Two years ago this week, when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state budget with a heavy dose of vetoes, I wrote in this space: “Dunleavy has not offered a clear financial or policy plan for the state or a vision for Alaska’s future. Constantly yapping about the Permanent Fund Dividend seems to be the only part of his job that he has mastered.”

At that time, Dunleavy was under the influence of Tuckerman Babcock and Donna Arduin, confident that Alaskans wanted to cut every state service to reduce spending by close to $1 billion.

“We can’t kick the can down the road, because we’re running out of road,” he predicted. “And so next year, it’s our goal to complete this process and completely close this gap so that Alaska can put this behind us and get on with um, growing our private economy, adding jobs to the economy, adding new industry, et cetera, et cetera.”

“These vetoes should not come as a surprise to Alaskans as they have been part of our proposal since February,” he said on June 28, 2019.

The major cuts that Dunleavy made to the University of Alaska, to schools, to Medicaid and the ferry system energized the recall campaign. Dunleavy, Babcock and Arduin misjudged their audience. and can kicking ensued.

The usual tools of political persuasion in Alaska could not get Dunleavy to back off the course he set in early 2019, leaning on Arduin for guidance in cutting services.

This was the occasion at which Arduin introduced herself to Alaska by frequently talking about “our” fiscal problems and declaring, “The cost to transport a vehicle on a state highway is about 2 cents per mile, where it’s about $4.58 per mile on a ferry.”

“We’re here to solve our problems, not to ask Alaskans to do it for us,” she said, touching on the plan to gut the University of Alaska, K-12 schools and Medicaid, while sending 500 prisoners out of state and getting rid of the ferry system.

To its credit, the Legislature rejected almost everything proposed by Dunleavy and Arduin.

The single tool of political persuasion that worked was the Dunleavy recall. It led to the removal of the former temporary budget director and Babcock and the reversal of most of the vetoes.

The recall drive is stalled now—stopped by former AG Clarkson’s machinations and the pandemic. It makes little sense to push it before the 2022 election.

There is no reason to allow Dunleavy to tap into the unregulated mountain of cash he can raise to fight a recall and use that essentially to extend his re-election campaign. His support group is trying to paint him as a victim who needs right-wing cash to keep from being canceled.

Dunleavy invented a story that the budget cuts he announced two years ago and the vetoes he made to carry them out and his reversal of the vetoes were all part of starting a “conversation” with Alaskans.

"You don't get to this point unless you veto," Dunleavy said after the recall forced him to retreat in 2019 “You don’t get the conversations that we’ve had . . . unless you veto.”

On Wednesday, Dunleavy signed the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but he refused to release a copy of the budget showing what he had vetoed. That will happen Thursday, he said.

He will probably mention the need for conversations when he reveals his vetoes.

What I wrote two years ago remains true: Dunleavy has not offered a clear financial or policy plan for the state or a vision for Alaska’s future. Constantly yapping about the Permanent Fund Dividend seems to be the only part of his job that he has mastered.

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