The Magical Transformation of the Juneau Swamp into Artesian Spring Water Every Election Season

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Every year, it takes more effort (and money) to convince Alaskans that what is going on down in Juneau is the product of many well-meaning politicians doing the best they can to pass good laws to help Alaskans.

At election time, piles of money and gallons of ink are spent to resurrect the narrative that there are many “good conservatives” in Juneau. Where are these good conservatives?

This year alone, legislators voted to increase state spending by more than $2 billion. Lobbyists in Juneau were ecstatic when the votes were counted. Two-thirds of “conservative” Mat-Su legislators voted with the swamp.

This year, legislators voted to continue taxpayer funding for gender-affirming care for kids (puberty blockers, etc.) despite the fact that these treatments are opposed by the public and have been banned in twenty-five states. The vote to continue the funding was 36-3. I was the only Mat-Su legislator in the house to vote no.

This year, legislators voted to continue taxpayer funding for abortion, despite most Alaskans being opposed to it. The vote was 26-14. Eight Republicans voted to continue the funding.

This year, legislators explained that there wasn’t enough money to pay the full PFD and then voted to give $1.42 million to the Iditarod as a gift (among many other gifts to many other organizations). I was the only Mat-Su legislator in the house to vote no.

To offset this year’s more than $2 billion in spending increases, legislators ultimately voted to take more than $1.2 billion out of this year’s PFD during the budget process. Again, two-thirds of Mat-Su legislators voted with the swamp.

The governor put $3,643 in the budget for your dividend. By the time legislators were done spending only $1,702 was left.

If you had a lobbyist working for you this year, chances are you probably came out alright. If you didn’t, by the time legislators finally did leave Juneau, you may have been one of the Alaskans left holding the bag.

Despite this, a great deal of effort is currently being spent to sell the idea that there are actually many very fine conservatives in the legislature, and that all we have to do is elect one or two more, like [insert name of the politician you are being asked to vote for], and those in Juneau will start doing the right thing.

To borrow the tagline from a popular national radio station, it’s a “positive, encouraging” message. And why would anyone want to knock a narrative that is so uplifting and hopeful at election time?

Of course, as soon as Election Day is over, reality comes crashing down like a ton of bricks. Many of those “good people” we sent to Juneau two years ago delayed fighting the swamp because they wanted to “choose their battles” or because they didn’t want to “rock the boat”, or because they needed to “get more experience” as a legislator first. The reasons are unimportant.

Over those two years, they came to tolerate the swamp, and then to make excuses for it, and eventually to identify with and begin voting for it. Today, many of them have become indistinguishable from their peers who have lived in the swamp far longer.

How many years have legislators been unable to resist the temptation to stick their hand in the PFD cookie jar? They failed again this year. The vote was 39-1. Of the six Mat-Su legislators in the house, I was the only legislator to vote NO.

How many years have legislators in Juneau ignored the will of the people and refused to move the capital? This year was no exception.

During his first term, Governor Dunleavy formally called the legislature into special session in Wasilla. A handful of us attended. While we assembled in Wasilla, 38 legislators ignored the constitution and flew to Juneau instead (at taxpayer expense of course).

How many years have legislators ignored the will of the people by staying in Juneau long after they were required to leave? They did again this year.

Alaska voters went through the expensive and time-consuming process of collecting signatures and passing a state law to prevent legislators from camping out in the state capitol for more than three months. Legislators busted the 90-day limit this year after simply voting to ignore the law. The vote was 34-6.

On the 122nd day of session this year, the governor finally stepped in and started vetoing all laws passed by legislators because they had clearly exceeded their constitutional authority by staying in Juneau too long.

The beginning of session this year wasn’t any better. On the very first day, the House of Representatives kicked off the session by ignoring the constitutional mandate that legislators meet to either approve or disapprove Gov. Dunleavy’s veto of education funding. The vote was 20-20.

Whenever a law is passed by the legislature and vetoed by the governor, the constitution requires the governor to explain why he vetoed it and for the legislature to decide whether to accept or reject the governor’s veto (Art. II, Secs. 15-16).

You may remember that legislators also voted to ignore this same portion of the constitution in 2016 when Walker first vetoed the PFD. By refusing to follow the Constitution, legislators allowed Walker’s veto of the PFD to stand without the mandated response from the people’s elected representatives. Now, nine years later, the PFD has never recovered.

This year, it was only in response to intense public outcry that Republican legislators relented and agreed to follow the Constitution and allow a vote on the veto to take place. Predictably, their first order of business after the vote had taken place was to punish the legislator who first pointed out that the constitution requires us to act.

With no small amount of irony, legislators congratulated me on successfully defending the constitution, and then immediately voted to remove me from the committee that deals with the constitution. Only in Juneau.

It comes down to this. Either Juneau is still just as swampy as it was when legislators left the capital back in May, or it has changed.

If the swamp has been drained and now looks more like an artesian spring, our job is easy. All we have to do is elect one or two more good people to go down and support the legislators who are already in Juneau.

If it’s still a swamp, on the other hand, we have an entirely different task in front of us, and the Good ‘ol Boys Club in Juneau is not going to be on our side. If it’s still a swamp, we are going to need to send men and women to Juneau who are willing to take the very worst blows that the swamp has to throw at them and somehow manage to stay in the ring and keep fighting. Those back home deserve no less.

You must decide which description of Juneau is the more accurate one, and act accordingly.

Rep. David Eastman is running to represent Wasilla and Meadow Lakes in the Alaska House of Representatives. He is the only Alaska Legislator with a constitutional lifetime rating of 100% on The Freedom Index. He is endorsed by Save The PFD, the NRA, the Alaska Outdoor Council, General Michael Flynn, and Alaska Right to Life.