Weekly Star Editorial for February 12, 1998

From: Representative Fred Dyson
Toll Free: (800) 342-2199

This legislature is inundated and on the edge of being overloaded with very significant issues that beg if not demand solutions.

Subsistence – I serve on the Resources Committee. We are working very hard, and hopefully smart, to craft a solution that:

• precludes a further takeover of the management of our fish and game by the Federal Government and one that minimizes the impact of Federal Court oversight,
• preserves the integrity of our State Constitution, particularly the equal access, common use, and public trust doctrines.

This is a delicate balance. Any solutions we put forth will be tested by years of law suits. We hope that the solution(s) is sufficient to stay the Federal takeover scheduled for December this year. Most of the people in our area will be unaffected, unless they are precluded from fishing and hunting because another group of people has been given a privileged position or, if Federal mismanagement ruins our abundance of fish and game. In addition, the Native people living in our area are concerned about being automatically cut off from resources by the Governor’s Subsistence plan. Lastly, some purists, like myself, feel that the Alaska Constitution is an excellent document that should be altered only with the greatest care.

Child Protection – It is a great tragedy that two children should have to die and others suffer rape and horrendous battering before we wake up and start looking at the problems. We have been working over time this session to rewrite the child protection statues beginning with the work done by the Governor’s Child Protection Review Team. Since 1992, the predisposition of the State has been to preserve the family as the first priority. The new statutes will make providing a safe, permanent, nurturing home for the child as the first priority. In Alaska, over 70% of the child abuse and neglect cases involve profound alcohol and drug abuse problems. We have had very limited success at getting those parents to avail themselves of resources to get straight and sober. In the meantime, the children have suffered. For those of you who are interested, we will send you drafts of the proposed legislation and try to keep the latest version posted on our web page. The codes and drafts are difficult to understand without looking at the context in Alaska’s law books which are available at the library. Please keep us posted on your views and reactions.

Budget - With oil prices hovering below $14 per barrel, we are going have another large deficit this year. Based on the Governor’s proposed budget, we are looking at over $192.2 million in FY98 and $513.8 million in FY99. The Republican-led Majority is trying to stay on track with our commitment to balance the budget in five years. We have cut approximately $130 million over the last two years, but it is increasingly difficult to find good places to reduce. The Governor has forbidden all state workers to help us find the fat or streamline processes; we, in the legislature, cannot control exactly how he spends the money, only how much. In addition, the state has significant matching funds that we must appropriate to get Federal funding; there are always attached regulations.

This whole scenario approaches the absurd when the Governor submits a budget which INCREASES spending by $102 million on NEW PROGRAMS!!! This is particularly difficult for me because there may be some areas, like child protection, where we may need to increase funding.

Keep in touch! I hope to see many of you at the Legislative Town Meeting this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the conference room above Garcia’s (11901 Business Blvd., Eagle River).

Representative Dyson represents Chugiak and Eagle River. He can be reached by phone, (800) 342-2199 or (907) 465-2199; by mail, State Capitol Building, Room 428, Juneau, AK 99801; or via the Internet, Representative_Fred_Dyson@legis.state.ak.us