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State House Republican candidates propose restored PFDs and budget cuts

Renee Gross, KBBI News

The primary election for the Alaska House of Representatives is coming up this August, and candidates are already making their cases to the public. District 31 Republicans held a debate for their party’s three candidates on Saturday in Kasilof. 

John Cox, Sarah Vance and Henry Kroll are all running as Republican candidates to defeat Representative Paul Seaton.  Cox owns multiple businesses in Anchor Point, Vance homeschools her four children in Homer and Kroll is an author and fisherman in Soldotna.

During the debate, each candidate agreed on making sure the Permeant Fund Dividend is restored to its full amount, which would cost roughly $700 million. Cox said many Alaskans depend on the PFD.

“The money belongs to the people,” he said. “Let them have it, don't try to recreate the wheel when it was working." 

Each candidate also agreed to keep the senior tax exemption in place, which exempts seniors from paying taxes on up to $150,000 of the assessed value of their primary residence.

To balance the budget, each said they would find ways of cutting. Vance said she would find better ways to address inefficiencies in departments while keeping services intact. She mentioned working toward cost-efficient solutions like having fishing licenses on cell phones.

We have great technology and instead of trying to pull out the soggy fishing license to prove that we're legal, that's always wet and you can barely see the smeared ink, we can pull it up on our phone, say we have it right here,” she said. “I think that was a smart move that we can do in so many other areas and still have the services.”  

Vance did not say how much money this would save. She also mentioned investing more in Alaska businesses that are already here instead of trying to recruit more businesses to come into the state.

Kroll and Cox both said they would support a hiring freeze so that no new employees could be hired until the state balanced the budget. A hiring freeze is currently in place -- it allows for some exceptions. Both candidates also said they would privatize the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Private industry can operate more efficiently and better," he said. "They would be more like cruise ships. When you ride them now, they're kind of spartan, basically. I think we ought to sell them into private hands and stop building new ones."

He added that he wanted to combine departments in order to save money and spoke out strongly against state income taxes.

Cox said he would not be in favor of any taxes and agreed that the government departments were too big. He added that he would be in favor of cutting education, saying it was a drain on the budget.

So we should be leading the way in this effort to cut the budget and the education,” he said. “So we cut it in the administrative section and if we have to take that money and redirect it toward the teachers, put more teachers into the classroom.”

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has been making cuts to the administration since 2015. Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones said there are thirteen fewer people in the district office than there were a few years ago.

The candidates also addressed criminal justice reform.  Vance said she would add more work programs.

We forget that’s it's very rewarding but that can also be an area that increases some of the mental issues when we get our people who are seeking reform to do something creative, to do something productive, that contributes back to the state,” she said.

Cox said there are ways the government can reward former inmates for good behavior such as expunging their record five years after prison for petty crimes.  But he did not suggest any reform for those who are currently in prison.

Basically, I believe that if you commit a crime, you're going to get a cot, free meals and a book of your choice and your bible," he said. 

Kroll mentioned that inmates from the Wildwood Correctional Complex are working in the seafood canneries. He said he would like to see how the inmates behave in the program and what their recidivism rates are but did not mention a specific agenda for reform.

Kroll said he is running for a House seat to make sure Alaska produces more of its own food. 

My agenda is to get more land into private hands so that we can support ourselves,” he said. “We're completely dependent on the lower 48 states for most all of our food. So we really need to be more self-sufficient.

All candidates said they support term limits and that they would not run again after two terms, with Vance making the exception that she would help prepare someone to replace her before leaving office.

Renee joined KBBI in 2017 as a general assignment reporter and host. Her work has appeared on such shows as Weekend Edition Saturday, The World, Marketplace and Studio 360. Renee previously interned as a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles and as a producer for Stateside at Michigan Radio. Her work has earned her numerous press club awards. She holds an M.S. in journalism from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in women's studies from the University of Michigan.
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