Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- The 2009 session of the Alaska Legislature began Tuesday with rural lawmakers pushing for immediate state aid to Emmonak, where some villagers say they don't have money for food and fuel.

"Things are dire," said Donny Olson, a Democratic state senator from Nome whose district includes the Western Alaska village.

Olson said that if the governor's office isn't moving to a good solution in the next couple of days, he and Bethel Democratic state Sen. Lyman Hoffman expect to take matters into their own hands. Olson said they're talking about trying to push through emergency state financial assistance for Emmonak -- with senators working over the weekend if needed to get it passed.

Five officials in Gov. Sarah Palin's administration traveled to Emmonak, which has a population of about 800, Tuesday to assess the situation firsthand. The officials, from the departments of Labor, Commerce, and Military and Veterans' Affairs and the Division of Public Assistance, will stay in Western Alaska through Friday and also hope to go to the nearby village of Kotlik.

It is not clear when, and if, the governor will call for aid.

Hoffman is co-chair of the powerful Senate finance committee, and Olson is on the committee. So they have a lot of juice to try and get state dollars to Emmonak. They'd face plenty of skeptical legislators though.

Some say there's not enough hard information on the situation in Emmonak. Others wonder about singling out one village.

"Where will it stop?" asked Kenai Republican Sen. Tom Wagoner. "Everyone in the state has high fuel bills."

Anchorage Democratic state Rep. Mike Doogan said it would be hard for a bill to pass without good information on just who needs help the most. This isn't like a fire devastated a particular village and legislators know what the damage is and just where to send money to fix it, he said. It's not clear how many other places in the state are facing similar conditions, Doogan said.

Olson's idea is to provide enough assistance for every household in Emmonak that asks for it to get 300 gallons of fuel.

The cost would be around $500,000, Olson said. He met with Palin chief of staff Mike Nizich on Tuesday and is hoping the governor's office will have come up with a plan that's better at getting aid to the village than attempting to get a bill passed.

The struggles in Emmonak attracted national attention after a village resident, Nicholas Tucker, wrote an emotional letter to the Bristol Bay Times, describing cash-strapped families forced to choose between food and fuel. The village is suffering from a combination of bad commercial fishing, high fuel costs and a frigid winter. Bloggers, many of them critics of the governor, spread the word of Emmonak and galvanized a relief effort of food and money.

They, and others, including Myron Naneng, president of the Association of Village Council Presidents, have criticized the governor for inaction.

"Where has she been ever since the villages requested a disaster declaration out here?" Naneng said. "Has she been too busy trying to get elected to the national office? So even her administration didn't realize how bad the situation was."

Naneng's Bethel-based nonprofit asked the state in October to declare an income disaster in the Lower Yukon because of a dive in king salmon fishing. The governor's office said it didn't meet the legal criteria for a disaster declaration.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said the governor cares about what's going on. That's why state officials are in the village, he said.

"I just hope today's action speaks for itself. The administration is trying to get the facts and explore every avenue open to us now to get some relief to people," McAllister said.

The state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development said in a written statement Tuesday "reports from Emmonak about the situation have been inconsistent." The state team in Emmonak is supposed to find out how severe and widespread the problem is and what can be done, the statement said.

Commerce commissioner Emil Notti said his department will then brief Palin and come up with a plan. State officials will also talk to tribal and Native corporation leaders about whether they could help out.

The state gave every qualifying Alaskan resident a $1,200 "energy rebate" this fall, a Palin proposal that was supposed to help with the cost of energy. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara said there was warning during the debate over that plan of a crisis coming to rural Alaska. He said some legislators tried to push emergency assistance to high-cost communities, rather than the $1,200. He argues that would have greatly helped the current problem in rural Alaska.

Olson didn't criticize the governor's handling of the situation but said action is needed now.

He said he'll meet again with Palin's chief of staff in the coming days.

"We have got to have them show their hand," Olson said.

Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins contributed to this story.

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