As legislators and Gov. Sarah Palin gear up for a showdown over a $4.3 billion supplemental budget bill, the fate of a handful of local projects hangs in the balance, and locals are speaking out about the importance of each budget request.
Both sides agree that the $3.6 billion dedicated for savings, the $300 million for home weatherization, the $125 million for oil producers' tax credits and the $180 million for municipal revenue sharing are good ideas.
The dispute surrounds $70 million in the budget to restore capital projects vetoed by Palin last year, including funding for drainage improvements to Yosemite Drive, the expansion of the McDonald Recreation Center and improvements to the Chugiak-Eagle River library and a police department substation if one is established in the Eagle River Town Center.
Of the $70 million, more than $2.6 million in local projects that fell victim to the governor's veto last summer are back in the supplemental budget.
The House of Representatives approved the supplemental budget in a unanimous vote March 17.
Palin said after the vote that her objection is that the supplemental budget is not the appropriate place for the capital projects.
“The supplemental is typically for unforeseen budget shortfalls or expenses,” she said in a written statement issued March 18. “The proposed capital projects should not be included in the supplemental budget, but rather should be in the capital budget.”
Despite her objections, all but one member of the House voted in favor of the budget in a March 19 vote to reconsider, setting up a potential showdown between the Legislature and the governor.
In response, Palin sent a letter March 19 to the lawmakers asking them to come to her office so she can ask them to justify the projects and what time constraints exist so that the projects cannot be funded in the capital budget instead.
Locally, those who would benefit from the budget items aren't waiting for their legislator to justify the expenditures.
Anchorage Police Department spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman said the $130,000 for safety and security upgrades to the Eagle River substation has been needed for years.
“Whether the substation remains in the old firehouse or moves into the town center, we need more than just office space to be a true working police substation,” he said. “The department and the community have been requesting a working substation for years, and you have to be willing to spend a little money to make a firehouse or shopping center an actual police station.”
Honeman added that without the safety and security improvements, officers couldn't secure prisoners in the current substation.
Anchorage Fire Department Station 11 Capt. Bill Miller said the $496,000 request for the expansion of the Station 11 in Eagle River is vital to providing adequate fire service to the area.
According to Miller, the building was not originally designed to be a fire station. Originally built as the local home for ENSTAR Natural Gas Company, the AFD moved into the facility when they outgrew the firehouse on the other side of Eagle River Road.
Miller added that the firehouse has sleeping quarters for 10 firefighters, but needs at least 12.
“In the summer when we have a brush fire unit stationed here, we have five additional firefighters to house and nowhere to put them,” he said. “As the community grows, the need for fire protection grows.”
As for the $370,000 grant request for the Chugiak-Eagle River branch library, librarian Mary Williams said the funds will help pay for much needed improvements to the book collection, technology and site development.
Susan Gorski, executive director of the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, believes the $100,000 grant request for a transportation assessment and safety study for the downtown business district is more than justified.
“We have intersections that are failing or constantly causing congestion, and with constant growth, they need to be addressed,” she said. “People need to have reasonable access to local businesses, and without that, the long-term viability of the business district is questionable.”
The transportation assessment will review traffic on the Old Glenn Highway from Artillery Road to North Eagle River Access Road near Fred Meyer.
Last year, McDonald Recreation Center director Reid McDonald experienced the highs and lows surrounding the $990,000 grant for expansion that was in the state budget one day and vetoed the next.
“It was bad news for our plans to add an additional rink,” McDonald said of the veto. “Without that money and the rising construction costs, we might have to reevaluate our plans for expansion after working on them for over 10 years.”
The money was not quite what was needed to complete the estimated $17 million addition of a second rink to the center, but according to McDonald, it would have kept plans moving forward.
While the governor's office lines up meetings with legislators in an attempt to determine what capital projects they placed in the supplemental budget, locals can only wait and hope their projects don't fall victim to the veto axe once again.
Should the governor use her power to cast a line item veto on any or the entirety of the supplemental budget, both bodies of the Legislature appear to have the votes necessary to override her decision. A veto override requires a two-thirds vote from both bodies, and based on the unanimous vote in the House and 12-2 vote in the Senate with six senators excused, the votes are in place to preserve the budget as presented to the governor.
Reach the reporter at darrell.breese@alaskastar.com.
