Comment Letter:
Support of HB110 - Deb Brollini

March 24 Via email

My name is Deborah Brollini and I am testifying in support of HB 110, I’m a 35 year Alaskan and I have two children, a daughter 14, and a son 13. I am a single mother who is currently unemployed, and have been since June 30th of last year. My testimony has changed since my trip to Juneau last month where I testified to House Resources in support of HB 110. I am still concerned at the direction Alaska is headed. However, even more since my return from Juneau. You see in the mid-80s I was foreclosing on homes after Alaska’s economy crashed due to plummeting oil prices that dived to $20.00 a barrel. At the time I was 20, foreclosing on homes, attending Anchorage Community College, and planning my next weekend. I was foreclosing on 20 homes a week, and I was just one paralegal in one Anchorage law firm. I was foreclosing on those who were family, my parentsfriends homes, my friends parents homes, and total strangers. I have approximated that I have foreclosed on around 5,200 homes as my tenure as a paralegal of five years, which ended in 1991. After I returned from Juneau I began researching the year Alaska crashed. I realized things were bad. But, because I was only 20, I wasn’t really paying attention at the time. I did not realize how bad things were until I started researching the year of 86 when I returned from home from Juneau. I parked myself at the Loussac library Alaska Section and began going through articles of the year of 1986. The six headlines which stood out to me were:

• Personal incomes in Alaska plunges
• AHFC loans in default; AHFC becomes the larges property owners
• Slope paychecks begin to shrink
• budget cuts will cost state’s private industry 9,000 jobs
• Economist warns of state depression
• University of Alaska president declares a state of emergency

Alaska was able to dig itself out of the crash when oil prices rose, and we had lots of oil in the pipeline. We no longer have the luxury of lots of oil in the pipeline to sustain our economy long-term.

I appreciate the time you are taking to consider HB 110. I am concerned for children’s future, and would like them to have the same opportunities I did growing up in Alaska. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee that for them. I know some of you in the room have met my children, and I would like you to remember their faces when your pressing yes and no buttons. I urge you to push the yes button in support on HB 110 for my kids future, and the citizens of Alaska. Thank you.

Deborah Brollini

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