March 17, 2009
Representative Coghill
House Rules Committee
Alaska State Legislature, State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
RE: HB158-Disapproving all recommendations of State Officers Compensation Commission
Dear Representative Coghill:
On behalf of the Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc., (RDC), I am writing in opposition of HB158 which proposes to disapprove all recommendations of the independent State Officers Compensation Commission.
RDC is a statewide, non-profit, membership-funded organization founded in 1975. The RDC membership is comprised of individuals and companies from Alaska’s oil and gas, mining, timber, tourism, and fisheries industries, as well as Alaska Native corporations, local communities, organized labor, and industry support firms. RDC’s purpose is to link these diverse interests together to encourage a strong, diversified private sector in Alaska and expand the state’s economic base through the responsible development of our natural resources.
Currently, Alaskan legislators are grossly underpaid. The fact that legislators are compensated at levels below their lowest staff member is appalling. We applaud the recommendations of the State Officers Compensation Commission, of which not one legislator was a member. We support the proposed increase in legislative salary from $24,000 to $50,400 along with the elimination of per diem when the Legislature is not in session. We believe the recommendations should have gone further, but this is a good start.
As you know, legislative compensation and per diem must be used to maintain residences in Juneau during the legislative session as well as home residences during the remainder of the year. This is nearly impossible given the current compensation level. To those of you that are currently serving, thank you for your sacrifice.
As part of our so called “citizen legislature,” state representatives and state senators often need to maintain separate jobs outside of the Legislature to support their families. However, ethics laws passed recently have made it increasingly difficult for these legislators to legally, and ethically, find and maintain a job. Couple this with the number of special sessions that have been held the past few years, and it has become even more difficult for legislators to be reliable employees outside of the Legislature.
Unfortunately, as we continue to read in the press even last week, a number of former legislators are in jail and the common denominator is money, and not much of it. It should go without saying that paying someone more money will not suddenly make an unethical person ethical. But the current system Alaska has in place only allows for the independently wealthy, retirees, or people that are willing to live in their offices and eat ramen noodles.
We live in a state that relies upon the responsible development of its natural resources as the foundation of its economy. Decisions made by legislators can and do have significant financial impacts on corporations and it should be imperative that we lure more of the best and brightest to Juneau to make the tough decisions needed to run our state. In conclusion, we enthusiastically support the recommendations of the commission and encourage you to reject HB158. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc.
