Unconstitutional & Unfit
WHAT-THE-HECK-A-THON – Part 1 We had not one but two marathon floor sessions this week. It started off in the House where mostly-minority Republican budget amendments were considered. Several passed with the assistance of majority Republicans, most notably Rep. Kelly Merrick (R-Eagle River) and House Speaker Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak). (Remember the majority coalition in the House is made up of Democrats, and a few independents and Republicans – the minority contains only Republicans who don’t want to work with Dems). The operating budget finally passed 23-16 with two minority members (who were in the majority coalition last year but defected this year) Bart LeBon (R-Fairbanks) and Steve Thompson (R-Fairbanks) crossing over to vote…
Shenanigans & Malarkey
No, it’s not a sketchy Irish law firm – it’s this week in the Alaska State Legislature. THE BUDGET LOOMS It’s that time in the legislative session, when all the budget subcommittees that take on little bite-sized pieces of the big budget and make recommendations, are starting to wind down. Soon all those little pieces will reconnect and we’ll be on to the next phase. But for right now, part of the draft budget includes a controversial line item we’ve been keeping our eye on. Remember a few weeks ago when there was a hearing about the Dunleavy administration’s move…
The Final Shenanigans Before Election Day
DAVID NELSON (Yes, him again) So, hang on just a second… how long HAS David Nelson lived in the district he’s running in? Good question. The rules are very specific – you have to live in your district for a minimum of one year from when you file to run. Nelson filed on February 27, 2020, which means he had to have resided in HD15 since February 27, 2019. On his own Facebook page he says he moved to Muldoon when he got a job on JBER… in December, 2019. Here’s a handy infographic with images from his own…
Alaska Politicians Exposed – Stooges, Shills & Shenanigans
TALL TALES from Juneau and the DC Debacle AND IT’S ALLLL ON TAPE Sometimes you know things, but it’s nice to have them proven right out loud, through dramatic and surreptitious means. Such is the case with the immediately infamous “Pebble tapes.” If you haven’t heard them, make yourself a beverage and get ready to be a fly on the wall as your beautiful state and all its salmon get sold down the river (not the beautiful blue Nushagak of today – the contaminated, cyanide-filled Nushagak of tomorrow). We now know what our elected Republican leadership thinks of us,…
Alaska AG Resigns When Workplace Harassment Uncovered
GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH It’s been a very bad week for faux “family values” Christians in positions of power this week. First, Jerry Falwell Jr. was outed by the pool boy for an ongoing sexual dalliance with him and his wife that spanned seven years and began when he was barely out of his teens. This revelation prompted Falwell to 1) throw his wife under the bus and disavow his own involvement (new developments on that today) and 2) step down, giving way to his temporary (or maybe not-so-temporary) replacement, Alaska’s own Jerry Prevo of the Anchorage Baptist…
FACE it – Time for Don Young to go.
TOTALLY NOT WORRIED. NOPE, NOT WORRIED AT ALL… The beleaguered governor who said he “wasn’t worried at all” about the recall effort has spent the last week being “not worried” on national TV and in the White House. The guy who spent most of his political life grousing about “federal overreach” and how those darn DC bureaucrats need to stay out of Alaska’s business is now begging for dollars in the Oval Office. Literally. The schmoozing has resulted an extended meeting in the White House on “personal business” which basically means who knows what the governor has promised or…
They’re back! Personnel problems
One thing you can say for Alaska – we know how to recycle. We may not do that well with aluminum cans, but politics? That’s another story. RECYCLE! Remember the guy that Gov. Dunleavy nominated to be the Commissioner of Administration and who got a little too creative with his resume and lied to the Senate by claiming that he was a frozen yogurt entrepreneur which he wasn’t, and eventually had to withdraw in shame? Well, he’s back. Jonathan Quick has now shown up as a candidate for the Kenai Borough Assembly. There’s just been a complaint filed with the…
The Chosen One, the Unchosen One, and the Recall
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy Disaster THE CHOSEN ONE The unexpected passing of Senator Chris Birch (R-Anchorage) on August 8 left a vacancy in the Alaska State Senate. Literally the next day, one of the Reps in his district, Laddie Shaw (R-Anchorage) was already vying for the seat stating it would be “an honor” to continue the work that Birch began. Only one problem, Shaw and Birch were on opposite sides of “the work.” Birch was an industry guy, and a moderate Republican who showed up in Juneau to do his job during the infamous special session…
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…
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…