Lisa Murkowski Addresses The Nation TODAY
Alaska Governor Bill Walker Finishes A Week Facing Falling Oil Prices
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Governor Walker Edited from 'Alaskanomics' by Katie Bender. Governor Bill Walker (NGP Photo) presented his State of the Budget speech to the Legislature on Thursday night. This was one night after the State of the State speech that he presented to open the Legislative session. He said, “…it will not be easy, but we will manage Alaska out of the fiscal challenges facing our state.” The budget challenge is well known to the Legislature, the Administration and industry leaders. The public is beginning to become more aware of the scope of the hardship facing Alaska. State revenue is down because of the significant drop in oil prices that Alaska has seen over the last half of 2014. Walker pledged to work to fix government and the budget gap. Walker outlined his plan for long-term and short-term solutions and asked the Legislature to aid in solving the problems that lie ahead. He concluded by noting that the State must reduce spending which will affect contractors and associated work forces. He said he will look to the private sector to pick up slack from a reduction in workforce due to changes in government spending. Walker started the reduction in spending in his own department. He cut the administration by 11 percent and his staff is the smallest it has been in 15 years. He asked his departments to follow his lead and do more with less. Walker said he has, “…stopped discretionary spending on mega projects, taken steps to reduce municipal revenue sharing, and asked his commissioners to develop plans for cutting their departmental budgets by five to eight percent in the short-term and up to 25 percent in the long-term.“ After the speech, the Legislature received documents revealing Walker's approach to the budget including the budget overview and summary documents. The media received the same information later that night. For a complete transcript of the Governor’s State of the Budget speech, visit HERE. Our readers can also watch the speech on KTVA television, HERE. |
Senator Murkowski
GOP Weekly Address: 'It's Time We Embrace The Opportunities Before Us'
ABC News Radio January 24, 2015.
Read the full transcript of today's Republican address:
Hello. I’m Senator Lisa Murkowski (NGP Photo) of Alaska. This past week, President Obama, in his State of the Union address, laid out his plans for America. And as part of his speech, he called on Congress to pass an infrastructure bill that will create jobs and make our nation stronger for decades to come.
I welcomed that message, and the fact is, we’ve already started. For over two weeks now, the Senate has been working hard on a bipartisan bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. This important infrastructure project will support thousands of jobs. It would carry both American and Canadian oil, in the cleanest and safest way, and help keep energy affordable for American families.
After more than 2,300 days of presidential indecision, it’s important for us to act. The world is watching to see whether the United States is willing to lead as a global energy superpower that respects its neighbors, trades with its allies, and builds needed infrastructure. I believe we are ready for that role – and our leadership can start with the approval of Keystone XL.
The new Republican congress you elected has only been in office a few weeks now, but already we’ve made important strides towards making congress function again and getting Washington back to work. We’re fulfilling the promises made in the recent elections, and considering legislation in an open and a transparent manner where both Republicans and Democrats can offer their ideas.
Now, here’s an interesting fact: more amendments were voted on in the Senate just this past week, than were voted on during all of 2014. Our approach to this energy infrastructure bill is one that allows members from both parties – and every state – the chance to have their voices heard.
Once Congress approves the Keystone XL pipeline with bipartisan support, we will have an opportunity to put forth additional energy solutions that will grow our economy and help hardworking Americans.
We are focusing on energy because it is vital to our prosperity, and a strategic asset that we can use to assist our allies and trading partners. It is in our interest to continue making our energy abundant, affordable, clean, diverse, and secure. And I am confident we can reach those goals by strengthening our supply, modernizing our infrastructure, supporting energy efficiency, and ensuring federal accountability.
As Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I will do my best to ensure the Senate approves broad energy legislation this year. The last time that happened was in 2007. That was a time of scarcity, but America is now producing more energy than ever before. We’ve seen firsthand that American supply matters to global prices – and the only question now is whether we’re going to take the steps necessary to keep energy affordable.
We can start by looking to Alaska, where we have tremendous amounts of oil just waiting to be produced. We have prolific resources in our National Petroleum Reserve and offshore. If we also unlock just a fraction of the non-wilderness portion of ANWR, we could bring about a huge range of economic benefits. Some may consider this controversial, but it really is not. Even the head of the Alaska Democratic Party wrote a piece this week, urged that it be opened. It’s time we embrace the opportunities before us.
Republicans have a positive agenda that will help create jobs, keep energy affordable, and increase our security. Over the next two years, it is our hope that President Obama will be a partner in our efforts, and that he will start by finally approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
Thank you for listening.
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