JUNE 19, 2015

Representing District 17:
Midtown, University, and East Anchorage

I Answer to You!

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716 W 4th Ave, Room 412
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 269-0265
 
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Governor Bill Walker
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EMAIL: Gov. Bill Walker

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907-271-5915
EMAIL: Sen. Dan Sullivan

Senator Lisa Murkowski
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EMAIL: Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Congressman Don Young
907-271-5978
EMAIL: Rep. Don Young

Legislative Update
An End to the Special Sessions

Dear House District 17 Constituents!

Many of you received my End-of-Session Newsletter a couple weeks ago.

I wanted to apprise you of the details of the session’s culmination on the evening of Thursday, June 11, 2015, since that printing (above) hit your mailboxes.

The first regular session of the 29th Alaska legislature was scheduled to end on April 19, 2015. This means that it took 53 days longer to end the session than would normally be required or anticipated. (8 of those days were part of extended or regular session. 45 of those days were special session days). Incidentally, while I was entitled to receive per diem during the special session, from the moment I drove home from Haines, Alaska on May 2nd, I have received nary a dollar of per diem.

Understandably, it would be reasonable to query who is “responsible” for the 53 days of “over-time” it took to complete legislative business. Calendaring of bills for each committee and legislation for the House and Senate Floor is entirely in the hands of the majority. This year, it was known with virtual certainty by mid-April, the Constitutional Budget Reserve would need to be used to partially pay for government. And, it was also known that because the amount available for appropriation in FY (fiscal year) 15 was greater than the amount available in FY16 (the test of the CBR formula), it would very likely require that a super-majority (30 members out of 40 of the House of Representatives) vote to fund the government with CBR monies. However, since the majority only has 26 members, it could be expected that the Independent-Democrats would have to agree to the budget before the extra 4 votes needed (26+4) would cast “yes” votes to draw from the CBR account.

This is a somewhat complicated way of saying that the House and Senate Majority Caucuses had full notice of the fact that the Independent-Democratic Caucus was going to be required to fund the government and that we would have some say over the budget’s details. This was our constitutional prerogative, so to speak.

In the end we were able to secure funding for many of our priorities including but not limited to:

• $16.5 million restored for public education to the Base Student Allocation (BSA)
• $30 million to protect previously-negotiated contracts and cost of living adjustments for State employees
• $2 million to support Pre-K and early education
• $2.5 million for front line social workers in the Office of Children’s Services
• $2.8 million for senior benefits and assistance programs for our lowest income seniors
• $1.75 million for the Marine Highway System
• $5 million for the University of Alaska
• $250,000 for public broadcasting

It is important to note that our caucus offered ways to pay for these additions to the budget through additional cuts and deferred payments of credits.

We also finally saw the passage of Erin’s Law, which will help protect children from sexual assault.

I suppose, to the extent it matters now, historians and the voting public will have to determine which political group (The House and Senate Majority Caucuses or the House Independent-Democratic Caucus), was the most reasonably stubborn about getting what it wanted, and which was being unreasonably stubborn or recalcitrant.

It is true that our caucus could have waived its constitutional rights and agreed to fund the budget precisely the way the Republican Majorities wished us to. But I believe this would be an abdication of our moral responsibility to important constituencies and principles. And, if you followed the debate on television and in the newspaper (in addition to the thousands of emails we received), there is very strong anecdotal evidence that the majority of Alaskans saw this debate our way. Indeed, there are likely some who are disappointed that we didn’t negotiate longer for even more of our priorities.

Because I shared the disappointment of some in the public that the budget remained inadequate (it was inadequate both in its cuts and, in some instances, in its failure to cut or defer more!), I voted against the budget, itself, on June 11. However, I did cast a vote in favor of releasing monies from the Constitutional Budget Reserve to fund the budget.

As always, please call or email with any thoughts, ideas, or concerns.

I Answer to You!

Sincerely,

Representative Andy Josephson
Anchorage LIO Room 412
Phone: 907-269-0265