HomeMy WebLinkAboutGov Hickel State of Budget-State of State 1992State of the Budget Address
by the Honorable Walter J.Hickel
Governor of Alaska
January 16,1992
President Eliason,Speaker Grussendorf,members of the cabinet,distinguished
members of the legislature,and fellow Alaskans.
When the people were choosing a governor just over a year ago,they heard
three major themes from the Hickel-Coghill team.
We must bring the decision-making home.
We must face our Owner State obligations and turn our economy around.
We must improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government.
During the last legislative session,my administration focused on the first and
third priorities--taking charge of our state and reducing spending.Some progress was
made.
We brought the hiring habit to a halt.We have stopped the growth of
government,although we have not yet reduced its size by our five percent target.
You can't stop an oil tanker on a dime.Just ask Joe Hazelwood!
But |want it known that |have not backed off of my commitment to cut out
the waste and duplication in government.
Last June |created an Efficiency Review Team.It is hard at work moving from
department to department--recommending where we can reduce costs and improve
services.I've asked them to complete their work by June of this year.
Now we must get on to the task of turning our economy around--and we begin
with the budget.
Working with the fall revenue forecast,we have prepared the operating budget
you have before you.It provides roughly the same level of government service as last
year,but we shifted our emphasis toward stimulating economic growth.
1
In terms of hard numbers,it represents an increase of 3.7 percent in those
items controlled by the executive branch.With 5.2 percent inflation,this translates
into a modest,but real reduction.
At this time,|would like to present to you,Mr.President,and you,Mr.
Speaker,copies of the "Executive Budget Book.”
We believe this is the first administration to provide such a thorough reference
and working document.
It includes historical spending information,as well as detailed analysis,of my
proposed budget.
You in the legislative branch proved last year that when it comes to cutting
spending,|cannot do it without you.
Almost half of the budget are pass-throughs based on formulas written in law
for education,municipal assistance and so on.Some people consider these as
unchangeable as the Ten Commandments.
But life was simpler in those days.When Moses came off the mountain,
holding those tablets,he didn't turn his face to the heavens and ask,"But where's the
funding?"
The stalemate we reached on the education formula last year made it clear that
we must face reductions jointly.We have to work together to enhance our revenues.
That's why,this week,|have met with the members of the majority and the
minority of both houses.
|explained,as you were already aware,that the budget we prepared last
November--less than 60 days ago--was based on an oil price of $18.90.
Since then,the world has changed before our eyes.The price of oil today is
just over $15.The average price for this fiscal year is $17.29.°
This could mean a reduction in revenues of $150 to $285 million for this fiscal
year alone.It could mean a drop of another $300 million or more for FY93.
We are monitoring world events closely.OPEC meets next month.The fires
of Kuwait have been extinguished,and Kuwaiti oil will soon be on the market.
Most of the world's economies are depressed,and it's been a warm winter.
That means lower oil prices,which some observers believe will remain through 1992.
2
We must not be blindsided.
Alaska has faced shortfalls before.None of us want to be in the position that
Governor Sheffield had to face in 1986 when oil dropped from $26 to $10,and he
was forced to impound $750 million.
1 call on the leaders of the legislature for your assistance.We must have a plan
immediately.
|have asked all of my commissioners and executive staff to begin work.We
must be prepared to take decisive action if these conditions continue.
In addition,|am announcing this evening that |will name a Contingency
Planning Team,headed by the Director of the OMB,Shelby Stastny.
I request that this team be joined by the President of the Senate,the House
Speaker,a co-chair from each finance committee,and the majority and minority
leaders.
Their charge will be to make sure that the worst case scenario--if it comes to
that--will have the least adverse effect on the Alaskan people.We must be sure that
our most critical state services stay intact.
The greatest danger of this new reality is that we may lose sight of the most
important item on our agenda--the capital budget.It is the key to the future.
We must not cover the costs of day-to-day operations at the expense of the
future.
In the Great Depression,the final act of desperation of a farming family was
when they ate the seed corn.We mustn't panic.We must tighten our belt and plant
that corn for our children.
In reality,the revenue drop is not the problem.
It is a symptom of the problem.
For the last fifteen years,we have been so busy counting our money that we
lost our courage.
When we gained statehood,we did more than sew a star on the flag.We
sewed on a brand new kind of star--one that represented a brand new kind of state--a
State in which the people owned the resources and would use their pioneering spirit
to build an economy.
j
For more than a decade now,virtually all of Alaska's economy has come from
one oil field.
We must ask ourselves,"Are we planting that seed corn to get other things
started?”
Or are we boxed in and bullied by those who don't care about our people?
Every time we take a step to diversify,we are criticized,we are picketed,we
are sued.
Whether it's the A.J.Mine,offshore leasing,logging,the Copper River Scenic
Highway,ANWR or the natural gas pipeline...someone goes to court--usually in the
name of the environment.
Well,|am an environmentalist.I've made some mistakes,but I'll stand on my
public and private record over the past 25 years.
What some idealists don't realize is that the color of the environmentis not just
green.It is real.A person who is cold,hungry,and unemployed is in an ugly
environment.
Poverty is the worst enemy of the environment.
My question is--what has the Sierra Club ever done for the poor?
What has the Sierra Club ever done for the hungry,the homeless,the
unemployed?
|am concerned--and |know this legislature is concerned--about achieving a
sustainable economy.
That's our legal responsibility and our moral commitment.
To get the job done,we have a government like nowhere on the globe.
It is royalty driven,it is not tax driven,at least not taxes paid by the people.
Our vital services are not paid for with the people's money,but with the
people's minerals..
It doesn't come from our pockets--but from our Prudhoes.
The other 49 states operate differently.
4
When the legislature of Mississippi,for example,decides to start a new
program or increase the education budget,it looks at a wide range of taxes--income
tax,sales tax,property tax,alcohol tax,cigarette tax,what have you.
Then it adjusts,raising one tax by one percent,the next tax by two percent and
so on--until it has a balanced budget.
If we were to shut down the pipelineand try to replace oil revenues by taxing
our people,every Alaska family with two wage-earners would have to write a check
each year to Juneau for $17,000.
That's unthinkable.
In Alaska,we need lead time.
Even if we had the U.S.Congress on our side and Pacific Rim markets nailed
down,neither ANWR nor the natural gas pipeline could come on stream immediately.
It took ten years from the time of oil discovery at the North Slope until the first barrel
of oil reached the marketplace.
Our opportunity is in the proper and balanced development of the natural
resources of our state.
Let's take a look at all the resources we own.Let's capitalize our assets.
Alaska is one of the richest geologic areas on earth,and we haven't even
mapped our resource wealth.
We must win our fight to bring fish processing on shore.We must add value
to those fabulous ocean resources.
When it comes to oil and gas,Prudhoe Bay is not the end...it is the beginning.
We have Kuparuk and West Sak,Point Mcintyre and Milne Point.We must keep
looking.
|don't care if oil is $100 a barrel.If we don't have any oil,it makes no
difference.
We own our gas--100 trillion cubic feet of it.
Along with the Native corporations,we own 60 percent of the coal reserves of
North America.
Fortunately,Alaska coal is low in sulphur,so we can get Healy,Wishbone,
Beluga and North Slope coal--and that's clean coal--to market.
Earlier this month,|met with the CEOs of all but one of the Native regional
corporations.Together,we own roughly 150 million acres of land.We agreed that
we have the same problems and opportunities.
Most of all,we need access to develop our resources--some means of surface
transportation to get our resources to market.
lf Alaskans don't develop our resources,how will we care for our elderly?How
will we pay for books at Gastineau Elementary?How will we protect our Permanent
Fund?How will we protect our environment?
It is important to note that there would be no Permanent Fund without Prudhoe
Bay.
And,yet some of the greatest protectors of the Permanent Fund oppose the
creation of.another Prudhoe Bay.
To enhance our revenues,we must use our imaginations.
Soon after!was sworn in last year,we discovered unresolved tax disputes 15
years old.
By aggressive negotiations,this year alone we generated over $300 million.
That work will continue.
With an eye to revenues in the future,our land selection team at the
Department of Natural Resources is several months ahead of schedule in its race to
complete the state's 103 million acre land entitlement.
And we will bring to the legislature this session a settlement of an eighteen
year dispute with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.This agreement will allow
us to lease additional lands at the North Slope.
We have also begun to invest in infrastructure projects that make economic
development possible.
Over the next six years,we will receive $1.4 billion in federal highway funds--
an average of $50 million more a year than we have in the past.That increase will
translate into 850 new jobs in the private sector.
My goal is to upgrade all of our highways to the standard of National Scenic
Highways.
Commissioner Turpin has prepared a transportation plan so that that money
goes to projects that not only fill the potholes down the road--but help create access
where there is none.
And |would like to congratulate that department.This year's maintenance and
construction work is already out for bid.That's a first--and a major benefit for
workers this summer.
Shortly,we will introduce a constitutional amendment for a dedicated fund for
maintenance and operation of our transportation system.
This is the best way to have a safe and reliable road system--a key element in
our quality of life.
It will also allow us to fully fund revenue sharing to our cities for road
maintenance at $3,000 per mile--a welcome change from less than half that amount
last year.
Speaking of cities,we are deeply concerned about their fiscal problems.If
state revenues decline,we cannot expect local government to address the shortfall
without giving them additional tools.
We support the Port Authority legislation introduced by Senators Duncan,and
Pearce,and Representative Baker.This will help local economies by encouraging port
facilities to be self-sufficient.
We have ironed out the problems in the Investment Pooling Bill,which will help
cities earn a higher return on their investments.
And,as |mentioned Tuesday,the Debt Retirement and Matching Grant
programs are designed to make our cities stronger.
Well-planned capital projects will help us through the transition from Prudhoe
revenues.
Safe water and decent sanitation facilities are good examples.
In addition to capital investments,we need creative initiatives.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Development is working on more
than 100 projects in every region to diversify the economy.
=
New prospects of markets and trade in the Pacific Rim--up 266 percent in the
past few years--underline the reality that,while our political ties are with the lower
48,our economic ties are with Asia.
This is Alaska's moment with Japan.While the rest of the nation has
degenerated into Japan-bashing,we will extend the hand of friendship.
A wide-ranging activist agenda,such as |support,will overwhelm the forces
for no growth.
When a country starts believing in its people,gathers up its nerve,and uses its
God-given resources,its citizens flourish.
Alaska became great by having people who wouldn't surrender--pioneers who
didn't give up--who believed that the impossible was possible.They saw beyond the
here and now into the promise of tomorrow.
Alaska has gone from a rich state without money to a poor state with a large
cash surplus in the bank.Affluence is often the enemy of creativity.
We're not poor--we're thinking poor.
It's time to think rich again.
Alaskans can rediscover that spirit that existed before Prudhoe Bay--when we
thought we were rich beyond our wildest dreams,and that richness was of the spirit.
|thank you.
State of the Budget Address
by the Honorable Walter J.Hickel
Governor of Alaska
January 16,1992
President Eliason,Speaker Grussendorf,members of the cabinet,distinguished
members of the legislature,and fellow Alaskans.
When the people were choosing a governor just over a year ago,they heard
three major themes from the Hickel-Coghill team.
We must bring the decision-making home.
We must face our Owner State obligations and turn our economy around.
We must improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government.
During the last legislative session,my administration focused on the first and
third priorities--taking charge of our state and reducing spending.Some progress was
made.
We brought the hiring habit to a halt.We have stopped the growth of
government,although we have not yet reduced its size by our five percent target.
You can't stop an oil tanker on a dime.Just ask Joe Hazelwood!
But |want it known that |have not backed off of my commitment to cut out
the waste and duplication in government.
Last June I created an Efficiency Review Team.It is hard at work moving from
department to department--recommending where we can reduce costs and improve
services.I've asked them to complete their work by June of this year.
Now we must get on to the task of turning our economy around--and we begin
with the budget.
Working with the fall revenue forecast,we have prepared the operating budget
you have before you.It provides roughly the same level of government service as last
year,but we shifted our emphasis toward stimulating economic growth.
In terms of hard numbers,it represents an increase of 3.7 percent in those
items controlled by the executive branch.With 5.2 percent inflation,this translates
into a modest,but real reduction.
At this time,|would like to present to you,Mr.President,and you,Mr.
Speaker,copies of the "Executive Budget Book.”
We believe this is the first administration to provide such a thorough reference
and working document.
it includes historical spending information,as well as detailed analysis,of my
proposed budget.
You in the legislative branch proved last year that when it comes to cutting
spending,|cannot do it without you.
Almost half of the budget are pass-throughs based on formulas written in law
for education,municipal assistance and so on.Some people consider these as
unchangeable as the Ten Commandments.
But life was simpler in those days.When Moses came off the mountain,
holding those tablets,he didn't turn his face to the heavens and ask,"But where's the
funding?”
The stalemate we reached on the education formula last year made it clear that
we must face reductions jointly.We have to work together to enhance our revenues.
That's why,this week,!have met with the members of the majority and the
minority of both houses.
|explained,as you were already aware,that the budget we prepared last
November--less than 60 days ago--was based on an oil price of $18.90.
Since then,the world has changed before our eyes.The price of oil today is
just over $15.The average price for this fiscal year is $17.29.
This could mean a reduction in revenues of $150 to $285 million for this fiscal
year alone.It could mean a drop of another $300 million or more for FY93.
We are monitoring world events closely.OPEC meets next month.The fires
of Kuwait have been extinguished,and Kuwaiti oil will soon be on the market.
Most of the world's economies are depressed,and it's been a warm winter.
That means lower oil prices,which some observers believe will remain through 1992.
2
We must not be blindsided.
Alaska has faced shortfalls before.None of us want to be in the position that
Governor Sheffield had to face in 1986 when oil dropped from $26 to $10,and he
was forced to impound $750 million.
I call on the leaders of the legislature for your assistance.We must have a planimmediately.
|have asked all of my commissioners and executive staff to begin work.We
must be prepared to take decisive action if these conditions continue.
In addition,|am announcing this evening that |will name a Contingency
Planning Team,headed by the Director of the OMB,Shelby Stastny.
|request that this team be joined by the President of the Senate,the House
Speaker,a co-chair from each finance committee,and the majority and minority
leaders.
Their charge will be to make sure that the worst case scenario--if it comes to
that--will have the least adverse effect on the Alaskan people.We must be sure that
our most critical state services stay intact.
The greatest danger of this new reality is that we may lose sight of the most
important item on our agenda--the capital budget.It is the key to the future.
We must not cover the costs of day-to-day operations at the expense of the
future.
In the Great Depression,the final act of desperation of a farming family was
when they ate the seed corn.We mustn't panic.We must tighten our belt and plant
that corn for our children.
In reality,the revenue drop is not the problem.
It is a symptom of the problem.
For the last fifteen years,we have been so busy counting our money that we
lost our courage.
When we gained statehood,we did more than sew a star on the flag.We
sewed on a brand new kind of star--one that represented a brand new kind of state--a
state in which the people owned the resources and would use their pioneering spirit
to build an economy.
For more than a decade now,virtually all of Alaska's economy has come from
one oil field.
We must ask ourselves,"Are we planting that seed corn to get other things
started?"
Or are we boxed in and bullied by those who don't care about our people?
Every time we take a step to diversify,we are criticized,we are picketed,we
are sued.
Whether it's the A.J.Mine,offshore leasing,logging,the Copper River Scenic
Highway,ANWR or the natural gas pipeline...someone goes to court--usually in the
name of the environment.
Well,|am an environmentalist.I've made some mistakes,but I'll stand on my
public and private record over the past 25 years.
What some idealists don't realize is that the color of the environment is not just
green.It is real.A person who is cold,hungry,and unemployed is in an ugly
environment.
Poverty is the worst enemy of the environment.
My question is--what has the Sierra Club ever done for the poor?
What has the Sierra Club ever done for the hungry,the homeless,the
unemployed?
|am concerned--and |know this legislature is concerned--about achieving a
sustainable economy.
That's our legal responsibility and our moral commitment.
To get the job done,we have a government like nowhere on the globe.
It is royalty driven,it is not tax driven,at least not taxes paid by the people.
Our vital services are not paid for with the people's money,but with the
people's minerals.
It doesn't come from our pockets--but from our Prudhoes.
The other 49 states operate differently.
4
When the legislature of Mississippi,for example,decides to start a new
program or increase the education budget,it looks at a wide range of taxes--income
tax,sales tax,property tax,alcohol tax,cigarette tax,what have you.
Then it adjusts,raising one tax by one percent,the next tax by two percent and
so on--until it has a balanced budget.
lf we were to shut down the pipelineand try to replace oil revenues by taxing
our people,every Alaska family with two wage-earners would have to write a check
each year to Juneau for $17,000.
That's unthinkable.
In Alaska,we need lead time.
Even if we had the U.S.Congress on our side and Pacific Rim markets nailed
down,neither ANWR nor the natural gas pipeline could come on stream immediately.
It took ten years from the time of oil discovery at the North Slope until the first barrel
of oil reached the marketplace.
Our opportunity is in the proper and balanced development of the natural
resources of our state.
Let's take a look at all the resources we own.Let's capitalize our assets.
Alaska is one of the richest geologic areas on earth,and we haven't even
mapped our resource wealth.
We must win our fight to bring fish processing on shore.We must add value
to those fabulous ocean resources.
When it comes to oil and gas,Prudhoe Bay is not the end...it is the beginning.
We have Kuparuk and West Sak,Point McIntyre and Milne Point.We must keep
looking.
!don't care if oil is $100 a barrel.If we don't have any oil,it makes no
difference.
We own our gas--100 trillion cubic feet of it.
Along with the Native corporations,we own 60 percent of the coal reserves of
North America.
Fortunately,Alaska coal is low in sulphur,so we can get Healy,Wishbone,
Beluga and North Slope coal--and that's clean coal--to market.
Earlier this month,I met with the CEQs of all but one of the Native regional
corporations.Together,we own roughly 150 million acres of land.We agreed that
we have the same problems and opportunities.
Most of all,we need access to develop our resources--some means of surface
transportation to get our resources to market.
lf Alaskans don't develop our resources,how will we care for our elderly?How
will we pay for books at Gastineau Elementary?How will we protect our Permanent
Fund?How will we protect our environment?
It is important to note that there would be no Permanent Fund without Prudhoe
Bay.
And,yet some of the greatest protectors of the Permanent Fund oppose the
creation of.another Prudhoe Bay.
To enhance our revenues,we must use our imaginations.
Soon after |was sworn in last year,we discovered unresolved tax disputes 15
years old.
By aggressive negotiations,this year alone we generated over $300 million.
That work will continue.
With an eye to revenues in the future,our land selection team at the
Department of Natural Resources is several months ahead of schedule in its race to
complete the state's 103 million acre land entitlement.
And we will bring to the legislature this session a settlement of an eighteen
year dispute with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.This agreement will allow
us to lease additional lands at the North Slope.
We have also begun to invest in infrastructure projects that make economic
development possible.
Over the next six years,we will receive $1.4 billion in federal highway funds--
an average of $50 million more a year than we have in the past.That increase will
translate into 850 new jobs in the private sector.
My goal is to upgrade all of our highways to the standard of National Scenic
Highways.
Commissioner Turpin has prepared a transportation plan so that that money
goes to projects that not only fill the potholes down the road--but help create access
where there is none.
And |would like to congratulate that department.This year's maintenance and
construction work is already out for bid.That's a first--and a major benefit for
workers this summer.
Shortly,we will introduce a constitutional amendment for a dedicated fund for
maintenance and operation of our transportation system.
This is the best way to have a safe and reliable road system--a key element in
our quality of life.
It will also allow us to fully fund revenue sharing to our cities for road
maintenance at $3,000 per mile--a welcome change from less than half that amount
last year.
Speaking of cities,we are deeply concerned about their fiscal problems.If
state revenues decline,we cannot expect local government to address the shortfall
without giving them additional tools.
We support the Port Authority legislation introduced by Senators Duncan,and
Pearce,and Representative Baker.This will help local economies by encouraging port
facilities to be self-sufficient.
We have ironed out the problems in the Investment Pooling Bill,which will help
cities earn a higher return on their investments.
And,as |mentioned Tuesday,the Debt Retirement and Matching Grant
programs are designed to make our cities stronger.
Well-planned capital projects will help us through the transition from Prudhoe
revenues.
Safe water and decent sanitation facilities are good examples.
In addition to capital investments,we need creative initiatives.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Development is working on more
than 100 projects in every region to diversify the economy.
7
New prospects of markets and trade in the Pacific Rim--up 266 percent in the
past few years--underline the reality that,while our political ties are with the lower
48,our economic ties are with Asia.
This is Alaska's moment with Japan.While the rest of the nation has
degenerated into Japan-bashing,we will extend the hand of friendship.
A wide-ranging activist agenda,such as!support,will overwhelm the forces
for no growth.
When a country starts believing in its people,gathers up its nerve,and uses its
God-given resources,its citizens flourish.
Alaska became great by having people who wouldn't surrender--pioneers who
didn't give up--who believed that the impossible was possible.They saw beyond the
here and now into the promise of tomorrow.
Alaska has gone from a rich state without money to a poor state with a large
cash surplus in the bank.Affluence is often the enemy of creativity.
We're not poor--we're thinking poor.
It's time to think rich again.
Alaskans can rediscover that spirit that existed before Prudhoe Bay--when we
thought we were rich beyond our wildest dreams,and that richness was of the spirit.
|thank you.
State of the State Address
by the Honorable Walter J.Hickel
Governor of Alaska
January 14,1992
CARING FOR THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
President Eliason,Speaker Grussendorf,Lieutenant Governor Coghill,members
of the cabinet,distinguished members of the legislature,and fellow Alaskans.
It is my honor to address you tonight on the state of the State.
We are indeed a fortunate people,we Alaskans.Since |stood here at this
podium a year ago,winds of change have literally altered the political landscape of the
world.
Desert Storm is a distant memory.
The August coup in Moscow crumbled.
As the Soviet Union fell apart,Western Europe buried its divisions and came
together.
The dream of a world at peace,though still beyond reach,is much closer.
Yes,we are collectively a fortunate people.But we now face new challenges.
Our national economy is undermined by serious weaknesses.And so is
Alaska's.
A sign of that weakness is the attitude of Washington,D.C.,toward our state.
For too long,Washington has treated Alaska like a colony.
There is little appreciation for our wide range of gifts,our talented people,our
valuable resources--all of which can strengthen America and make us much more
competitive with our overseas markets.
Many in Congress have chosen to place one aspect of Alaska above all others--
wilderness.
lf you are not pro-wilderness,regardless of its impact on people,they label you
as anti-environment.
But we in Alaska collectively understand that the environment has many
dimensions.
Our task,as leaders of this great and beautiful country,is to care for the total
environment--people,people's needs and nature.
So,as we look at the state of our state,let's do it in that context--people,
people's needs and nature.
First,people.
As we begin this new year,the Alaskan people haven't lost their gift for frontier
thinking.
We're not afraid to build a rocket base to launch satellites from our university,
to turn environmental disaster into victory in Prince William Sound,or to become the
meeting place of the Arctic nations.
We're not afraid to export our energy to the world or contribute our surplus fish
to our struggling neighbors.
And we're not afraid to help those who suffer from troubles of everyday life.
That's what Alaska is all about.
And yet there is uncertainty.Alaska is restless.
With the national recession,many families wonder--will we be able to keep our
jobs?
There is deep-seated concern over basics such as affordable health care--and
schools that both teach and inspire our children.
Our citizens across the state fear crime,especially the murder and mayhem
spawned by the vicious world of crack cocaine.
Many families suffer from physical and emotional violence as a result of a loved
one addicted to alcohol or drugs.
Now,you people in this legislative body know that government cannot solve
all human problems.
They must be addressed by the community as a whole--in our churches,in our
schools,and,most important,in our homes.
But government can provide leadership and direction,and last year we made
some progress.
To fight the health problems in our villages,we launched an aggressive
campaign for fresh water.This year alone,we are putting $47 million into ninety
projects.
Our social service personnel have a new emphasis on family preservation--an
alternative to out-of-home placement for neglected children.
Last session,we wrote and passed legislation to resolve the fourteen-year-old
invasion of the Mental Health Trust.We hope it will soon be approved by the court.
Hundreds of Alaskans depend on the resolution of this problem.
One of them is here today--the winner of the 1991 state Victory Award.
Joe Pichler founded People First.He is a shining example of someone who
speaks out for the rights of people with disabilities.He is sitting in the gallery with
my wife,Ermalee.Joey--we welcome you and we salute you.
Joey represents the fact that government is not about a bottom line--
government is about people like Joe.
Next on our agenda is to help our municipal governments.We must follow up
on the debt retirement legislation passed last year.
We need a fund to pay off over $500 million of municipal and school bonds,
and make possible more investments in the future.The Alaska Municipal League
endorses this fund,and we ask for your leadership to make it happen.
As you know,|strongly support the Capital Matching Grant Program,so that
our Cities help carry the cost of capital projects.By paying a share,our communities
not only take ownership of these facilities,they will play a larger role in choosing
which investments are funded.
We are fighting back against the rising tide of crime.We have improved our
corrections system and increased our army of prosecutors.
.But they need the tools to do the job.|am announcing this evening that we
will fight back against drugs and murder with a tough new crime bill.
3
To help our nonprofits and charities,we have tackled the abuse of the pull-tab
industry.
We insist that at least 40 percent of the earnings of this $200 million a year
industry go to the charities.Last year they received only eight percent.
Many of you have worked on the high cost of health care insurance.This is a
gut-level problem facing Alaskans.
Some approaches,though well-meaning,will break the budget.But we all
agree that we need answers,and |will work with you to find them.
On education,Commissioner Covey is bringing together fresh ideas from all
over the state.
In response to the public's demand for change,eleven teams,with a total of
over 100 volunteers,will soon start work on outcomes,accountability,financing and
facilities--all part of what we call "Alaska 2000."
This work will be presented in early fall at an "Education Summit.”|have met
twice with U.S.Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander,and |can tell you he is
enthusiastic about the initiatives we are taking.
These "people"issues rarely respond to a "quick fix."
Solutions take commitment--a commitment |know you share.
Now,people's needs.
When it comes to people's needs,we must address jobs--a healthy business
climate--public services--and confidence in government.
For fifteen years,we have had the mistaken view that government itself--
federal,state and local--can be the only source of the jobs we need.
But government is not our economy.It is a result of our economy.
Alaska can only create wealth when we have access to resources.For access,
we must win a series of battles--long postponed--with the federal government.
Until those battles are faced and won,we cannot expect the private sector or
a free market to save us.
Because even as a free market bursts forth in Russia,there is no free market
in most of Alaska.
For example,we are confident that there are vast resources on the ANWR
coastal plain.But the U.S.Senate refuses even to talk about it.
|would like to thank the many members of this body who crisscrossed America
last fall putting the lie to the misinformation about ANWR.
ANWAR is a battle we will not give up.
At the other end of the state,another lockup is occurring.
Ninety percent of the Tongass National Forest has been placed off limits to
multiple use--especially logging,a major private sector employer in Southeast.Ninety
percent!
A land plan for the remaining ten percent virtually ignores the needs of the
Alaska people--as if people do not count.|
Until we intervened,the plan would have seriously reduced the size of the
timber harvest.Likewise,all but 13 of the 52 high potential mineral sites would have
been placed out of reach.
These are not just numbers!Thousands of families in Southeast are threatened
by these actions.
ANWR and the Tongass are just two examples of a long list of federal violations
of the Statehood Compact.
In 1958 we made a deal.We liked it.We live by it.We expect the federal
government to do the same.
Today,we must draw the line.Alaska has had enough.
|am announcing here this evening that |have directed the Attorney General to
prepare and file in federal court a series of landmark law suits.
The first will address how and where the Statehood Compact was broken.
The Compact is much more than just a law.It is an agreement between the
United States of America and the people of Alaska.
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The Compact guarantees us the chance to build an economy so we can afford
to govern ourselves so all our people can have a decent standard of living.As you
know,we were granted 103 million acres of land and ninety percent of the mineral
royalties from federal lands.
Now we discover they gave us title but they restricted our access.
They gave us lands,but later said we could not use seventy percent of them.
They promised us royalties,and then locked up the areas that could produce
those royalties.These are empty promises.They are really broken dreams and could
bring about the stagnation of a state.
We will challenge federal laws written solely at our expense.The Oil Export
Ban is a notorious example.It singles out Alaska (not the United States),bleeding us
of the benefits of our imagination,our sweat,and our natural resources.
In spite of our strong,gifted,and united congressional delegation,we have
been unable to achieve equal treatment in Congress on this issue.We are forced to
adjudicate.
The third legal action will confirm Alaska's title to the rivers and lakebeds
beneath our navigable waters and will reassert our right for the people to fish.
What the United States has done to Alaska is a scandal.If a Third World
country were similarly abused,the United Nations would step in.
We are counting on America's judicial system to provide relief.
In the meantime,we must depend on our state lands for the resources to meet
our people's needs.
We must lease those that will enhance our revenue.
We are not a tax driven state,we are a royalty driven state.
We must build on the examples of Red Dog and Greens Creek.
Most important,we must have a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to
tidewater.This is not just Alaska's pipeline to Valdez.It's Alaska's lifeline to the
future.
This project will generate between 300-500 million dollars in revenue per year--
revenue that will mean better schools--filled potholes--books for our children--meals
for the homeless--and jobs.
But a word of caution.Some people have the idea that this project will just
happen,as if by magic.|assure you,it won't be easy.
We need a mindset to get the job done.
Another critical issue for both Native and non-Native Alaskans is access to
Alaska's fish and game resources.
As you know,early last year,|named a Subsistence Advisory Council which
has been meeting for months.Leaders of the Alaska Outdoor Council are working
shoulder to shoulder with Native leaders,including representatives from the AFN,as
well as the United Fishermen.
No group,since the Constitutional Convention,has been as dedicated to finding
an Alaskan solution for such an important issue.
There's a light at the end of the tunnel.
|am hoping that their draft legislation will come before this body soon.
And finally,under the heading of people's needs,we must address confidence
in our government.
Some people are concerned that during the first year of my administration,
there has been too much turmoil.|agree--sometimes it's been a circus.Well,|did
promise we'd have some fun!
Of course,a new administration with an agenda for change is going to generate
interest--especially if it hires strong people.
It takes strong people to lead strong people,and |am confident that we now
have that team in place.Too bad |wasn't able to recruit Arnold Schwarzenegger
when he was in town!I can just see sending "The Terminator”down to the second
floor.
And by the way,I'd like to thank Senator Zharoff--He's taken a little heat off
me.Am I dressed right?!owe you one,Fred!
On the legislative side,|speak for the people when I ask your support for
resolutions to limit legislative sessions to seventy-five days and consecutive terms to
eight years.
Let the people vote.Let them decide if it is time to apply the same yardstick
to legislators we do to our governors and president.
Now,let's look at the third portion of the environment--nature.
In this arena,Alaskans have a wide range of responsibilities and a great heritage
to enjoy.
Mistakes have been made.They were mistakes of doing.The worst
environmental disaster of the 1980s was not the wreck of the EXXON Valdez.It was
the rape of the North Pacific fisheries.
Three hundred million pounds of edible fish are caught and discarded
overboard--dead--each year.It's hard to imagine when people of the world are
starving!
At least six million pounds of this wasted resource are immature halibut.
In 1975,we had a 120-day halibut fishing season.Last year,it was only one
day--24 hours.This year,it may be just 12 hours.
This administration is determined to act before the coast of Alaska literally
becomes a lifeless desert.
We are battling to bring processing on shore or within the three mile limit.
We have established a policy to allocate a portion of the Bering Sea catch to
our communities in Western Alaska.This will help us fulfill our promise to rural
Alaska--1,000 new jobs in the next three years.
It's time we stood up for our fishermen,our cannery workers,our store owners
on shore..
When we think about nature,we can be grateful that the EXXON Valdez
tragedy is behind us.Settlement dollars are already available to start restoring and
enhancing Prince William Sound and other affected areas.
We won't be blackmailed by those who say we are insensitive to the protection
of the glories of Alaska,because it just isn't true.Of Alaska's 365 million acres,at
least 300 million,and probably much more,will always be in its natural state--and
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thank God for that.
A goal of this administration is for Alaska to be a model of environmental
leadership.
|salute the hundreds of men and women who built the Bradley Lake hydro-
project which |had the honor of dedicating in September.All sides,including the
environmental community,have recognized the quality of that project.
That will also be true when we complete the Copper River Scenic Highway.
Last summer,some mistakes were made.That's the problem when you have
a Department of Transportation that hasn't built a road in fifteen years.
When you finally say "Go,”the enthusiasm is overwhelming!
However,|assure you that we will be careful in all we do.
Work will begin soon on an environmental impact statement.
But that doesn't mean we will be fearful.Last week the Cordova City Council
voted 5 to 1 in favor of the road.
We are going to be responsible,but we are going to go ahead.
Last November,fourteen Arctic regions gathered in Anchorage and signed an
agreement to establish a permanent secretariat for the Northern Forum here in Alaska.
-Itis an exciting coming-together of representatives from all over the North--an
Arctic United Nations.On our agenda are several key initiatives,including the
monitoring of pollution in the Arctic.
Our university system--which is becoming a world class Arctic research center--
will become a centerpiece for these activities.
The Northern Forum will also help us share ideas for developing Arctic
resources--such as the northern sea route.
While other nations and continents are struggling to create even a basic
economy,we have a chance to demonstrate how to do it right.
Civilizations are what they think they are.
In Alaska,we think we are pioneers.We think we are independent.We think
we have the courage to stand our ground against any injustice.We think we are a
warmhearted people who care about our neighbors.We think we can be a model for
the world.
In 1992,let's show the world that we are all those things--and more.
God bless you.
I thank you.
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