Reply #381: AK (Alaska) Editorial - Suite life; who pays? Lawmakers step over the line at Alaskans expense Aug22 [View All]

{ALEC} promotes legislation to deregulate markets and reduce the size and power of government. That fits with the political agendas of lawmakers like Rep. Wes Keller and Sen. Fred Dyson, both of whom attended the ALEC conference early this month. But it's not the state's job to pay for lawmakers to hear what legislation corporations and trade groups would like to see passed into law. No matter what those interests are, from left to right on the political spectrum, lawmakers who want to attend a conference based on a particular political, economic or philosophical agenda should do so on their own money.

Rep. Keller says Alaskans should pay so the private sector has a vote in vetting model legislation. Apparently he thinks we don't have enough corporate lobbying in Juneau. We're old-school in this matter: Lobbyists should come to the Legislature; we shouldn't have to pay to send legislators to lobbyists.
The ALEC gathering is entirely a convenience for corporate interests and a junket for ideologically aligned legislators. It is efficient for the lobbyists, because it allows them to send the laws they'd like proposed to 50 state Capitols at once.

If Alaska lawmakers want to go, fine. But Alaska citizens shouldn't have to pay for it.

Our lawmakers often give lip service to the notion that they are stewards of the public treasury. We want to see them actually act like it. When they travel on state business, that business should be essential and they should neither live large nor pursue ideological agendas.

BOTTOM LINE: Alaska lawmakers need to be more careful with Alaska's money.