bill for hearing by number or new topic. Because the bill was brought up under the rubric "Bills Previously Heard", the public was not able to review the new idea or testify on the elements of the brand spanking new bill. The alternative form of SB35 was not subjected to a real public hearing and was rushed to the Senate floor on the same day even though there were 58 days left in the session. Democratic members of the Finance Committee filed an ethics complaint about the committee's eutrophic maneuver and the Legislative Ethics Committee condemned the public-excluding trickery.
     So, there are my nominees for the legislative Eutrophic Hall of Shame. Let's hope the ongoing FBI probe of ties between some legislators and money doesn't make this list grow even faster than an algae bloom in a shallow pond.
 

Capitol Undercurrents  

Squash it--Even though the AP has reported that four execs from the Alaska oil services company VECO have passed out $570,000 to state candidates in the last decade, it's not true that a sign proclaiming "Only 68 Shopping Days 'til the General Election" was ripped from the wall at VECO headquarters after the August 31 FBI raids. The raids, most speculate, are allegedly focusing on the financial ties between some legislators and VECO execs. There are enough rumors about the raids and the sign rumor would simply be gratuitous.

Capitolizing--The now infamous "Corrupt Bastards Club" (referenced in the FBI search warrants served on six Alaska legislative offices) has spawned a cottage industry. At least two websites are now selling hats, shirts, baby clothes, and even thong underwear with the CBC notation.

Ever willing to help--The dataheads at the legislature's Help Desk gave a helping hand to FBI agents last week when shown a warrant that authorized access to computer files from the six legislative offices. Turns out the "encrypted" data they wanted was simply back-up for non-encrypted data they already had. No hints, though, about what data the agents thought was important.

Drug addiction--Our own U.S. Senator Ted Stevens has been feuding with his colleague Republican Senator Tom Coburn ever since the Oklahoman took aim at the so-called and now famous bridges to nowhere. Coburn recently told the Christian Science Monitor that "earmarks are a gateway drug on the road to spending addiction." The Alaska bridges were earmarks.