I appreciated Rep. Andy Josephson’s recent letter concerning a reduction in the University of Alaska’s academic program, a need for our Legislature and governor to act collectively in getting the budgeting mess and other issues pointed in the right direction. I’m a fan of Rep. Josephson and truly appreciate his decades of praiseworthy public service.
The stark reality is that it's not going to happen during the present administration nor the next upcoming legislative session unless the system is overhauled, newly elected legislators operate in a non-partisan modus and people's voices are taken into account — unlike what's happening with the Pebble and Ambler mines, whose proposed haul roads would cost multiple millions to be initially borne by a state on the edge of bankruptcy. So much for the governor's "open for business" mentality.
There's no greater need than to have a permanent, stable flow of revenue. A revenue independent of diminishing oil royalties in a global market riddled with uncertainties, but permanent, stable sources called an income tax and oil tax. That's the reason I'm voting yes on Ballot Measure 1 and hope you do too. It's the only sane way out of this mess, contrary to the costly, overloaded television advertisements funded by big oil.
Dick Hensel
Anchorage
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