Like most Alaska lawmakers, Juneau Rep Sam Kito III is worried about the impacts of shrinking state budgets. He’s especially concerned about funding for schools, police and basic services.
Kito is entering his first full legislative session, after filling in for most of last year. He was appointed last February to fill the House District 32 seat vacated by Rep. Beth Kerttula, who left for an academic position.
He represents downtown Juneau, Douglas Island, Haines, Skagway, Gustavus, and Excursion Inlet in northern Southeast. That’s a change from last year, when the district included Petersburg, but not some of its current communities.
The Democrat is one of the newer, though not the newest, members of the House minority caucus. That limits his impact on legislation and budgets. But he still has plenty of plans for this year’s session.
“My goals are to make sure that we prioritize education, public safety, health care, that we take care of our essential infrastructure, that we make sure we are able to maintain the infrastructure we have before we build new infrastructure,” he says.
Kito’s background as a civil engineer has him focused in part on state construction projects. He’s worried a drastic reduction in capital project spending will hurt Alaska’s next big revenue generator.
“I’d like to see the ability to sustain a construction industry to a point where when we have a very large project, the natural gas pipeline project, come in, that we are able to employ a lot of people who are living here in Alaska and not have to import people from the Lower 48,” he says.
That said, he supports the governor’s freeze on Southeast’s biggest project, a road north from Juneau to a ferry terminal closer to Haines. He also worries about other big projects that involve new construction.
Instead, he wants available state funds spent on maintaining and improving basic services for communities, including those in his district.
“Gustavus is looking for some broadband support. Skagway and Juneau are looking for water and sewer support. Haines is looking for solid-waste support,” he says. “So, basic infrastructure that really helps our lives be healthy and safe.”
Many of Kito’s constituents work for the state or government-funded programs. He says too many cuts could contribute to a crash.
“If we only balance the budget or significantly decrease the budget based on cuts to state employee programs or state employees, we’re going to see a lot of people out of work. Those people (then) are not contributing to the economy and we could end up in an economy tailspin,” he says.
Kito is introducing or co-sponsoring several pieces of legislation this year.
One, co-sponsored by fellow Juneau Rep. Cathy Muñoz, would designate the capital city’s Wickersham House as the lieutenant governor’s residence.
“It’s really a matter of trying to bring a highlight to a historic building in Juneau and the lieutenant governor can host events at the facility and it helps preserve the history of the facility for the community,” he says.
The house was once home to James Wickersham, a federal judge, member of Congress, attorney and explorer. The same bill passed last year, but was part of a package that was vetoed.
Kito’s also introduced legislation that would increase the requirements for some government contracts including architectural, engineering and land surveying services.
“My belief really is that if you select design professionals based on qualifications, you get efficiencies in design and you can actually save costs on projects,” he says.
He says the legislation was proposed by professional organizations.
Kito is also among six sponsors of a bill to encourage pre-kindergarten programs in public elementary schools.
*Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said Tenakee Springs was in Rep. Kito’s district. It’s actually in Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ district.
