No chicken little, the sky is not falling: it only seems to be.

AuthorHarrington, Susan
PositionFROM THE EDITOR - Editorial

May Day! May Day! I remember writing about that a few years ago when Alaska was in jeopardy of losing big oil investments due to disagreeable taxation. That was eventually resolved at great cost, and investments started up again. Then the bottom fell out of the price of oil, so now we're faced with another problem: insufficient funds to carry on the way we were. We're still waiting to find out what's next in that realm from the Alaska Legislature.

The print deadline for the May issue is a few days before the end of session, so I can't comment on how it all ends because as I write this our elected leaders are still in Juneau legislating.

A few things could have dramatic consequences. There is a very real risk that 42,000 working adults will not have access to healthcare; 128,000 K-12 students will not be adequately funded in their public schools; thousands of miles of roads, rail, and runways will not be repaired or maintained; and 800 miles of natural gas pipeline will not get built--ever.

As of April 14 it's not looking too good for Medicaid expansion, public school funding, transportation spending, or pipeline consensus between the first session of the 29th Legislature and the governor.

April 14 stats in the table below are from the Legislature's website. It will be interesting to compare with the session's final stats. So far nothing had been signed, little had been passed, and a veto was threatened.

House Passed Senate Passed Totals Passed Intro Both Intro Both Intro Both Bills 196 5 108 2 304 7 Joint Resolutions 25 8 17 0 42 8...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT