Fiscal Stability

A few months ago I wrote a column that questioned how the new Republican leadership in Juneau was going to fulfill their bold campaign promises. After witnessing the results of the legislative session, I got my answer; they’re not.

Today my business is facing higher DMV fees, new tire taxes, higher business license fees, elimination of tourism marketing support and if that’s not enough my customers are now facing one of the highest rates of taxation in the country.

At a recent Anchorage Chamber of Commerce luncheon while unveiling his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Murkowski summed up the states troubles in two words; attitude gap. According to the governor the states fiscal stability has more to do with shrinking faith than shrinking revenue.

As the Fourth Avenue Theatre house lights came up at the end of the governor’s recent budget unveiling, Alaska’s chief executive officer finished by proclaiming that the state’s fiscal gap is due to an attitude gap. But not since I saw the movie Ghostbusters at the majestic former movie house, had I witnessed such an impressive production of smoke and mirrors.

They say admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. So it bodes well that as the legislature returns to work, Gov. Frank Murkowski has admitted that Alaska has an attitude gap. Apparently we’ve gone from “the stars are aligned” to “Houston, we have a problem”.

I’m a guy who likes to have a plan. I like to know where we’re going, why we’re going and how we’re going to pay for it. My Wife says it’s because I’m a Virgo. My Mother says it’s because I grew up in a house full of women. And my Dad, well he just shakes his head and wonders where all the real Republicans have gone.

Regardless of the reason, my hypothesis that the State of Alaska needs a financial plan was emboldened by three unrelated events I attended within a few days of each other.

In my final segment about the challenges of running government like a business, we’ve reached one of the most important areas of any government or business, the marketing department.

In Alaska, our future economic success hinges on our ability to market our diverse natural resources. Oil and gas, mining, timber and fishing have all enjoyed substantial help from the legislature. From exploration tax credits and streamlined permitting to fifty million dollars from the feds to market Alaska’s seafood, we’ve taken steps to develop these important economic engines.

If chalk is tapped in Harvard Yard, will it create an impression in Alaska’s state capital? For a brief moment Cambridge, Massachusetts became one with Juneau, Alaska. A collision of two worlds that offers Alaskans a textbook example of cause and effect.

On a recent afternoon Professor Thomas DeLong strolled to a chalkboard on the Harvard campus to diagram what causes a leadership gap. Nearly three thousand miles away, Mayor Kathie Wasserman strolled to a microphone in Alaska’s state capital to talk about the effects of that leadership gap. In hindsight it seemed perfectly choreographed.