Costly Legislative Lawsuit on the Horizon

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Tuesday leg council announced plans to sue Gov. Walker in an effort to block his authority to expand Medicaid in Alaska.  This comes as no surprise considering the opposition the Governor faced since he first introduced Medicaid expansion into the budget during the regular 90 day session.  It was blocked by a few and has landed us where we are today—about to spend half a million dollars during a deficit budget on corporate lawyers to carry out a lawsuit against an expansion that would bring in federal money to the state and create thousands of jobs. 

I believe that had the bill allowing Medicaid to be expanded come to the house or senate floor for a vote, it would have passed. Leadership in both bodies didn’t support expansion so it was never brought to the floor.  Now leg council, which is comprised of leadership from both bodies, has taken it upon themselves to use state money to challenge the Governor’s expansion of Medicaid.  This is a manipulation of the process for partisan purposes. I do not support challenging the Governor’s authority to expand Medicaid.

The Legislative Council claims the lawsuit is not a question of policy, but a question concerning “authority and process”.  This implies that they are more concerned with power dynamics within government than they are with the best interest of Alaskans.  They’d rather attempt to prove a point than have 40,000 more Alaskans covered by healthcare and accept millions of dollars for the state.

I support Governor Walker and I support Medicaid expansion.  The decision by the Legislative Council to go forth with a costly lawsuit, when we already had an opportunity to tackle this issue during regular session, is both counterproductive and not reflective of Alaskan’s desires.

House Finance Committee Meeting

While some legislators find themselves in the midst of an ideological battle, confronting the fiscal challenges that we currently face remains one of my highest priorities.  Recently, Standard & Poor’s, a major credit rating agency, revised Alaska’s bonds outlook from stable to negative.  These ratings are important because they effect the state’s ability to borrow money for projects.

On Monday, the 24th, I will be traveling to Anchorage to take part in a House Finance Committee meeting.  The committee will meet with the Office of management and Budget Director Pat Pitney, as well as the Department of Revenue Commissioner Randy Hoffbeck, and Economist Gunnar Knapp to address Alaska’s current fiscal position.  It will take place at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office at 10:30 a.m. and will be streamed live at www.akleg.gov.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to call my office and share your ideas.