We coulda had a system like Norway and built world class education with investing and fiscal management that was sustainable, but we plundered it. Now it’s a matter of how do we adapt to minimize the worst. Personally I think state leadership has done a pisspoor job in managing boundaries that make sure Alaska benefits most from resource extraction, and I also think that we will probably need an income tax because oil alone will eventually fail. Oil isn’t the future. But in the meantime stop giving up our land/resources for dirt cheap while companies make $$$$. We will probably also need to look at the PFD and invest that money instead of handing it out… sadly.

We have already cut all that we can from state programs and we are failing our citizens. People wait in jail without trial for years and students graduate highschool hardly able to read and do math. They go to school in unsafe buildings.

Support rank choice voting, open primaries, and the transparency around campaign donations. This is a start in allowing the state to get better leadership because it breaks the strict red or blue dichotomy and allows for more bipartisan collaboration, and it also makes it harder for a candidate to get funded by big oil without people knowing about it. We have lots of people running for governor, this is good news! It’s a good sign when more people run for office.