February 3, 2014 Voice Your Opinions! Letters to the editor make a difference. You can send a 175-word letter to the Anchorage Daily News by e-mail (letters@adn.com); or by fax or mail (call them at 257-4308). Send letters to the Anchorage Press via e-mail editor@anchoragepress.com or by mail to 540 E. Fifth Ave, Anchorage, 99501. Feel free to call us if you need factual information to help you write a letter. Contact the Governor. The Governor can be reached at 269-7450; sean.parnell@alaska.gov; or www.alaska.gov. Contact us. My office can be reached at: 716 W. 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501; by phone: 269-0106; visit my website at http://gara.akdemocrats.org; or email: Rep.Les.Gara@akleg.gov

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

It's an uphill battle sometimes. But Martin Luther King, Jr., said "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." It will. If we all work together. Your letters to the editor are needed if you think things should move in a better direction.

Newsletter summary: You asked for it. Here's a short summary if you don't want the details. For those of you who do - details and back up documents follow.

Students deserve opportunity, and I don't want families to flee Alaska by being hit with a fourth year of education cuts. You don't build an economy by causing your best and brightest families to move. I want a child protection study the Governor has ordered, then shelved, IMPLEMENTED. Continuing the scourge of child abuse, and skipping out on our obligation to help foster youth succeed isn't governing - it's knee-jerk budget cutting when we should target waste, not children in need. And then, what would a session be without a gasline debate. I want one that is large enough to deliver cheap gas to Alaskans and abroad so we can earn needed export revenue, and that does not give North Slope monopoly control to Exxon, Conoco and BP so they can block needed jobs, development, and gas and oil finds by independent companies.

Did TransCanada and Exxon Write Gasline Terms? This is your state. We don't always have to do what the biggest oil companies in the world tell us. And there is a potential subtext that the current proposal is - and we are looking into this - partially written by TransCanada, in exchange for them not suing us for a potential breach of their existing AGIA contract. I want to know what terms are in the pending proposal that may have been demanded by TransCanada.

In the end, we are a sovereign state, and can't cede our interest in building a gasline that serves Alaskans, not outside companies, whether they are Exxon, BP or TransCanada. These are all companies that are part of the Governor's "contract" that, in fact, doesn't guarantee a pipeline - just negotiations. I will review this proposal closely, with an open mind.

Moving a Backwards Education Policy Forward Again: Students have a right to opportunity in America, and to achieve their dreams. Good schools help them reach those dreams, and become important parts of a stronger economy. It's why even the normally conservative Chamber of Commerce has called for an end to the Governor's education cuts. His current proposal leaves between 2/3 to 3/4 of next year's crippling teacher and staff cuts - likely more than 200 on top of the 600 he's cut in the last three years - in place. We need to do better if we want students who will drive us to a more diverse, vibrant, strong economy and workforce.

Cutting schools the last three years has been a party line vote. We need to get back to the point that Republicans join Democrats in improving our public schools.

This summer, to arm you with facts, I asked for a study from the non-partisan legislative research division to show the damage that's been done to our public schools by neglected policy. Since 2011 we've lost over 600 teachers, guidance and career counselors, and support staff aimed at making sure the next generation has opportunity. If you want to read more, here is an op ed I co-wrote on the issue with actual facts, not just spin. And here is the research report: http://akdemocrats.org/gara/092313_Teacher_Position_Reductions.pdf.

I've voted to reverse these cuts last year, and in past years. I have filed legislation my whole career to index funding to inflation to prevent ongoing cuts, and am currently doing detailed research on what funds are needed to make up for three years of neglect. Stay tuned. We will release that information as soon as it is complete.

Priorities: Kids in School and Jobs, Not Kids in Jail and on the Streets. Saving Money and Putting Morals over Politics: In 2012 the Governor and Commissioner of Health and Social Services did something I applauded and had supported. We have a massive shortage of staff charged with steering our 2,000 foster youth to success and investigating child abuse and neglect. Foster parents don't get calls back, and quit. Social workers cannot make home visits needed to steer youth towards the support they need to succeed. So, to save money, a 2012 study was commissioned to figure the cheapest way to shore up this system. It was decided we should hire support staff so front line, higher salaried social workers could investigate abuse and help foster youth succeed in the field. That completed study has languished on the shelf since 2012, and I've written an op ed to try to get this Governor's study implemented and off the shelf. I've met with the Governor. For a second year in a row this study isn't in his budget. But he says he is open to "talking" about this, and better school funding. I will take him up on his offer.

At a cost of roughly $2 - $3 million it’s 1/20 the cost of what the Governor wants to put into the $1 - $2 billion Knik Arm Bridge, which, by the way, doesn't shorten your commute to Palmer or Wasilla by one minute. In a time of deficits, kids are a priority over steel and a bridge to an area that can easily and more cheaply be connected by road to Palmer and Wasilla. The Bridge is a luxury project. Protecting foster and abused children is a core function, unless you believe children who are harmed through no fault of their own deserve a damaged lot in life.

All Gaslines Are Not The Same: In November I sat down with the Governor and agreed a large diameter pipeline (which delivers gas more efficiently and cheaply than the proposed narrow, small one; and leaves us gas to export after local needs are met so we can earn needed revenue) was preferred, and asked that he not stack the deck with experts who would only champion the wording and policies in his proposal. We should have an array of experts who give us the honest information we need to make a decision. I and my Democratic colleagues said that with experts we all trust, if his proposal is great, all will agree across party lines. If it needs work, we'll hear both sides so the public can decide the best course to take.

On the bright side, the Governor now agrees to a large diameter pipeline. On the potentially questionable side, he has given the contract to Exxon, Conoco and BP, with no guarantee a pipe will be built, and with provisions asking us to trust him to negotiate a contract. Much of that is fine, except that a pipeline deal needs to make sure Exxon, Conoco and BP aren’t allowed to monopolize the North Slope, and prevent natural gas by independent producers from making it into the line. A gasline can be expanded. Rules for expansion have to be fair to independents, and not block them from access.

Why? More natural gas development means more jobs. And experts say that if we have more natural gas development, we will find more oil, which, when in a combined oil and gas field, will make that otherwise uneconomic oil cost-effective to produce. That, despite arguments about tax policy, is potentially the best way to get more oil into the pipeline, as our experts have testified to in the past.

Hopefully the Governor will not shun requests that experts who can lend their knowledge to this project, and not just champion the Governor's proposal as is, will be allowed in the building, and will be funded by the Governor and Legislature. We've asked the Governor once, and will sit down with the Governor on this issue so we can move on a gasline together. Bi-partisanship works.

Oh - and I'll be coming out with a report and analysis on the Governor’s promise last year's oil tax will lead to "one million barrels" of oil within 10 years. We are researching this, but it looks like his bill will produce less oil than the law it replaced would have, at a cost of over $10 billion in lost revenue to Alaskans. Stay tuned as we finish the analysis on this one. Fewer jobs, less revenue, and school cuts are a recipe for an economy young families flee. I want one in which they prosper, share their skills, use them to diversify our economy, and produce schools that help their children excel.

There's lots of work to do, and more issues to discuss. We can improve this state together.

As always, call if you have any questions.

My Best,