The difference between the Legislature’s governing coalition and the rump caucus is that the first takes governing seriously and the second does not.
Rep. Chris Kurka spoke for his caucus last summer when he said, in a statement to the Frontiersman newspaper:
“All 18 of us in the minority... will do whatever we can to be obstructionists… in the minority in the House that’s virtually all we can do is be obstructionists.”
Rep. Kurka’s whining and saying all they can do is obstruct reveals the failure of his caucus. They falsely believe they cannot work for their constituents unless they are in power. I remember when the members of the current coalition only had a dozen members. They didn’t obstruct and delay. They worked hard and built coalitions for school funding, ferries, and Village Public Safety Officers.
The minority caucus members have committee seats, access to legislative research and legislative legal resources. They have nice offices and plenty of staff. Rep. David Eastman even had enough money in his office travel budget to fly down to Arizona and meet the Cyber Ninjas and the leaders of the “Big Lie” election audit farce.
So what exactly is preventing the minority caucus from doing the work needed to build roads, fund good schools and deliver jobs and pandemic relief to the Mat-Su residents? The answer is nothing except their willingness to the hard work it takes to get things done.
There is an election coming up that will decide whether Alaskans buy into the idea that obstruction is a substitute for hard work.
Elstun Lauesen
Anchorage
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