The Most Challenging Thing About Being in Public Office

The most difficult part about serving in the Alaska Legislature is not the reduced privacy that is common to all public figures.

It’s not the public attacks, or even the frivolous lawsuits from political activists. Unfortunately, if you are perceived as a threat to the status quo in politics today, these are to be expected.

In one year alone, I received more than $250K in personal legal bills as a legislator. In contrast, my legislative salary that year was $50K.

It is not the disappointment of seeing coworkers misplace their moral compass and end up in the mire of the Juneau swamp (though that can be jarring at times).

It is not even the expectations of your fellow countrymen that you are likely just as corrupt as the other politicians they’ve met over the years.

For me personally, the most difficult aspect of being a legislator, day in and day out, may be the challenge of honestly describing the current rot and deterioration of our political institutions in a way that can be believed by the average person.

Most people have a picture in their mind of what our political institutions are like, and for those new to politics that picture is often much closer to the political institutions of the 1950’s than the institutions we have today, seven decades later.

The form of the old system remains, but it has been hollowed out, like an old log after a colony of carpenter ants have moved in and taken up residence. Most voters assume that the legislator they elect can vote as their constituents tell them to vote without retaliation from other legislators. Last year, my staff and I discovered that if you vote “the wrong way” as a legislator, or even reserve the right to, in today’s system, your staffer’s livelihood is forfeit.

If you meet with the wrong person in your office, a fellow legislator who is personally offended by that meeting will initiate fraudulent legal proceedings against you. If you publicly insist that legislators follow the constitution, and legislators feel compelled to do so, they will retaliate by removing you from your committees. These are not only things I have observed take place in the legislature. My staff and I have experienced each of these things personally. My staffer is still fired.

Today’s fiercest political battles aren’t just between the special interests working to hollow out the system further and those fighting to stop them. They are also between those willing to fully acknowledge the deterioration of our political institutions, and those whose political careers depend on minimizing and dismissing the full extent of the rot.

This year, the legislature was in session continuously for 122 days. State law requires legislators to adjourn after 90 days. Thirty-four legislators voted to ignore that law. The Constitution likewise limits legislative sessions to 120 days. Legislators again ignored it, leading the governor to veto five bills that were passed on Day 122.

The Constitution prohibits legislators from passing a single bill that covers more than one subject. This year, legislators voted to pass Senate Bill 189, a bill that tackles issues as diverse as marijuana policy and childcare. State law prohibits legislators from passing bills that extend the longevity of multiple state boards and commissions within a single bill. This year, legislators voted to pass a single bill that extended the longevity of four such boards and commissions, and the governor signed it. It wasn’t legal, but it was “good politics.”

The Constitution explicitly requires legislators to meet when the governor vetoes legislation during session. This year, most of my Republican colleagues voted against meeting because it wasn’t considered “good politics” at the time. Last year, it was most of my Democrat colleagues who voted against meeting, and for the same reason.

Every election, the political establishment peddles some version of the story “if we can just elect one or two more legislators” we can save the PFD, fix education, etc.

Many a good person has been convinced to cast a vote, or give a dollar, or even to run for office, in response to this. Yet, it is a fable: at best a useful fiction.

The more difficult challenge is to honestly acknowledge that our system has been corrupted and that we are on the back foot today. The contribution of every voter will be desperately needed if we are to successfully defend the rights and freedoms of Alaskans against the next wave of assaults that is surely coming.

Our system has been corrupted. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

Thirty-nine legislators voted to cut the PFD this year. Once it was cut, legislators declared a “budget surplus” and went on a spending spree. Afterwards, thirty-nine legislators voted to pass a budget  that cut the PFD by 53.7%, an even greater cut than the one that took place before legislators announced the budget surplus. How does that even pass the smell test?

Many of the legislators who voted to approve this year’s budget (with a 53.7% cut to the dividend), and who voted against adjourning on Day 90, and who voted to ignore state law by passing SB189, are running for re-election today. Here in the valley, that list includes Cathy Tilton (R-Wasilla), DeLena Johnson (R-Palmer), and Kevin McCabe (R- Big Lake). If you listen to the messaging coming out of Juneau, these votes were no big deal; nothing to see here.

But it is a big deal. Our laws no longer command respect from the very elected leaders who are tasked with writing them. The checks and balances which were put in place to prevent these things from happening have been set aside. We must now set about the very difficult task of restoring them.

But don’t just take my word for it. How every legislator voted is available on the legislature’s official website: https://akleg.gov/house.php

See for yourself. Then join with us as we work to hold the line in the Alaska Legislature.

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.