The Alaska Senator The Oil Companies Most Hate

 "This election will present two very clear choices for the people of Alaska:  Do we want to be an owner state or do we want to be an owned state?

Do we want to go back to the failed policies of 30 years that have left us with little to show or do we want a new direction, a new vision where we follow our constitution and get the maximum benefit for our resources?

[Note:  I always try to be objective and even-handed in my blog posts, but sometimes, there is only one right choice.  This really is about the richest companies in the world trying to snatch back $2 billion in taxes a year from the people of Alaska.  They're trying to get back to where things were before the FBI stepped in to expose the corruption in Juneau over oil taxes.  They've waited a few years and now they're back at it, buying legislators to pass their tax cut.  Those opposed to the tax in the Senate were both Republicans and Democrats. Watch the video.]




 This is the video tape that every Alaskan voter should see before the election.  Senator Bill Wielechowki lays out the argument against the Governor's plan to cut the oil companies' taxes by $2 Billion (yes with a B) per year.

For 30 years we had a policy of low or no taxes on the North Slope.  The philosophy was, low taxes will lead to more investment, low taxes will lead to more jobs, low taxes will lead to more oil.  [Thus ?] we have a 30 year experiment.  How did it work?

It failed.  For 30 years we peaked at 2.1 million barrels a day of oil.  30 years later in 2006 with a zero percent tax rate on 15 out of 19 fields we had 740,000 barrels flowing down the pipeline.  The policy failed. Jobs declined. Investment declined.  Production declined.  Do we want to go back to that failed policy?  Are you willing to work to insure that we don’t go back to that failed policy?

They hate him because he has fought hard against the Governor's bill and because he's able to articulate clearly and passionately why it's all wrong.  There's no vague ideology and empty promises of more jobs.  It's full of facts that show that there is no good reason for Alaskans to give any money to the oil companies and plenty of reasons not to.  Most of his short speech is quoted here.  It's heavy with facts. 

We have a new policy in place.  It’s called ACES.  It’s working and there are two people I need to pay homage to . . . two of the legislators who stood up and said enough is enough and filed the first oil tax bill are with us today.  It is Senator Hollis French and Representative Les Gara.   

So how has that new policy worked?
Since we passed ACES, we’ve had all time highs in jobs every year since the bill passed.  We’ve had all time highs in investment every year since the bill passed.  We’ve had all time highs in the number of companies doing business in Alaska every year since the bill passed.   

We have more people working on the North Slope today than ever in the history of the state.  We have more  invested in the North Slope than ever in the history of the state.  We have a 253 percent increase in the number of companies doing business in Alaska in the oil patch.  I’d say it’s working pretty well, wouldn’t you?

I remember I was running six years ago and people were saying, “Are you going to raid the Permanent Fund?   Are you going to have an income tax?  Or a sales tax? Because the failed policies left us with nothing.  

Norway came to Alaska and studied our Permanent Fund.  

They started their Permanent Fund 19 years after ours.  They did it with less oil than ours.  Our Permanent Fund is worth 42 billion dollars.  Norway’s permanent fund is worth 600 billion dollars.  We have lost hundreds of billions of dollars because of the failed policies of 30 years.  We’re not going back to that are we?

But I recommend you listen to the video.  Wielechowski isn't some party hack.  He's a regular guy, a Mr. Smith Goes to Juneau, who looked around and saw how bad it was and got angry.  He's taken a stand that makes him a prime target for the oil companies who are taking advantage of Citizens United to get their $2 billion gift from their delivery boy in the Governor's Mansion in Juneau.  If they spent $100 million and succeeded in getting a Senate that supports their $2 billion a year tax cut, it would be the best investment in Alaska history.

Watch the video and see why oil company execs hate him so much.  See how clearly and well he exposes the fraud the Governor is trying to commit against the people of Alaska.


We have villages in Alaska without running water or sewage systems, but our Governor, a former ConocoPhillips lobbyist, wants to give back $2 billion a year to some of the richest companies in the world.  The governor is supposed to represent all the people of Alaska.  We've had governors like Hickel and Hammond, even Palin,  who have stood up to the oil companies.  But he wants to give them this money and in return we get vague mantras, but no promises, about jobs, jobs, jobs. 

The video was made Saturday, September 22, 2012 at a gathering of people in support of Save Our Oil and supported by a resurrected Alaska Backbone - the bi-partisan group that formed when ConocoPhilips bought ARCO.  Backbone demanded the state and feds hold out for better conditions before the deal was approved.

The key to preventing this giveaway is to elect enough coalition friendly senators to continue to block the oil companies' assault on the people of Alaska.


Who are the Senators in the Bi-Partisan Working Group?  From the Backbone website:

Senator Bill Wielechowski • Senator Bert Stedman • Senator Joe Thomas • Senator Joe Paskvan • Senator Linda Menard • Senator Lesil McGuire • Senator Johnny Ellis • Senator Gary Stevens • Senator Kevin Meyer • Senator Don Olson • Senator Hollis French • Senator Bettye Davis • Senator Tom Wagoner • Senator Lyman Hoffman • Senator Dennis Egan • Senator Al Kookesh

The Alaska Redistricting Board whittled away at the districts as much as the Supreme Court would let them.

Coalition Incumbents running against each other:

• Senators Kookesh (Southeast) and Stedman (Southeast) are running against each other in Southeast, so one of them will be gone.  
• Senator Joe Thomas (Fairbanks) was redistricted so that he is facing Senator John Coghill (Fairbanks).  

Coalition Incumbents lost in the primaries to anti-coalition Republicans:

• Senators Linda Menard (Palmer)  
• Tom Wagoner (Kenai).  

Redistricted into more conservative districts:

• Senator Joe Paskvan (Fairbanks).
• Senator Bettye Davis (Anchorage).  
• Senator Bill Wielechowski (Anchorage).
• Senator Hollis French (Anchorage).

New District with no Senate Incumbent (Anchorage)

• Senate District H: Democratic Representative Berta Gardner v. Republican Don Smith

Here's the list of Senate Candidates adapted from the Division of Elections.

Sen Seat	Republican	Democrat (unafilliated for Seat N)
A	John B. Coghill Jr. (Republican) P.O. Box 58003 Fairbanks, AK 99711 Phone: (907) 488-7886 Candidate's web site: http://www.johncoghill.com	Joe J. Thomas (Democrat)* 879 Vide Way Fairbanks, AK 99712 Phone: (907) 457-6710 Candidate's web site: http://www.alaskansforjoethomas.com
B	Pete Kelly (Republican) 511 East Slater Drive Fairbanks, AK 99701 Candidate's web site: http://www.petekellyforsenate.co	Joe Paskvan (Democrat)* 3275 Riverview Drive Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: (907) 474-0551
C	Click Bishop (Republican)**(see comments) 3365 Sandvik Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: (907) 479-3969 e-mail: click@clickbishop.com Candidate's web site: http://www.clickbishop.com	Anne Sudkamp (Democrat)** P.O. Box 83304 Fairbanks, AK 99708 Phone: (907) 479-5192 e-mail: anne.sudkamp@gmail.com Candidate's web site: www.annesudkamp.com
D	Mike J. Dunleavy (Republican) 1830 E Parks Hwy, Ste A-113, PMB #550 Wasilla, AK 99654 Phone: (907) 841-0399
E	Charles R. "Charlie" Huggins (Republican) 3375 N Edgewater Drive Wasilla, AK 99623 Phone: (907) 373-6419 e-mail: reelectcharliehuggins@gmail.com Candidate's web site: www.charliehuggins.com	Susan M. Parsons Herman (Democrat)** 3101 E. Palmdale Dr. Wasilla, AK 99654 Phone: (907) 376-8281
F	Fred J. Dyson (Republican) 12239 Lugene Lane Eagle River, AK 99577 Phone: (907) 694-3744	Martin J. Lindeke (Democrat)** 16111 Cline Street Eagle River, AK 99577 Phone: (907) 354-4402
G	Bob Roses (Republican) 8200 E. 2nd Avenue Anchorage, AK 99504 Phone: (907) 350-0684 Candidate's web site: http://www.bobroses.com	Bill Wielechowski (Democrat)* 1300 Farrow Circle Anchorage, AK 99504 Phone: (907) 242-1558 e-mail: wielechowskiforsenate@gmail.com Candidate's web site: www.wielechowski.org
H	Don Smith (Republican) 2121 Tudor Hills Court Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: (907) 529-6170	Berta Gardner (Democrat)** 1405 Matterhorn Way Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: (907) 274-1334
I	Paul D. Kendall (Republican) 1342 Hyder Street Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 222-7882 e-mail: pauldkendall@yahoo.co	Johnny Ellis (Democrat)* 1231 W. Northern Lights #533 Anchorage, AK 99503 Phone: (907) 223-7724
J	Bob Bell (Republican) P.O. Box 92520 Anchorage, AK 99509-2520 Phone: (907) 272-5160	Hollis S. French II (Democrat)* 2640 Telequana Drive Anchorage, AK 99517 Phone: (907) 244-7135 e-mail: info@frenchforstatesenate.com Candidate's web site: www.Frenchforstatesenate.com
K	Lesil L. McGuire (Republican)* 2022 Kimberly Lynn Cir Anchorage, AK 99515 Candidate's web site: http://www.lesilmcguire.com/	Roselynn Cacy (Democrat)** 11930 Johns Road Anchorage, AK 99515 Phone: (907) 344-1261
L	Kevin Meyer (Republican)* 4020 Winchester Loop Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: (907) 349-6511 Candidate's web site: http://www.senatormeyer.com	Jacob O. "Jake" Hale (Democrat)** 3561 Hollyberry Cir Anchorage, AK 99507 Phone: (907) 351-6762
M	Anna I. Fairclough (Republican) P.O. Box 771112 Eagle River, AK 99577 Phone: (907) 694-7090 Candidate's web site: http://www.annafairclough.com	Bettye Davis (Democrat)* 2240 Foxhall Drive Anchorage, AK 99504 Phone: (907) 337-2034
N	Catherine A. "Cathy" Giessel (Republican) 12701 Ridgewood Road Anchorage, AK 99516 Phone: (907) 345-5470 e-mail: Cathy@Giessel.org Candidate's web site: www.CathyGiessel.com	Ron Devon (Non-Affiliated) -  ** Nominating Petition Candidate 6520 Italy Circle Anchorage, AK 99516 Phone: (907) 301-1601
O	Peter A. Micciche (Republican) P.O. Box 1544 Soldotna, AK 99669 Phone: (907) 262-6165
P		Sen. Egan* is the only legislator not up for election this year.
Q	Bert K. Stedman (Republican)* 118 American St. Sitka, AK 99835 Phone: (907) 821-2378 e-mail: bertstedman@yahoo.com Candidate's web site: www.stedmanforsenate.com	Albert M. Kookesh (Democrat)* P.O. Box 91 Angoon, AK 99820 Phone: (907) 788-3615 e-mail: amkookesh@gmail.com
R	Gary L. Stevens (Republican)* P.O. Box 201 Kodiak, AK 99615 Phone: (907) 486-4205	Robert J. Henrichs (Democrat)** P.O. Box 1000 Cordova, AK 99574 Phone: (907) 424-7783
S		Lyman F. Hoffman (Democrat)* P.O. Box 763 Bethel, AK 99559 Phone: (907) 543-3583
T	Allen Minish (Republican) P.O. Box 118 Chitina, AK 99566 Phone: (907) 823-2280	Donald C. "Donny" Olson (Democrat)* P.O. Box 241248 Anchorage, AK 99524 Phone: (907) 240-3795
*Were Coalition Members in last Legislative Session, but if Republicans gain majority, not guaranteed next time **Likely Coalition Members in future Legislsative Session

HTML Tables

Actually, Bill Wielechowki is a pretty nice guy, and maybe the oil company people actually like him personally and hate someone else more. But they sure don't like his strong stand against changing the taxes and would love to see his opponent win.

[UPDATE 9/26/12:  Someone emailed me this link to Alaskans United to Stop Our Oil Wealth Giveaway (that's a mouthful)  for more information.

Legislature Passes Less Than 10% of Bills Introduced - 10 This Session So Far

I'm only here in Juneau for a couple of days, so I really don't know details of all the bills and what's been going on.  And looking at today's legislative schedule, nothing pops out of serious interest.  It's there, I'm sure, but not obvious.  I will go over and check things out - something of interest always appears.  But in the meantime, I've been checking out the 27th legislature.  (Each "legislature" meets for 2 years and has two sessions - this is the second session of the 27th legislature.  After the November election, the 28th session will begin next January with the new Representatives and in this case all new Senators (except Sen. Egan) because redistricting substantially changed all the Senate districts - except Egan's.)

So, here are the stats from the legislative website on bills passed so far for both sessions (2011 and 2012) 0f the 27th Legislature.

So, just 50 bills have passed so far. (HB and SB indicate House and Senate Bills, the others are resolutions There are also various resolutions.)  Here are the bills that have passed in this session (the second session of the 27th Legislature that began January this year):

HB 19	SPECIAL REQUEST LICENSE PLATES	LYNN, GATTO	CHAPTER 2 SLA 12	03/07/12
HB 65	SENIOR CITIZEN HOUSING DEV. FUND GRANTS	** EDGMON, HERRON	TRANSM TO GOVERNOR	04/09/12
HB 144	REPORT ON FISHING STREAM ACCESS	GARA	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	02/27/12
HB 291	PUBLIC NOTICES POSTED AT POST OFFICES	RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL	CHAPTER 4 SLA 12	03/21/12
HB 307	SUPPLEMENTAL/CAPITAL/OTHER APPROPRIATIONS	RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR	CHAPTER 5 SLA 12	03/23/12
HB 311	REPORTS TO APOC	RLS	CHAPTER 1 SLA 12	02/20/12
HCR 18	COMMERCIAL FISHERIES PROGRAMS	FISHERIES	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/07/12
HJR 29	BLM LEGACY OIL WELL CLEAN UP/AWARENESS	MILLETT	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/28/12
HJR 34	COAST GUARD ICEBREAKERS & ARCTIC BASE	HERRON	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/30/12
SB 30	RETURN OF SEIZED PROPERTY	DYSON	CHAPTER 3 SLA 12	03/21/12
SB 86	PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE ADULTS/MINORS	RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/26/12
SB 127	FETAL ALCOHOL DISORDERS AWARENESS DAY	MEYER	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/06/12
SB 173	2012 REVISOR'S BILL	RLS BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL	CHAPTER 6 SLA 12	03/23/12
SCR 16	CELIAC DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH	GIESSEL	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/03/12
SCR 18	RAOUL WALLENBERG REMEMBRANCE DAY	DYSON	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/02/12
SCR 20	DECORATION OF HONOR	WIELECHOWSKI	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	04/05/12
SCR 25	SUSPEND UNIFORM RULES FOR HJR 29	RESOURCES	AWAIT TRANSMIT GOV	03/28/12
SJR 17	ARCTIC COUNCIL TASK FORCE	MCGUIRE	LEGIS RESOLVE 29	03/19/12

If you go through this list - just 6 house bills and 4 senate bills and a few resolutions - a lot of these bills are symbolic. I won't say they're all fluff, but they aren't focused on solving substantive issues that Alaska faces - balancing resource development and environmental concerns, dealing with serious educational and social issues, etc.

 A quick look shows these that might have some bit of substance:

HB 65   "Making regional Native housing authorities eligible to receive grants through the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation from the senior citizens housing development fund."
HB 144  "An Act requiring the Department of Natural Resources annually to deliver to the legislature and the governor a report on fishing stream access."
HB  307    "An Act making supplemental appropriations, capital appropriations, and other 2    appropriations; amending appropriations; repealing appropriations; making 3    appropriations to capitalize funds; and providing for an effective date." [Click here for specifics]
SB 30  "An Act providing for the release of certain property in the custody of a law enforcement agency to a crime victim under certain conditions and relating to requests for that release by the office of victims' rights." [Note on changes the law makes]


From Fisheries
HCR 18 "Relating to an examination of fisheries-related programs to facilitate the entry of young Alaskans into commercial fisheries careers and to collaboration with the University of Alaska fisheries, seafood, and maritime initiative."

From the Governor's Office:
SB 86 "An Act relating to the protection of property of persons under disability and minors; relating to the crime of violating a protective order concerning certain vulnerable persons; relating to aggravating factors at sentencing for offenses concerning a victim 65 years or older; relating to the protection of vulnerable adults; making conforming amendments; amending Rules 12(h) and 45(a), Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 77, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 17, Alaska Rules of Probate Procedure, and Rule 9, Alaska Rules of Administration; and providing for an effective date."  




This is procedural stuff but probably is more than symbolic:

HB 311 -  "An Act relating to the filing of information with, and to information filed with, the Alaska Public Offices Commission; and providing for an effective date."  Looks like changes to make it easier for candidates, you can see the  sponsor's analysis here.


The rest are what I'd call fluff.  They're nice.  They honor some person or organization.  But it seems to me that such bills should not be the main reason the legislature is in session.  


They still have some time left to pass some legislation, and in all fairness, the most contentious take the longest to be passed.  Let's see how many more bills they can pass before the end of the session.


OK, now that I have that out of the way, I'll go over to the capitol building and see what I can find. 

Why Kokayi Is Going To Lose A Lot Of Weight In Juneau

A friend of mine has decided that kids going hungry here in Anchorage isn't right. He's working to End Child Hunger by 2015. He's been pushing a bill that would put $2million into feeding kids at school.   The legislative website tells you this:

BILL: SB 3	SHORT TITLE: FUNDING FOR SCHOOL MEALS
BILL VERSION: CSSB 3(FIN)
CURRENT STATUS: (H) FIN	STATUS DATE: 03/07/11
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(S) WIELECHOWSKI, ELLIS, DAVIS, EGAN, FRENCH, KOOKESH, MCGUIRE, MENARD, PASKVAN, THOMAS REPRESENTATIVE(S)Kawasaki, Petersen, Kerttula, Munoz

TITLE: "An Act providing for funding for school lunch and breakfast; and providing for an effective date."


See where it says "Current Status" above?  The (H) means House (of Representatives) and FIN means Finance Committee.  It passed the Senate last year pretty quickly.  And then it went to the House Finance Committee on March 3, 2011.  It's been there ever since.   Since the Legislature is on a two year cycle, and this is the second year, it's still there.  

Note that the first sponsor is Wielechowski.  He's an Anchorage Democrat who has also been a strong opponent of HB 110.  That's the bill the Governor wants that will give the oil companies a $2 billion a year break on their taxes.  Each year.  In exchange for vague words about more jobs and investment.  Words.  Not even written down.  No commitments.  

Kokayi is planning to wait until Feb. 6 to see if the Finance Committee co-chairs will let the bill out on to the House floor for a vote.  If they don't, he's pledged to fast until they do.  





I'm betting he's going to lose a lot of weight.  

HB 110 is the highest priority of the House Republicans and the Governor.  Now that all the politicians that went to prison for corruption are out, it seems like things are getting back to how they were.  

I'm guessing that as long as Wielechowski is going to fight to block HB100 in the Senate (and he's not alone on that - Republicans and Democrats defeated it last year) S3 isn't moving.  That's how they play the game in Juneau.  Wielechowski's bill to fund school breakfasts and lunches (we're one of the few states that doesn't provide state money for that even though most other states are in a financial pinch and we've got $2 billion a year to give back to the oil companies).  I doubt that co-chairs Stolze (Chugiak/South Matsu) or Thomas (Haines) will move the bill until HB 110 is passed through the Senate.  And even then chairs have been known to just let a bill die as a form of punishment.  I don't know for sure that's what's happening.  Maybe they just think $2 million to feed hungry kids is a waste of money as opposed to getting $2 billion back into the oil company coffers.  

What are you going to do to help Kokayi End Child Hunger in Alaska by 2015?   He's got links at his site to write a letter and to join the peanut butter drive.

Writing For the ADN - Trolls and All

About ten days ago, I called Anchorage Daily News editor Pat Dougherty and asked why the ADN hadn't run anything on redistricting, except a couple of cut and pasted press releases.  How the maps are drawn will determine who gets elected to state office for the next ten years.  They're no longer a paper of record he said.  We just don't have the staff. Sean's in Juneau.  There's lots of things to cover, we have to make choices.  I suggested at least they publish the Anchorage district maps proposed by the board.  He said he'd look into it.  Then he asked if I would write a commentary.  I wasn't thrilled, but decided I had a responsibility as a citizen to take the opportunity to share what I knew. (I realize that might sound sappy, but it's exactly how I felt about it.)

A compass piece is limited to 700 words.  That wasn't easy because there was so much background information to convey - it didn't leave much to say.  I sent it in - much in outline form - and said I knew they might not like the style, but it seemed the most reader friendly way to get the facts.  I got an email back from Editorial Writer, Frank Gerjevic, suggesting they post the background bullets in a box and that I write more opinion.

700 words.  It's good discipline, but it also means you have to limit what you say, how you qualify things, the examples you give.  I got it out Wednesday afternoon I think.   It was published Friday.  I had to sign a form saying it was an unpaid, one time affair and that the ADN had rights to it.  And I was supposed to send a photo, but I forgot and they used an old one they had from the last time, which was probably six or seven years ago.

They added the headline, which is normal, but it was definitely one I wouldn't have chosen.  It politicized the piece much more than I intended.  Plus they highlighted a sentence I would have left buried at the end. If they changed anything in the piece itself, I didn't notice,  except in the box they said the board would present its final plan.  I had written, "Present Plans." This was for plans presented by interested parties, the board's final plan isn't due until June 14.   Otherwise, the box contained the necessary background information - though I didn't see it in the online version.   

I tried to be as objective as I could be. I would show where things were uncertain and give evidence for hunches.  I set up the key criteria the board has to meet in creating the plan, then went through each one.  There were others, but I was limited in words, so I chose the ones I thought most important.  700 words didn't give me space to even say that.

1.  One person, one vote - was fairly easy:  they had the stats that showed their districts were well within the allowable deviation. (I didn't independently run the numbers to verify this, but I assumed what they said was true.)
2. No retrogression - I gave the board a thumbs up on this one too.  I did say that the DOJ had to approve it, so they were motivated to keep the nine Native 'majority/effective' seats.  I doubt they would have tried that hard on this one without the DOJ watching.  I don't think a Democratically controlled board would either.  But when you know it won't be approved if you don't do it 'right', that does get your attention.  I didn't have room to talk about why this isn't racial gerrymandering - as one or two board members suggested at one point - and how, in fact, it helped to make sure that Alaska Natives, who make up nearly 20% of the state population now, get  their voice is heard in the legislature.  
3. Districts compact and contiguous - I noted that there was one humongous district (well I didn't use that word) but that the existing approved districts also had one.
4. Socio-economically cohesive - hard to evaluate - there are some questions.  Could be better, but probably a pass.
5. Senate districts composed of contiguous house seats - one that doesn't pass this.  But I pointed out that they couldn't find a way to have not retrogression without this non-contiguous pairing.  (But at Friday's hearing some people found a way.)
6. No political gerrymandering - I knew I needed to be totally factual here.  I acknowledged it was hard to know intent.  I gave an example of a board member saying he didn't know the impact of his plan on constituents.  Given that he is an ex-politician who lost to a currently sitting politician, I said I found it hard to believe.  I didn't say he lied, because I don't know that.  I do know it is hard for me to believe he didn't know.  That is definitely true.  But I also acknowledged that the politician who beat him ended up in a safe district.  I said watching them do the Anchorage map was like watching the pea under the walnut shells.  That's how I felt when it happened.  I simply couldn't keep track of whole districts as they moved neighborhoods back and forth trying to get the population numbers right.  I mentioned some seats where, after the fact, it looked like the lines had been drawn to just get some Democratic incumbents into the same district so they'd have to run against each other.  But I couldn't put up the maps in compass piece. [Hmmm, maybe I could have, I didn't ask.] But I can here.   

The gray area is the board's option 2 for district  21. (Option 1 is the same for these districts.)  The black lines are the old district boundaries.  On the far left is a green triangle that shows  Democrat Les Gara's home.  This was basically his district.  On the right, you can see a little chunk of gray gouged out of the green.  The little green triangle there is Sharon Cissna's home.  You can see it was in her old district inside the black boundaries.  There's enough spill over from all the nearby districts that one could easily draw lines that would have left them in their old districts and gotten the right population numbers.  And Cissna's old district now has no incumbent.     NOTE:  These maps are from Alaskans for Fair Redistricting, a group of union and Native organizations.  I haven't verified them independently. 

Another I mentioned was my own district - or rather former district since my neighborhood was cut out of it.  The old black borders were vertical.  Now, the colored districts are horizontal.  Democrats Berta Gardner - green triangle lower right of pink - and Mike Doogan are now in the same district.  And there's an incumbentless district in much of Gardner's old district, now 26.

I also pointed out that at the public hearings people from Eagle River and Muldoon complained about being paired together in a district.  Yet the board took just enough of a chunk east of Muldoon from Democrat Pete Petersen's district to get the part where he and Senator Wielechowski live and put that into a much more Republican district.

I didn't have enough words to point out the Republicans who were paired with other incumbents and why I think these were either out of necessity (in Southeast they lost a seat and four of five house members are Republican)  or into situations where they were likely to beat the Democrats, but I did mention that there are now 24 Republicans in the House and only 16 Democrats, yet 8 Democrats and only 6 Republicans were paired with incumbents.  The fewer there are, the fewer one would expect to be paired.

I also pointed out  that there were four Republicans and one Democrat on the Redistricting Board, so it was inevitable that the plan would have Republican fingerprints.  I didn't say it would be gerrymandered or corrupt, though there is a hint of possible wrongdoing. I pointed out the circumstantial evidence - I don't think I left out anything significant that pointed in the other direction - and I left it open.  Accident?  Inevitable?  Gerrymandering?

As I mentioned earlier, newspapers, not writers, pick the headlines.  Of course, the Daily News chose a headline that would get readers' reading - "For Republicans, Redistricting Is All Good."  And they highlighted the quote about the fingerprints.  So, if readers thought that I had written the headline, I can understand they might think I was partisan.  But then everyone is partisan to some extent, but I do think I stuck to the facts in my analysis of how the board was doing.

I did also ding the board a bit for their minimal website and poor public notice of meetings and the fact that there are no public computers available to try out the software they use for the mapping, and without which it is really difficult to get all the numbers matched up right.

What I'd forgotten about was the online version gets comments.  I'd given up reading the comments for the online ADN a long time ago, because they are frequently so nasty and shallow.  Here on the blog I let people say what they want, as long as they do it with some reasonable civility.  I don't moderate comments before they are posted, but I reserve the right to take down comments. . . well you can read my criteria below the post.  So, the next post will be on the phenomenon of trolls.

The Mobile Billboard Business - Lots of License Plate Bills

[I need to run, so I'm going to post this now and try to do more proofing later. Sorry.]

There are six license plate bills that I can find on BASIS.

l-r Sens. Geissel, Meyer, Wielechowski, Paskvan, Staffer Karla Hart testifying

Right now, as I understand this, people can get vanity license plates in Alaska and there are special organizational license plates.  Whenever constituents call their representative to ask for a special license plate - such as the bills today heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee for Choose Life, Breast Cancer Awareness, and the National Rifle Association - the legislator has to write a bill and it has to go through all the hoops of the legislative process.  And legislators being legislators, politics plays a role.  So Sen. Bill Wielechowski has offered SB (Senate Bill) 93 to take this process out of the legislature and let the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) handle these administratively.

Key issues raised:

1. Should the State license plates be made into mobile billboards for various not-for-profit organizations?
   
2. How will the DMV decide to allow a particular organization to have a license plate? 
   
   Another issue that I had, but that I didn't hear raised is:
    
3. Whether the state should be in the business of helping fund raising for not-for-profit organizations?  

Should the State be in the mobile billboard business?
From what I heard in the committee meeting, while Sen. Paskwan asked if the state should get into the "mobile billboard business."  it didn't seem that anyone really cared, or if they did, whether they take the political heat they would get from organizations that already have such plates.  Sen. Paskwan asked and then the subject was dropped as they went on to other things.   The answer is the state is and will be.


How will the DMV decide to allow or not allow plates?
This was the focus of most of the discussion.  Whitney Brewster, the head of DMV, spoke by phone and described the process they would follow.  Now they have standards for vanity plates that allows them deny plates that are

• vulgar, 
• indecent, or 
• have a sexual connotation,  
• patently offensive to a racial, ethnic, or religious group

Pennsylvania was identified as a state that has the DMV administer the specialized organizational license plates and Brewster and Wielechowski staffer Karla Hart reported that Pennsylvania does not report any serious problems.  There are also legal cases that have identified precedents to follow.  You can click here to see all the Pennsylvania organizations that have specialized plates.

Most of the people calling in to testify were in favor of either the NRA plates or the Choose Life plates.  Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU, called in to say their main concern was that the process has to be viewpoint neutral. 

Should the state be raising funds for non-profits?
The state gives money to non-profits all the time in grants and contracts to do business the state wants done.  The State has something no one else has - license plates.  In the case of vanity plates, individuals agree to pay a premium, which goes to the state, to get their own personal license plate.  But this is different.  Here, non-profits can raise money using the state's special monopoly on plates.  There may even be a sense to some that the state endorses the organizations since they are on the plates. Russ Amerling, National Publicity Coordinator, Choose Life License Plates, testified by phone that his organization nationally had raised over $13 million through license plates. Obviously, the more supporters in an organization, the more money they can raise. So, essentially, the state is aiding larger organizations more than smaller ones.

How the money gets distributed
Neil Moss, head of the Scholastic Clays Target Program, who testified by phone that he had initiated the idea of the NRA plate, said his organization would use the money for youth gun safety education.  He even said it wouldn't be limited to SCTP.  SCTP would allocate monies to organizations around the state that do these types of youth safety programs.  But there was no discussion of how this money would be audited.  Instead, the organizations would collect the money from people, then send a portion of it to the state.  What they then did with the money afterward was never discussed.

Another issue is that some organizations take their cut and others don't.  The National Rifle Association people will get, if I understood it right, about $20 per license plate.  But the money for the Breast Cancer Awareness would go to the state.  I would note that the Breast Cancer Awareness was being pushed by Rep. Holmes, who is in the minority and less likely to get it through the Republican dominated House, so she was able to get Republican Sen. Linda Menard to add it to her NRA bill.  But when asked where the money should go, Menard said that the Breast Cancer folks hadn't asked to keep the money, so it should go to the general fund.  I wonder if the question had even come up in the prior discussions.  Why didn't Menard suggest it go to the Breast Cancer group?  I don't know.

A plate for a Planned Parenthood related group, if I understood this right, got added to the Choose Life bill (SB 16) before today's hearing.  


Related Bills
In addition to the organizations mentioned in the committee today, there's a bill for the Lao Vets to have their own license plate.  They didn't take a vote today and I'm guessing that Wielechowski is hoping that SB 93 will be passed and all this will be delegated to the DMV so that the legislature doesn't have to deal with it any more. 

There are also two bills on driver's licenses - one to limit the validity of licenses for non-residents to the length of the person's permission to stay in the US.  That will be heard in the House Finance Committee this afternoon. 

HB 3 REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE
"An Act relating to issuance of driver's licenses."

And there's this one.  I don't really know any more about this than what it says:

HB 149 DRIVER'S LICENSING; MEDICAL CONDITIONS
"An Act relating to drivers' licenses and to immunity for persons who report persons
who have a medical or other condition that may impair the ability to operate a motor
vehicle."


Below are my notes for the discussion of SB 2 and SB 16:

 
LICENSE PLATES: NATIONAL RIFLE ASSN.

Linda Menard - would create two new optional license plates for additional fee.  NRA commemorative license plate and Breast Cancer Awareness.  NRA will cost $50 fee and then $30 extra fee above regular fees.  Breast Care bill $50 extra.

Extra fee goes to skeet shooting - money will be appropriated directly to those programs.

Brewster:
Wielechowski: Can you talk about how your dept. administers these sort of bills
Brewster: Specialty license plates that are fund raisers - we account for those funds separately for legislature. Dealing with plates in excess of our costs. It costs us about $10 per set plus shipping charges, so anything above that is reported to finance and those funds go into the general fund.

Neil Moss: Live in Wasilla - state director for Scholastic Clay Target Program - my idea to get this on board. Alaska has more NRA members per capita than any other state, I'm involved with youth shooting sports. Always in search of money. Firearm safety literature. Always scrounging around to pay for something. This bill is a great fund raiser - successful in Tennesee - I don't have exact numbers and have spoken with the director there and they're happy with program. ASCTP is a 501 - it's not all for the clay target program, it would be available to any youth shooting project in the state of Alaska through our board of directors. I'm aware of all the state programs,ASCTP is primarily a shotgun program. About firearm safety and and I started this.

BW= For sponsor = Breast Cancer Awareness plates - where would you like the excess funds to go.
Menard: They haven't specified this so they can just go to the general fund.


Senate Bill 16: Senator Meyer
*+ SB 16 SPECIAL REQUEST LICENSE PLATES: TELECONFERENCED
Choose Life/Pro-Family Pro-Choice
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled

Michele Seideman - inclusion of pro-family pro-choice license plate, establishes where those funds will go for these plates.

Meyer: Comments to original bill. Allow AK drivers to purchase a specialty license plate "Choose Life". We have a lot of license plate bills and so think your bill is probably the answer to this. This is not a fund raiser - an additional $30. 26 other states have these license plates and brought to us by our constituents. I personally like the idea. My family adopted a child. I see this as a pro-adotption message. Also strong pro-life message. And also the suicide prevention people like it. So it can mean whatever people wish. Not intended as a license plate.

Brewster: [No Questions]

Jeff Mittman: ED of ACLU for the state of Alaska, we've raised issues in other bills. These raise significant speech issues. The previous bill SB 96 addresses those, but there are still some. Process has to be viewpoint neutral.

Russ Emerling: Natl Publicity Coordinator for Choose Life License plate. 26 plates approved in US. 24 on the road, 2 in pre selling stage. It is a fund raiser in the other states. $13.? million raised to support adoption. I didn't know there would be no fundraisers. Intended to support life and get unwed pregnant mothers to choose life and choose adoption.

Jim Minnery: Rep the Alaska Family Council representing 1000s Alaskans across the state. 1000s of people whose lives have been affected by adoption.

Mike Paulson: Chair of Choose Life Alaska, here to answer questions.

Kelly Foreman: Also with Choose Life Alaska - discussion on this for two years and we came on in February to get sponsors, worked with DMV to design the plates. We encourage. We see that there is another license plate added. We asked so they would need to go through the same process we did for design.

Bob Head: Juneau resident 35 years. Dir. of American Family Association of Alaska - I've had the privilege to raise an adopted son, he's gone on to be research science and would be a mind that would be wasted. My wife and I have been chaplains who worked at half-way house and with ???

Sid Hydersdorf: Juneau resident. I support SB 16 that would allow the Choose Life license plate. Some critics may exist - result of our abortion culture. I think this is good public policy. I hope the committee will support the idea of affirmation and celebration of life, promote a culture of life.

Karen Robinson: Representing Alaska's Women Lobby and Planned Parenthood. We support the committee substitute. Thank the offices for their assistance. I'm still not clear that it would raise dollars, would support agencies that help with adoption. I'd suggest the Children's Trust which already has a Kid's License plate and get money from that.

Legislature Starts and I'm in Anchorage

Last year I was in Juneau when the legislature was in session.  It isn't happening this year, but that's no reason not to keep informed.  BASIS lets you find out a lot of what is going on and much of the legislature is available live (and replay) through your cable. And on line.

You can also track the bills submitted. Bills  .    As of today, 165 bills have been submitted - 110 by House members (there are 40 of them) and 55 by Senate members (there are 20 of them). Did they plan that perfect 2:1 ratio? I doubt it.

 

Having trouble keeping up with the jargon?  No problem.  On the publications page, in addition to many other documents, there is a glossary.(pdf)

In the glossary you'd find out that a resolution is:

Expression of the will, wish, or direction of the Legislature. A resolution generally does not have the effect of law (see Uni- form Rule 49).

There were four introduced and passed already in the house.  Five introduced and four passed from the Senate.  (I'm assuming that the four that passed were introduced as identical resolutions in both houses, but we can check on that too, below.)

A concurrent resolution is:

Similar to the simple resolution, but reflects the will, wish, view, or decision of both houses speaking concurrently.

And a joint resolution is:

The most formal type of resolution, adopted by both houses, and signed by the Governor as a ministerial formality. It is accorded many of the formalities of a bill but is not subject to veto.   Mainly used to express the view or wish of the Legislature to the President, Congress, or agencies of the U.S. government or the governments of other states. It is required for proposing or ratifying amendments to the U.S. or Alaska Constitution.

Either BASIS is not up-to-date yet or I can't figure out how to find what I need.  I couldn't find any legislation introduced on the House side.  There is a list of Senate bills and resolutions.  I looked up Senate resolutions passed and got only one - SR1 (Senate Resolution 1). (Jrn refers to the journal which records all actions)

Jrn-Date	Jrn-Page		Action
01/18/11	0011	(S)	READ THE FIRST TIME
01/18/11	0011	(S)	FN1: ZERO(S.RLS)
01/18/11	0011	(S)	TAKEN UP ON FINAL PASSAGE
01/18/11	0012	(S)	PASSED Y20 N-
01/18/11	0015	(S)	MEMBERS: STEVENS (CHAIR), ELLIS,
01/18/11	0015	(S)	HOFFMAN, MCGUIRE, MENARD, MEYER, WAGONER

If you click on any of the Jrn-Page links above you'll find out that SR1

1-18-2011 Senate Journal 0012


The question being: "Shall SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1

Establishing a Senate Special Committee on World Trade, pass the

Senate?" The roll was taken with the following result:

SR 1
Final Passage

YEAS:  20   NAYS:  0   EXCUSED:  0   ABSENT:  0 

Yeas:  Coghill, Davis, Dyson, Egan, Ellis, French, Giessel, Hoffman,
Huggins, Kookesh, McGuire, Menard, Meyer, Olson, Paskvan,
Stedman, Stevens, Thomas, Wagoner, Wielechowski

and so, SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1 passed the Senate and was
referred to the Secretary for engrossment and enrollment.

Despite all I've said about this being available online, it's a lot easier if one is there hanging around the committee meetings. I think the easiest, if you aren't there, is to have cable on in the background and check now and then. If there is something interesting, you can go to BASIS and look up the exact wording of the bill or resolution.

Also, there are other blogs that cover bits and pieces.

Shana Crondahl - who I met through her comments here, but never in person - set up Alaska Education Update last session and it's up again this year.  It's a teaser for a more in-depth reports on education issues in the legislature that you have to pay for.   (Nothing wrong with that.)  Right now it seems you can see the pay-site for two weeks for free.

There have been other subscription sites as well, but I need to track them down. 

Below are some legislators' blogs I could find.  It's not clear whether they will keep these up-to-date or not.  And there may well be more than this.  I tried to find which legislators blogged last year and Bob Lynn and Mike Doogan seemed to be the only ones who had independently set up their own blogs.  But the one I found for Doogan didn't seem to be current.  While a legislative blog is more likely to be a PR forum, some legislators - Lynn and Coghill below - actually write like bloggers.  Munoz's is more lists and short bulletins rather than personal observation and discussion. 

Rep. Lynn's Blog (Last post Nov. 2010)

Rep. Munoz Blog  (Last post Jan 2010)

Sen. Coghill Blog (last post July 2010)

Images from Election Night Anchorage

I gave a neighbor a ride downtown tonight and she was headed first to the Denaina Center for the Lisa Murkowski reception.



Father Frank arrived first and greeted friends.





Then Lisa arrived with lots of hugs while the crowd chanted, "Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. . ."

Then I headed over to  Election Central  a couple blocks away at the Egan Center.


It was still relatively empty at 9:15pm.  The media were getting set up to interview the winners and losers later on. 

Radio reporter Johanna Eurich was telling former Senator Arliss Sturgulewski about her month in New Mexico digitizing historic tapes.

Sturgulewski also talked with former Senator Al Adams and others. 

House district 31 challenger Lupe Marroquin had a cordial talk with incumbent and winner Bob Lynn. 

APRN reporter Steve Heimel with reelected Congressman Don Young.

McAdams fans were upbeat, despite the numbers showing the former mayor of Sitka running third, well behind front-runner "write-in" and Joe Miller.  As I write this at 1:00 am, the state unofficial election results had the numbers this way with 87% of the precincts counted:

McAdams, Scott T.	DEM	46444	24.05%
Miller, Joe	REP	67087	34.74%
Write-in Votes		77587	40.18%

The next step will be to go through all the write in candidates, get rid of the ones that are clearly for someone other than Lisa Murkowski and then I imagine Joe Miller will fight over every ballot that isn't spelled exactly right.

Democrat Pete Petersen retained his east Anchorage seat against former Kodiak representative Gabrielle Ledoux who moved into his district earlier this year and put on an hard campaign.  Pete is the only Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in the legislature, that I know of.

Don Young's fans came into the room.

Democratic Rep. Les Gara (left) had an uncontested race and Rep. Chris Tuck defeated his Republican opponent.

Matsu Republican Rep. Carl Gatto also ran uncontested.

Anchorage Daily News reporters Lisa Demer and Sean Cockerham.

Republican Cathy Giessel defeated Democrat Janet Reiser and Independent Phil Dziubinski to replace Sen. Con Bunde in Senate District P.

Watching the results being updated on the screen.  

Lisa Murkowski's crowd entering the Egan Center.  

 

And by then, I'd had my fill and left the Egan Center to go home.  

As I look over the state races, the significant ones seem to be:

Interior District 6, Democratic incumbent Woodie Salmon lost to Republican Alan Dick.

Anchorage, District 27 Democratic incumbent Bob Buch lost to Republican Mia Costello.

Fairbanks, District 7 Republican incumbent Mike Kelly lost to Democrat Bob Miller.

So, the Republicans picked up one seat.  

In the Senate, things stay 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans and the coalition appears to be the likely result again.  

Also significant, Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe defeated a last minute right wing campaign to unseat her but voters took the advice of the Judicial Council and ousted District Judge Postma.  

The two bond issues passed, but the Constitutional Amendment to enlarge the legislature failed.  

All the results are available on the State Division of Elections website and after the jump.

State of Alaska 2010 General Election November 2, 2010 Unofficial Results 11/03/10 00:38:00

Registered Voters 494876 - Cards Cast 194937 39.39%

Num. Report Precinct 438 - Num. Reporting 384 87.67%

US SENATOR Total Number of Precincts 438 Precincts Reporting 384 87.7 % Times Counted 194937/494876 39.4 % Total Votes 193101 Carter, Tim NA 654 0.34% Gianoutsos, Ted NA 307 0.16% Haase, Fredrick LIB 1022 0.53% McAdams, Scott T. DEM 46444 24.05% Miller, Joe REP 67087 34.74% Write-in Votes 77587 40.18%

US REPRESENTATIVE Total Number of Precincts 438 Precincts Reporting 384 87.7 % Times Counted 194937/494876 39.4 % Total Votes 191829 Crawford, Harry T. DEM 59865 31.21% Young, Don REP 131047 68.31% Write-in Votes 917 0.48%