The Road Less Traveled
by
Dave Harbour
A path less taken….
A road more oft taken.
Yesterday’s editorial may seem like the writer has no empathy or regard for elected leaders.
Au contraire.
We have run for public office twice ourselves and lost twice. We know the dedication and loneliness required to enter the political arena. We appreciate the courage and focus and determination one musters to run for office. One appreciates the long hours of candidate work, the door-to-door, the fund raising, the volunteer coordination, the interviews and policy preparation.
While we never served, we can also appreciate the difficulty of looking across the table at a colleague and voting against his/her interest. We know it is easier to support the other person’s goals hoping yours will be supported, likewise. We know that, often, good-will is on the line.
And we understand the practical challenges of keeping a fragile, republican/democrat coalition majority singing off the same song sheet.
However, when year after year for over two decades, your University of Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research (i.e. ISER) warns you that the state budget is unsustainable, the time for collegial horse trades must end. So must the eternal desire of elected officials to be reelected. And if you say to constituents, “I will go to Juneau (or Washington, D.C.), if elected, and make sure we have a responsible, sustainable budget,” then don’t cast the required votes, you can understand how abandoned and let down your voters must feel.
We send soldiers, airmen and marines into harms way. When confronted with sacrificing life to save a comrade or win a battle, we expect the the young warrior to risk the sacrifice to accomplish the mission. Why then, should politicians and their constituents demand so little of themselves to preserve the economy and values for which our defenders would sacrifice life itself?
Yes, when an elected official encounters, “the times that try men’s souls,” personal courage, values and sacrifice merge into a clear fork in the road from the risk-free, familiar, friendly way. In the final analysis, we voters should expect both warriors and elected leaders to undertake the required risks to accomplish the common mission they both share: preserving the country’s constitution.
Take one path and save the state’s economy or take the other to save a horse trade, a friendship or a reelection.
Some will take the familiar path and some will choose the road less traveled.
Whichever road is taken now, know this: years hence remembering, it will have, “made all the difference.”
Ref: These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls, “The Crisis”, by Thomas Paine; The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost.
Proposing the best way but not the easy way to fiscal responsibility….
OP-Ed From NGP Reader: Rep. Lora Reinbold:
So, Where Are the Cuts? All Bark, No Bite
The data shows that little progress has been made towards reducing the size and cost of state government. Juneau seems to be in a hurry to change the cash flow that impacts the Permanent Fund in order to operate Big government. Unfortunately, many in the State Legislature are considering either a broad state income tax or reducing Permanent Fund dividends to maintain the status quo. But, before taking more money out of the people’s pockets, state government should first demonstrate the ability to operate efficiently, and deliver only the necessary services.
Some in the Alaska State Legislature would like you to believe that they achieved a 10% reduction in the Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) State Operating Budget and another 10% reduction in the pending FY17 Budget.
The problem is that the data from the Legislative Finance Division clearly refutes these big budget reduction claims. The accompanying chart, shows the total of only the Alaska State Agency Budgets (Data Source: http://www.legfin.state.ak.us) for the last three fiscal years and the pending FY17 proposals from the Governor, the House, and the Senate.
Legislative Finance data indicates FY16 spending on Agency Operations of $8.2B, including “supplemental” spending, for a 3.5% reduction from historically high FY15 levels. Also, FY17 is shaping up to be essentially unchanged from the FY16 spending of $8.2 billion. (Note that these figures are the cost of operating state agencies, and do not include the Statewide Operations, consisting of debt service, payments to retirement, and Fund Capitalization).
The data clearly illustrates that the core costs of state government have hardly changed.
Let’s not forget the State Capital Budget, because capital budgets contain a lot more than infrastructure projects for the state. The Governor’s proposed FY17 capital budget holds a wide range of appropriations including $32M for the purchase of the Anchorage LIO. It also contains a provision for taking the unexpended and unobligated balances from FY16 budget to use in FY17 instead of allowing them to be swept back into the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR). It is important to note, that capital projects often become part of big government operating costs.
By many measures, our state government is demonstrably too big and too costly.
Alaska spent per capita ($15,470), nearly three times the national average ($5,457) of total state expenditures in FY14, based on data reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation (Data Source: ttp://kff.org/other/stateindicator/per-capita-state-spending).
The common argument is simply, “Alaska is different.” Yes, but three times different?
A useful benchmark is to compare our current spending to previous budgets during frugal times when government operations were being delivered at a lower price.
The FY06 Operating Budget provides a solid benchmark as it predates the rapid rise in the price of oil, and revenue, that fueled bigger and bigger spending. In FY06, agency operations, including supplemental spending, were $5.24 billion (FY06). Using FY06 as a benchmark, and adjusting for inflation at 26% (Data Source: 2006-16 Consumer Price Index, Municipality of Anchorage) and then adjusting for a population increase from 675,000 to 738,000 (Data Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development) over the past 10 year period would suggest equivalent government services could be delivered for $7.2 billion. That’s $1 billion, or 12% lower than our current FY17 budget proposals in Juneau.
These simple benchmarks suggest that we can significantly reduce the cost of state government. We simply must have the will! The Governor should take the lead, with the assistance of the Legislature, to manage costs down, ensuring that state government is paying for only necessary services, and delivering those services at the lowest possible cost. A good first step would be a real 10% cut in total agency operating costs – this year.
If we keep funding big government by diminishing the wealth of the private sector, we will be diminishing key opportunities for current and future generations. The Permanent Fund has had decades of proven success with a healthy bonus in the form of a “dividend” for the people. The fund was intended to protect the State of Alaska, and provide for future generations. It is not right to disregard that protection by changing the plan and denying future opportunities simply because the government can’t control spending today.
I will not support broad revenue generating proposals that penalize the private sector and hardworking Alaskans. Neither will I support changing the cash flow of the Permanent Fund, nor spending from the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve until a significant reduction in spending is achieved.
Are we going to continue our Denali-Sized spending while depleting our savings?Alaskans need to speak up and demand substantially lower budgets BEFORE accepting a plan that implements a state income tax or restructures the Permanent Fund cash flow.
If we don’t fix government NOW there will be no motivation, and no sense of urgency to reduce spending in the future, because government will have the keys to the treasury! In other words, Big government will continue to eat away at the wealth of Alaska. Now is the time to mandate a more responsible and efficient State Government in order to secure a brighter future for Alaskans!
Representative Lora Reinbold
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