He said his main goal in putting forward the legislation is because he sees broad agreement on the need to protect the Alaska Permanent Fund from being spent like other now-drained state savings accounts.
Despite growing concerns about COVID-19 and a lack of poll workers that the state says could lead to the closing of some polling locations, the…
Should they stay or should they go?
The Legislature is unable to put a stop to the contract because it was awarded by a state corporation that’s outside of legislative control.
The administration said the contract was so small it doesn’t merit additional scrutiny, but they struggled to explain exactly what the state was getting out of the contract.
A group of legislators is seeking to lower the veto override threshold, which would require a constitutional amendment approved by Alaska voters.
“What is the goal of having quarterly payments?” asked one legislator.
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins says the whole discussion highlights the need to rethink the Alaska Permanent Fund in order to protect as much money from legislators as possible.
“My goal is that, and I think a goal shared by a lot of people in this body, is that we have enough money protected permanently in the permanent fund that we can continue to argue about how to spend that money 20 years from now,” said Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.
The initiative would ban lobbyists from buying legislators meals, rewrite the rules for conflict of interest and end per diem payments if legislators haven’t passed a budget by the end of the regular session.