by Representative Tiffany Zulkosky
This past week, I voted to pass and fund a bipartisan operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2022 that will meet the needs of Alaskans across the state, in communities urban and rural, large and small. These compromise budgets fund critically-important State programs that protect and hold our rural communities together, a robust $1,100 dividend that does not threaten the State’s ability to pay dividends to future generations of Alaskans, and makes the largest investments in Alaska’s capital infrastructure in recent years.
Unfortunately, at the urging of the Governor, the House minority voted against full funding of the budget and its effective date. This means the dividend is only partially funded at $525, roughly 85,000 Alaskans that depend on the Power Cost Equalization program will likely see their energy costs increase as early as July, and countless infrastructure programs will be put on hold.
Later this week, ignoring 40 years of legal precedent and in an attempt to gain political leverage, the Governor announced that he will decline to sign the bill into law and risk a government shutdown that will put Alaska families, businesses, and communities at risk.
Budgeting can be an abstract process, but the effects budgets have on Alaskans’ lives are real. Although the exact programs that could be impacted by a shutdown of State government are being evaluated, in the YK Delta it could mean impacts to wastewater and sanitation projects for communities without running water, public safety and VPSOs, senior benefits payments for our elders, fisheries management services, and potential closure of many more essential services that support our families and ways of life.
The budget passed by the Legislature every year represents the input of 60 people representing different political ideologies, different parts of the state, and different backgrounds. I do not believe this year’s budget is perfect, nor should it be the norm going forward.
Alaska must do better in addressing the deep structural inequities that we have in our state, from public safety and social services, to economic development and infrastructure. However, this budget was the product of collaboration and compromise between both bodies of the Legislature, passed along bipartisan lines, and included robust input of legislators from start to finish. It will ensure the State can attempt to meet the basic needs of Alaskans in the coming year.
Weaponizing the budgeting process to score political points will not lead to better outcomes for Alaskans. Instead, it puts families, businesses, and communities at risk at a time when Alaskans are looking to continue recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and get back to a sense of normalcy.
I want to be clear, I will continue to stand up and fight to ensure Alaska keeps its promise to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, ensuring equitable access to economic opportunity, education, health care, public safety, and affordable energy. Alaskans, regardless of where they live or what supports they rely on, are worth it.
