I am a life-long Alaskan resident, veteran and registered voter. During the last two sessions of the legislature, I have to say that I am not pleased by some of the bills that were passed, but I don’t have the space to list them all. The one I disliked most is SB 21! The state is going to give bigger tax breaks to the Big Three, but I don’t see the good in it for Alaskans who own the oil. What did the oil companies have to promise for these huge tax cuts? Nothing; absolutely nothing! The state gets less revenue so the oil companies can get richer with no strings attached. That’s wrong. And to add insult to injury, Senator Micciche, an employee of ConocoPhillips, voted in favor of SB 21, which will benefit his employer greatly; however, the Senator does not believe his vote presented a conflict of interest! What a crock!
Fortunately, we have a chance to undo this bad bill by voting YES on Prop 1 on August 19.
A few other bad bills that ultimately failed include HB 77, which would have given too much power to DNR to make decisions on land and water use permits and severely limit public comment. It was nothing more than a power grab, and we said no, loudly, so the bill died in committee … for now. The attempt to change the Alaska Constitution to use public funds for private or religious schools didn’t go to the Senate floor for a vote, and rightly so. Public funds are for public education; end of story.
I don’t like where the majority in the legislature is trying to take our state so I am going to vote for Eric Treider for Senator. Over the last several months, I have gotten to know Eric, who is running against Peter Micciche, and I believe he is a decent and honest guy. Eric works in the oil service industry, but he will quit his job and work only for his constituents if he is elected. I like that; no conflict of interest. He isn’t taking money from any political party, business or group; just donations from people with a limit of $100. Some might think that hurts his chances. I disagree. In my opinion, it shouldn’t matter how much money someone has as long as the person is honest, willing to serve the constituents and not sell his/her vote to the highest bidder. I respect someone who is willing to run for office based on merit, and not on how much money he/she must raise to win. Eric has earned my trust and will get my vote. I would really like to see him get elected so he can go to Juneau and represent the people of this district instead of special interests.
