Category Archives: Immediate Reactions

After two weeks sitting in as guest host of the full KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show, this week I returned to the other side of the mic in my regular role as a weekly commentator.  As regular readers of this page will know, each Tuesday morning at 7:20 am Alaska, I join the show to discuss the latest in Alaska oil and fiscal issues.

This week Michael and I discuss the latest employment numbers, where the Alaska economy is headed and what should government be doing about it.  We also review a few of the first round of pre-filed #AKleg bills for this session. The clip below starts at my segment.

Listen here or at the widget below for this week’s show.  For past episodes, go here.

Yesterday on my final day this run of guest hosting KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show, I was joined by Rep. Lance Pruitt in the 7am hour, and then together by Rep. Andy Josephson and Rep-Elect Jason Grenn in the 8am hour.

Pruitt is a member of the House Minority in the coming session, served on the House Finance Committee last term and will again this coming term and, in addition, will serve as the “House Minority Finance Leader” this coming term.  He described the role during our conversation.

Josephson is a member of the House Majority in the coming session, served on the House Resources Committee last term and will serve as Co-Chair of the same committee this coming term.  Grenn was elected as an Independent, is also a member of the House Majority this coming session and in a rarity for a freshman, will serve on the House Finance Committee.

I asked all three about their priorities for the coming session, focusing on fiscal issues.  The conversation provided some insights into both their thinking as well as some of what to look for generally as the coming session develops.

The podcasts of each conversation follow.  I would recommend them highly to those interested in these issues in the coming session.

The conversation with Rep. Pruitt:

The conversation with Rep. Josephson and Rep-Elect Grenn:

This morning during my last day this run as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show we invited former Senate President Rick Halford and Dr. Jack Hickel, the son of former Governor Walter J. Hickel, to join us to discuss various recent proposals to “restructure” (i.e., cut) the Permanent Fund Dividend.

Within the past six months both Hickel and Halford have written op-ed pieces that ran in the Alaska Dispatch News opposing proposals to cut the PFD.  Sen. Halford’s was written first, as SB 128, the Senate’s bill last session to restructure the PFD was heading toward the House.  House should vote no to protect Permanent Fund and dividend (June 15, 2016).

Dr. Hickel’s was written later, after the House Finance Committee had rejected the Senate’s proposal but Governor Walker had gone ahead and cut the 2016 PFD by veto.  Fiscal plan must strengthen both Permanent Fund and dividend (Aug. 23, 2016).

To be honest, when I first read Dr. Hickel’s piece I was surprised, because I had always understood his father to favor using the earnings from the Permanent Fund to bolster state investment in various infrastructure projects over distribution to individual Alaskans.  During the conversation I had the opportunity to ask about that and other things.  The answers — and the discussion as a whole — were greatly enlightening.

If for no other reason than because of who they are and how deeply connected to Alaska they have been throughout their lives, in my opinion the conversation is a must listen for anyone seriously interested in the PFD debate.  The podcast follows:

Regularly during my stints guest hosting KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show I use the 6:20am segment to cover my “Top 3” news stories of the day — sort of my equivalent of Michael’s “Bullet Point” segments.

While preparing for Friday’s “Top 3” I ran across that day’s editorial from the Fairbanks News Miner.  In previous editorials the News Miner had been counting down their Top 10 Interior Issues of the year.  Friday’s edition listed the final top 3; understandably, the number 1 issue of the year was “the state budget.”

As they explained why, they said this:

… without such a [fiscal] solution, the Legislature will soon deplete the Alaska Permanent Fund’s earnings reserve, the account out of which annual dividend checks are paid.

That statement effectively repeats something the Governor and others also have claimed Continue reading →

Some of the time last week during my stint as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show we spent an hour with a single guest, taking a deeper dive on an issue than the normal segments permit.  We previously have posted the discussion we had last Tuesday along those lines with Casey Reynolds and the one Wednesday that ultimately stretched into an hour with Senator Mike Dunleavy.

The podcast below is the hour long discussion that I had Thursday with long time Alaska journalist, and now blogger Craig Medred (craigmedred.news).  The podcast begins with a segment on Craig’s background, how he came to Alaska and the roles he has played since here.  Then in the second segment (the segment starts at 15:10) we start with a discussion about the blog itself, why he does it and the business proposition (or lack of one) behind it.

Finally, at about 22:15 we start in on Alaska fiscal issues by discussing why he disagrees with the exchange that Casey Reynolds and I had in the earlier, Tuesday segment.   For those interested in taking a deeper dive, the blog piece where Craig expresses that and which we use as the starting point for our discussion is here:  Taxing questions.

And then in the final segment (the segment starts at 33:00) I begin with the question, “You are king of the world … where do we go forward from here [on fiscal policy] in your view.” Its a question that Craig obviously had thought about and led to an excellent discussion for the remainder of the segment.

The podcast is here:  

Yesterday (Friday) Reps. Tammie Wilson and Lynn Gattis joined me during my stint as guest host on KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show to reflect on the lessons learned from 2016 and talk about the issues going forward into 2017.

Both were members of the House Majority and sat on the House Finance Committee this past session.  Rep. Wilson will be a member of the House Minority and continue to sit on the House Finance Committee this coming session.  Rep. Gattis is not returning but intends to remain active on the issues.

The conversation provides a somewhat behind the scenes view of the how individual legislators responded to the state’s fiscal issues last legislature, how the legislative process dealt with those efforts and what effect that had on the subsequent election. Importantly, the conversation also addresses the assertion, by some, that “the legislature didn’t do anything” to address the state’s fiscal situation last session.

Going forward, the two discuss how the issues likely are to be dealt with this coming legislature and how, from their perspective, Alaskans can best participate in the process.

The podcast is here:

Wednesday, during my run as guest host of KBYR AM700‘s The Michael Dukes Show, Alaska State Senator Mike Dunleavy joined us to preview the fiscal plan he proposes to introduce this coming session in his capacity as incoming Chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee and a continuing member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Despite a bit of self-induced technical difficulty on my end (we crashed into the top-of-the-hour hard break, a talk radio no-no), the Senator stayed with us to finish providing a full preview of the plan and give us the opportunity to ask a few questions.  With a bit of editing — to limit inflicting on listeners a full repeat of the technical difficulties — here is the podcast of the discussion in two parts.  The first is the opening in the 7am hour; the second is the continuation and wrap up in the 8am hour.

Part 1 (7am block segment)

Part 2 (8am block segment)