Maybe I should reimburse the Governor: April 22, 2005

Commissioner of Labor O'Claray, probabl,y at the behest of Governor Murkowski, mailed 11,000 letters to business owners into my district, and Rep. LeDoux's Kodiak district, and apparently several others, asking constituents to pressure usinto supporting Governor Murkowski's Workers' Compensation bill. The mailing was reported in the Anchorage Daily News, and Anchorage Channel 2 KTUU television. The media questioned the propriety of using state funds to mail such letters to legislative districts to push an administration bill. At this writing, the response to me has been beneficial. I made the following "tongue-in-cheek" Special Order speech to the House of Representatives, to the applause of the legislators.

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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Governor for mailing 11,000 letters to my constituents, and the constituents of the representative from Kodiak, explaining that we want to hear from our districts before voting on important legislation, such as workers comp.

Some people have complained that the mailing of these letters may have been a misuse of state. I almost feel I should reimburse the governor for letting people know that I support legislation to protect business from the outrageous cost of workers comp insurance, and that I support legislation to protect injured workers, and that I want to hear from constituents, on this issue and all other issues. I’m glad he governor agrees with me that workers compensation is an important issue, and it needs to be fixed.

The more legislators hear from constituents, the better we can represent them. The better the communication the better the representation. I would also invite constituents to contact the governor on how best to resolve workers compensation issues, and every other issue.

Thank you, Governor Murkowski.