A month has passed since heavy snows clogged our city streets and snow removal was found to be underfunded and understaffed. The concrete-like berms are being named either “Bronsons” or “Dunleavys,” depending on whether the city or the state should have removed them by now.Alaskans relying on food stamps are going hungry because the state office that processes their needs has been allowed to atrophy through attrition to save money.
Alaska schools are in rapid decline as good teachers leave for locations that pay better and actually fund retirement plans. Yet classes remain overfilled and Anchorage shutters schools due to funding constraints.These are only the essential services that have been in the news lately: others (police, fire, EMT) are likely in similar straits.
Yet the ADN editorial board recently called first for a spending cap to even out the roller coaster the annual state budget rides on. We don’t need a spending cap first. Alaska needs stability in core services and we need good schools: We need to pay well for the good people who will do this work. If the Legislature doesn’t have the will to reverse the damage that SB 21 did to our oil tax structure, it needs to consider other revenue sources.
— Tina Tomsen
Anchorage
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