It seems that Alaska legislators should be at least cognizant of the fact that we are in the midst of a fiscal crisis. Now it's true that in January I wrote that it wasn't a crisis. However, I assumed at that point the Legislature would actually take steps to lower the budget or create new revenue instead of just dipping into the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
There was a glimmer of hope the two houses of the Alaska Legislature, under control of the Republicans – who claim to be "fiscal conservatives" – would take this budget gap seriously, make some tough decisions and show true leadership.
I was wrong.
Apparently the members of the Legislature either have no clue what is going on with the current budget situation or they just don't care. We are still facing a about a $4 billion fiscal gap and oil prices continue to fall far below original projections.
On Sept. 9, ADN reported that Gov. Bill Walker had spent $120,000 a month for consultants to negotiate the natural gas pipeline project from the North Slope. This is on top of the two special sessions this summer which cost nearly $900,000, and the approximately $400,000 the Legislature is spending to stop the governor from expanding Medicaid without legislative approval.
In the Sept. 19 ADN, Nathaniel Herz reported that many legislators and staff attended a conference in Seattle last month that cost over $90,000. Some staffers and legislators' room rates were over $400 a night.
A document was posted in the story that detailed spending by staff and legislators at the conference. When I glanced at it, the first item that caught my eye was the bill for Grace Abbott, staffer for House Majority Leader Rep. Charisse Millett. Abbott's hotel bill was $299 a night plus tax and $411 for meals. Her total cost for five days was $1,739.65.
Then I read further.
Laura Pierre, staffer for the Senate Finance Committee, had a room rate of $419, more in one night than Abbott spent in five nights on meals. Her total cost for the trip was $2,911.01.
The article also documented the costs for the legislator's trips as well. House Speaker Mike Chenault, who was more than willing to send out layoff notices to 10,000 state workers this summer, spent a total of $3,076.82 for five days, averaging over $360 a night in hotel costs.
This is all very telling about the legislators and our current fiscal situation. Right now, after a summer when 10,000 state employees were considering options for how to pay their bills if they were laid off, the state should not be paying for travel for any legislators or staff and they certainly should not be paying for extravagant hotel costs and dining bills.
If nothing else, the legislators should have been aware of the optics of spending this kind of money on a trip to Seattle. Someone should have looked at someone else and said, "Wait, are we really spending more than $400 a night on a hotel room?" Is it really possible these conversations did not happen?
While I read these types of stories of legislative spending while our state is in fiscal crisis, the whole idea is just surreal to me.
In January the Legislature will go back in session. They will be faced with the realities of even tighter budget restraints than they faced last January when they basically punted and failed to show any semblance of leadership.
Some of the legislators and staff should be well rested after vacationing in Seattle on the state's dime, some in hotel rooms costing over $400 a night and racking up dining receipts of close to $100 a day.
The question is, will reality set in? It clearly hasn't yet. The Legislature needs to start taking this issue seriously. They need to understand that optics matter. No more legislative travel Outside, no more extravagant hotel expenditures and out-of-line dining receipts for legislators and staff.
There can be little doubt these types of conferences have some value and when the state is in better shape, there is good reason to send legislators and staff to bring back knowledge, contacts and experience that can be invaluable. However, now is not that time -- and when that time comes again, the legislators and staffers should probably start looking at midlevel hotels rather than the five-star variety.
Mike Dingman is a fifth-generation Alaskan born and raised in Anchorage. He is a former UAA student body president and has worked, studied and volunteered in Alaska politics since the late 1990s. Email, michaeldingman@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com