State of Alaska in Crisis

This was never meant to be a political or even a serious blog, but I cannot let the current state of affairs here go unmentioned. Last year, during gubernatorial elections, the independent incumbent, Bill Walker, suddenly withdrew his candidacy, throwing his support behind democrat Mark Begich. Republican Mike Dunleavy still won, on a platform of increasing Permanent Fund Dividend checks from their current amount of about $1000 per person to about $6000 per person. Since oil prices were still low, we wondered where that money was going to come from. Was he going to propose a state income tax? No. Was he going to threaten funding to the University system, or K12 education? No. Was the aging Alaska Marine Highway System, the lifeblood of the Alaskan Southeast, going to be threatened? No. What about health care, Medicaid and Medicare? No, he said. He had no plan to cut those.

Well, the State budget he put forth revealed his campaign lies. The new PFD amount would be about $3000 per person, and still no state income tax. Oil prices are still low, so where would the money come from? Well, it turns out just about everything it takes to make a state function...

K12 and pre-K education, health care for the poor and the elderly, mental health care, the arts, the Power Cost equalization program (which gives rural Alaskans the benefits of reduced power costs in exchange for them not benefiting from capital projects that have reduced the cost of power on the Railbelt) and funding for local organizations in Fairbanks and Anchorage that help the homeless, victims of domestic violence, and at-risk youth. Finally (I mention this last because it seems very self-interested to mention it, but of course it's huge), the University of Alaska system would have a 41% cut of state support.

The Legislature ignored most of these recommendations and came up a more reasonable budget with minor, although not drastic, cuts to the aforementioned institutions, preserving the PFD in a reasonable amount, and even ending up with a surplus.

Dunleavy vetoed this budget and reinstated his original Alaska-killing one.

Alaska is one of the few states that requires a 75% vote from the Legislature to override an executive veto, instead of the 2/3 that is far more common (and that is the veto override requirement at the federal level). So immediately, supporters of the UA system, the arts, and parents and teachers began a campaign to encourage their legislators to vote to override.

After a lot of hemming and hawing, including a childish disagreement about where to meet for the vote, the results were, of 60 legislators:
37 voted to override the vetoes.
1 (Tammy Wilson) voted to let the vetoes stand.
22 remained where they were in Wasilla, digging their heels in on the red herring of a location dispute rather than have the courage to vote at all.

So the veto stands, and so does Dunleavy's budget. As I emailed to an friend and cohort of Sili Valley days:

Our governor has vetoed the state budget put forth by the legislature, in favor of one he has to cut the U of A budget by 40%, effectively gutting the University. That is the most visible issue, but he has a list of other tragedies in there, including slashing K12 education, Head Start preschool, Medicaid and Medicare, programs for mental health, elder care, the arts, transportation (including 100% completely obliterating the state ferry system, aka the Alaska Marine Highway, which is the only way to support the entire Alaskan panhandle including many tiny communities). He's also withdrawing all agriculture support, even though it comes with 10:1 match of federal funding, and we import 99% of our food statewide and desperately need to encourage local food production. His proposed budget is also leading to a huge reduction in services for two of our homeless shelters (one for adults/families and the other for teens, many of whom have fled terrible home situations and will now have nowhere to go), as well as for the domestic violence shelter. This is also happening in Anchorage on a larger scale, of course. Even the tiny little elder care clinics in rural Alaska, which are currently housing Native elders, are going under the knife.

As for DL and me, both University employees, we both have pretty broad resumes that are marketable for other industries, and we live SUPER cheap (still in my dry cabin that I bought when I was a starving student!), so I'm not concerned about us. I'm deeply concerned about the future of this state, and whether anyone will want to live, invest, and raise a family here, or whether it will turn into a strictly extractive place (like those mines in rural Canada or the Australian outback), as well as a playground for the super wealthy. At present, there is a malaise around town as thick as the wildfire smoke.

I am going to start here a laundry list of the things Dunleavy is destroying with his completely manufactured budget crisis. You will note that the only thing he has not cut is oil subsidies, and the oil companies are getting the biggest oil tax credits in the history of the state ($1.6 billion). We Alaskans will, however, each get an extra $2000 in our PFDs. I still will be teaching next academic year, so as long as I remain employed, I will donate most of mine to offset the things being destroyed. I will keep editing this page to keep the list together, so please bookmark it if you are interested in witnessing the results of this disaster.

* The Fairbanks Rescue Mission has lost $311,568, and has vowed to remain, open, although with greatly reduced hours and services. Quote: This whole budget veto stuff is overwhelming. The Rescue Mission does so much with so little for our community. Now, we are on the cusp of losing over $300,000 of state funding. These are funds that cover our overhead cost. It pays for our operating insurance, utilities, building maintenance, homeless data tracking and a transitional program position. The loss of these monies will not shut the doors of the Mission, but would severely limit what services we will be able to provide. If we lose our funding, it will cost the city and state a great deal more than what we receive. We are able to generate positive results for a fraction of what it would cost governmental agencies.

* Fairbanks Youth Advocates, who also operate The Door, the local homeless youth shelter, has lost $189,514 and will shut down without an influx of funding to replace what was lost. Quote: We are recipients of state Basic Homeless Assistance (BHAP) Funding - nearly all of which has been eliminated per the the veto list. 100% of our BHAP funds covers 59% of our shelter staffing. As a licensed child care facility for homeless youth and youth in crisis, we've been told we must operate 24-7. For the record, our staff are under paid. They receive no medical coverage. They receive very few benefits other than knowing they are making a difference in the lives of kids. They work long hours and give up their holidays to make sure kids in Fairbanks have safe options.

* The Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living has lost $223,339.

* The "No Limits" Permanent Supportive Housing has lost $11,647.

* Tanana Chiefs Conference's Housing First Fairbanks has lost $471,560.

* The The Salvation Army of Fairbanks has lost $155,565.

* Love In the Name of Christ, or Love INC, which helps churches help people in poverty with housing, meals, and job placement. has already lost $15,000 (20% of its funding) for this year. They will lose $30,000 in funding starting next year.

* The Alaska Marine Highway will discontinue ferry service after this summer. Many Southeast communities will definitely die. There are some things you need to maintain a community that simply will not fit on a plane, so without the ferries, the power plants can't keep running.

* Fairbanks Memorial Hospital has already begun by slashing hospice care. As a Friend of the elderly there, I am horrified.

* The Sitka Community Hospital will close its doors at the end of the month.

* The Anchorage homeless shelter will now close during the daytime.

* Of course the UA System cuts of $130 million, on top of the $5 million approved by the Legislature, for a total of $135 million, or 41% of our state funding. You can follow how the Universities are coping with this all over the media.

* The Department of Natural Resources is losing $1.2 million, and a loan program for farmers is being defunded. This in a state that is severely food-insecure and imports 99% of its food. This also despite the evident success of the program: "The number of farms in Alaska has risen 30 percent in the last five years, even as the number of farms decreases nationally."

* The Power Cost Equalization program will be over. PCE is often misunderstood to be a "subsidy" to rural residents. Detractors complain that rural residents should not get "subsidies" for their own life choices. PCE is not a subsidy. PCE was created as an endowment to help offset the higher cost of power in rural communities who were unable to benefit from the huge capital investments that the State put into Railbelt communities, such as large hydropower projects, and the development of Cook Inlet natural gas infrastructure. Anyway, somehow Dunleavy is taking that away, too.

* The approximately 12,000 UA Students on both merit-based and need-based scholarships abruptly had their scholarships cancelled. This makes me very angry! My brightest, hardest-working students are scholarship students! Without them, my own quality of life will suffer, as my scholarship students comprise my brightest! Also, it is dreadfully unfair to announce in July that you are withdrawing someone's funding for this coming academic year. I have no idea what those students are going to do, but I hope from the bottom of my heart that they find a way to complete their degrees.

* Head Start pre-K programs are going to be gone. "the program prioritizes serving the most vulnerable families first: like children in foster care or special education, and low-income families"

* The Alaska State Council on the Arts already no longer exists. We are now the only state in the nation without a council on the arts.

* The Nome Youth Facility, which is a treatment facility for troubled youth all over Western Alaska, has lost all of its funding and will close its doors.

* The Village Public Safety Office program, the sole form of law enforcement in the smallest communities, is losing $3 million.

* Substance abuse providers express concern over budget, vetoes, as they lose $8.8 million in behavioral health treatment. "Same-day access to services is so hard already," said Wesley Brewington, a CITC recovery coach who went through substance abuse treatment and has now been sober for six years. "Finding a detox bed for somebody, finding a treatment bed for somebody can be a struggle a lot of the time. So just to hear more cuts are coming... It's kind of scary with the eliminated services we already have."

* Impacts of hits to the agriculture program discussed here.

* Today (22nd July), the UA Board of Regents voted to declare financial exigency.

* Today (24 July), Anchorage has declared a civil emergency "The emergency declaration gives the municipality, among other things, the ability to set up temporary emergency shelters to house the estimated 800 people the city expects to see added to the Anchorage homeless population as a result of the budget vetoes."

* Today (24 July), Alaska State Ferry Service is suspended "The Alaska Marine Highway System stopped all sailings Wednesday after a decision by its largest union to strike following the failure of contract negotiations with the state."

* Today (4 Aug), Dunleavy has withdrawn $7 million of state support for Pioneer Homes, which provide elder care to long-term Alaska residents, many of whom built the state to what it is today. Many residents' rates are expected to double.

* Today (9 Aug), he signed a bill re-adding funding to the Power Cost Equalization and the University Scholarship funds. Phew, at leas there is that...




Keep in mind, all of these cuts are due to a completely manufactured "budget crisis" because Dunleavy wants to maintain the $1.6 billion oil tax credits and give out cash handouts to people who mostly don't even want them. He won the election on a short-sighted popularity contest, and I believe he thinks he will maintain his base of support doing the same. It doesn't seem to be working out for him. In the most recent poll, his approval rating was 9 percent in rural Alaska. It was highest in the Mat-Su at 42 percent (which is still less than half). In Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Kenai that number hovers in the 30 percent range. And in Juneau it is 16 percent.

Could you imagine this situation happening in any other state in the Nation? "Hey everybody! I would like to give every man, woman, and child in the state a check for $3000--no strings attached! In exchange, I will halve or eliminate support for education, medical care, social services, agriculture, and energy and public transportation infrastructure. Deal?" I do believe most people would think that is crazy!

Now a serious effort at a recall of the governor is underway. There is a long list of reasons on that website, but in my humble, nonlegal opinion, the strongest reason (by law, not by emotions), is slapping the judiciary with a retaliatory budget slash because he disagreed with one of their rulings, and he explicitly said so. That is deeply unconstitutional and violates the independence and equality of the three branches of government.

The recall effort launches on August 1st! Here is a memo outlining the recall justifications.

There is another parallel movement to reclaim the money to these organizations via legislative appropriations.

There are also lawsuits being filed claiming that Dunleavy has no right to destroy education and healthcare. And another claiming it was illegal for him to call a special session in Wasilla.
And the ACLU is going after him for the retaliatory judicial budget cut.

A bill put forth to restore the capital budget has failed, with the same minority of legislators deadlocking it.

Well, please keep us in your thoughts that somehow, sanity prevails, and we remain a civilized state! And if you would like to donate to any of the above-mentioned organizations that are still around, but struggling for funds, it would be much appreciated.