MMA Raccoon thinks Republican Senators need to get a real budget passed. FreeImages.com/Klaus Post
The State Legislature is back in session tomorrow, so today is a good day to make sure Senate Republicans feel appreciated upon their return to their offices. And by “appreciated,” I mean that they need to feel like we are watching them like hawks! I recommend you do this with a call, fax, and email about the budget.
The bipartisan House majority has done its job and come up with a sustainable budget. I don’t love every part of it, but at least it’s a real plan. The Senate (for the most part) appears to be counting on magic beans as a funding strategy.
Here’s a comparison of the differences in the plans offered in the House and the Senate.
The people of Alaska need to impress upon Republicans in the Senate that we can’t cut our way to a balanced budget. From Gov. Walker in the Alaska Journal of Commerce:
We can’t cut our way to prosperity. Since 2013, we have cut state spending by 44 percent. To fund services Alaskans rely on, it’s critical to discuss new revenue.
We’ve noticed that Republican economic ideas as put forward by the Senate don’t work because if they did, we wouldn’t have a huge deficit right now. Alaska won’t have a future if we don’t grow up and start paying our own bills.
#MakeTheCall
If you know people up north who are represented by Republican Senators, ask them to make the call too. You don’t have to be a Republican to call a Republican Senator and tell him/her to represent you instead of oil companies!
I once heard a legislator say that 10 calls felt like a landslide, so every individual who picks up the phone, sends a fax, or emails really does make a difference!
Contact information for the Alaska Senate
Full disclosure: I work for the State, and like about 17,000 other people (source), I received a layoff notice last week that specifically said it was only happening due to lack of a budget. Like all those other people, my State paycheck goes to glamorous things like property taxes, grocery and utility bills, and the contractors who just redid my roof.
So, this week, I hope you take the time to #MakeTheCall – not just to a Legislator but to a friend up north as well.
Good luck,
– Mary
Opinions in this article are those of the author and do not represent official positions of TongassDemocrats.com, the Tongass Democrats, or anyone other than the author.
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