Alaska Center for Public Policy Newsletter #9 )
advancing public policy for a just, democratic, and equitable Alaska October 2005
In this issue...
  • Alaskans Need I-saveRX
  • The President?s Budget Impact on Alaska
  • The Destruction of Retirement Security in Alaska

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    Dear Reader:

    Recently several ACPP Newsletter readers asked me if they had missed issue #9. I assured them that they had not. I knew it was a little late coming out, but ACPP has been growing and I have been very busy keeping up. Now I realize that issue #9 is actually two and a half months late... My, how time flies. Apologies to all, but here are just a few of the ACPP events that have occurred in recent months...

    • ACPP has reorganized by adding a new division, Turnagain Research and Program Evaluation, to better focus on those aspects of our mission.
    • We recently completed an evaluation of the important work of the Alaska's Covering Kids Coalition.
    • We have just begun work on a state-wide survey of adults with developmental disabilities, for the Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special Education.
    • We are working with United Way of Anchorage to evaluate a statewide referral system.
    • We have provided factual input at a number of hearings and workshops on issues such as pesticide policies, and retirement security for Alaska's teachers and public sector workers.
    • We are working with a growing number of volunteers, and we have a new intern.

    It gives me great pleasure to highlight that last point. I would like to introduce our new intern, Kacy Telfer, a very capable graduate student in the UAA Master of Social Work program. Her contributions to this newsletter are noted by her initials, "kt."

    Finally, as always, if you would like to be removed from our mailing list, you need only click on "Safe Unsubscribe" at the end of the newsletter. If you would like to forward a copy of this to a friend or colleague, click on "Forward ACPP Newsletter." Your comments, critiques, donations, and suggestions are always welcome.


    Lawrence D. Weiss Ph.D., M.S., Executive Director

    		Alaskans Need I-saveRX

    The I-SaveRX program is a program that could potentially save hundreds or thousands of dollars for individuals with high prescription costs. This program, created by the state of Illinois, facilitates the purchase of prescription refills from pharmacies in Canada, the UK, Australia, and Ireland. In addition to meeting the requirements of local regulatory bodies, pharmacies in the I-SaveRx program follow the same standards and procedures used in Illinois pharmacies. The website provides a list of safety checks, and provides a contact form for website users to ask any questions and have I-SaveRx call them back.

    Illinois has opened the program to other states wishing to join, and several have. As is pointed out in an ACPP blog entry earlier this summer, Alaska has not yet taken up the offer. Have any of our elected officials looked into it? It wouldn't cost the State anything to participate, and it will help Alaskans save money on expensive drugs. --kt

    		The President?s Budget Impact on Alaska

    The President?s budget request for fiscal year 2006 would cut total spending on discretionary domestic services by 7%, not including homeland security, while at the same time increasing military spending by 2%, after adjusting for inflation. However, the reported rise in military spending does not include the cost of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. In addition, Discretionary spending on federal grants to state and local governments would be cut under this budget proposal by 9%, after adjusting for inflation.

    In Alaska, the budget proposal includes cuts of $74.6 million for discretionary grants to state and local governments, including:

    • $3.6 million for community and economic development
    • $1.1 million for low-income home energy assistance
    • $2.3 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
    • Alaskan programs constituting the No Child Left Behind Act would remain underfunded by $106.7 million
    See the ACPP blog entry on this subject, and visit the excellent National Priorities Project website for additional related information.

    		The Destruction of Retirement Security in Alaska

    It?s like closing the barn door after all the horses have escaped, but it is a start. A few weeks ago Rep. Mike Kelly called for a legislative audit of the state?s pension retirement systems to determine how the programs ended up with a $5.7 billion shortfall. It appears as though a number of Rep. kelly?s constituents think criminal hanky-panky may be at the root of the problem. Rep. Kelly, a Fairbanks Republican, made the request last week in a letter to Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is conducting public hearings around the state on how to address the systems? unfunded liability.

    In hearings last month, members of the House Ways and Means Committee heard from state analysts that they will likely have a $1.5 billion budget surplus next year due to high oil prices. It now seems likely that the Governor and legislature acted too quickly in their effort to destroy the retirement systems for the state?s public workers.

    During the Committee hearing, David Teal, director of the Legislative Finance Division, said Legislators could use the surplus to pay off part of the shortfall. ?You do have money to pay some of the unfunded liability, but not enough to erase it,? he said. It turns out that only $3 billion is the responsibility of the state, because the remaining $2.7 billion falls to local municipalities and school districts, and the state gets funding for about half of its public pension debt from the federal government and other sources. Consequently, the surplus would best be used to pay down deficits in the pension systems for municipal employees and teachers, Teal noted. See the ACPP blog on this issue which includes additional information and a number of useful links.

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