Legislators AWOL while Alaska burns
TALL TALES from… Juneau Wasilla? Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration 3 RINGS OF DYSFUNCTION Well the “special session” in Wasilla was every bit the circus you may have imagined. The gymnasium was set up like the two chambers of the legislators and everyone had a name card. Spectators sat in the bleachers, and Sen. Mia Costello and Rep. Lance Pruitt were the ringleaders. Inside, rogue legislators received adulation from supporters. Outside, we asked this guy what the flag stood for and he said it was a Belgian flag, but he brought it because it looked scary. A bunch…
Hey, Alaska! Stop being Big Oil’s Giving Tree.
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration THE END OF THE ROAD -ish SINE DIE The first of at least two legislative special sessions is over. They have gaveled out “sine die” which is Latin for “without day,” meaning “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing.” Most people pronounce it “SY-nee DIE” which is completely wrong. If you want to impress your friends at a post-special session barbecue or cocktail party this weekend you can tell them it’s actually “SIN-uh DEE-uh.” So, now that we’ve got our obscure procedural Latin phrases in order, here’s…
Gov. holds education funding hostage
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration The Final Battle CONVENIENTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL This week the discussion in the Capitol focused a lot on education and its funding. The first thing to know is that the Alaska Constitution requires adequate funding for education. It’s pretty cut and dried. That’s the backdrop. The conflict comes because – remember how the governor and his people were all fired up about slashing public education funding this year? His first budget called for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts. But what they hadn’t counted on is that education had already been forward-funded…
The call is coming from inside the House!
The End is Just the Beginning… DAY 122 IS DAY 1 The regular legislative session is over. The constitution says that the 121st day shall be the last! Unless of course they extend it for 10 days. Or unless someone calls a special session to deal with particular legislation, which is exactly what happened last night. Before legislators gaveled out, or had the chance to call themselves back to special session, Gov. Mike Dunleavy summoned the press to tell them that he’d be calling a special session on the crime bill, the PFD, and the budget. No…
Where’s the $3000, and Who’s Vetting These People?
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock Administration The big news today is that the Senate passed their version of the budget, and everyone’s talking about how it contains a $3000 PFD, which is true. But lots of other things happened, and we’ll get to that in a moment. But before we do, there are a couple other happenings worth noting. “WHO’S VETTING THESE PEOPLE?” Stephen Moore Alaskans have been saying that since the very beginning of the Dunleavy appointment process. Remember Quick & Chance? No, not a quaint Dickensian law firm – the first two casualties of…
You Can’t Fire a Fetus & Other Lessons from the Alaska Legislature
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration It’s been a week since the marathon joint session convened and voted on Governor Mike Dunleavy’s appointees to boards and commissions – and there have been a few developments with some of the rejected nominees. “EAGLEXIT” First, there was Mike Tovaliero. He was the one rejected from the Board of Realtors for several reasons including: his seeming lack of understanding of which board he was nominated for; his losing interview strategy of being belligerent to legislators and not forthcoming when asked questions; and his problematic Twitter feed which featured both original…
Governor’s Appointments – Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration The Governor’s appointments and how they went down THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN Well, that was a whopper. The governor’s appointees to commissioner positions and to boards and commissions were up for confirmation yesterday, and the joint floor session with members of the House and Senate took 7 hours and 48 minutes to wind up. At the end, all of the governor’s picks for Commissioner positions (even the most controversial) were passed with a majority of votes, but 6 appointees to the many boards and commissions in the state were rejected. And…
Alaska House Republicans are Off the Rails
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock Administration The House Minority goes off the rails *Quick refresher: The House Majority is made up of a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who came together because they shared the desire to get something accomplished, and together they represent the majority of legislators who couldn’t abide the thought of the far-right types running the show. The House Minority is made up of the leftovers (all Republicans) who think Dunleavy’s budget is super great (or doesn’t go far enough), that moderate Republicans are “traitors,” and Democrats are all socialists who are out…
Governor on the fire escape. This is not a good sign.
TALL TALES from Juneau (and beyond) Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration Forwarded from a friend? Join our email list HERE AND THE AWARD FOR BEST DRAMA GOES TO… The House Minority (which is filled with Republicans who refuse to work with their peers in the Majority coalition) shows once again why their Republican colleagues preferred to work with Democrats to actually get things done. Three minority members on the House Education Committee – Josh Revak (R-Anchorage), Ben Carpenter (R- Kenai), and DeLena Johnson (R-Palmer) decided that the vote their committee was about to take on the governor’s austerity budget, was…
Environmental Skulduggery is Afoot in Alaska
TALL TALES from Juneau… and BEYOND! PANTS ON FIRE! Reports are coming from far and wide that the new Senate Majority response to Alaskans who suggest revamping our oil tax credit structure is more or less this: “Oh, we got rid of oil tax credits. They’re gone. They don’t exist anymore. So… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sorry, we call moose nuggets on that one. If anyone tries to flim-flam you with the “we don’t do that anymore” nonsense, here’s the deal. Cathy Giessel, Lora Reinbold, Shelley Hughes and others are regurgitating a bizarre talking point, and…