The spending elite have determined that you need to be educated about the size of Alaska's budget. If you think government is too big, too intrusive or ineffective, well, you need to be re-educated.
They say we cannot cut state funding. That we don't spend enough on education, our homeless, on those less privileged or on environmental protection to save our land and forests. We're offered special tools to "understand" our budget. Those tools don't have an option of reducing state spending, but instead force us to pick between the elites' alternatives for raising taxes.
Lost in the whole discussion is how much Alaska's government has grown beyond the needs of our population, and how recklessly it has squandered our common wealth.
According to ProsperityAlaska.org, "Alaska state budgets have exploded. From fiscal (year) 2005 to 2012, general fund operating and capital expenditures (not including savings and Permanent Fund dividends) have grown from $5 billion to $8.5 billion -- an increase of 71 percent." State government is simply out of control, doubling in size over the last decade. In the private sector, we must cut budgets to match available funds. Legislators should adopt this wisdom and emulate the policy.
I agree with those who demand we build a consensus. We already have a consensus: "Reduce spending and keep your mitts off the dividend."
Legislators will soon depart for Juneau. Each Alaskan should share with lawmakers their own answer to the most important question in the great budget debate: Are my kids or yours willing to give up half of their Permanent Fund dividend in order to maintain the current amount of state government? Nothing else matters.
Alaska has a strong economy. Our military bases are strong and will get stronger. Our tourism industry is growing, and our fisheries are strong. Our forestry industry could employ thousands again if government attacks on the free enterprise system were contained. Real estate is holding steady as is the population.
So, let's expand our income and economy. Why aren't we drilling in the 3 miles offshore from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that we own? We know there is oil. Why aren't we building pipelines from the Mackenzie River Delta to Prudhoe Bay to secure the landlocked Canadian oil and gas? We can refill our oil pipeline by reaching out for new sources to augment our production. Let's encourage new gold and mineral mining and oil and gas exploration.
Legislators can consolidate and prioritize state government. For example, revenue sharing at $57 million for cities is ludicrous with the state budget hole. Cities must tighten their belts too. Cap administrative costs in departments at 20 percent of budgets. Savings, $200 million. Consolidate independent state agencies. Savings, $2 billion. Suspend inflation-proofing the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Inflation is near zero. Suspend interminable studies that restudy shelved projects and save the money. If we can't afford to build it, we don't need to keep studying the engineering.
Ask legislators to sell state assets like the Pioneer Homes that can bring in cash to bridge the gap or make service self-supporting. Expand employment through the economic engine of Alaska's small businesses. Renovate our housing stock and expand opportunities in retail, restaurants and renewable energy. There are a million growth opportunities. We can achieve those opportunities without new government expense; just change the focus from protecting the turf of bureaucrats to widening opportunities of Alaskans.
In the last session, legislators began trimming back. More needs to be done to right-size government, make it efficient. But, article after article from the spending elite state that cutting government will be our death knell, that we must stampede legislators into the elite's solution to the fiscal gap, the raid on the Alaska Permanent Fund. They apparently want to institutionalize our current spending at the expense of each Alaskan's dividend. Reject that argument. Instead, let's free the private sector of governmental interference and spur it to create real jobs.
Every legislator should understand what you and I will do next election. It's simple: We will vote against any legislator who votes to limit our dividends. In the last statewide election on this subject, 83 percent of Alaskan voters said no to those whose government greed demanded our dividends. In the next round of this fight, we will achieve the same result. Begin your own "education process" with your legislator today.
Jim Crawford is a lifelong Alaskan, born and raised in Anchorage but also lived in Fairbanks, Tok and Valdez. He is a real estate broker, self-described fiscal and social conservative and a former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.