April 3, 2013 (Issue 4)
Comedy & Tragedy
Tongues, Text Messages, and Passing Gas
Some stuff in the legislature you just can't make up. If you haven't already read about it, I won't recount what happened, because the professionals – Anchorage Daily News's Rich Mauer and Alaska Public Radio's Alexandra Gutierrez – have already done an excellent job. Their articles are perhaps the most entertaining of this political season and certainly don't do our institution, the House of Representatives, much credit: "Legislators Interrupt Normal Business to Discuss Funny Faces, Toilet Humor" (APRN) and "House Trips Over Bad Jokes and Lawmaker's Tongue" (ADN).
We have a bill!
We've co-prime sponsored bills. We've cosponsored bills. We've written bills and passed them off to other offices. (Ronald Reagan: "There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets credit." Amen.) Now, we've written a bill of our own and we're carrying it ourselves.
Our bill (HB 189) defines and criminalizes hazing, adding it to list of similar offenses such as harassment and bullying, and has already attracted a charismatic and bipartisan cast of seven cosponsors.
It's personal. Not terribly long ago, I was in high school. I was never a victim of hazing, but it happened around me, to my friends and peers, and I still remember some of their stories. They are not pleasant.
I am especially disturbed by the notion of entitlement. I am disturbed that someone's position of power or seniority could make him feel entitled to hurt someone else. Equally disturbing is that perpetrators feel entitled to hurt victims because the perpetrators themselves were once victims, and that it's somehow justified to do what was done to them. I can't imagine a more twisted interpretation of "paying it forward."
We are chaperoning HB 189 through the legislative process with tender care and affection, and we are hopeful! But I've been advised many times: don't get married to your legislation. I might like HB 189, I might even really like HB 189, but we haven't exchanged any vows!
We have a survey!
Your thoughts and opinions will be gratefully received. We actually read these. Here it is, a civic version of the SAT with no wrong answers: http://akdemocrats.org/kreiss-tomkins/survey.php
Tragedy
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From Gavel to Gavel’s Twitter feed: Sen. Stedman to Rep. Kreiss-Tomkins: “Is the House spying on us?” |
If the Greeks taught us anything, it's that tragedies make for good drama.
The governor's (at least) $1 billion oil company tax cut (SB 21) passed the Senate on March 20. The vote was 11 to 9. This is the most significant piece of the legislation the Alaska Legislature will consider in this session and probably many sessions to come. To me, the passage of SB 21 is a tragedy.
I'll be darned if I wasn't going to be there myself watching from the Senate gallery. The floor debate started at 11 a.m. and culminated with a roll call vote at 8:59 p.m.
The debate was amazing; history was being made. Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) stood and delivered for an incredible 42 minutes. Sen. Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel), who speaks only on seldom occasions, declared his vote one of the most important of his distinguished 26-year legislative career.
Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) was also impressive, in his own inimitable way. As Finance Committee Co-Chair the last six years, Sen. Stedman has developed a formidable fluency with the complexity of oil taxes. Most of the floor speeches, both for and against SB 21, were emotional or anecdotal or rhetorical. Sen. Stedman's was factual. In unflattering numerical detail, he showed SB 21 to be a raw deal for Alaska.
Despite all hope, however tantalizing, and despite bipartisan opposition, the $1 billion tax cut passed by the slimmest of possible margins. SB 21 moves to the House. I'll let you know what we do with it.
 Do something about it
For those in Sitka, there's a rally against SB 21, one of many all across Alaska. Please turn out!
Today (Thursday), April 4 at high noon
Crescent Harbor Shelter
Sincerely,
![Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins[signed]](../../kreiss-tomkins/sig.gif "Pete [signed]")
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
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