April 24, 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:

First of all, I think we should have finished our work on time. This job isn't rocket science. And passing an education bill - the stated reason for the extended session - isn't rocket science either. There is little reason this work could not have been done by Sunday, the official end of the 90-day session. Yet GOP leaders said they needed extra time, at a cost to you of about $30,000 a day.

That would have been tolerable if they listened to the voices of thousands of parents and students, and those of us who felt we needed to stop cutting teachers, career counselors and educators. But if you're going to pass a bill that follows three years of cuts, and a loss of over 600 teachers and staff, with three more years of teacher and educator cuts (just the House and Senate Floor vote remain), then the claim you needed extra time to do your work has all the credibility of "dog ate my homework" excuse. I voted, and have voted since I've been in Juneau, to avoid harmful teacher, job counselor and staff cuts in a state where class sizes are already too large for most students.

A Bridge To Poverty?

Now for some (temporary?) good news. Late last night we won a big one. Really big - like a big bridge with over 50 miles and hundreds of millions of dollars of needed connector roads, a tunnel, and maybe a second approach bridge. Maybe you've heard of the Knik Arm Bridge? A bridge (with connecting roads) that costs over $1.7 billion, and doesn't cut the commute time to Palmer or Wasilla. That, with a toll of $10 - $20 will cut the commute time from Fairbanks by....(drumroll) ..... 7 minutes. I think my fiends from Fairbanks would rather save the toll money, save the billions that could be spend to help all our communities more smartly, and spend the extra 7 minutes driving. Did I say $1.7 billion? That leaves out more roads that will be needed, and any cost overruns which every megaproject backer says can "Easily" be avoided. I'd just tack on another $500 million to $1 billion based on history, if the history of megaprojects matters to anyone.

I and others worked to stop this project, which has already received $55 million in funding in the capital budget this year, from passing. Proponents hate it when I include all the costs, and not just the convenient half they pitch when they call it an $800 - $900 million project. Unfortunately, it will come up again today or tomorrow, and unofficial counts - which can be wrong - seem to show the project will pass.

That will be to the detriment of any other roads, ports, energy projects, or schools that might do the state and Alaskans better. Especially at a time when we are living with declining oil production, and annual $1-$2 billion deficits.

You can't spend money on everything. Especially when it's a project pushed by folks who call themselves "conservative". Liberal spending conservatives, I guess.

Even if you support a $1.7+ billion bridge, the timing for doing that isn't when you are in a spiral of $1-$2 billion deficits, in a state with a new "oil tax law" that Governor Parnell's folks now admit is leading to a 45 percent production decline in the next 10 years. That law isn't working, and spending on a shiny bridge in place of stopping continuous cuts to those who teach your children isn't responsible.

An Education Path to Underachievement: Is Calling it "80 Cents for Students" an Exaggeration?

Today the House and Senate GOP agreed on an "education" plan to send for a House and Senate Floor vote.

Students need small enough class sizes that their teachers have time to provide individual attention. Instead of reversing Gov. Parnell's last 3 years of over 600 teacher and staff cuts, they are sending a bill to the floor for a vote that will extend cuts another 3 years.

How bad is it? In Anchorage 1/2 to 1/3 of their $23 million shortfall will remain, so you'll see cuts if you live there. Again. Same story for Fairbanks, Juneau and for most Alaska students. Here's a symbol of how bad the bill is....

In the third year of their inadequate 3-year plan they raise per student funding by..... 80 cents per student. That's not enough for a bad lunch. Charts showing the per student funding needed by schools, and the amount the new bill provides, are attached.

As long as I'm held hostage here by leaders who should have finished their work days ago - with better results, I'll keep working for what I think is right.

As always, call if you have any questions or if we can help. And if you don't see me home soon, feel free to send help. Or at least reinforcements.

My Best,