Kiehl, Story answer budget, special session questions during visit to Haines
- Chilkat Valley News
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
By Will Steinfeld
Chilkat Valley News
The Chilkat Valley’s state legislative delegation held three local, question-and-answer sessions recently. The visit came during an eventful time in the state capital, just after Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week called a surprise legislative session, asking legislative allies to help him avoid overrides of his controversial veto choices this spring.
In remarks Monday, Democrats Jesse Kiehl and Andi Story painted a bleak picture of the state’s finances, and laid the blame at the feet of falling oil revenue, but also on Dunleavy’s actions.
“The budget the Governor gave us in December looked like a $1.5 billion deficit, and he proposed deleting all the one-time funding increases for schools,” Kiehl said. Story, in her comments on the budget, focused on Dunleavy’s multiple vetoes of bipartisan education funding packages. Dunleavy, they said, was blocking a popular, bipartisan legislative agenda, including a bill on state auditing and transparency, on top of education.
The veto talk, however, drew questions from an animated Mayor Tom Morphet. Morphet pointed to what he said were crises in education funding and childcare in Haines, and pressed Kiehl and Story on what they would do if the vetoes continued. “How can you bring more heat on this guy,” Morphet said.
On childcare, Kiehl said there was broad support for more state support, but Morphet said the results weren’t being felt in Haines.
“If everyone and the pope supports [increased childcare spending], where the hell is the opposition?” Morphet said.
Ultimately, neither Kiehl nor Story put forward any outside-of-the-box responses to Dunleavy’s vetoes, besides the legislature passing any vetoed bills during its next session.
“I’m still optimistic the legislature is going to do our duty to the kids of Alaska – to override [the education funding veto.] Kiehl said. “And, the governor’s term limited, so the need to be deferential to a term-limited governor grows smaller and smaller as time goes on.”
Kiehl also said there was talk of lawsuits against the state, for failing to meet its constitutional obligation to provide public education. But he said generally, that kind of unusual action would be outside the scope of his legislative duties.
“Our job is to appropriate the money, and if necessary override a veto, and I hope that’s what we do,” Kiehl said.
Haines residents also asked the legislative delegation multiple questions about transportation funding, especially the proposed Cascade Point ferry terminal, 40 miles north of Juneau.
Kiehl said he had the Department of Transportation a number of questions about the plans, including how drinking water and sewage at the remote terminal, plans for a breakwater to ensure year-round use, and plans for walk-on passengers to travel to and from the city center.
Kiehl said his questions had not yet been answered, but stopped short of opposing the new terminal outright. “We need to get answers to those questions,” Kiehl said. “If this thing allows day boats to run with just one crew, there’s the potential for it to increase the reliability and frequency of service in the Lynn Canal.”
The Department of Transportation is still in planning stages, and Kiehl pointed to that as reassurance.
“If this thing turns out to be as dumb as the folks in this room expect, there will be money wasted on the design, but it won’t be built,” he said.
• This story originally appeared in the Chilkat Valley News.
