Tweet

Matt Acuña Buxton

4 Mar, 21 tweets, 4 min read

@alaskalandmine

Sen. Lora Reinbold responds to Gov. Dunleavy's letter calling her a liar and spreader of disinformation about covid-19 and the state's response. So far a lot of hollering about "illegal" this and "illegally" that.

#akleg

Livestream via @alaskalandmine: facebook.com/19238368545053…

She pats herself on the back for waiting a week to hold her response because Dunleavy got covid. She wishes him a speedy recovery.

She credits herself with the #akleg failing to pass the disaster declaration. (It'd be the House's disorganization, but whatev, since when has she been about facts?)

I think she just called his letter "seditious libel." ...

Without providing evidence, Reinbold says "It has been found that his allegations are inaccurate."

The reviews from the Landmine facebook feed so far: "Boring" "Our Legislature is a dumpster fire" "This drama is almost boring."

Now she's praising herself for the work on Senate Bill 14, which injects politics into Alaska's lower courts, and something about diversity of thought.

And now she's going on about all the goofuses she's invited to the Senate Judiciary Committee: an OSHA "expert," the Great Barrington guy (Dr. Spongebob Squarepants, I believe), extreme-right "historian" Dave Barton and a few others who've been linked to the Big Lie.

@JeffLandfield

Several heavy sighs coming from @JeffLandfield.

The "egregious" letter was a "nuclear political weapon" for "simply having a difference of opinion."

She says her commitment to public service is "exemplary."

Reinbold: "My integrity and work ethic have never been questioned."

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's not true.

@JesseKiehl

She says @JesseKiehl loves the way she runs her committee.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's not true.

Reinbold says she's admonishing the governor and demanding that he retract the governor, issue a "sincere apology."

Wonder if he could do it via cake.

Reinbold claims the governor's letter is unconstitutional, says he found her guilty and sentenced her to no access to the administration.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's not true.

Asked about the committee's powers to issue a subpoena to compel testimony and file a lawsuit.

Reinbold: "I am slowly working through this. ... I'll get back to you."

Reinbold says she's sent multiple olive branches to the government.... but what she describes sounds like a doodle poll....

There's a question about the death rates in Alaska, which are comparatively low (overall, not for Alaska Native or Pacific Islander communities). And she just sorta free word associates for a while.

Reinbold: "I'm a supporter of Eagle Exit."

Question about whether some of her anger where she blamed the governor for closures made it worse.

Reinbold: "The anger is on his side. It's very unbecoming."

She says it's still his fault because he should've forced Anchorage to reopen.

@JeffLandfield

.@JeffLandfield: "Whoa, that was wild."

Really missed opportunity to promote the recall there, huh?

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More from @mattbuxton

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

5 Mar

In the House and Health and Social Services Committee, Phil Hofstetter of Petersburg Medical Center says they had more covid-19 cases following the expiration of the disaster declaration than they DURING THE REST OF THE PANDEMIC.

#akleg

He says that travelers started to ignore travel requirements and individuals started to ignore masking mandates, etc. Behavior was changing, he said, because there was no more public health emergency.

He says the hospital is at capacity for covid-19 treatment. #akleg

They've had to close schools after getting through the pandemic without having any significant closures.

Read 5 tweets

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

4 Mar

The Senate Transportation Committee is currently meeting on the proposed closures of several DMV offices. Sen. Kiehl notes a lot of stuff--driver's tests, senior tests--need to be done in person.

Admin Commissioner Tshibaka suggests they just change the laws.

#akleg

Sen. Myers notes that you've gotta do the CDL certification in person.

However, Sen. Shower is gung-ho and asks Tshibaka if there's other laws they can change.

Sen. Kiehl also notes that it looks like a lot of the data about the movement online may be affected by the pandemic. He asks for a longer look back.

Sen. Shower, doing the work for Tshibaka, says well maybe people don't use it that much because people don't know.

Read 27 tweets

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

3 Mar

If you tune into today's House Health and Social Services Committee, you'll find Americans for Prosperity Alaska testifying in support of more government in the form the Department of Health and Social Services split.

#akleg

Rep. Spohnholz calls 'em out. Notes the reorganization really only calling for additional execs without any actual plan for improvement. Asks if they really support additional bureaucracy without a plan for improvement.

AFP's McKee says, well, there's more to look at.

#akleg

Rep. Fields notes that AFP has historically opposed public employment. Says their support for additional public employees - even if there's not really a plan for them - sounds like a sea change in AFP's policy.

McKee says that AFP has always respected public employees.

#akleg

Read 9 tweets

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

2 Mar

Really interesting discussion in House Finance Committee right now about the state's financial future when governor is not offering any real direction other than to dip into savings and put things up to a vote of the people.

The admin summed up:

#akleg

Revenue Commissioner-appointee Mahoney acknowledges that the governor's long-range fiscal plan doesn't exactly pencil out when it requires new revenue but he opposes new revenue without a vote of the people. She says it'll require additional, continued spending out of savings.

House reps ask her if that's her recommendation, to keep spending the Alaska Permanent Fund without a solution.

Mahoney: That would not be my recommendation, but there would not be any other choice.

#akleg

Read 23 tweets

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

2 Mar

The House Finance Committee has been hearing the budget overview the Senate had several weeks ago, but it warrants repeating that a lot of what's in the governor's budget is short-sighted (either one-time money, one-time cuts).

#akleg

Legislative Finance Division Director Painter reminds them that overdraws on the era comes at the cost of increased future deficits. "Every time we overdraw, it increases future deficits ... which means we have to reduce services even more or raise taxes even more."

#akleg

Here's Painter's analysis of the what the overdraws would mean for the state. AKA big hits and a deficit that's roughly $200M - $300M larger.

#akleg

Read 9 tweets

Matt Acuña Buxton

@mattbuxton

27 Jan

Aaaaaand we're off with the first Senate Judiciary Committee meeting of the 32nd Legislature with chair Sen. Lora Reinbold, a mask and election denier, rocking the clear face shield.

#akleg

Watch here: ktoo.org/360TV/
Background on why her spot is... problematic: midnightsunak.com/2021/01/25/sen…

#akleg

Reinbold says they'll be posting parts of the U.S. and Alaska constitutions on the wall: "Super important to recognize that it’s the supreme law of the land."

And then goes right into the covid health orders.

#akleg

Read 37 tweets

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