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Part Two

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About  20twentytwelve12
Commentary & Reference Documents

(1) Excerpts from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's
State of the State Address (January 2009)

"Today, when challenges may seem high as Mt. McKinley, and change as constant as the mighty Yukon flows, and political events send shockwaves through our foundation like the 64 quake - what do Alaskans do?  We climb Denali, we forge the river, we rebuild a stronger foundation on higher ground.

It was this kind of determined action that turned the northland wilds into a territory, a territory into a state, and that state, across 50 years, into a land of industry, opportunity, and enduring beauty.  And now that perseverance is needed again, as we go through a time of testing for our country - a time of economic worry for many Alaskans - a time of challenge to the wisdom and resolve of state government.

Two years ago at this podium I urged spending restraint. I asked that billions of surplus funds be deposited into state savings. this struck me as a simple precaution against, as I described it, massive single-year cuts down the road., if and when we faced tougher times.  You legislators agreed, so we can now meet our challenge in a stronger position.

And you understood it is not just to think fast and change plans when the price of oil suddenly falls, affecting revenue by billions of dollars.  The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices.

With prudence, you built our reserves - that was good planning.  This national economic downturn that's spread to the energy market - it found us prepared.  And that's more than many states can say about their financial situation.

(To learn for yourself something about current state budget deficits and how deep the national economic crisis really is, and to put Alaska's situation in perspective, click this link: http://cbpp.org/9-8-08sfp.htm. LBP)

At a time when other state legislatures are staring at multi-billion dollar deficits, and when our federal government proposes a deficit in excess of a trillion dollars this year alone, we have all the cautionary examples we need in the virtues of living within our means.  With less revenue, we have an obligation to spend less money.

Last year, we all expected another surplus.  But even then, with record high prices, I chose prudence and directed state commissioners to cut millions in operating costs.

Finding efficiencies even in times of plenty - that's common sense fiscal responsibility.

Now, unless the price of a barrel of oil dramatically increases soon, we're looking at a potential revenue shortfall in excess of a billion dollars this year. So with a close eye on price, we need to be able to curtail spending as needed.  If there is a shortfall, there are options. 

I had proposed we start with an overall reduction of seven percent from last year's expenditures. 

That is a real reduction - not just a reduction in spending increases - as cuts are often defined elsewhere. 

Now, we cannot buy into the notion that for government to serve better it must spend more.  Reductions we support  are a chance to show the true measure in public policy.   Simply increasing budgets every year, a common government practice, is no guarantee of success.  More often, it's an incentive to failure.

(Read the Education Feature at this site for one of many examples of how increased spending without strategic value keeps generating incompetence and failure - a notorious and habitual practice by the Education Department. LBP)

We promised public education reform - so schools can plan ahead, and bureaucracies do not smother a school's creativity or a student's aspiration.  We now take the next step in our three-year education plan - to offer every young Alaskan  - rural and urban - the opportunity to learn and work and succeed in the world.

One of the great privileges given to me last year was a chance for me to be a witness to the truth that every child has value: to say to special needs children that they are beautiful and loved.  We learn from them more than they learn from us. Across American, a great change is coming in public policy that affects these children, and Alaska can lead the way.  This is part of the culture of life where every child is cherished and protected. Continued below...

As the largest and only Artic state, we're studying climate change through our DEC -led subcabinet.  And we're suing the federal government for misusing the Endangered Species Act.  There is an attempt there to to use the ESA to impose environmental policies that should be debated and approved legislatively, not by court order or bureaucratic decree.   Alaskans have shown through our protective laws that we're willing and able to protect our magnificent wildlife, while developing our God-given resources by using conservation laws as they were intended.  We'll challenge abuse of federal law when it's used just to lock up Alaska.

Where does the domestic oil and natural gas situation for Alaska and the lower 48 stand now.  Click and read The Heritage Foundation Web Memo. "Expanded Offshore Drilling Should Be a Part of U.S. Energy Policy."LBP

These priorities  should be an incentive to think clearly and act decisively - not politically - in pursuit of funding them with our next economic lifeline: the gasline.

Without revenues from developing clean natural gas, priorities can not be funded and we will deplete reserves within a decade.  Working together, we're developing a ten-year plan to keep a healthy balance in the Constitutional Budget Reserve.  We're laying up stores, until strong revenue comes in from the flow of natural gas to feed hungry markets here and outside Alaska.

Unfortunately, some focus only on potential obstacles when they discuss projects like the gasline: the giants in the land preventing us from gathering fruit.  But as I recall, we've already slain a few giants.

Because even the most promising renewable energy sources are years from general use, between then and now, we need a clean interim fuel to power our grid and heat our homes. 

In our energy plan, for the first time, Alaskans will see cooperation among our utilities.  We'll introduce legislation creating the joint utility corporation to finally accomplish this.  No more fractured efforts to generate power along the Railbelt via so many different utilities, headed in so many different directions.  We will have coordinated power generation that will finally make sense to consumers.

For goals of hope, opportunity and self-sufficiency, government is not the answer, but government can help with energy challenges.

Now, we need more oil in the pipeline too.  So we strictly enforce state laws and contracts with oil companies.  We'll hold them accountable with those contracted agreements they signed to develop our resources - and we'll keep our promises to them.  Our reformed oil production formula, ACES, helps them with strong incentives to keep capital reinvested, and it's working with new developments, as DNR just announced a banner year for new companies entering our competitive oil and gas arena.

Alaska, there will come a day when our success is not measured in barrels.  The goal is multiplicity - an economy made strong by a wealth of petroleum, but no longer solely dependent on it.  And again, the test of leadership is to be prepared.

We need a plan, Business leaders, local officials, and other stakeholders, we all agree for our economic future, we need this.  Like the saying, "Fail to plan? Then you plan to fail."  To that end, I issued an administrative order this week calling for the state's first comprehensive economic strategy.  We will need participation and common sense from those who make this country run - namely, the small business owners who do the hard work - they create jobs.  That's where the best ideas are.

This will be the road map for activities and investments, to grow us strong, here in the Great land of plenty.  With our ideal, strategic position on the globe as the air-crossroads of the world; our massive size, with stores of potential, with our spirit, with our people - together we will plot the course."