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Alaska: Lawmakers meeting in Juneau fall short of budget veto override, another vote planned; Dunleavy Signs Narrow Capital Budget, Urges Legislature to Complete Unfinished Business and Find Adequate Funding Sources By MARY KAUFFMAN - (SitNews) Alaska - Rather than attending the special session in Wasilla as called by Governor Michael Dunleavy, 38 legislators chose to meet in Juneau and today held a joint floor session of the House and Senate. With a 37-to-1 vote, these Alaska legislators voted to reject the governor's "damaging, poorly vetted budget vetoes".

However with 22 legislative members in Wasilla where the Special Session was called to meet on Monday, the Juneau legislators' vote today failed to meet the constitutional 45-vote threshold required to override the governor's vetoes.

Senator Tom Begich (D-Anchorage) in a prepared statement said on Monday, “We do not work for the Governor. We represent the people of Alaska. It is unfortunate and disappointing that some lawmakers did not show up for work today. The Governor has created an unnecessary crisis when we should be focused on the future of this state and overriding these unnecessary vetoes. We must work together across caucus and party lines to do what is best for Alaska. Those of us who have come to Juneau, agree that the vetoes should be overridden. Our Capitol has the ability to conduct and conclude business cost-efficiently and is accessible to the statewide public. "

Begich called upon every lawmaker to come to Juneau and put politics aside. “There are three branches of government: the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. The leadership of our branch has issued a call to meet in Juneau, and we should respect the call of our leaders. Juneau is the location we are constitutionally obligated to have this special session.” Although the leadership acknowledged they were one vote short of the forty vote threshold required to call themselves into their own special session agenda.

Representative David Eastman (R-Wasilla) blogged on July 8th, "When a majority of legislators voted against distribution of this year’s PFD, and then followed up by voting to pay retroactive per diem to legislators, Governor Dunleavy responded by exercising his authority under state law to call them back into session in a location where most legislators are legally prevented from collecting per diem."

Eastman continued, "This same group of legislators immediately tried to gather the number of votes necessary to change the location of the legislative session back to a place where they would be authorized to continue to collect per diem ($302 per day). However, after falling short on multiple attempts, they eventually gave up trying to convince their fellow legislators to vote to change the location."

Governor Dunleavy called the legislature into a second special session on July 8th in Wasilla to pay a full statutory Permanent Fund Dividend and expanded the call to include a capital budget once the Legislature can resolve where it will conduct business.

Following legislative gridlock on the Permanent Fund Dividend throughout a 121-day regular session and month-long special session, Governor Michael J. Dunleavy on June 13, 2019 issued a proclamation calling the Alaska Legislature into special session to provide for a full PFD as outlined in Alaska statute. The special session proclamation called lawmakers into session in Wasilla beginning July 8, 2019.

 “While the legislature has avoided a no budget scenario, their work is not finished until they provide Alaskans with a full PFD outlined by statute. Today [June 13, 2019] I am calling a second special session in Wasilla so lawmakers can complete their work and follow the law,” said Governor Dunleavy. “At this point, a change in venue is necessary to refocus the conversation and remind lawmakers about the people and their PFD. Once the issue of the PFD is solved, these other budgetary issues will fall into place quickly.”

Wasilla Special Session protesters chained
in front of entrance door to Wasilla Middle School
Photo courtesy Defend the Sacred AK, Alaska Rising Tide, Fireweed Collective, Alaskans Take a Stand, Native Movement, and the Poor People’s Campaign

In June, Governor Dunleavy said, “Our focus has been on bringing the people and legislature together on the PFD. But instead of convening in Wasilla, legislative leadership is attempting to retreat back to Juneau. This move to negate the special session in Wasilla has no legal basis. A governor is clearly empowered to call a special session in a location of their choosing (AS 24.05.100).” Dunleavy said,  “The Senate President and Speaker of the House admit they lack the votes to change the venue or call a special session of their own, yet they are committed to thwarting the law and the voice of the Alaskan people. This is all part of why Alaskans have lost trust in their lawmakers. How can we with a straight face expect people to follow the law when the legislative leadership ignores, breaks, and skirts the law at every turn?”

However, on June 24th Alaska House and Senate leadership announced their intention to return to the isolation of Juneau for a second special session beginning July 8th. In a memo issued by the House Speaker and Senate President, legislative leaders stated that they planned to ignore the location on the governor’s call and instead convene away from the Mat-Su Valley although one vote short of the forty vote threshold required to call themselves into their own special session agenda.

Regardless, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (D to I-Dillingham) and Senate President Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage) stated in a joint news release dated June 24th, “Although we are one vote short of the forty vote threshold to call ourselves into our own special session agenda, the majority of legislators in both bodies considers it our right to determine the location and venue best equipped to conduct business on the Governor’s special session call, while providing the most access to as many Alaskans possible."

After the announcement House Minority Leader  Rep. Lance Pruitt (R-Anchorage) said, “The fact that legislative leadership plans to run away from the Mat-Su Valley back to their hiding places in Juneau is extremely illuminating.” Pruitt said, “The legislative leadership has already tried to have these conversations on the budget, PFD, and education in the dark back rooms of far-away Alaska; they haven’t found answers. Now, we should be having these conversations in full view of the public.”

Quoting an Alaska House Majority Coalition news release whose members chose to meet in Juneau rather than Wasilla, "Alaska is on the brink of a self-inflicted economic recession as a result of the $444 million in vetoes. Among the many impacts of the 182 vetoes, the University of Alaska could lose accreditation and be forced to close a campus. Payments that amount to more than 25 percent of income for hundreds of our most financially vulnerable elders have been suspended. Grants that pay service organizations to help dying people bathe, cook, and get to medical appointments have been suspended. All of those decisions could be reversed by the Legislature."

“The Legislature can still act to restore essential services, and we are committed to fighting until this is resolved,” House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham) said today. “These are not partisan decisions: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from the House and Senate voted together today. We must stand together for Alaska.”

According to the Alaska House Majority Coalition, legislators who were not in attendance in Juneau today for the vote to override the governor's vetoes will, however, have another opportunity to represent their districts by voting on this issue during a joint floor session that is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Apparently in Juneau.

Defend the Sacred AK, Alaska Rising Tide, Fireweed Collective, Alaskans Take a Stand, Native Movement, and the Poor People’s Campaign supported the Wasilla protesters. Quoting a news release, "Deeply concerned with Governor Dunleavy’s budget vetoes, Alaskans gathered today at Wasilla Middle School to protest the legislators' refusal to participate in a productive dialogue with their colleagues. Wasilla is an illegitimate, inadequate, and expensive meeting location for legislative activities, creating a political impasse instead of doing their job, representing Alaskans. Legislators need to return to Juneau to vote to override the vetoes."  - More...
Wednesday PM - July 10, 2019

Ketchikan: Man injured in motorcycle accident - Tuesday at about 4:11 PM, the Alaska State Troopers received multiple reports of a Motor Vehicle Collision involving a Motorcycle at Mile 3 of the South Tongass Highway. 

Investigation revealed that Robert Young, age 30 of Ketchikan was operating a blue 2007 Yamaha Motorcycle northbound on the South Tongass Highway when he lost control of the motorcycle, drove off the roadway striking a mailbox and then ultimately hitting a parked vehicle.  Young was trapped underneath the parked vehicle. 

South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department responded and was able to free Young from underneath the vehicle.  Young was transported to Peace Health Ketchikan Medical Center and later medevaced to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  Young was reported in stable condition but suffered serious injuries.  - More...
Thursday AM - July 11, 2019

Analysis: Roberts rules: The 2 most important Supreme Court decisions this year were about fair elections and the chief justice By MORGAN MARIETTA - The week before Independence Day, Chief Justice John Roberts gave the United States two extraordinary rulings on the nature of American democracy. Both cases are about fair elections, and both outcomes are all about John Roberts.

The first enshrines the partisan manipulation of voting districts, what’s called “gerrymandering,” as a practice beyond the control of the courts.

The second ruling challenged the Trump administration to speak openly about its views on citizenship and representation. The administration declined and departed the field abruptly on July 2. However, President Trump tweeted the next day that he is “absolutely moving forward” with the census citizenship question, so the controversy will continue.

A right to fair elections?

The text of the Constitution protects many rights, but voting in an election with fair rules is not one of them.

The two cases this year – on the census in Department of Commerce v. New York and on gerrymandering in Rucho v. Common Cause – challenged the Supreme Court to change this.

The justices did not.

From my perspective as a student of constitutional politics – and co-editor of an annual series on the Supreme Court’s major decisions – the cases are intimately connected.

The Constitution commands a count of the population every 10 years so that we can know how many representatives in Congress and votes in the Electoral College each state receives for the following decade.

Then those same data are used by each state to establish the new boundaries of its legislative districts. The data are also used to determine how much money the federal government sends states for a variety of mandated programs.

In 2021 the redistricting will happen again, there may be lawsuits in response, and so on. Count, redistrict, sue, vote, repeat.

This process of counting people and then dividing them into districts is the heart of how we turn the democratic ideal – representation of the people – into the selection of leaders through elections. But what that process should look like is anything but clear, because it raises problematic questions about who is represented and how. - More...
Thursday AM - July 11, 2019

CHRISTINE FLOWERS: About Men, Women, Interruptors and the Post-Woke Age - When a woman keeps talking over a man who refuses to listen and is trying to interrupt her, that is at most an annoyance and a breach of courtesy. If the woman and the man happen to be in a romantic or familial relationship, it is also grounds for some flowers and a nice dinner. It does not qualify the woman for a Bronze Star, the Nobel Prize in Physics (figuring out how to avoid a nuclear explosion,) or the Oprah Winfrey Seal of Approval.

Unfortunately, in the wake of "woke," we are to believe that a female who continues to yap in the face of a man she wants to slap is heroic. We saw this with Elizabeth Warren a few years ago, when she "persisted" in the face of Mitch McConnell's invocation of a little-used Senate rule cutting off her tirade against Jeff Sessions. The whole, "Nevertheless, she persisted" slogan became a battle cry for feminists who believed that far too much "shushing" had been going on when it came to the gentler sex. I remember thinking at the time that what Warren was doing was not particularly exceptional. In my family, we called that "being Italian."

But as #Metoo heated up and women became outraged at the perceived disregard for their opinions and stature, the whole idea that interrupting a gal (but not a guy) was harassment of a sexual nature. We in this evolved era incorrectly believe we are the only ones who have taken a stand against this cruel and humiliating treatment. One of the most famous examples of a woman pointing out to her significant male other that he needed to pay attention was our second First Lady, Abigail Adams, who famously instructed her husband John to "remember the ladies" when corresponding with him during the Continental Congress.

Many women today can't measure up to the strength and grit of Abigail and her class. They whine, they cry, they use the tools of victimization to advance their causes and agendas. Not all, of course. Some of them are quite capable of holding their own in a so-called "man's world," but we generally don't hear about them because instead of complaining about how they're being disrespected, they do the things that garner respect, like serving in the military, or in Congress, or in the ministry, or in science, or in business, or in the home. To paraphrase the old saying, "Those who can, do, those who can't become critics." Or in the case of these women, complainers. - More...
Thursday AM - July 11, 2019

TOM PURCELL: Humor the Cure for What Ails America - It's never too late for a good belly laugh.

July 1 was, unofficially, International Joke Day. The origins of the day are unclear, but whoever started it was on to something - because our country sure could use a good belly laugh about now.

Which reminds me of the man who walked into a dentist's office one evening.

"I think I'm a moth," said the man.

"I'm sorry," said the dentist. "But I can't help you. You need to see a psychiatrist."

"I am seeing a psychiatrist," said the man.

"Then why did you come to my office?" said the dentist.

"Your light was on," said the man.

I'm not sure where or when social media started making us more strident. But as we share ever-more-angry news posts that demonize those with whom we disagree, we are sacrificing our sense of humor.

"Then why did you come to my office?" said the dentist.

"Your light was on," said the man.

I'm not sure where or when social media started making us more strident. But as we share ever-more-angry news posts that demonize those with whom we disagree, we are sacrificing our sense of humor.

The political jokes of many late-night comedians appeal to half of the country as their snarky nature polarizes the other half - which means those jokes are sarcasm, not humor. - More...
Thursday AM - July 11, 2019

Political Cartoon: Census Question
By Rick McKee ©2019, The Augusta Chronicle, GA
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.