Dunleavy Lays Out Hopes for Year Ahead

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Category: State News

Created on Wednesday, 26 January 2022 16:02

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By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy laid out an optimistic vision of the state’s future Tuesday during an election year address to lawmakers that comes amid a period of higher oil prices and follows a year that was marked by drawn-out, bruising legislative sessions. 

The Republican, giving his fourth State of the State speech since taking office in late 2018, said he envisioned a state that is a leader in renewable energy, with energy costs among the lowest in the U.S. He also wants Alaska to finally develop its vast stores of natural gas on the North Slope — something policy makers have pursued for decades only to have plans scrapped, stalled or hit dead ends.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers his State of the State speech before a joint session of the Legislature in the House Chamber Tuesday at the state Capitol. Standing behind him are Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, and House Speaker Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak. (Photo by Klas Stolpe)

He did not go into great detail on how those could be realized. But he told lawmakers there was a “great obligation” to come together around policies that would solve long-standing issues and create opportunities for generations. 

Dunleavy has had an at-times rocky tenure, marked by fights with lawmakers over the budget and the annual check paid to residents from the earnings of the state’s oil-wealth permanent fund. He called for settling the dividend issue. 

Debate over the size of the check has overshadowed other issues in recent years. Legislative leaders have said they want a long-term resolution to the debate, too, but an agreement so far has been elusive.

Under a redistricting plan that is the subject of litigation, 59 of the Legislature’s 60 members face election this year. Dunleavy faces reelection too. 

In his speech, Dunleavy touted his administration’s handling of the pandemic, citing such things as testing and vaccine distribution efforts and efforts to help shore up the healthcare workforce. He has long said that vaccination is a personal decision. 

“My administration’s job is to make sure our healthcare system is strong and you have the tools available for you to take care of yourself,” he said.

The administration has joined efforts nationally to fight federal vaccine mandates. 

Dunleavy has faced criticism on both sides for his approach to the pandemic — by some who say he hasn’t done or said enough and from others who have accused the administration of pushing vaccines. Republican Rep. Christopher Kurka, who is running for governor, has posted a petition calling for the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, to be fired, citing in part her support of vaccines. Dunleavy last week said he stood by Zink.

Oil prices in recent months have been at among their highest levels during Dunleavy’s administration. Prices have been in the upper $80-a-barrel range; this time last year, they were around $55 a barrel.

But Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, an Anchorage Democrat, said building a budget “on the stock market and the volatile price of oil is not a sustainable plan for our next generation.” Begich has argued the state needs new revenues. 

Begich, in a statement, also took issue with Dunleavy’s criticism of the Biden administration. 

Dunleavy has been at odds with the federal administration on some resource development issues and in his speech, Dunleavy said the administration had shown “hostility” toward the state. 

Begich said Dunleavy failed to acknowledge “the impact of the billions of dollars brought in by the Biden Administration, which has assisted in our ability to address the pandemic, rebuild our infrastructure, and frankly, address our deficit.” 

Senate President Peter Micciche, a Soldotna Republican, said a message he heard in the speech was that “an election year is not an excuse for inaction.” Dunleavy urged lawmakers to prove wrong Alaskans who think nothing will get done because this is an election year. 

Micciche told reporters he hopes to see “more of a team effort” this year between lawmakers and the Dunleavy administration. 

“I perhaps wear a pair of rose colored glasses, that when someone stands in front of a mic and talks about a vision, that they mean it,” he said. “The test is going to be, how serious is that vision and is the administration going to put the work in on being here in this building for the next 90 days, guiding us through and working with us. Those big pieces don’t move by themselves. You can’t drop a bill and have it magically pass.”

New Election System In Alaska Is Outlined

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Category: State News

Created on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 14:59

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By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a unique new system that scraps party primaries and uses ranked choice voting in general elections.

The Alaska Supreme Court last week upheld the system, narrowly approved by voters in 2020. 

It calls for an open primary in which all candidates for a given race appear on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation, followed by ranked voting in the general election. No other state conducts its elections with this combination, which applies to both state and federal races.

Supporters hope the new system will help ease partisan rancor and encourage civility and cooperation among elected officials. Critics worry it will dilute the power of political parties, or that minor party candidates will get drowned out. Some are skeptical, too, that the system will work as intended.

A sponsor of the initiative, independent former state lawmaker Jason Grenn, has said Alaska is a test case for similar efforts being considered in Nevada and elsewhere. 

Here is a closer look at what’s happening in Alaska:

HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?

In the past, the winners of each party’s respective primary advanced to the general election. 

Under the new system, there will be one ballot, available to all registered voters, with each candidate in a given race. The top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, head to the general election. Voters in the general election then can rank candidates by order of preference.

A consensus winner is selected if no one wins more than 50% of the first choices. 

Another change: Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will team up at the outset. Previously, candidates for each office ran separately for the primary, and the winners of each party primary were paired for the general election.

Maine uses ranked voting for state-level primary elections, and for federal offices only in general elections. 

Ranked voting is also used in a number of cities for local elections, including New York.

WHICH RACES ARE AFFECTED IN ALASKA?

All state and federal races are subject to the new rules. That includes this year’s races for U.S. Senate, Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, its governor and lieutenant governor posts and legislative seats. 

Some have seen the system as potentially helping Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has a reputation as a moderate and has at times been at odds with Alaska party leaders, including in her criticism of former President Donald Trump.

Murkowski lost her party primary to a tea party candidate, Joe Miller, in 2010 but won the general election with a write-in campaign. She won her primary easily in 2016, the year Trump was elected. 

Trump has backed Republican Kelly Tshibaka for this year’s Senate race, and Tshibaka has been endorsed by state party leaders.

Murkowski, in announcing her reelection bid in November, said the strength she offers is that “for me, it has always been about reaching out to all Alaskans,” not just Republicans. She said she hopes one outcome of the system is that candidates might be more civil toward one another. 

WHY DO THIS?

Scott Kendall, an attorney who helped write the Alaska ballot initiative, said the new system gives voters choices. The reason for ranked voting is to avoid “distorted” outcomes, he said.

If there were four candidates under the prior system, “you can imagine someone winning with 28% of the vote and being a very extreme individual because three moderates over here divvied up the rest of the vote,” Kendall said.

“You don’t want a situation where you get a candidate far outside the norm because a small group supported them. So it’s to get that moderate candidate — prevent the parties from being kind of an artificial gatekeeper to our choices,” he said. 

The hope is that more work gets accomplished, particularly in the state Legislature, he said.

The system was unsuccessfully challenged by a group that included Anchorage attorney Kenneth Jacobus; Scott Kohlhaas, a Libertarian who made a failed bid for state House in 2020; Bob Bird, chair of the Alaskan Independence Party; and Bird’s party. 

They argued, in part, that candidates for minor parties will “get lost in the shuffle” of names on the ballot. They also said the open primary forces parties to accept candidates they “may or may not want.”