On the same day Alaskans voted for Donald Trump to bring a new look to the American presidency, they also voted for a new look in the Alaska Legislature.
On Wednesday afternoon, residents of the 49th state kicked the tires as Rep. Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, announced the creation of a coalition majority in the Alaska House of Representatives.
On the same day, the Alaska Senate announced that Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, will be the new Senate President when the 30th Alaska Legislature opens in January.
“We’re a caucus who’s organized around the central purpose of tackling the fiscal crisis in the state of Alaska,” said Edgmon, who will be the new Speaker of the House.
Edgmon leads a majority that as of Wednesday includes two independents, three Republicans and 17 Democrats – among them Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau and Rep. Justin Parish, D-Juneau.
Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, was the minority leader in the 29th Legislature and will be the majority leader in the 30th.
“What you’re going to see is us working very hard between now and January” to develop a solution to the state’s multibilllion-dollar budget deficit, Tuck said.
Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer and finance committee co-chairman under the new majority, said the solution will include four principal components: budget cuts; using the earnings of the Permanent Fund to pay for a portion of government; a cap on the amount of the Permanent Fund Dividend; and “some kind of broad-based tax, which every other state has determined is the way to go forward.”
Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, will be the other co-chairman of the finance committee.
Twenty-one representatives are needed to form a majority, and in demonstration of the important role the three majority Republicans play in beating that hurdle, all have leadership roles.
In addition to Seaton, Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux will be chairwoman of the rules committee and Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, will be House majority whip.
Soon after their roles were announced, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party Tuckerman Babcock issued a scathing statement calling the three “deceitful Republicans” and said they “failed to be honest with the voters” during the most recent election.
Asked about the risk of a primary election challenge in two years, LeDoux referred to the financial crisis and said, “I’m concerned with getting my job done this year, period.”
Full committee assignments have not been released, nor is it clear what the role of Juneau’s two House members will be.
“We’re working on committee chairmanships and committee memberships,” said Kito by phone.
When those have “gelled,” they will be released, he said.
He said he knows people in Juneau might be disappointed by the results of the presidential election, but “I think here in Alaska, we are a long way away from Washington, D.C.” and he hopes there will not be any “long-lasting impacts” of Donald Trump becoming president.
Kito had kind words for Parish, one of Alaska’s newest lawmakers.
“It’s nice to actually have him in the room,” Kito said. “He’s going around, he’s doing a lot of networking now.”
Kito, who not long ago was a freshman lawmaker himself, said he’s advised Parish to take advantage of as much training as possible.
“He’s already doing a great job of asking people questions and understanding what needs to be done,” Kito said.
What’s Parish’s biggest task?
Studying, Parish said.
“I wasn’t expecting anything; I was focused on finishing my race,” Parish said by phone.
Now that Southeast Alaska has four members in the House majority, it can be a little optimistic with regard to the state’s budget situation.
“I had a good conversation with a member of the governor’s staff, and I look forward to meeting with more of my peers both in the House and the other branches of government, and I believe that by working together in good faith, we can meaningfully address the crisis our state is in, and I think that we can work toward real solutions,” Parish said.
In the Senate, new president Kelly said the majority there – similar to the majority of the last Legislature – can work with the new group in charge of the House.
“We’ll be able to work with them,” he said, but predicted progress won’t be easy.
“I don’t know that it’s going to be much different from last year,” he said. “They were terribly divided, and it make it pretty difficult to move forward.”
He said the Senate and the House might disagree on how to solve the fiscal crisis, “but at least we’ve figured out the problem, and I think we’ve got a lot of people who are thinking about it.”
Asked to give advice to Juneau residents who might be nervous about the presidential election and the new-look Legislature, Kelly had a simple idea.
“I would encourage them to stop thinking about politics for a while and take a break,” he said.
The 30th Alaska Legislature will convene on Jan. 17 in Juneau.
