The Gift of Trouble

December 6, 2021

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope you and yours had a nice Thanksgiving. I was so grateful to spend time with family. There’s lots of holiday excitement ahead—check the events below!

The Gift of Trouble

It’s December and you know what that means: the governor’s budget proposal comes out soon! (That's what normal people get excited about at this time of year, right?) These days it's like a reverse holiday present: we hold our breath and hope it’s not too bad.

Governor’s Dunleavy’s first budget proposed decimating cuts. The next two made reductions that were painful, but not catastrophic. I don’t know what to expect from him this year. Our state agencies are understaffed and underfunded. They're having a tough time providing things Alaskans need—from quality education to basic services and infrastructure.

The state budget isn’t just ‘government spending.’ It’s an investment in Alaska. But since the Department of Revenue released a forecast in October of high oil prices for years to come, they're pretty much just gone down. So the governor's going to have a tough time proposing a budget that even balances without dangerously overdrawing the Permanent Fund—to say nothing of paying a huge PFD.

Reading a Hannukah story to Montessori Borealis children Friday.

Reading, Writing, & Citizenship

I got to spend a lot of time in classrooms recently. Alaska kids get so much from school: math, science, reading... Our schools also teach citizenship. That matters. A participatory democratic republic like ours would be doomed without educated, involved citizens.

I got to play a little part in that education last week. And I learned a lot, too! I spoke with high school government classes in Juneau and (by Zoom) Anchorage about the role of government and how Alaska's works. Or doesn't. My one complaint: they went way too easy on me in the Q&A. Who knew all those teenagers were such a polite bunch?

I also led a mock committee hearing with a UAS class of future school superintendents. It’s hard to sum up everything you want to say in two minutes. It's even tougher to do it in a formal setting like a legislative committee, then take questions. These future superintendents did a fine job—on a surprisingly broad range of topics.

In Skagway just before Thanksgiving, I had the honor of presenting a legislative citation honoring Kent Fielding. He’s the Drama, Debate, and Forensics coach and won 2020 coach of the year for his incredible work making a DDF season happen during the pandemic. Plus, at the recent tournament I helped judge in Juneau, some of his students' performances actually made me cry. Kent and his students make Southeast proud!

Still, the most fun was reading a Chanukah story to a pair of kindergarten classes. It's become one of my favorite holiday traditions. Sharing both the fun of Hanukah and the joy of reading with small people is always a blast. Plus, kindergarteners' boundless enthusiasm is contagious.

Mock committee hearing with UAS Prof. Mary Wegner and her class of future superintendents.

The Little Ferry That Couldn’t

We got reminded again this week how woefully inadequate and precarious our ferry service is these days. AMHS has known for weeks that the Matanuska wasn’t going to get out of the shipyard in time. On Thursday they started scrambling to cover a couple weeks' worth of her runs, though not always on the same days and times.

For those keeping score at home, we're three for three on years with a major schedule upset in the wintertime because of mechanical issues

Chaotic upheaval is the opposite of what the system needs. We switched over to a calendar year-based budget for ferries so Alaskans could plan ahead. That doesn’t do any good if we can’t keep to the schedule we publish. We’re particularly vulnerable in the winter when we have so few boats running that a single point of failure can throw everything into chaos.

We’ll get some help from the feds next year with the infrastructure bill. It may be possible to squander that once-in-a-generation opportunity by just replacing a few state bucks with federal dollars. Let's not. Instead, we should improve the frequency and reliability of the service Alaskans need.

Let’s Talk

It’s been great talking with folks around the district over the last month. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to come talk about your vision and ideas for our state.

I’ll be in Haines much of this week. I’ve got open office hours at Mountain Market on Wednesday from 11am to 1pm. I’ll have a town hall at the Haines school Wednesday night at 6pm. I hope to see you there!

I’ll close with what I told the students this week—get involved and stay involved. Government only works when we hear from citizens. The governor’s budget will lay out his vision for the coming year. What's yours?

All my best,

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Events & Happenings Around District Q

Juneau Holiday Symphony

Come out for some holiday cheer with the Juneau Symphony

on Dec. 11!

Juneau Helping Hands New Year

Support a great cause at this dinner, comedy show, and concert on Dec. 30!

Haines School Christmas Concert

Come listen to musicians in grades K-4 bring the holiday

joy on Dec. 9!

Juneau Winter Clothing Drive

You can drop off winter clothes through Dec. 15 to help our neighbors in need.

Haines Holiday Parade

On Dec. 11, come check out the parade down Main St. and join the holiday fun!

Skagway Ornament Paintings

On Mondays & Saturdays until Dec. 18 you can come paint your own clay ornament! They’re made in Skagway, and you can take a kit to paint at home if you prefer.

Skagway Book Sale &

Cookie Exchange

On Dec. 11, come to the library for books and cookies! It doesn’t get much better than that.