When is the last time you heard a state legislator brag about making sure an aging state-owned building got a new boiler or a new roof? Ever seen a photo of a politician beaming with pride at a ribbon-cutting ceremony after a rutted road has been repaved?

Well, there's the root of the problem Gov. Sean Parnell wants to fix.

He plans to ask the Legislature for $100 million a year over the next five years to deal with the state's $1.8 billion backlog of deferred maintenance. That total covers everything from roads, bridges and buildings to airports and harbors, including the University of Alaska. Road ruts alone account for $300 million of needed work, according to Frank Richards, deputy state transportation commissioner.

Richards says rural airports have frost-heaved runways that need to be leveled. Graveled roads like the Denali Highway need grading. Ferries need work to keep them shipshape. Dock pilings deteriorate. Mangled guardrails need replacing. Road signs get filled with bullet holes. Overgrown brush alongside roads makes it harder for motorists to see cross-traffic and wayward moose.

It will take focused attention from Alaska's governor to make much progress on all the work that has piled up. That's because legislators can get a lot more attention for delivering a brand new something -- a building, a road, or a dock -- than they do more making sure an existing one doesn't fall apart.

Can't really fault them -- it's just human nature. Most homeowners would get a lot more excited about putting an addition or deck on the house, instead of paying to replace a creaky 40-year old furnace.

But taking proper care of the state's 2,300 facilities, worth billions of dollars, takes someone who sees the big picture of what's needed, instead of attending to parochial little pieces.

That's where Gov. Parnell comes in. He understands the state needs a steady stream of money to keep pace with on-going maintenance, instead of relying on ad hoc funding decisions driven by political clout.

But Gov. Parnell doesn't have the final say on money matters. When it comes to budgets, the governor proposes and the Legislature disposes.

Legislators might be inclined to dispose of Gov. Parnell's request for a regular supply of deferred maintenance money. They might want to keep more control over where and when maintenance gets funded.

But that fragmented approach makes it too easy to let things slide until an urgent -- and expensive -- problem develops. The state has billions of dollars worth of property, and Gov. Parnell is offering legislators a better way to make sure the state takes proper care of it.

BOTTOM LINE: Gov. Parnell has a good idea for dealing with a real problem.

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