By Tom Morphet
State Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, told the Haines Chamber of Commerce
Friday Haines could see up to $2.2 million in local harbor projects funded through the new
cruise ship head tax this summer.
Thomas said the likelihood of receiving $1.5 million for Port Chilkoot
Dock repairs, $124,000 in cruise ship parking lot improvements and $600,000 in sidewalk
improvements was "probably pretty much for sure."
The money would come from $34 million in regional impact aid from the
$50 per head tax aimed at retiring debt and building new docks and infrastructure.
But the Alaska Legislature won’t step in if federal secure schools
funding doesn’t come through this year, Thomas told a small crowd at the Haines
Senior Center. The money replaces timber receipts from national forests, which for decades
propped up the Haines school budget.
"I asked last year and they said no. Impact aid for regional?
No." Thomas said his office recently notified districts of a "pretty good
bump" in the legislature’s foundation funding formula for the coming year, and
told them they should consider money from the Tongass as a bonus.
Thomas said he has included funding for projects vetoed last spring by
Gov. Sarah Palin in a supplemental budget the legislature will forward to Palin in the
coming weeks. It includes $400,000 for the Beach Road force main sewer project, a $90,000
emergency ramp at the Chilkat Center, $100,000 for the Haines pool and $250,000 for
regional and local watershed groups.
It also includes money for the state work on Lutak Road from the ferry
terminal to town.
Thomas characterized chances of passage of the supplemental as
"questionable."
"If the governor goes back and tries to veto any of it, I think
the Legislature will try to override her this time." The Legislature will forward the
budget to Palin before it approves her capital budget, he said. "That’s where a
lot of this fight will occur… If she vetoes too many of these, I think the projects
in the capital budget will get stripped out.
Thomas said he’s put $1.8 million in major maintenance needs for
Haines schools in a list of capital improvement requests from Haines. Palin’s
recommended funding of major maintenance didn’t extend to Haines and borough manager
Robert Venables said the move improved chances for the money, which would include money
for paving the school parking lot and demolition of old schools.
Other items on the list include replacing a septic system and
playground at Mosquito Lake School ($105,000), an emergency dispatch console for Haines
police ($150,000), a raptor mew for the American Bald Eagle Foundation ($375,000), bins
and collection for Haines Friends of Recycling ($46,000), American Legion Hall renovation
($150,000) and local Boy Scout camp upgrades ($100,000).
The legislature just started on the capital budget and it’s too
early to predict the fate of Haines projects in it, Thomas said.
Thomas said he succeeded in placing $92,000 for Chilkoot corridor
planning and $400,000 for public broadcasting in the operating budget. As a
"grandfather" of KHNS, Thomas said he argued with fellow Republicans that public
radio provides vital services, such as marine weather.
Thomas also defended a bill he introduced that would boost permanent
fund checks $500 in the coming year to help residents cope with the climbing price of fuel
and subsequent rise in the Alaska cost of living. The idea has been knocked as a give-away
and election-year politics. It would take $360 million from the permanent fund’s
earning reserve.
"It’s not a giveaway. There are people out there who
seriously need it. Most people who don’t like it are from Anchorage. They have
subsidized natural gas and about 8 cents per kilowatt for electricity. They have to look
outside the fishbowl."
Thomas also is supporting legislation to give free fishing and hunting
licenses to active Alaska National Guard members. The Iraq War is the first mobilization
of the Guard for overseas combat and free licenses is a way of saying thank-you, he said.
On Monday, Thomas joined five other House members, calling on the
chairs of the House Finance Committee to reappropriate $37 million for the Juneau access
project to the ferry system’s operating budget.
"The current plan for this road would not eliminate the need for a
ferry system, but simply require the passenger to drive more miles to get to the ferry
terminal," the legislators wrote.
An aide in Thomas’ office said the reappropriation was being
sought through the supplemental spending bill, but if not successful, it may be pursued
through a capital projects bill.
