House Joint Resolution 15, a resolution to exchange the governor’s three-quarters “supermajority” veto override threshold for a more reasonable two-thirds majority requirement, has been introduced, and hopefully the Legislature will have the sense to pass it. A 2017 ethics initiative aimed at addressing conflicts of interest within the Legislature was thwarted. It seems the squabble between governor and Legislature over spending is indeed a two-way street. The governor’s budget cuts, in a best-case scenario, could still prove to be an exercise in brinkmanship. Bringing Alaska’s attention to in-house overspending has been successfully accomplished.
However, in a worst-case scenario, the cuts and bloated Permanent Fund dividend may just be a disguise. Shrouded by a “good-old-boy-GOP-politicking-against-Democrats” disguise, a Republican conservative base could conceivably be roped into supporting something altogether different. In reality, the governor’s purpose might not be partisan politics at all, but simply to open the door for unregulated and unrestrained development and resource extraction by Outside interests who intend to keep the wealth for themselves.
After all, Alaska must appear to be an easy, soon-to-be defenseless “golden goose” to Outsiders who famously don’t give a hoot about Alaska today. Maybe some Alaska Republican representatives and senators are becoming suspicious of this possibility, which transcends the political divide?
— Ken Green
Cooper Landing
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