MARCH 3, 2015  

ACTION ALERT! Budget Public Testimony on Thursday, March 5

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

ACTION ALERT! This week the House Finance Committee will take public testimony on the operating budget.  Please come speak out at the Budget Public Testimony on Thursday, March 5 from 1-4:30pm at the Anchorage LIO (716 W.4th Ave) in downtown Anchorage.  Testimony is limited to 2 minutes per speaker.

Can’t make it in person?  Testimony is also accepted by email at lhscfin@akleg.gov

This is your chance to weigh in about your budget priorities.  The subcommittee work ended last week and now the Finance Committee is considering the full budget.  I support many of the proposed cuts in this time of diminished revenue and am impressed at the efforts being made by department staff to find ways to be more efficient and to collaborate among departments, but I do not support balancing the budget on the backs of children and Seniors. 

Also, with health care as a major cost driver for families and businesses, we must take advantage of Medicaid Expansion to help bring down our costs. A few numbers to remember:

1. $9.70/hour: With Medicaid Expansion individuals making up to 138% of federal poverty level are qualified.  100% of Federal Poverty Level for a single adult in Alaska is $14,720 meaning that 138% is $20,313.  An Alaskan earning this could be working full time earning about $9.70/hour.  We have many hard working neighbors earning around this or less.  Even with the recent increase minimum wage in Alaska is still just $8.75.
2. 100%: The federal government is paying 100% of the costs for now and then will ease back to 90% of the cost.  As a small population state we benefit tremendously from this investment.
3. $91 million: The cost of uncompensated care in 2011 at non-tribal hospitals.  Because no one is turned away from a hospital, these are bills that hospitals must pay.  These unpaid bills result in the cost for everyone going up.  And, getting primary care at the emergency room is a big waste of money!                                                                                     

Speaking out about Medicaid Expansion is even more important this week as the outsider group Americans for Prosperity (funded by the Koch Brothers) is hosting an anti-Medicaid Expansion luncheon in the Capitol.  The speaker is formerly of ALEC (the controversial industry funded group) and does not have ties to Alaska.  We can’t let an outsider tell us what’s best for Alaska!  To read more about this, check out this week’s note from Rep. Les Gara:  http://akdemocrats.org/gara/030315_note_from_gara.htm

Here are some proposed budget cuts that may be of interest:

• Removes Medicaid Expansion from the budget, thereby eliminating over $4 million in savings from the Department of Corrections and millions more from Department of Health and Social Services, stopping 40,000 Alaskans from getting access to health care, blocking over a billion dollars from our economy, and sending our federal tax dollars to other states
• Cuts early learning funding which we know is so important for student success.  Cuts to Best Beginnings, Parents as Teachers, Pre-K grants (effectively eliminating Pre-K in Alaska), and literacy programs
• Cuts to the Department of Public Safety that will result in fewer Patrol Troopers to monitor roadways and will concentrate Trooper services around communities
• Reduces funding for food inspections so that only 20-25% of permitted retail food facilities will be inspected annually
• Cuts to public health funding, Senior Benefits for needy Senior Alaskans, and Foster Care services
• Eliminates the Farm to School Program that brought Alaska Grown into school lunches
• A 10% cut to the University of Alaska budget, our only publicly funded university in Alaska
• Cuts funding by 50% for Public Broadcasting in Alaska, often the only source for news in our rural communities  

Sincerely,

Representative Geran Tarr