Lazy legislators

By Vicki Williams

Published in the Anchorage not quite Daily News: September 22, 2021

I was so dismayed to read in the Sept. 9 edition of ADN that Louise Stutes is “tired” and finding it “hard to be away from home.” She signed up for this — now just do what you’ve got to do and get the job done! Also dismayed that she thinks it would be foolish of the governor to call another special session right away. Don’t expect any sympathy from me, you big babies who can’t complete a task without infighting. I firmly believe that a class of high school students could do a better job than our ridiculous Legislature.

It sickens me that this Legislature is being rewarded to the tune of almost $300 daily in per Diem. There should absolutely be no per Diem after the end of the regular session. I think they should be held accountable to get the job done! This group spent the first month socializing and complaining about Sen. Lora Reinbold’s mask, and giving sweatpants to Sara Rasmussen. Surely, they know that there is work to be done — but where is the penalty for this? If they were high school kids, they would have all failed by now.

Everyone, please remember who these clowns are in the next elections. We need to clean the house and the senate. Sadly, even when a good guy — like Jason Grenn — gets in and gets some good legislation passed, they just overrule it in the next session.

I am absolutely disgusted with this group! They should have to count off like we did in school, regardless of party affiliation, and work on a project with a certain deadline and get it done. And let’s not even talk about Rep. David Eastman’s little trip on our dollar to go to Arizona to look at their election results. Really? The only thing we have in common is that Arizona and Alaska both start and end with the letter A.

Legislative sessions should be held in Anchorage, where half of the state’s population can easily get there to keep them focused on the work they need to do. They should stop hiding out in Juneau and stop paying all this per Diem to the bunch of lazy bums down there who have no incentive to finish early. How about no per Diem, but a bonus if they get the work done on time?

— Vicki Williams

Anchorage