Rep. Merrick shows real leadership

It’s hard to process the daily drama of state and national news lately, with many readers becoming numb to all the “breaking news” vying for their attention. In spite of this cacophony of noise and distraction, a few stories still shake us from our stupor, like the Anchorage Daily News’ recent coverage of the Eagle River legislative townhall meeting, where certain Republican Party members called for the resignation of Rep. Kelly Merrick for the newly minted cardinal sin of “working with the other side,” exactly what we expect and demand of our congressional delegation, but apparently not in the Alaska Legislature.

The story brought into vivid relief the crisis of a political party hitting rock bottom. As a lifelong Republican, this saddens me. Are we so devoid of vision, cooperative problem-solving, and leadership that we are completely bankrupt with nothing left to champion except partisan logjams and universal basic income? Let’s review how we got here.

In 2019, the House took more than 31 days to organize because of fiscal policy disagreement. It was a complete stand-down, where neither the Republicans nor the Democrats could get 21 votes to form a majority organization. The eventual multi-partisan majority formed around one nonpartisan principle, a balanced budget, which meant paying for state services and dividends within current year revenues and the structured draw from the Permanent Fund.

Many Republicans couldn’t stomach this fiscal conservatism because the governor convinced them they had to make good on his campaign pledge, most notably his “free candy” promises of back PFDs, full PFDs and other universal-basic-income fantasies which went breathtakingly beyond even what my most liberal progressive colleagues in the Legislature were willing to consider. And besides, people were going to be upset if he didn’t deliver.

Rather than let state government grind to an indefinite halt on partisan paralysis, a group of legislators found consensus around a balanced budget and went to work to take care of their constitutional obligations and get the job done. All in record time, they gained valuable consensus as they took the budget to the people of Alaska in communities all around the state.

With this backdrop, the Republican Party came in to the 2020 elections with fratricidal intentions, losing three additional seats in the House, where they went from 24 members to 21. Talk about a damaged team — this “21 strong” group arrived in Juneau with more baggage than a tour bus, leaving a blood trail from the airport to the Capitol building.

Notwithstanding their paralyzing fear of party leaders — which all but guaranteed a calamitous inability to function — their widely divergent views on Alaska’s fiscal policy and whether caucus members should vote as a team on the budget ensured there would not be the necessary unity among them to pull off an organization. Many had already made promises on the campaign trail that were diametrically opposed to each other.

The current House coalition, which Rep. Merrick helped establish, is committed to the same fiscal policy that saved the communities of our state two years ago and the Permanent Fund from massive overdraws — dare I say, “raids” — that would have forfeited hundreds of millions of dollars in earned income because of the reduced principal.

During our service together, a good friend and legislative colleague of mine wrote an apt description of Rep. Merrick, taping it to her desk on the House floor — “You are as tough as any SEAL I know.” I agree. I hope our young people emulate and see her for the heroine she is, a true warrior of rare courage standing up to those who offer no solutions, only gridlock. In this time, when our democracy has been shaken to its core by unyielding partisan extremists, our state and country need more leaders like Rep. Kelly Merrick.

Chuck Kopp is a public policy consultant and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives.

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