Camping Legislators Could Have Stayed at Baranof

A June 6, article by Wesley Loy in the Anchorage Daily News reports that a number of legislators are sleeping in their offices during the special session here in Juneau.

[Kevin]Meyer, who works for Conoco Phillips, gets his showers in the workout room in the Terry Miller Legislative Office Building just across the street from the Capitol.

Lawmakers receive a daily allowance of $218 to cover lodging, meals and other expenses, but a hotel room alone could easily chew up that amount, Meyer and other lawmakers said.

When I told Steve Hamilton, manager of the Baranof Hotel, about this story and asked why he hadn't saved some rooms for legislators, he said he did. He said he emailed all the legislators in April that he would guarantee them a room if they let him know by May 3 at $109/night. Of course, the legislators didn't quite know for sure when, if, and where the session would start until later than that. But they could have made a reservation just in case.