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Alaska Senate minority grows to nine, with Bjorkman, Yundt and Stedman in top positions
Current 14-6 majority-minority split will narrow to 11-9 in January, in contrast to a larger Democratic-led House majority and a new Democratic governor
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
While Democrats gained ground in national and state elections, the Alaska Senate is set to have a larger Republican minority caucus that will give that chamber an 11-9 majority-minority split during the next session, according to an announcement by its members Thursday.
Leadership positions were given to two members of the current 14-member bipartisan majority who will switch over when the session convenes in January: Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R – Nikiski, as minority leader, and Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, as minority finance lead. Also named to a leadership position was a current minority member: Sen. Rob Yundt, R-Wasilla, who will serve as minority whip.
The narrowly divided caucus is in contrast with the Democratic-led House majority that appears likely to have at least 23 members (up from 21) and a change in the governor’s office with Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins replacing Republican Mike Dunleavy.
Stedman, a legislator for 23 years who has co-chaired the Senate Finance Committee for 14 of those, told the Sitka Sentinel this week he felt the bipartisan coalitions the Senate had for the past four years are "shifting farther away from center." Also, the likely election of Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins means the Democratic-led House and Senate majorities will push an agenda that’s been sidelined “for 25 years,” since Gov.Tony Knowles.
“I can’t blame them for exercising that opportunity,” Stedman told the newspaper. “It’s not dissimilar from when Murkowski got elected governor and the Republicans had control of both bodies. It's just politics."
A press release issued by the incoming minority caucus declares "Investing in essential services is not the same as expanding government. The Senate Republican Caucus will seek to cut wasteful spending and critically weigh any proposal for new revenue against a simple standard: does it deliver results for Alaskans, and does it help working families and the economy? Any surplus or new revenue should go to core services, not to growing government."
“We have real needs in this state, and meeting them costs money,” Bjorkman said in a prepared statement. “Every dollar the government collects is a dollar a family or a business could have invested in its own future. Government must not ask workers and job-creating businesses to pay more before it shows results from what it already has and presents a clear plan for how new revenue will grow our economy, create jobs, and help working families succeed.”
Legislators in both the House and Senate gathered in Anchorage the day after the Nov. 3 election to discuss potential majority caucus coalitions. Senate Rules Chair Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, when asked about keeping members such as Bjorkman and Stedman in the caucus, told the Juneau Independent on Thursday evening "I think we made extremely generous offers to bring them in."
Wielechowski said he doesn’t expect the 11-9 Senate split to significantly alter the tone or agenda of the coming session.
"Of course you'd rather have bigger than smaller," he said. "But the House had (a bare majority of) 21 last year, and they were able to pass pension reform and election reform and a significant education funding increase. And we've got a couple of senior (House) members who are coming over, they know how to do this. And, again, we've worked hard, we've got collaborative relationships with members of the minority, and I expect that we'll try to engage them, work with them and take their views into consideration. And I don't think you're going to see a knee-jerk reaction in a certain direction politically."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
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