JUNEAU -- Members of Alaska's Republican-dominated Senate majority called a news conference Tuesday with an unusual plea to reporters: Help our disgruntled constituents understand why our proposed cuts to education and other state programs are justified.
With competing political factions of the Alaska Legislature currently paralyzed by a decision over how deeply the state budget should be cut in the face of a multibillion-dollar deficit, the five senators argued that their proposed reductions -- deeper than those proposed by their Republican counterparts in the House -- are necessary. And they said they wanted help from the media to spread their message.
Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, said she's been getting at least 100 nightly emails from Alaskans "asking for more money."
"And we really need dialogue and change so that people understand what's going on," said MacKinnon, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. "They believe the more emails that are sent to us shouting and asking or demanding more money, that somehow we're going to be able to deliver that. The cold, hard reality is that we can't print money."
MacKinnon said she hoped reporters would write a "heavy-lifting story" reflecting her view of "how much we are investing in different places" while the senators are simultaneously proposing responsible cuts to stop the bleeding from the state's dwindling savings accounts.
Senate Democrats have a different point of view that they publicized in a prepared statement to reporters Tuesday. Some of the state's fiscal problems can be addressed, they said, by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate tax credits for the oil industry.
Another Republican at the news conference, Fairbanks Sen. Pete Kelly, called that idea a "red herring."
The state, he added, has more money coming in from those industries thanks to a new oil-tax regime that passed the Republican-controlled Legislature two years ago. That fact, Kelly told reporters, "has not been stated enough times."
Tuesday's news conference came as the Senate defended its $4 billion state spending plan during budget negotiations that have pushed the Legislature two days and counting beyond Sunday's scheduled adjournment.
Discussions were certain to continue through Wednesday.
The House canceled its floor session Tuesday, while the Senate met only briefly for a reconsideration vote on a bill to establish a children's day in June. The measure passed without dissent both times.
Budget negotiations, meanwhile, continued behind the scenes.
Rep. Chris Tuck from Anchorage, the Democratic minority leader in the House, said his discussions with House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, have so far been "respectful." But none of the major points of negotiation, including cuts to education funding and canceled raises for unionized state employees, have been resolved.
"So far, everything's at play," Tuck said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "Nothing's off the table right now."
Tuck has been negotiating with Chenault on a package that will then be presented to the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Senate's budget proposal went $100 million deeper than the one proposed by the House and its heavy GOP majority. The Senate package includes a $47 million cut, 4 percent, to the state's per-student funding formula that House Republican leaders say they oppose.
That education cut -- and others proposed by the Senate and Gov. Bill Walker -- are also opposed by House Democrats, who have been empowered in this year's budget talks by a three-quarters vote threshold required to access a state savings account called the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
While the Republican majority in the Senate claims 15 of the chamber's 20 members, there are only 26 members in Chenault's caucus -- meaning that he needs at least four members of the House Democratic minority for this year's final budget deal.
The Senate has largely been relegated to the sidelines as Chenault negotiates with Tuck -- though Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, and his members will ultimately have to sign off on any deal.
Meyer and his caucus have escalated their rhetoric over the last several days and accused House Democrats of taking the Legislature hostage with their demands for more education spending. Tuesday's news conference -- held by five majority members of the Senate Finance Committee -- drew a crowd of legislative onlookers. They included not only two Democratic senators, but also Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, the co-chair of the House Finance Committee, and a bevy of staffers.
Attendees heard a series of dire metaphors comparing the state to a vessel on stormy waters, like one from Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel.
"We're burning the wood on our lifeboats," Hoffman said. "And we're on a sinking ship."
The senators said they received ample criticism for their budget-cutting proposals but maintained their actions were appropriate with the state facing a nearly $4 billion annual deficit.
The Legislature's top fiscal analyst, meanwhile, says lawmakers won't be able to close the deficit through cutting alone. The analyst, David Teal, is scheduled to give a presentation to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday afternoon on "Alaska's Fiscal Crisis."
Teal has said that balancing the budget will likely require using some money from the Alaska Permanent Fund and instituting new taxes. But the only measure submitted to the Senate this year that would raise substantial tax revenue, from Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, has not been given a hearing.
Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, said at the news conference that "our job is to reduce right now." The state will likely see a "much larger discussion" about new revenue next year, he said.
In a separate news conference later Tuesday, Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, downplayed the size of the cuts being defended by the Senate.
Whether the state's budget gap is $4 billion or $3.85 billion, Gara said, "you're out of money in two years."
"So for anybody to pretend that something has to happen so that we don't run out of money -- you're out of money," he added. "It's interesting that not everybody recognizes that."