State lawmakers split on $2.2B Senate capital budget

April 08, 2010

Rep. Mike Doogan calls the Senate's $2.2 billion capital budget "nonsense." (Daniel Hernandez/KTUU-DT)

by Ted Land
Thursday, April 8, 2010

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Some lawmakers in Juneau say they're shocked at the $2.2 billion capital budget proposed by the Senate. Its creators say it will put Alaskans to work constructing or fixing up state buildings, roads and ports.

"Holy smoke," said Anchorage Rep. Mike Doogan in response to the spending plan, which includes federal funds. "That's nonsense, frankly. You know, you don't spend $2 billion in the hopes that you're going to put a few people to work a couple of days, a couple of months earlier than you would otherwise."

"Most of those projects in there will put Alaskans to work," said House Speaker Mike Chenault. "And with the economy that we're in, we certainly need the jobs that the capital budget could create."

Presumably, representatives will want to add some of their priorities to what's already in the budget, pushing the price tag even higher.

"Little bit of concern there, but at least we have a capital budget out that we can at least work with now," Chenault said.

Gov. Sean Parnell says it's just too much.

"The capital budget that I proposed was healthy, particularly in comparison to the last 10 years, but this budget goes way beyond," Parnell said.

Parnell's deferred maintenance plan for state buildings is funded in the budget, but he says he's concerned additional projects will have some unintended consequences.

"When all the pieces are on the table, they're going to be talking about $3 billion worth of capital spending," Parnell said. "And my view? I don't want to overheat things so that we're bringing up workers from Outside to take Alaska jobs."

The governor has ultimate veto power to eliminate spending he doesn't think belongs in the bill.

Parnell says he is still pushing for his merit scholarships proposal. He's been meeting with House and Senate leaders, and says he doesn't want them to leave Juneau without resolving that bill.

Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com

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