Finkenbinder (l.), a Republican, argued that her position in the majority would give her influence. Kreiss-Tomkins, the Democratic incumbent, suggested that the math this election might put him in the majority. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
With a little less than two weeks to go until the general election, the candidates to represent Sitka in Alaska House of Representatives have sharpened the language they’re using to distinguish themselves for voters.
Some of this uptick in rhetoric was apparent during this week’s (10-26-16) election forum at the Sitka Chamber of Commerce.
Republican challenger Sheila Finkenbinder reminded chamber members that, if elected, she would be joining a Republican majority in the House, giving her added influence.
“My job — especially being in the majority would be having a strong effect on making sure that District 25 is fairly treated in that budget, and how it affects all the industries. Fishing, timber, tourism, healthcare.”
To listen to this forum in its entirety, visit our 2016 Legislative Election hub.
In response to this claim, 4-year incumbent Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has sometimes asserted that minority Democrats have never held more power, since the majority must win their cooperation to draw money from the state’s constitutional budget reserve — money needed keep the state running.
But this time he took a different tack.
“I reject the assumption that Sheila would necessarily be in the majority next year, and me the converse. Right now the math in the legislature is effectively a 20-20 split in the House of Representatives. This race, among others, potentially determining that balance of power.”
All 40 seats in the House of Representatives are up for reelection this year, and 28 of them are considered competitive, and five of those — in Anchorage — are considered anyone’s guess.
If an evenly-divided House came about, Kreiss-Tomkins alluded to the likely formation of a bi-partisan majority caucus, much like the one organized in the Alaska senate between 2006 and 2012, which elevated Sitka senator Bert Stedman to the co-chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee.
Finkenbinder, though, criticized Democrats for being obstructionist, when presented with the Governor’s budget last session.
“Last year the House majority did support the governor’s sustainable budget plan. The minority voted against that plan repeatedly causing a stalemate until millions more from the constitutional budget reserve were leveraged back into the budget. Ultimately the governor vetoed much of the additional money, and felt forced to veto part of our PFD.”
That was a lot for Finkenbinder to pile on Democrats, especially when she argued that they had no power. Kreiss-Tomkins saw the situation differently.
“The sustainable budget plan introduced by the governor was held up by legislators of both parties — that part is accurate — but not by the minority or any organization as a whole. I think Sheila is referring to negotiations over the constitutional budget reserve, which were protracted and took a long time. And there were a lot of reasons that happened, but it was ultimately settled and that budget was passed.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said that the process — which did draw down the state’s reserves by around $3 billion — produced a more “moderate and compromise-oriented budget.” He said that he broadly supported the governor’s sustainable budget plan.
Finkenbinder also criticized Kreiss-Tomkins for a “no” vote on HB247, which reduces oil tax credits paid to oil companies. Kreiss-Tomkins responded that there were many iterations of the bill, and his opposition was to credits which he says favored the Big 3 producers on the North Slope — BP, Conoco, and Exxon — and were less favorable toward companies trying to break into the business.
