Biden Bucks are Coming to Town
We’re less than a month from the regular legislative session. The governor released his new budget proposal last week and he definitely remembered it’ll be an election year. Suddenly, funding for programs he's repeatedly vetoed for are at the top of his priority list.
He’s trying to have it both ways: jingling the notion of finally funding services Alaskans need while jangling the package as 'decreased government spending.' But the fact is, you can’t do something for nothing. The budget is actually an increase over last year, by more than 100 million in state funds.
Don’t get me wrong, we ought to stop skimping on our state. This budget offers some good things—fully funding school bond debt and the rural school fund, boosting funding for Medicaid, rural public safety, community assistance, and more. The ferry budget, using almost 100% federal dollars, pitches significantly increased service. The boats would run whenever they’re not getting needed maintenance or overhaul.
But this is not a sustainable budget. It relies on a brief spike in oil prices we can’t count on to last. It also counts on a huge influx of federal dollars through both the pandemic relief bills and President Biden's infrastructure bill. That money will do a lot of good, but it won't last forever. If we just pass this budget (which also adds hundreds of millions for bigger PFDs,) we’d set Alaskans up for massive budget cuts the next year. The one after the election.
We can use the federal windfall and quick hit of oil income to build a bridge to a stable future for our state. The governor's budget misses that opportunity, so the legislature has some fixing to do.
