Politics

Democrats in Alaska Legislature propose power-sharing as path to budget fix

JUNEAU — The Democratic minorities in the Alaska House and Senate presented their Republican colleagues with a proposal Monday: Share some of your power with us, and we can fix the budget crisis together.

In a news conference Monday at the Capitol, the Democrats unveiled their offer to create what's known as a "caucus of the whole" — a unity government, essentially.

Their idea is a new political organization that would eliminate the distinctions between the minorities and the Republican-led majorities that control both chambers — with the side effect of increasing Democrats' power at the expense of their partisan rivals.

Democrats said the step would help elected leaders work together to fix the state's massive budget problem: a $5.4 billion spending plan with a $3.8 billion deficit. And it could help them share the political liability that might come with the measures needed to fill the budget gap, Sen. Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, the Senate's minority leader, said in a prepared statement.

Those measures could include reductions to Alaskans' dividend checks or new taxes.

"The minority organizations in the House and Senate are making a good faith offer to join with our colleagues in the majority and share the burden of leadership," Gardner's statement quoted her as saying.

The offer, on its face, appears to be a tough sell to the Republicans who control the Legislature. But the Democrats do have one bargaining chip, just as they did last year: House Republicans need Democratic votes to access a state savings account, the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which is expected to be needed to cover this year's budget gap as it was last year.

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"This is a really serious offer," Gardner said at the news conference, with a phalanx of her Democratic colleagues behind her.

The Democrats pitched their idea Monday as a gesture of bipartisanship. But any major changes to the organizations of the House and Senate would likely improve the standing of the Democratic minorities there.

Members of the Republican-led majorities chair legislative committees; they also get more money to pay staff members, and enjoy control over budgets for travel and for hiring consultants.

The House Democratic leader, Chris Tuck of Anchorage, said changes to that system could be possible if Republicans agree to their proposal. But they're "not necessarily needed," he added.

Presented with the Democrats' idea, Republicans in brief interviews Monday offered a range of reactions — though none that suggested they would enthusiastically or immediately embrace the unity government concept.

Senate President Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said the idea "sounds good in theory." But, he added: "I'm just not sure how it's going to work yet."

House Finance Committee co-chair Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, responded with a chuckle.

Democrats, he said, "can come to me with their budget solutions any time they want."

"Most of the time they come to us with budget increases," he added, in a jab at minority members.

Neuman acknowledged, however, that the House's current political organization could use improvement, given that last year's prolonged budget negotiations delayed the adjournment of the scheduled 90-day legislative session by nearly two months.

GOP leaders separately unveiled their own proposal Monday to limit the House's work to budget-related measures until a spending plan is passed.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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