Senate Finance Testimony 3-9-2016
Thanks to Chairman’s Kelly & McKinnon and the rest of the committee for hearing the voices of Alaskans. I am going to quickly say a few things about my submitted testimony that you all will find in your e-mail boxes and look forward to hearing from You on. The complexities of the operating budget make any 1-2-3 solutions all but impossible. With the looming economic issues that are sure to arise out of oil industry downsizing, fish market gluts and above inflation government sector growth all play into Alaska’s Future. What can the Legislature do about this?
I want to urge you folks to sharpen your pencils and ulus when looking at where the operating budget can be trimmed or restructured to reduce waste and slush spending. Looking to develop revenue through new fees, taxes and PFD formulas does nothing but extend the unsustainable budgeting practices that have been so prevalent in the State of Alaska for much of the past decade. The State Constitution is clear about the role of government in Alaska.
““the pursuit of happiness” for We The People is not defined as having to pay Taxes that reduce “the enjoyments of the rewards of their own industry” so that Our government continues to grow.”
If We don’t address this promptly and properly, the slide may become too fast and then We really will have a mess to clean up. So, tune out the big dollar special interest groups and listen to Alaskans when they say that the cuts have to be found and the spending constrained. The path We are on now is not sustainable by any stretch of the definition.
Tomorrow the Senate is going to start committee hearings on Governor Walker’s bill that aims to cap and tap the Permanent Fund in order to cover for fiscal shortfalls in his submitted budget plans… Alaskans across the scope of politics and socio-economic standing are speaking out against this and the other bills in the docket because they also realize that the State of Alaska must cut back it’s spending just like We as Alaskans have to do. So, when you’re considering line-items in this budget, make sure of two things… will this budget lend itself to developing an even leaner version next go around and is it something that is defined as a necessity for Public Safety and General Welfare? I hope that you all are hearing the voices of Alaskans when they say that You have to Protect The PFD.
Considerations:
Requesting the State to get to $4.2B for FY2017 then down to $4.0 in FY2018 and eventually to $3.8 in FY2019
1. Why is DOT administrating police and fire at the airports? Shouldn’t all public safety functions fall under the Dept. of Public Safety to reduce duplicate efforts and costs?
2. The VPSO program costs us $214000 per officer because of added administrative costs that do not go to the actual performance of the duties. A restructuring of the VPSO program can save millions annually.
3. No more funding of vacant positions like the 80 within the Alaska Department of Public Safety that cost over $6Million annually.
4. Channeling any funds into a gas line project is a waste of time. We will not find a customer who is willing to pay 5 times the cost. We have to know what the market can bear and then adjust accordingly, putting the pipeline before the demand can only work if we can build it for half the price and take the majority interest in the output.
5. The University if Alaska needs to get onboard and start developing their land grants. They have to pull their own weight and they have the resources to do so.
Once again, thanks for the opportunity to share with you folks!
Submitted Respectfully,
Jon Corbett
Dillingham, Alaska
http://protectthepfd.com/index.html
