Happy Fourth of July Anyway, Darn It!

July 2, 2021

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have a great holiday weekend. The weather forecasts are full of unfamiliar terms like "mostly sunny" and "partly cloudy," so whatever that ends up being like, spend it with loved ones and neighbors and enjoy!

I got to sponsor a citation honoring Craig Lindh, a driving force behind founding Eaglecrest Ski Area. During his life Craig did that and a whole lot more for Alaska. On Thursday I presented the citation to his wife Barb at the ski area.

Vetoes

The governor went hog-wild with his veto pen again yesterday. A little of it made sense (well, political sense...) A lot of it was weird.

Let's start with the obvious: The governor wants big PFD checks. He doesn't really work on that goal, mind you—no meetings with legislators who might be persuadable, no working the phones to try and get his agenda passed. That's not the Dunleavy style. He prefers to just propose something and expect it to pass.

When the thing he wants is a budget cut, he can just veto the money after Alaskans tell their legislators not to end the service. But his veto pen can't add money. Combined with an absence of work, that leaves him frustrated when legislators refuse to jeopardize the Permanent Fund by drawing more than 5% of its total value in order to provide big checks.

So yesterday the governor, having urged his allies to vote against parts of the budget that would fund an $1100 PFD this year, vetoed the roughly $525 PFD that remained. That veto is actually good politics for him. With federal COVID help plugging holes all over the budget, January's talk about a $0 PFD is gone. So the debate in the August special session will be between the $1100 PFD the conference committee proposed and the much larger checks the governor has no way to pay for. Even if he doesn't get the unsustainably large checks he promised, he can declare victory for getting checks larger than his legislative allies delivered when they voted against half the money.

The governor also vetoed about 1/4 of legislators' per diem payments for next year, because he's frustrated the legislature was in special session this year. Leaving aside the fact he can't change this year's payments with next year's cuts, this is also good PR for him. Legislative pay is unpopular. Legislative overtime is unpopular. It sells well to cut both.

I should point out three things here: 1) the governor can reduce the legislature's budget, but has limited ability to tell us how to spend it. That's the whole 'separation of powers' thing in the constitution. 2) Legislators face real expenses when they come to the Capitol and failing to meet them discourages ordinary Alaskans from running for office. 3) Juneau legislators don't get per diem. So I have no personal financial stake in this fight. I predict we'll pay next year's per diem.

That brings us to the rest of the vetoes. They're where it gets weird. The governor cut capital projects he himself proposed, including the 'long trail' project, deferred maintenance at the University of Alaska, and others. (Yes, he also cut the $2 million of UAS major maintenance I added on the Senate Floor.) He also whacked funding to protect abused children, and work with Tribes on child welfare. He cut a small but significant boost to Pre-K, which is not surprising. But I can't for the life of me figure out why he sent his Fish & Game commissioner around to lobby for status quo money to keep Southeast hatcheries making king salmon for the sport fisheries, then vetoed it. Or why he proposed funding school bond debt reimbursement, then vetoed that. Or proposed paying $2 million for half of a phase of the Aurora Harbor restoration, then vetoed that. Or...

We could spend all evening on the governor's vetoes of things that save money, or lives, or that he himself proposed. But the bottom line is, we'll be talking about a lot more than a fiscal plan when the legislature comes back in August. I suspect that hurts the governor's chances of getting all the constitutional amendments he wants, (and the big checks, too.) Apparently he was more interested in wielding the red pen than he was in the consequences—for Alaskans and for his agenda.

Good Oops!

The governor told the press yesterday he'd vetoed a $4 billion transfer from the earnings reserve of the Permanent Fund (where the money can be easily spent) to the constitutionally-protected corpus. That's in line with his desire to keep as much spendable cash on hand for PFD checks as possible.

But when he returned the bill to the legislature with his vetoes, that transfer was untouched. One of his spokesfolks told a blogger not vetoing it was 'a scrivener's error'—so the money is really vetoed. The last time I heard the 'oops excuse' was when his lawyers claimed vetoing millions more from Medicaid than he 'meant to' in 2019 wasn't incompetence, it was a 'scrivener's error.' Those lawyers were in court trying to quash the recall.

The judge in that case said a mistaken over-veto isn't recall-worthy incompetence, because the legislature could override the veto. But it does have legal effect. That ruling suggests the $4 billion this year is headed for constitutional protection.

I'll let someone else decide if making a SECOND veto mistake in two years raises competence questions.

I spent last Saturday sleeping on my front step during the Night Without a Bed fundraiser to support Family Promise of Juneau. The black bear who stopped by left before I could get a picture. Thanks to everyone who gave to support Family Promise's amazing work to get Southeast Alaska families into stable housing!

Stacking the Bench

One of Governor Dunleavy's first moves in office back in 2019 was to try and get a pet judge appointed. He broke the legal deadline to appoint, and instead pushed on the Chief Justice to bend the rules. But Alaska's constitution doesn't give governors that power. The Alaska Judicial Council declined to give him his preferred name for a Palmer judgeship, and he eventually gave in and appointed one of the most qualified candidates.

Now he's appointed a party apparatchik to the Judicial Council—one who wrote a misleading screed in the newspaper when the group sent the governor three names for an upcoming vacancy on Alaska's Supreme Court. She was upset that they didn't send the governor a specific fourth name.

The fourth person had public comments from former politicians who said he matched their political philosophy. You'll be utterly shocked to learn those ex-pols are of the current governor's party. The governor recently wrote back to the council asking them to forward name #4, too.

Thankfully, our constitution limits the governor to picking from the most qualified applicants, not just the ones who match his politics. That's because under the Alaska constitution, justice is not supposed to be partisan. Thank goodness.

Help With the Rent

Reps. Story, Hannan, and I talked with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation this week about their pace getting federal rental assistance to Alaskans who risk eviction because of the pandemic. We were concerned that AHFC wasn't getting cash out fast enough, with the eviction moratorium ending July 31.

Alaska is ahead of most states in actually deploying the federal help. AHFC partnered with Tribes and housing authorities around the state, and everyone is kicking hard to get the job done timely.

I don't usually do this, but I want to share their follow-up e-mail, because it lays out some of their efforts, and provides some info in case you know someone who is struggling. It's also a great example of an agency pulling out all the stops to get the work done on time:

"There were a number of things that we committed to following up on and I want to make sure you have them. If there’s anything I overlooked, please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime.

This week, we contacted every person who applied for the program and provided us their IDs and income information (that’s more than 25,000 individuals). This means that if you hear from applicants (or their landlords) who say they haven’t heard from us, we’d ask them to confirm that we have an accurate phone number and email address on file. They can update their contact information by logging into our system and using their unique confirmation code. If the individual just missed our call for one reason or another, we’ll keep trying. They’ve all been assigned to Rent Relief Specialists so they can also contact us.

Every week we provide an update to Alaskans about the progress we’re making on applications. More than $63 million has been paid to landlord and utility companies, and an additional ~$10 million is approved. To link to our Friday reports, see this: https://www.ahfc.us/newsroom/alaska-housing-rent-relief-weekly-program-update

Your concerned constituents can reach us a number of ways. We were receiving between 600 and 800 calls each day at 1-833-440-0420. They can use the automated features but if they can’t get what they need or if they want to speak to a person, they can do so by pressing zero twice We have staff who are available during business hours and endeavor to respond to voice messages within 24 hours.

If your constituent was denied for assistance or otherwise encountered barriers with their application, they can file an appeal here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/AlaskaHousing/AlaskaHousingRentReliefAppeals.
I’m your contact if you’d like me to look into any Alaska Housing matters and I’m always happy to do so.

Our program website, https://www.alaskahousingrelief.org/, includes opportunities for those who didn’t apply to sign up on our waitlist or get information about the mortgage relief program when that becomes available.

Senator Kiehl asked about the Emergency Vouchers that target those who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness; fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability. We don’t have more information on that at this time but I’ll follow-up with an update when we do.

Sincerely,

Stacy [Barnes]

All my best,

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Events & Happenings Around District Q

Did Juneau it’s 4^th of July weekend?

Well, now you do, so check out all the fun things to do! From concerts, field events, fireman’s races, fireworks, and parades (in both Juneau & Douglas), to soapbox derbies, there’s something for everyone this weekend!

Juneau Concert at the Marina

Can't wait 'till the 4th of July? The Juneau Community Bands can't either! Join them at Marine Park July 3rd for all their parade tunes!

Juneau Treadwell History Walk

The Juneau-Douglas City Museum has Treadwell Mine complex tours led by local historian Jim Geraghty. Only 3 chances, starting July 18th, so don't miss out!

Juneau Town Hall

Reps. Story, Hannan, & I are hosting a town hall July 7th, at JDHS from 5:30 - 7:00 pm

Skagway 4th of July

Celebrate Independence in the Garden City with a parade, games for all ages, and the annual duck derby! The theme is "Together We Can" Here's the in-depth schedule so you don’t miss a beat!

Skagway coloring the world

with reading!

Summer doesn’t always mean being outside. The Summer Reading Program is good both indoors and out! Log your reading and submit the results for a chance to win monthly prizes through mid-August or participate in these youth activities up until school starts!

Skagway Town Hall

Rep. Hannan & I are hosting a town hall July 10th, at the AB Hall from 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Haines 4^th of July

Great Scott! The Haines 4^th of July theme is Back to the Future! – The parade starts at 12:30 pm and festivities will continue at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds. It’ll be 1.21

gigawatts of fun!

Haines Chilkat Challenge

Something about the Chilkat makes physical events a norm - join the Chilkat Challenge Triathlon July 10 for a 35-mile tour!

Haines Fair Happenings

The Southeast Alaska State Fair is back! It’ll look a little different than previous years but the fun is still the same—there will be exhibits, parades, logging shows, live music and much more!

Haines Town Hall

Rep. Hannan & I are hosting a town hall July 9th, at the American Legion Hall from 6:00 - 7:00 pm

Gustavus Pies

Yippee Pie-yay! Pie for yo ur Independence Day breakfast! Get some local treats from your friends and neighbors and maybe a t-shirt, too. Don't miss this 4th of July tradition!

Gustavus Town Hall

Rep. Hannan & I are hosting a town hall July 11, at the Gustavus Community Center from 4:00 - 5:00 pm

Klukwan Book Check

Every book checked out at the library gets you a chance to win “Traditional Food Guide” from the Klukwan SEARHC Health Promotion!

Klukwan Town Hall

Rep. Hannan & I are hosting a town hall July 8th, at the Hospitality House *Tentatively* from 5:00 - 6:00 pm