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Palin has mixed record as fiscal conservative
By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press WriterSun Oct 12, 3:24 PM ET
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, bills herself as a fiscal conservative. But her record looks little like the classic conservative who favors less government and lower taxes.
In a state with no income tax or sales tax, she gained prominence by raising taxes on the most influential industry in Alaska: Big oil. She then used that money to boost the annual bonus each Alaskan receives from the government.
This spring, Palin signed an operating budget that authorized roughly $11 billion in spending — more than $16,000 for every man, woman and child in Alaska. That amounted to a 28 percent spending increase.
At the time, she told state lawmakers she had three goals: "To slow the growth of government, live within our means and save for the future." The budget did set aside money to help pay for schools beyond next year and also socked away more than $1 billion for a rainy day.
In a state flush with money and a multibillion-dollar surplus, there are plenty of temptations to go on a spending spree. And in that context, Palin did resist those urges, vetoing more than $250 million in projects from the public works budget, the second consecutive year she angered legislators by cutting their pet capital projects.
For the most part, the spending increases Palin approved since taking office have been responsibly managed, coordinated by the Republican governor and the GOP-dominated Legislature, said economist Gregg Erickson of Juneau, a longtime Alaska budget watcher.
"In the context of the challenges she faced, she did do a good job," Erickson said. "Not perfect, but she and the Legislature cooperated to come up with a budget that made a lot of sense."
Compared to her predecessors, Palin has been more conservative when it comes to spending in flush times, Erickson said. But the latest capital budget, even after the vetoes, is worth $2,500 per person in Alaska. The national average was $317 per person in state government capital outlays in 2003, the most recent data available, Erickson said.
"She has presided over a very unconservative capital budget by any nationwide standard," Erickson said.
Under Palin's watch, the state added $1,200 to the annual checks sent to Alaskans as part of what's called the Permanent Fund Dividend, a stipend from the proceeds of the state's more than $30 billion oil-rich investment account. That translated to a record $3,269 this fall for every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska.
Palin herself has no control over the yearly amount of the dividend check sent to residents. But this year, she pushed for a $1,200 energy rebate — made possible by a bloated state treasury that boasts a multibillion-dollar surplus — after she raised taxes on oil companies and oil prices shot up.
Soon after taking office, Palin made a splash selling off the state jet. She's pointed to that step to demonstrate that she isn't beholden to the trappings of office. Still, it didn't save the state money. The state had bought the jet for $2.7 million — and when no one bid for it on eBay, the state eventually hired an aircraft broker to unload it for $2.1 million.
She also got rid of the governor's chef and personal driver.
And Palin makes a point of telling campaign crowds about her response to Washington — "Thanks, but no thanks" — over the $400 million for a bridge linking Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. In fact, she turned against the bridge only after it became a national symbol of wasteful spending and Washington had backed off financing the project.
Palin's mixed fiscal record extends to her six years as mayor of Wasilla. She lowered residents' property taxes by more than half from 1997 to 2002. In her last Wasilla budget message, in 2002, Palin boasted that general government expenditures had increased just 18 percent over her tenure, with larger increases for public safety and public works, and that her final budget "is based on this same fiscally conservative philosophy."
But she also angered some residents by putting Wasilla in debt for the first time ever — $5.5 million in road construction bonds and then pushing for $14.7 million in bonds to build a sports complex. The complex would be paid for by raising the local sales tax by one-half percent. Wasilla voters approved the sports complex bonds and sales tax increase.
Palin has done well in keeping discipline, especially since lawmakers like to overspend in flush times, said Rep. Mike Hawker, a Republican member of the House Finance Committee.
"It's much more difficult to maintain discipline when there's plenty of money to spend," Hawker said. "She has certainly demonstrated a willingness to restrain the Legislature's desire for a (big) statewide capital budget."
Palin has mixed record as fiscal conservative
By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press WriterSun Oct 12, 3:24 PM ET
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, bills herself as a fiscal conservative. But her record looks little like the classic conservative who favors less government and lower taxes.
In a state with no income tax or sales tax, she gained prominence by raising taxes on the most influential industry in Alaska: Big oil. She then used that money to boost the annual bonus each Alaskan receives from the government.
This spring, Palin signed an operating budget that authorized roughly $11 billion in spending — more than $16,000 for every man, woman and child in Alaska. That amounted to a 28 percent spending increase.
At the time, she told state lawmakers she had three goals: "To slow the growth of government, live within our means and save for the future." The budget did set aside money to help pay for schools beyond next year and also socked away more than $1 billion for a rainy day.
In a state flush with money and a multibillion-dollar surplus, there are plenty of temptations to go on a spending spree. And in that context, Palin did resist those urges, vetoing more than $250 million in projects from the public works budget, the second consecutive year she angered legislators by cutting their pet capital projects.
For the most part, the spending increases Palin approved since taking office have been responsibly managed, coordinated by the Republican governor and the GOP-dominated Legislature, said economist Gregg Erickson of Juneau, a longtime Alaska budget watcher.
"In the context of the challenges she faced, she did do a good job," Erickson said. "Not perfect, but she and the Legislature cooperated to come up with a budget that made a lot of sense."
Compared to her predecessors, Palin has been more conservative when it comes to spending in flush times, Erickson said. But the latest capital budget, even after the vetoes, is worth $2,500 per person in Alaska. The national average was $317 per person in state government capital outlays in 2003, the most recent data available, Erickson said.
"She has presided over a very unconservative capital budget by any nationwide standard," Erickson said.
Under Palin's watch, the state added $1,200 to the annual checks sent to Alaskans as part of what's called the Permanent Fund Dividend, a stipend from the proceeds of the state's more than $30 billion oil-rich investment account. That translated to a record $3,269 this fall for every eligible man, woman and child in Alaska.
Palin herself has no control over the yearly amount of the dividend check sent to residents. But this year, she pushed for a $1,200 energy rebate — made possible by a bloated state treasury that boasts a multibillion-dollar surplus — after she raised taxes on oil companies and oil prices shot up.
Soon after taking office, Palin made a splash selling off the state jet. She's pointed to that step to demonstrate that she isn't beholden to the trappings of office. Still, it didn't save the state money. The state had bought the jet for $2.7 million — and when no one bid for it on eBay, the state eventually hired an aircraft broker to unload it for $2.1 million.
She also got rid of the governor's chef and personal driver.
And Palin makes a point of telling campaign crowds about her response to Washington — "Thanks, but no thanks" — over the $400 million for a bridge linking Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. In fact, she turned against the bridge only after it became a national symbol of wasteful spending and Washington had backed off financing the project.
Palin's mixed fiscal record extends to her six years as mayor of Wasilla. She lowered residents' property taxes by more than half from 1997 to 2002. In her last Wasilla budget message, in 2002, Palin boasted that general government expenditures had increased just 18 percent over her tenure, with larger increases for public safety and public works, and that her final budget "is based on this same fiscally conservative philosophy."
But she also angered some residents by putting Wasilla in debt for the first time ever — $5.5 million in road construction bonds and then pushing for $14.7 million in bonds to build a sports complex. The complex would be paid for by raising the local sales tax by one-half percent. Wasilla voters approved the sports complex bonds and sales tax increase.
Palin has done well in keeping discipline, especially since lawmakers like to overspend in flush times, said Rep. Mike Hawker, a Republican member of the House Finance Committee.
"It's much more difficult to maintain discipline when there's plenty of money to spend," Hawker said. "She has certainly demonstrated a willingness to restrain the Legislature's desire for a (big) statewide capital budget."
