Gov. Bill Walker's vetoes Wednesday hurt services and institutions I believe in and will cost my family $5,000, but I don't think I've ever been more proud of one of our state's leaders.
With his Alaska Permanent Fund dividend veto, Walker did something unthinkable for a politician: take responsibility for lowering the income of every one of his constituents. We will all pay a price for his decision, but no one will pay a higher price than Walker himself.
I have written many times about the meaning and value of the dividend and I have profiled people whose lifestyles depend upon it. But Alaska cannot afford the old dividend payout formula anymore, allocating half the fund's earnings to our checks.
We can't afford the $2,000 dividend, we can't afford the oil-tax credits, we can't afford the megaprojects or state cash outlays for new roads, and Walker found a bunch of other budget items to veto that we can't afford, including things we really need.
['Day of reckoning': Gov. Walker vetoes millions in spending, caps Permanent Fund dividend at $1,000]
He didn't want to cut services like schools, economic development, child care, the university — it's a long list. These were items that had been funded in his own budget when he presented a balanced plan that included revenues with smaller spending cuts.
But without taxes or a plan to pay for these expenses, we can't afford any of it. The Legislature left Juneau without doing anything to solve an 80 percent budget deficit, even when given every tool it needed to address the gap. A few behaved with courage, but as a body, they failed miserably and completely.
With stumbling speech and his disarming, low-key manner, Walker deftly shamed legislators when he said they no longer had to be afraid — he had taken the political hit.
Here's the part of Walker's statement Wednesday that I loved:
"This past special session, Democrats came to me and said they would have voted for the Permanent Fund restructuring if they had only gotten a better deal on the tax credits. If they only had been reduced differently. Some Republicans came and said they recognized the need for restructuring the Permanent Fund, but not until more cuts were done. They needed to have more cuts.
"So I now challenge each side to come to the table, because I have done both of those. I have reduced the oil tax credits, and I have made significant cuts, far, far beyond what they did themselves. So those impediments should be gone now. Those reasons for not addressing these issues should be off the table. We've taken care of that in what we have done.
"Many House members came and said, 'You know, if I vote for reducing the Permanent Fund, I may not get re-elected.' I've taken care of that today. That's off the table. I said during my State of the State, I said I will take all the blame, but I need you to do your part, I need you to do the work. So it's about worrying about the future of Alaska, not the future of the political seats that we're in."
[Video: Watch Walker's veto announcement]
We went into this mess last year knowing it would be a showdown between four constituencies — the oil companies, the low-income recipients of dividends, the high-income payers of taxes, and the kids and elders who use most of the services the state pays for.
Legislators representing each of those constituencies decided to play chicken, refusing to sacrifice unless the other side did first. Wealthy potential taxpayers got off without a scratch, as Walker couldn't reach them with his veto pen.
The most reasonable argument for doing nothing came from those dividend defenders who said cutting the payment without an income tax would be unfair, because the poor would lose a much larger part of their income compared to the rich.
But the truth is, even if the dividend is a good thing, and we deserve the money, there is no moral absolute that says it has to be $2,000. In 2013, it was $900. We survived. Putting it at $1,000 is perfectly reasonable.
[Opinion: Gov. Walker's budget vetoes don't show courage]
Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, came up with a compromise in the special session to put the dividend at $1,500 for three years. That could have worked, too.
There were plenty of ways the Legislature could have fixed the fiscal gap with a reasonable but reduced dividend, new taxes, oil-tax credit reductions and budget cuts that would have hurt less than what we will now face.
They'll have another chance when they reconvene in Juneau on July 11. Or they can just sustain the governor's vetoes and go home.
I know many lawmakers will be tempted to override the dividend veto so they can tell voters they gave them free cash — even though it will cost everyone more later, when the state runs out of money.
Being a legislator really isn't much of a job. The salary isn't great. The work is mostly just sitting in tedious meetings. Legislators receive a constant diet of false praise, but many of the people who deal with them privately hold them in contempt.
The big compensation is constant attention and a sense of importance. But all that attention goes away the day you leave office. Most legislators are forgotten as soon as they are replaced.
Gov. Bill Walker will not be forgotten. Whether he runs for another term or has to give up being governor, his work this week was authentically historic. He will always be remembered for doing what he believed was right.
More important, he'll know that himself. And for that knowledge, which no one can take away, he can be envied. The legislators heading back to Juneau on July 11 should think about that. It's easy once you try it, and worth a lot more than the love you buy.
Charles Wohlforth's column appears three times weekly.
The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.