Note from Rep. Gara: That $4 Million Legislative Rent Increase: Not Again, Not Without Your Say
Dear Neighbors- As you know, I’m in that camp of folks who think the Legislature DID NOT NEED the new, fancy, and more importantly, expensive Anchorage off-session digs. Not at a price tag that raises our rent and utilities from roughly $680,000 a year to roughly $5 million a year. Not when this state is bleeding from deficits.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Threatening the People of Ketchikan: Can’t We All Get Along?
Class, welcome to the first day of Third Grade. Oops. I just got reality mixed up with, well, disturbing reality. As you may know, the Governor, and according to him, some unnamed Legislators, threatened they would deny infrastructure and other projects to the people of Ketchikan because the community filed a lawsuit against the state. See here. At least the Governor was honest.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Oil Tax Rollbaack: Documents Undermine “Million Barrels a Day” Promise
When does 370,000 equal 1 million? Only in politics.
Last year, to get the votes to roll back Alaska oil revenue by over $12 billion in the next decade, the Governor told voters they could expect a 100% increase in production by 2023 to “1 million barrels” of oil a day. Nice sound bite. Not accurate.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Time to Reverse a 4th Year of Education Cuts; A Gasline For Exxon Or Us? And a Shelved Child Protection Study?
It’s an uphill battle sometimes. But Martin Luther King, Jr., said “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It will. If we all work together. Your letters to the editor are needed if you think things should move in a better direction.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Happy New Year & 2014 Legislative Priorities
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
First - a New Year’s wish to you. It’s a little different. You’ve all done something good for someone, maybe lots of things. Maybe more than lots, but I don’t know the word for “more than lots”. Take a moment and think about what you’ve done. Who you’ve helped. How you’ve lent a hand. I think you owe that to yourself.
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