Representative
Chris Tuck
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June 12, 2015
Holding Strong for Alaskan Values
Dear Neighbors,
After 143 days of intense negotiations, majority and minority legislators have finally reached an agreement to bring an end to the regular session, which was then followed by two special sessions.
The main sticking points were about how to cut the budget due to our current state fiscal crisis, whether to implement the Governor’s plan to expand Medicaid to 40,000 Alaskans, and passage of Erin’s law; which will implement age appropriate sexual assault awareness training in our schools. Erin’s law has been proven to give children the tools they need to understand and seek help when they are in danger of being victimized.
Above: Representative Chris Tuck at his recent town hall gathering meets with his neighbor, Maeva Ordaz, winner of the 2015 National Poetry Out Loud Competition in Washington, D.C.
I am proud that I and my colleagues in the House Independent Democratic Coalition held fast to negotiate a compassionate deal which would cut the budget but would also prioritize children, poor seniors, and hardworking Alaskans over corporate welfare for wealthy multinational corporations.
A deal in which neither side is entirely happy is often the fairest compromise. The majority did not want to compromise with us but could not withdraw money from the Alaska’s Constitutional Budget Reserve – our rainy day savings account - without the support of our coalition.
The Majority made an attempt to tap into the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account, which would not need the votes of our coalition. The Earnings Reserve Account pays for your Permanent Fund Dividend checks, and a major withdrawal could have jeopardized future dividend payouts.
The attempt was not successful, and ultimately we reached a compromise which largely achieved our coalition’s goals of protecting Alaskan values. The budget includes funding for programs that benefit all Alaskans and represents a 9.1% overall cut from last year’s budget:
• $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 (intent language)
• $2 million to support Pre-K and early education
• $2.5 million for front line social workers in the Office of Children 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
We were also successful in seeing the passage of Erin’s law, which has been proven in other states to help protect children from sexual assault.
Unfortunately, the Republican majority refused to negotiate on passage of Governor Walker’s plan to expand Medicaid to 40,000 Alaskans at no cost to the state. This would create 4,000 new jobs, save the state millions, and bring billions of dollars in increased economic activity to our state.
Our coalition will continue to work with the Governor on Medicaid expansion, and I believe we will ultimately be successful because an overwhelming majority of Alaskans support accepting these federal funds. We have already paid for them with our tax dollars and they are rightfully ours.
We were greatly outnumbered but we stuck to our principles and we did not back down. In the end I believe we got the best deal we could have for the Alaskan people. Please remember that this fight will never end, but our coalition will always hold steady to defend our Alaskan values.
As always, I’m here for you, so please keep in touch on matters important to you and your family!
Warm regards,
![[signed] Chris Tuck](../../images/signatures/46.gif)
Chris Tuck
Alaska State Representative
District 23 - Anchorage