From the Desk of Adam Wool
2.2023

With 2022 now behind us, a new group of legislators will come together in Juneau this month to govern Alaska. There will be some returning faces but many new ones as well. As I move on from serving as your representative in the legislature, I’d like to offer some parting thoughts. 

I first want to congratulate my successor, Ashley Carrick, for running a great campaign and for taking my seat as the new representative from District 35 (formerly District 5). The district is in good hands. Ashley will be responsive to the needs of her constituents and will continue much of the good work that our office undertook when she was my chief of staff. I also hope and expect that she will chart her own course.

I also want to congratulate two other candidates I endorsed, Mary Peltola and Lisa Murkowski. Mary has already brought a breath of fresh air to DC and is working hard to fill some very big shoes as she replaces Don Young as Alaska’s sole representative in the U.S. House. Mary ran a great campaign, beating out dozens of opponents in our first open primary under the new ranked choice voting system back in June. I was one of the 50 or so candidates in that historic election and though I beat Rep. Peltola in Fairbanks, I wasn’t strong enough to carry that edge statewide. With the benefit of hindsight, Mary was obviously the candidate to meet the moment and I am glad she won.

Lisa Murkowski is another moderate voice that has represented Alaska well for the last 20 years, and I am glad she’ll do so for 6 more. Early this cycle, Lisa reached out to me, a strong Democrat, for my endorsement, and I gave it willingly. This proudly bipartisan approach--looking to the middle ground, seeking input from both sides--drives how we govern best in Alaska, and Lisa is someone that embodies that spirit. I am confident this method will endure now that the election is over, and I’m happy she has leverage to govern in an tightly split Senate. Alaska would be a very different place if either of the opponents beat the two winners, and I think these results demonstrate the moderating value of the new ranked choice system.

My first choice for Governor, Bill Walker, didn’t win, and I have some concern about another four years of Governor Dunleavy. I feel that he didn’t govern well in his first four years and made some grave errors. I hope that now that he isn’t positioning himself for another election, that he will moderate and try to compromise with the legislature to address the many daunting challenges Alaska faces. His proposed budget, released last month, is more of the same—supersized PFD, cuts to education, and no plan for the future. I hoped for a different Governor, but we must work with who we have and given the results of the legislative elections, there are reasons to be optimistic. Maybe Gov. Dunleavy will be a better leader this time around.

I am glad that the state legislature will have some more moderate voices, especially in the Senate. Ranked choice voting had some of its intended effects in that many people were elected that best represent the views of the majority of the voters, not the most vocal candidates on the fringes. This election also demonstrated some of the shortcomings of the new system. In a handful of races where lots of voters only voted for one candidate instead of ranking two or more, we saw fringe candidates elected, similar to the old system. But overall, I think the results were good and we have a more moderate House and Senate that hopefully can work together and pass meaningful legislation.

Speaking of legislation, we need a new formula for the PFD so that it doesn’t consume every legislative session like it has the past 8 years or so. I know many candidates run on paying out “the biggest PFD possible”. This is a great slogan that appeals to many people because folks interpret it to mean whatever they personally want. But I feel that as politicians, we have to do better than pandering to people and offering them a big check. No other state gives out checks to its citizens and every other state has either a sales or an income tax. In many respects, Alaskans have had a pretty good deal for a very long time now. Recent years have demonstrated how fragile our economy is and shown that we can’t pay out a big check just because we have high oil prices or federal relief in any given year. Our commitment this year to issuing the largest PFD ever saw us narrowly avoid raiding the permanent fund to pay out a big check, even as oil prices shot up. Oil prices have since dropped and our temporary surplus is soon to be a deficit again. Schools are closing and infrastructure is failing, yet we appropriated over $2B in individual checks. This is the highest item in the budget—the largest allocation for PFDs in history—and many other things are failing or very much in need.

Too many politicians use the PFD as a campaign tool, but they don’t put it in perspective with other budget items. We need a solid fiscal plan to balance revenue and spending going forward and we need policy makers who take this seriously. If we pay out a big check then other things will suffer. Sure, many people could use the extra income, but there are other ways to address poverty. We could provide assistance to those truly in need and using some metric to determine that. We should also consider paying out the PFD as a monthly subsidy instead of a big check once a year. If paid out in smaller increments, the funds would more likely go to rent and groceries instead of large purchases such as a vacation or a snowmachine.

We need to come up with a reasonable formula that plans for the future and takes into account the trend toward decarbonization of the global economy. We can’t rely on oil wealth forever, so we need to be responsible with our permanent fund and try to grow it during these changing times. We need to attract more people to Alaska with the promise of good jobs, a good education for their kids, and affordable healthcare so that folks don’t have to fly to California for a knee replacement.

We need to offer opportunity. Not a check to pay for a tank of heating oil, but a decent job to pay for a decent life.

This issue of pandering over the PFD is bipartisan. Some Alaska Democrats advocate for big PFD checks and an increase in the oil tax to pay for it, I think this is shortsighted at best, as oil prices and production may not support this even in the near term. Oil won’t save the day forever and we need to get beyond this narrative. I have long supported an income tax and hope that members of the new legislature will take up that banner.

Alaska is one of the places on earth most dramatically affected by climate change. There are fewer fish in the Yukon, major migration of ocean fish and crab species, more summer wildfires, more permafrost melting in the tundra, coastal erosion, more rain in normally cold winter months--the list goes on. We need to be part of the solution to these problems. If that means using less fossil fuels both as a state and a nation, then that needs to start now. We can’t complain about less fish and the need for a seawall and then say we want unrestricted access to north slope oil for eternity.

Electricity is the future and carbon-based fuels are waning. This is bad news for the oil industry, and it’s a hard truth for a petroleum-based economy like Alaska to confront, but it’s necessary. We will continue to produce oil and hopefully get more of our natural gas to market, but in the long term we need to do more. Our next generation of leaders will need to face this challenge.

My time in Juneau has been very enjoyable and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I learned so much about Alaskans, about our government, about what needs fixing, and about the Fairbanks community I served. I’m proud that I contributed to solutions that help make life better for Alaskans and for Fairbanks, most of all my support for our state university. Creating educated citizens is necessary for any society and we all benefit from a good, affordable education system, including K-12 and beyond. Our University is central to the Fairbanks community, and I want it to continue to thrive, bring new people to our community, and create new opportunities. When the University budget was being cut almost every year, I supported budget increases instead, and as I leave office, I think we’ve turned a corner. With your support I’m hopeful that the Legislature’s commitment to our University will continue into the future. I also want to applaud President Pat Pitney’s efforts to right the ship of the University and continue on the right path forward. I feel the military and the University are central to our community and the military seems to be doing just fine, growing and evolving. The University deserves the same.

It’s been a true honor to serve the people of Fairbanks and District 5 these last 8 years and I hope to contribute in some way going forward.

Best wishes,

Adam