R-Kenai, said senators have a wide range of opinions on the fiscal issue. “Some favor the extra “bridge” draw on the Fund earnings, some want broad-based taxes (like a sales or income tax) and some just like the status-quo, with an annual battle over the dividend,” the senator said. Last summer, with the near shut- down of the state looming, the Legis- lature formed a bipartisan task force to develop a comprehensive fiscal plan that would settle the annual fights. A committee that included legisla- tors from all the warring factions held extensive work sessions over a month between the two special sessions and to the surprise of many produced, if not a final plan, the outline of one that all in the working group agreed on. Basic elements of the plan includ- ed a new PFD formula, a need for new revenues to pay for higher dividends, and a spending cap so new revenues wouldn’t be seen as permission to just grow the budget. But when the full Legislature came back for a second, and final, special session, nothing happened. There has been a lot of finger-point - ing as to why that happened. One rea- son cited for not doing more work on the fiscal plan was the near certainty that Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who faces reelection in 2022, would veto any tax bills passed by the Legislature. Why waste time, legislative leaders asked, thrashing though the details of a fiscal plan, even when the outline was agreed, if the governor would veto a key part of the plan, on new reve- nues? Possibly a deeper reason for the continued logjam was that many leg- islators didn’t want to hand the gov- ernor a victory, in the form of a high- er PFD, on the cusp of his reelection campaign. All those divisions are back in 2022. Speaker Stutes said she believes the fiscal discussion will continue this session on at least the components of the outline in the fiscal working group product from last summer. Most legislators, however, doubt a final plan can be agreed on. That’s be - cause it’s not only an election year but the added complication of the redis- tricting that followed the 2020 census. It appears now that 58 of the 60 House and Senate members will have to stand for reelection because the boundar- ies of several senate districts have changed enough to require the incum- bent senator to have to run again.
If this happens (the redistricting plan is still in court) it will add un - certainties to those already there for the session. Normally only half of the 20-member senate is up for reelec- tion in a biannual election cycle, which means that 10 senators don’t have to run and campaign. This adds an ele- ment of stability in a normal year that may not be present in 2022. Also, many House members are “freshmen” facing their first reelec - tion, or “sophomores” with only one reelection under their belt. Those leg- islators will be even more nervous
this year about taking on things like the PFD that might rile some of their constituents. There is one issue this year that will likely cut through legislators’ nervousness about doing anything substantial. That is the hundreds of millions of dollars coming to Alaska in the federal infrastructure bill. The governor will play a key co- ordinating role in managing much of this infusion of funds, but the Legis- lature will be involved because it must approve the spending as a part of the state budget.
PROTECTING OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE
Usibelli Coal Mine produces more than one million tons of coal every year, helping energize Interior Alaska. Yet our most precious resource isn’t coal—it’s the people who mine it. We’ve worked hard to keep our employees safe, and the results are gratifying.
Employees surpassed their all- time safety record in April 2019 and by the end of the year, worked more than 1,000 days without a lost time accident. Our employees are committed to excellence in mining, and in practicing everyday safety—at work, at home and at play.
WWW.USIBELLI.COM
15
Winter 2022
The Alaska Miner
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