Opinions

Let’s make legislators pay us for every day special section drags on

I may be misremembering this, but it seems to me that last year at this time our esteemed legislators were singing the same song they sang this year after not accomplishing their most important task — passing a balanced budget. Yep, last year at this time, after yet another special session, our questionable leaders explained to us that they simply did not have the time they needed to create a fiscal plan for Alaska's future. They said that the one-year stopgap measure they passed would be just that, a one-year measure. This year they promised they would come back into session with the sole purpose of putting Alaska's financial house in order with a sustainable and balanced budget.

Anyone surprised that they didn't do that should apply for home health care assistance; clearly your mind isn't sound enough to care for yourself.

This year's statements, pronounced as legislators tried to sneak out of Juneau by mingling with the tourists, are the same as last year's: not enough time; too complicated to craft in such a short period; enough is in the reserves to carry us forward; the sky is not falling; the price of oil will soon be rising; Santa Claus surely won't deny us the one gift we requested in two consecutive years.

All those excuses are offered year after year as far too many of the legislators supposedly representing us sit at the feet of Big Oil and obey their commands. The fact that our savings accounts are limited and our schools and public services are slowly being starved seems of little or no consequence.

Give the House credit for actually coming up with a fiscal plan and not just a stopgap measure to last one more year while we pray for a miracle. Whether you liked their plan or not, at least they had one. It raised revenue, closed the fiscal gap and funded education. The Senate came up with a plan that gave oil companies a whole lot of money, didn't close the budget deficit, depended on spending from pots of money that were not renewable and, by their own admission, was only meant to bridge the gap through the coming fiscal year.

They apparently plan to come back into session next year with the absolute goal of creating an actual fiscal plan to carry the state into the future. Hmmm … haven't we heard that line before? Oh, that's right. It's what they said they'd do last year when they also passed a one-year stopgap budget.

I've spent a lifetime paying taxes for schools I've never used or had children using. I've spent a lifetime paying taxes for runways I've never landed on, roads I've never driven on and bridges I've never crossed. And guess what? I still feel they did more for me and the future of this state than the state Legislature that just adjourned without accomplishing the thing they were sent to Juneau to do.

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I find myself again wondering how long most of us would last in our jobs if we conducted our business the way the Legislature conducts the people's business. The greatest irony may be that the incentive is there to encourage them to go into extra sessions, since they earn money for every day they dither and blather about our state's dismal fiscal future — without doing anything about it. By the time the special sessions are completed, these people have taken enough from the state's coffers to cover the salary of more than a few teachers.

So I propose that we turn this dysfunctional system on its head. Instead of making money for each additional day they're in special session, I propose we make them pay us back a day in per diem for each extra day. Maybe hitting them in their wallets will finally wake them up to how disgusted most Alaskans are at this point. If nothing else, the money they pay back to the state can go toward rehiring a few teachers. That would be a much better use of those funds.

Elise Patkotak writes a weekly column. Her book "Coming Into the City" is available at AlaskaBooksandCalendars.com and at local bookstores.

Elise Patkotak

Elise Patkotak is an Alaska columnist and author. Her book "Coming Into the City" is available at AlaskaBooksandCalendars.com and at local bookstores.

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