Finance committee trims $1.5 million in forward funding for statehood defense
The House Finance Committee took tentative steps to reduce forward funding for Outside attorneys for the statehood defense industry and cut two of the three new employees Attorney General Tregarrick Taylor wants to hire to handle investigative grand juries.
The decisions on amendments by Anchorage Rep. Andy Josephson, both approved 6-5, would save the state $1.8 million.
House Republicans, who wrap themselves in the state flag and are guaranteed to support any lawsuit against the federal government, will try to restore $300,000 for grand jury employees and $1.5 million in statehood defense money, even though the latter is not needed in the next fiscal year.
The Republicans are throwing public money at Outside lawyers and saying it’s proof that they are devoted to fighting for Alaskans.
The total cost of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s anti-overreach campaign, coordinated for $12,000 a month by Craig Richards, has already topped more than $6 million in the last three years.
But the Legislature has approved spending $11.5 million on the statehood defense industry. The important thing is that more than $5 million has not been obligated.
That’s more than enough extra cash to carry the lawsuit-happy Dunleavy administration until the 2025 Legislature.
Forward funding of the statehood defense industry for more than a year in advance is not necessary, regardless of what Dunleavy and Taylor have conned their legislative allies into thinking.
On Tuesday, Republican Reps. Will Stapp, Mike Cronk and Frank Tomaszewski competed for bragging rights to see who could claim to be the most disgusted with the federal government, itching for a knockdown fight with President Joe Biden.
They couldn’t help themselves in attacking the Great Satan, blinded by the simplistic anti-fed fervor that serves as a safe mental space for Republican politicians in Alaska, seeing no contradiction with their never-ending quest to get as much federal money as possible.
Stapp claimed the Biden administration wants to “depopulate” the Interior. Cronk said people in Fairbanks are not allowed to heat their homes because of the federal government.
They didn’t mention air quality or the long-term damage to the lungs of young children, those most at risk from air pollution or the subsidies handed out by the state and the feds to replace wood stoves.
“While I wish the federal government wasn’t in our life, unfortunately it really is,” said Cronk.
Tomaszewski said the state has to fight for the rights of the people of Alaska. “When those rights are infringed upon, we have to fight back,” he said
The House Republicans have paid no attention to the high-priced Outside contract attorneys hired by the Dunleavy administration. The state has lots of attorneys on the payroll who could sue the feds every day of the week without having to pay $600 an hour for Outside help.
Supporting the $1.5 million cut were: Reps. Andy Josephson, Alyse Galvin, Dan Ortiz, Neal Foster, Bryce Edgmon and Sarah Hannan.
Opposing the $1.5 million cut were: Reps. DeLena Johnson, Julie Coulombe, Stapp, Cronk and Tomaszewski.
The vote on the grand jury question was identical. The committee reduced the proposed $500,000 plan to $200,000. This was a good first step to stop the Dunleavy/Taylor effort to placate right-wing groups by creating a new office to handle investigative grand juries.
There is more to say on this, but we’ll leave that for another day.
Instead of hiring an attorney, paralegal and law office assistant, the $200,000 budget would provide only funds to hire an attorney to deal with grand juries.
Here is background on the issue and how the runaway Kenai grand jury led to this situation.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.
Write me at dermotmcole@gmail.com.