I didn’t mean to scare you with an “alert”. All is fine. Sort of. We have worked with Finance Committee Chairs to make it easier for you to testify on the budget. Here are a few budget facts for your consideration:
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Last week I wrote on the Walker Administration’s proposal to accept $145 million in Federal Funding for Medicaid Expansion in Alaska this year. That Op-Ed follows and explains how accepting Medicaid Expansion, as many Republican and Democratic Governors have, will save state money, cut our state budget by $6.6 million (in just this coming year), create 4,000 needed jobs, and grant medical care and insurance payment help to thousands of Alaskans.
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Saturday is the annual “Anchorage Caucus.” A terrible name (who besides politicians uses the word “caucus?!” Anyway, it’s a listening session by Anchorage area legislators from 1 ’til 3 (and until 5 if there’s more public testimony) at the Anchorage Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library.
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Giving away money to those who can afford to carry the burden, and burdening five year-olds taken from their parents, who suffer abuse and neglect isn’t the right way to address our budget problem. It’s unworkable. It’s not humane.
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Only in Juneau could you have a $3.5 billion deficit, while some who view themselves as “fiscal conservatives” claim we should keep running a money-losing rocket business that sits idle seven days a week most weeks of every year. Here’s the difficult thing: you could fire every state employee, every trooper, every social worker and, well, everyone, and only cover roughly half of the deficit. We have to be smart about our budget, and cut things that are not smart. Unwise spending of finite state funds means we will not be able to afford the things that create educational opportunity, protect children from neglect and abuse, and protect the economy from a sea of unemployed people.
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This state has a history of railing against the federal government. Well, this is a part rail and a part call for personal responsibility so we get our own house in order.
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