The End (of Session) Is Near. Actually It Was Sunday - Breathe Deep and Read On

April 16, 2013 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 257-4300). 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 Neighbors,

         When I come down to Juneau I look forward to making progress, and working across party lines. And, in Juneau, to a lot of rain. And planes that can't land because of fog. But also usually to a lot of friendly folks. Well, that was like looking forward to a good movie and ending up going into the wrong theater where Gigli was playing. Too obscure a reference? Forgot the box office disaster that threatened to force Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez to leave Hollywood to look for real jobs? Look it up on Wikipedia.

         Well, this year was Gigli. I guess you can't win them all. It was the most partisan session I've ever been part of, with one-party rule in the House, Senate and Governor's Office, and too many legislators who felt they didn't have to work across party lines to find the best solutions. There were moments of good, interspersed with, in my view, long stretches of legislation that may damage this state for decades unless we can reverse it (hint: we can). So - here are some good projects we won for our neighborhoods, and some of the good and bad.

Successes In Stormy Waters: Vibrant Communities Bill Passes, Foster Care Reform Bill Moves Forward, Other Successes

         This year I wrote and worked on legislation that passed to make communities more vibrant and help ease our housing shortage. Last year I found that Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), our housing agency, was barred from allowing restaurants, coffee shops, groceries and other businesses AHFC mixed income, senior and other housing. That's 1970's community planning. Smart planning says having a day care and shopping amenities make our community more vibrant, as long as they follow local zoning rules. So I and Rep. Mia Costello joined to pass this bill. And in a partisan legislature, I won't share the ugliness, but I moved my name at some point to “second” sponsor to make the bill move faster in a GOP run legislature. All that really matters is that it passed. So when you go by Inlet Towers, for example, there will be a restaurant there - something that was going to close if we didn't pass this legislation. Oh - and a nice side effect of this bill is that by renting to businesses at market rates, more housing can be added to these complexes to ease the housing shortage.

         And our to ensure those put into foster care have every chance to live with caring extended family members (where good family placements are available) instead of strangers has passed two committees, and is ready for a floor vote when we return in January.

Fighting For Youth Success: Fourth Year of Damaging School Cuts & Pre-K Slashes Were Short-sighted

         Good schools are good for the economy, and train Alaskans to fill Alaska jobs. As adults we can argue about whether our successes and failures are due to a lack of personal responsibility. Punishing kids with bigger classroom sizes and pre-k cuts that are among the worst in the nation reduces the chance that kids will reach their dreams and isn't the right way to go.

         Unfortunately, along party lines, the GOP majority blocked efforts to strengthen our schools, and blocked my and others' efforts to stem a fourth year in a row of school, guidance counselors, support staff, tutor and other staff cuts. That moves education backwards, not forwards, and I'll keep working, as I did in sponsoring HB 95 to reverse those cuts, to stop Alaska's disturbing trend of damaged opportunity.

         Good teachers, and strong principals make a difference. We should help children so their dreams are within grasp. And, every valid study shows that pre-k breeds success, higher graduation levels, higher incomes, less dependence on welfare, and less crime. Finally, I and early education advocates wrote a plan that conservatives should like - called Parents and Teachers - which Chris Tuck and others then got passed - that offers parents pre-k teaching tools they can use at home if those families don't want classroom pre-k. That, too, was cut this year to the detriment of our next generation. I can't control how others vote, but I will always vote to create and not damage opportunity for your children.

The Oil Tax To Poverty: A “Plan” With No Production Commitments, That Doesn't Get Us Needed Oil To Offset $1 - $3 Billion Annual Revenue Losses

         You've read about it. The Governor's oil bill gives away roughly $1.5 billion in annual revenue Alaskans generate - through our modest windfall profits surcharge - when companies earn record and near record profits at very high oil prices. The big three oil companies, who pay this windfall surcharge, have all refused to commit to any new projects or new investment levels if we gave them this gift. That'a deal no private sector companies would have signed, and we should have protected you like big companies protect their shareholders.

         On top of that, this rollback lets them spend this $1.5 billion a year (assuming $120 per barrel oil prices - it gets worse at higher prices) outside Alaska, wherever they want. Last time we had a near-0% tax, oil was declining in the pipeline by an average of 5 - 8% a year. Just giving away money doesn't work when companies are allowed to spend those tax breaks in other countries.

         Call or e-mail me if you want detailed information, or if you want to help get signatures for the referendum that I will be helping on which would reverse the oil tax give away and reverse this disaster. We'll need to collect 30,000 signatures by July to repeal the Governor's bill.

         There were smarter options. I and others filed HB 111. It would have required “Alaska Production For Tax Reduction”. That is, it required investment in Alaska production, to help reverse our oil production decline, for reasonable tax breaks. We proposed no revenue losses at current prices on the highly profitable big North Slope fields like Prudhoe Bay, which, for example, helped earn Conoco and Exxon over $2 billion each in Alaska profits last year. But at higher prices we proposed (in amendments) to modestly lower taxes (at very high prices ACES arguably taxed too high). We also offered reasonable tax breaks for the production of new oil and our 1.8 billion barrels of recoverable heavy oil.

         So - with huge budget deficits and cuts looming because of this bill - “look forward” to more school cuts, a weaker university, fewer construction jobs, less housing, less road construction, and the kind of ripple effects through the economy that might cause an Alaska fiscal cliff. I fought for our legislation, fought for improvements in the Governor's legislation through amendments, and learned that when you have one-party rule in the House, Senate and Governor's mansion worse things happen than when you have balance between parties.

And.... The Projects You'll Like - I Think. Here's a Short Incomplete List

Fairview Recreation Center Safety Upgrades - $398,000
Alaska Craftsman Home Program Statewide Energy Efficiency Classes - $250,000
         • 270 classes on energy efficiency for homeowners and commercial building occupants
Big Brothers Big Sisters Statewide Mentoring for Educational Success - $1,000,000
         • A targeted mentoring program for students at high risk of academic failure
Senate District I Pavement Rehab - $602,000
         • Road rehabilitation projects throughout the district and some trail rehab
AVAIL Alternative School Interactive Display Technology - $6,400
         • Projectors and other display equipment
AVAIL Alternative School Library Collection - $5,000
         • Funds to create a new library collection
Inlet View Elementary School Maps and Globes - $18,000
         • Pull-down write-on maps for all classrooms
Fairview Elementary School Musical and Physical Education Equipment - $15,000
         • Guitars, xylophones, snow shoes, cross country skis, sports equipment, and lots more
Denali Montessori School Mobile Touch Technology Labs - $35,000
         • Forty touch technology devices
Anchorage Pioneer Home Deferred Maintenance - $561,000
Government Hill Elementary School New Computers - $25,000
Boys & Girls Club Mountain View Clubhouse Renovation & Security - $778,000
Alliance for Support of American Legion Baseball - $875,000
Anchorage YMCA Facility Expansion - $6,000,000
Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center Interim Patient Access and Mobility Initiative - $90,000
Catholic Social Services Clare House Roof Replacement - $450,000
Transitional Housing Apartment Renovation - $65,000
East High School Musical Instruments - $12,000
East High School Interactive Display Technology & Support Equipment - $30,600

My Best,

Bi-partisan Bill Improves Housing Quality and Access

Oil Tax Bill Gives Away Roughly $1.5 billion per Year