The 29th Alaska State Legislature convenes Jan. 19 with lawmakers tackling the state’s $3.5 billion deficit. Democrat Sam Kito III represents the Upper Lynn Canal and part of Juneau in the Alaska House of Representatives. He says the biggest hurdle this session is going to be the state’s current financial situation. But he’s still optimistic that Haines and Skagway will be taken care.
He says the $1 million in Gov. Bill Walker’s proposed budget for the wastewater treatment facility in Haines is likely safe from the chopping block.
“As the No. 1 project on the municipal water and sewer list, I think there’s a pretty good chance that project will stay,” said Kito from Anchorage last week.
He called the governor’s budget plan courageous. He says, like most lawmakers, he supports some ideas and questions others.
“Some of the issues that I’m concerned about are, first of all, the $100 million in cuts and taking pretty much all of the early childhood education money out of the Department of Education gives me a great concern. I think the biggest thing we can do for the future of our state is provide for the education of our children. And one of the biggest things we can do that has been shown to have positive effects is implementing early childhood education.”
Gov. Walker’s proposed budget includes a plan to restructure to the Permanent Fund. Kito says that too raised some concerns.
“There is some question in my mind about how the switch of the dividend from the permanent calculation to the royalty calculation is sustainable, so I’d like to see some numbers on that. I also have a concern about the amount of revenue the governor is anticipating from the sovereign wealth fund. It seems like a lot of money to come out of our Permanent Fund.”
Kito says he believes that ultimately a revenue stream will come out of Permanent Fund earnings, but probably not as much as the governor anticipates.
With more cuts on the way for the Department of Transportation’s maintenance and operations – which includes ferry operations and winter road maintenance – Kito says he has concerns about the continuation of large-scale megaprojects. Developments like the Ambler road project, the Juneau Access Project and several more were halted by Walker last year but have since started eking forward again toward licensing and environmental impact statements.
“If we increase the amount of infrastructure, we’re increasing the maintenance obligation for the departments. And to do that while those departments are still being pressured to decrease their operational costs, I think the math there doesn’t work out for me. If you have more responsibility and less money that just means you’re going to be spread that much thinner.”
As for the Alaska Marine Highway System, Kito says he would like to see a strategic planning effort from the DOT that would identify a basic level of service.
“It is very important to Southeast and especially to the Northern Lynn Canal, so I do think it’s one of those things that we need to work really hard at supporting, maintaining and not taking apart,” he said. “If the department had a goal and was working toward making a cost-recovery level of 40 or 50 percent, which is has in the past, then that actually creates general fund savings for the state.”
Kito says finding a resolution to the fiscal state is not only the biggest challenge, it’s also the component he’s most looking forward to. He says it’s the most important thing legislators can do for Alaskans.
