Far more of my time. Newsradio 650. Good morning, it is Thursday. Oh my goodness, I can't even believe it. April 24th, current time 6.06am. April is basically over. Basically, yes, yes. I mean, we've had very few April showers. We're going to have more showers, though, at 7.05 when Senator Shower calls in. Oh, well done. Well played there, Amy. Well played. You're welcome. You're welcome. So, yeah, it's going to be a great day. You know, I'm looking around at my temps.
It's pretty mild, 36 degrees here in Palmer, 33 in Kenai, 33 Big Lake, 33. 33 in Fairbanks? Gosh, all of them are just checking in right around 33 degrees. What's Anchorage sitting at right now, Daryl? You know, I'm going to join the pack out there. We are between 32 and 33 in most of Anchorage, particularly up near the mountains. Unless, of course, you're on the coast out there in the West Anchorage. Then it's up and looking about 37, 38 degrees. But most of Anchorage, 32, 33.
Well, you know, I'm looking at today's daily highs, and I've been kind of scouring around looking, and it's not going to be too bad. It's going to be hovering around 50, depending on where you are. Big Lake, their high today is supposed to be 53, so it's going to be a beautiful day in Big Lake. As I'm looking at Fairbanks, Fairbanks is supposed to hit 48 today. Tomorrow, they're supposed to hit 50. Saturday, 54. Sunday, 56.
So as I'm looking at Fairbanks' daily highs, I mean, it's just going to be progressively nicer through the weekend. So it looks like it's going to be a beautiful end of the week for... For many places around the state, I mean, Fairbanks looks great as I'm looking at them. Well, the video, their camera's beautiful up there right now. Oh, man, it looks great. It looks like as I'm looking at Kenai, their high today is going to be 46, tomorrow 48, Saturday 48.
Looks like Kenai is going to be cloudy for most of the weekend. And then as we get into early next week, some rain. But not too shabby, I will tell you. As I'm looking at Palmer's Daily, you know, we're going to have one of those weekends where it's going to be relatively nice. Today's high, 52. Tomorrow, 53. Saturday, 49. You know, but it looks like it's going to have scattered clouds, but it's going to be a relatively nice weekend. I hope the sun does peak out.
I really do like the sun this time of year. It was sunrise this morning. 6-11 is what they are calling it. It looks, I mean, already though, if you look out the window, it looks pretty nice. Didn't have to turn on the lights when I brought the dog out this morning. Well, and that sunrise out there, I've got to say, when I headed here this morning at 5-15,
I actually got to see the crest, the pre-sunrise. It's beautiful. The light was starting to come up over the mountains. This is the time of year I like because as I drive to work, I like to watch the sunrise. It's just beautiful. Well, it's going to be a decent day, so we're not going to complain at all. Did you say 53 in Big Lake? Yeah, that's what it's supposed to be today. That sounds like mosquito temperatures. That sounds like they're going to start hatching, man.
It's summertime in Alaska when I laughed yesterday as I'm listening to, you know, iHeartMedia and I'm getting ready for the show to start. I have my earphones on and I'm hearing some of the commercials. We hear that Australian guy talk about Water and mosquitoes. Seven days. You know what commercial I'm talking about, Daryl? Seven days.
Seven days plus water equals mosquitoes. That's right. That's it. That's the one. It talks about all the little mosquito hatching areas that could be in your yard. So anything that collects water, dump it out. So you'll lessen the likelihood of having mosquitoes right around your house.
see and me for this first part of it i always save and make sure i keep some water so i get these first mosquitoes because you know your first mosquitoes are the big lunkers that you can kill easily and so if you get those out of the way and then dump all the water Look, there's, you know, none to worry about. You've already killed all the breeders and everything else. That's one way to look at it. That's one way to look at it.
I don't think I have anything that collects water outside. I try to keep it to a minimum because, you know. The skis are bad enough. Okay, you need to do at least one thing. If you're going to live in the valley, if you are going to live in the valley, you need to have at least two tires. in your yard that have no rim on them so they can collect water inside the tire.
Well, I have plenty of tarps, that's for sure. But I will say the tires are all put away, locked up, put away, done. That's one of those secret breeding spots that people don't realize. You've got a tire sitting around in the yard and they don't have a ring. rim in it, I guarantee you there will be mosquitoes breeding in that tire and you're literally just like, oh my God. Of course they will. Of course they will. Man, we get serious about mosquito repellent up in...
Up in up in willow when we up around our cabins I mean we have like a whole a whole line of people that have the mosquito killers you know, with the propane, and we turn those suckers on. The sucker was not the fucker. Yeah, we get serious about mosquito killing up around the cabins, you know, because, gosh, you know, it's just, I mean, it's.
It's beautiful, but the cabins are basically on a lake, and the lake has musk egg all around it. It's hard. Yeah, exactly. So it's like, bring on the Skeeter Eaters. So the great thing about Willow is, The great thing about Willow is that they don't use nets on things. They use chain link netting.
to keep the mosquitoes out. So it's, you know, they're a little tough up there. The mosquitoes could take away your small dog. Literally, I just found myself itching. Oh my gosh. So we're talking about mosquitoes and Daryl's over here scratching himself already. You know, what can I say? It's the same thing when people start talking about, you know,
Creepy crawly bugs. I just start itching. I feel your pain, brother. I feel your pain. All right, let's get into some community announcements, shall we? We'll start with Matsuburo. Today at 9 a.m., the Board of Equalization has appeal hearings that are going on. These will be held via teams. At 10 a.m., the Greater Butte Road Service area. is having a drive around. It will start at 10 a.m. at the Butte Fire Department located at 3355 South Old Glen Highway in...
In the Butte, let's see here. The Historical Preservation Commission has a meeting tonight at 6 p.m. It will be at the Kinnick Tribe Museum located at 10-524 South Kinnick Goose Bay Road. They also have a team's ID, so if you want to attend virtually, you can certainly do that. There is a special assembly meeting tonight regarding the budget in the Mat-Su borough. That will start at 6 p.m.
at the Willow Community Center. Remember, as the Matsuborough does their budget, Then they will have a series of budget hearings going around, and they will have it in different parts before they get into their amendments and their... And their adoption. So they'll have it within different parts of the Mat-Su borough. So everybody has a chance to comment. Again, tonight's commenting period is going to be in Willow. And don't forget, they are proposing
an increase to your property taxes this year. So those that want to hear the proposal or those that want more information or if you have an opinion and you want to tell the assembly what you think, Now is the time to do so. So if you can't make tonight's special meeting, you might want to check on their website and figure out when the other meetings are so you can comment.
Also tonight, 6.30, the Glacier View Community Council has a meeting, and the Glacier View Community Council is going to meet at Glacier View School. 7 o'clock tonight, the Fish Ship Community Council will be meeting at the Chalet at Government Peak, which is located at 10690 North Mountain Trails Drive in Palmer.
And last but not least for the Matsu borough, the North Lakes Community Council has their meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club off of Bogard. If you need more information on any of these meetings, just go to matsugov.us and you'll find the information there.
For the city of Asila, there's no meetings tonight, but there is an announcement. The city council yesterday, two days ago, put out an announcement that the city council has their list of candidates that have applied to fill the vacant. City Council seat the following list of people have applied and will be considered The city council will do interviews.
And then they will make the appointment at their regular meeting on Monday, April 28th. So just Monday, not very long. But there's three people that applied. Rory Timothy Grant. Mark Edward Schmidt, and Arlene Renee Wynhill. So those are the three applicants for the vacant city council seat. It's seat C. That's vacant in the city of Wasilla. And we expect on Monday the city council will make the appointment and that person will fill that seat until October, November-ish. October, I think it is.
at their 2025 October regular election. All right, we're going to move on to Anchorage because there was no announcements for Palmer. Anchorage has two meetings today for boards and commissions. The Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Commission has their April meeting. It's going to be at 1130 this morning. at 1208 East 56th Avenue on the second floor in the conference room.
The Heritage Land Bank Advisory Commission also has their meeting at 1.30 today. This is going to be a hybrid meeting in person. and via Teams. If you want to join in person, it's going to be at the Permit and Development Center, 4700 Elmore Road in Conference Room 170. If you need the link, For the online meeting, you can go to muni.org, click on the Mayor's tab, and then click on the Events tab, and that brings you to Boards and Commissions.
As far as the Anchorage Assembly goes, they are going through a new member orientation. This is day two of it. It starts at 9 a.m. at City Hall and Conference Room 155 today. And the other thing that I see today, nope, that's it. That's actually it for today for the Anchorage Assembly.
Down on the Kenai and the Kenai Peninsula Borough, there's only one meeting that's scheduled for today. The Kachemak Emergency Fire Service Area Board has a meeting from 6 to 7.30. That'll be at Kachemak Fire Station No. 1. If you need more information, just go to kpb.us. That stands for Kenai Peninsula Bureau.
And that's it for their announcements. Actually, that's it for all the announcements because I didn't see anything in Homer, City of Kenai, or Soldotna for today. So pretty light on the announcement front. If you notice something that's going on that people should know about, we're always happy to plug it. Daryl, I survived.
The commute yesterday had zero issues. Yesterday morning when I drove in, they hadn't quite shut off the southbound bridge. So I had no problem on the commute yesterday morning. And on my way home last night, it was slick as snot. No issue. That is what we are hoping for. Again, it starts.
They will be going. It started yesterday, but today is where they're actually getting into their schedule. The changeovers are going to occur approximately 3 a.m. So starting at 3 a.m., there will be two lanes inbound. And at 11 a.m., they will switch those lanes to two lanes outbound.
That is outbound from Anchorage at 11 a.m., two lanes, and then hitting in in the mornings, it's two lanes starting at three. Oh, that's good to know. I didn't realize what the time change was. So what they have is they have these big concrete barriers. It's like a little concrete, you know, Jenga snake that they have put together to separate the inbound and outbound traffic lanes.
So, for example, rush hour, two lanes inbound, and then there's a concrete barrier, and then the outbound lanes are separated by that barrier. Yeah. And from what I hear, it's tight. Well, I haven't had any issues at all. But I will say I cheated just a little. When I said I had no issues last night, people... I don't know how people felt on the actual commute because I didn't get out of work until after 8 p.m. last night.
And so hence why you probably noticed my show prep came to you about 11 p.m. last night. I wasn't happy that I had me. I'm getting home at the time. I like to be in bed. So I was like, OK, so I didn't. I didn't quite, you know, so I didn't actually, I commuted, had no issue, but. I wasn't there during rush hour. There was not very many cars when I was going through, but I didn't have any issue.
And like I said, I'll be interested to see how it goes this morning. I'm sure it'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. You've got to just let it happen. And it will whether you like it to or not because it is construction season in Alaska. Yeah, exactly. All right, we're going to take a quick break. If you'd like to call in and be part of the show, 522-0650.
Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Currently light traffic. Still remaining fairly warm as we climb into the upper 40s and lower 50s and remain there through the rest of the week. For Alaska's weather source, meteorologist Aaron Morson. Amy Demboski. 628 mornings on NewsRadio 628. 522-0650. Welcome back. Current time 624.
Well, I will tell you, we had a good conversation last week with one of my friends from District 6, and they were talking about potentially sanctioning Gary Stevens. He's one of the Republicans in the Senate, that is. caucusing with the Democrats, and just to be very clear, we have elected in Alaska more Republicans than Democrats to the Alaska legislature, both the House and the Senate. However, the Democrats control both houses.
Because you have turncoat Republicans that are caucusing with the Democrats in order to put them in power. I'm not happy about that situation at all. And so that's where we are.
The Alaska Watchman has an article up that Alaska's District 6 Republicans have voted to sanction RINO Senator President Gary Stevens. During the last two sessions of the Alaska State Legislature, They say the Alaska Republican Party has been unable to prevent Rhino Party members from joining the Democrats to form governing caucuses.
Recent articles, it says, well, okay, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but you're seeing this trend where Republicans on the local level are starting to push back against their elected officials. that are in fact, you know, joining forces with the Democrats. Sorry, I had to cough. Joining forces with the Democrats and putting them in power. So it says right here.
It said District 6 GOP leadership filled him in on the details, and as he talks about it, I'm glad to see they did it. I mean, I'm glad they did it. So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens when it comes down to it. What is the benefit of districts sanctioning their representatives? If you get enough districts to sanction representatives, you can block them from getting any funding from
anybody related to the GOP. So women's clubs, you can block their funding from the party itself. You can prevent them from attending Republican events. you know, campaign against them. Let's put it that way. So it's kind of like being excommunicado in John Wick. yeah there you go there you go so uh yeah there you go i don't think it's that bad but um but you know there we have it so
You know, and this is one of the things to remember this year. In the House, we have Louise Stutes and Chuck Kopp that have joined forces with 19 Democrats, which have given them the majority of 21. You have Bert Stedman, Gary Stevens, Jesse Bjorkman, Kathy Giesel, and Kelly Merrick. Those five Republicans have joined forces with the Democrats to give them a majority.
If they would have stuck with the Republicans, the Republicans would have had a majority in both bodies. So, you know, here we are. Here we are. But then you have we need Republicans. You know, frankly, in the party, I mean, I've seen it. I've seen it. I've had arguments with people. It's irritated me to no end. You know, that... What do you do? I mean, at some point, you know, you got to go through the motions and you got to try.
Because, you know, giving up is just not an option. So I'm glad to see District 6 Republicans have voted to sanction, you know, Republicans. You know, this is not just an issue in Alaska. Suzanne had the article up. But Montana Republican Party censures nine Republican senators for abandoning the party's legislative majority as well. In Montana, the Republican Party formally censured nine.
Republican state senators for repeatedly aligning with Democrat lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session, which undermined the elected Republican majority in the state Senate. See, just as it's happened here in Alaska. So this is my thing. You're starting to see Republicans go after other Republicans that, frankly, are acting like Democrats.
So good on you. I personally think, you know, we need to hold our people to a higher standard. And when they don't act like Republicans, they should be replaced. That's my opinion. 100% concur and agree with you. If you're going to stand there with the banner, you need to go with the platform. Don't stand there and wave my banner and then tell me you're doing exactly opposite of what I believe in. Exactly. Exactly. Well, there's a topic that came up last week.
And I am very militant about confirming sources and making sure if there is something sensational I'm going to talk about, I have multiple sources to make sure the information is not only reliable, but But it has to be very verifiable. I can have people that I'm friends with, that I trust in the legislature, tell me something, and you can take it to the bank. Like, I just believe it.
And there are those times where, whether I believe it or not, I still have to have confirmation because I think credibility matters. And Daryl and I have been back and forth on this topic for a few days now because... I told him about it, and then I said, I'm working on confirmation. I have multiple confirmed sources, and I am going to back it up with audio today.
So you're going to hear, you're about to hear the inner workings of what actually goes on in Juneau. And I think it's... I think it's time to shine a little light because people need to be held accountable. And they need to be, frankly, exposed for what they are. So that's what we're about to do. And I may lose some friends over it. And I'm okay with that. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
A man from Maine who was found guilty of raping and murdering a young woman inside a college dorm in Alaska back in 1993 is now appealing his conviction. Stephen Downs was found guilty in 2022 of killing 20-year-old Sophie Sergi on the campus of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He's currently serving a 75-year prison sentence for the crime. Work is getting underway to reconstruct a pair of aging bridges reconnecting Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough across the Connick River.
Alaska Department of Transportation began diverting traffic yesterday morning on the northbound bridge. And the 2025 Native Youth Olympic Games get underway today. A cultural program is set for this morning at 11 a.m., followed by opening ceremonies at 1130. Competitions are open to 7th through 12th graders up to the age of 19.
Events are drawn from actual native hunting practices. The games are being streamed for those who are unable to attend in person. That's the latest. I'm John Fink. This is News Radio 650 KENI. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Currently light traffic inbound on the Glen Highway. No major stop. Tax break on $529. That's great, but don't invest those dollars once you put them in. We're all about investing in a 529 plan typically, right?
I want that tax-advantaged money to grow. But as you get close to needing to spend the money, de-risking is crucial. In uncertain financial times, How to Money is here to help. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search How to Money, and start listening today. all right welcome back current time 636 well I think it's really important I hear a lot of stuff during legislative sessions and I think it's really important With certain information, when you get it, you don't just out of hand repeat it.
Because you've got to confirm it's accurate. Because the potential impacts, I think, are great. And what I'm going to go back to, and part of the reason I'm addressing this, is because I effectively flat out called Bryce Edgeman a liar last week.
on friday why did i call him a liar do i still think that that he he went back on his word and he uh did not you know follow through on what he originally said yes that doesn't change Last week, on Thursday night, it was very interesting because in house finance, what you saw, them debating the operating budget, they passed out of finance a budget with a full PFD in it.
Your full PFD would have been about $3,800. Some reports say $3,900. Some say $3,800. It's $3,800 and change, so let's just call it $3,800. $3,800 for every man, woman, and child in Alaska. That's how much your permanent fund was when the bill left the finance committee. Why? Because Neil Foster... and Nellie Jimmy, both from the Democrat caucus, both support the full PFD, both campaigned on the full PFD, both told their constituents they would advocate for a full PFD.
The Democrats did not have the votes to strip down your PFD in the House Finance Committee. Their own members, two of them, wouldn't vote for it. So they pass it out. They end up passing the operating budget out of house finance last Thursday night late. I mean, it was late. It wasn't like 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was late. So they pass it out late, and Bryce Edgman tells everybody we're not going to take any amendments up until Monday.
It's important because three members of the Republican caucus were excused for Friday's session. One of them, Mike Prox, his brother died. He was at a funeral, right? The other, Lexi Moore, she was back for an excused absence here. I was told that one of her kids was graduating from something. And then Will Stapp was in Fairbanks, and he was getting some sort of military honor. And so those three had excused absences.
Speaker Thursday night, legislators, staffers, everybody left Thursday night saying, okay, it's going to be read across, but they're not going to take any amendments up until Monday. We've been told that. Everybody's been told that. Then fast forward to Friday morning.
All of a sudden, Friday, legislators, like, what did we find out happens in the afternoon? Before it gets Friday morning, let's go to Friday afternoon. All of a sudden, Friday afternoon, about 3.30 in the afternoon, The House has the operating budget in front of them, and they take up one amendment, just one, to cut your permanent fund dividend from $3,800 to $1,400. one amendment and it passed
20 to 17. Why did it pass? Because three members of the Republican caucus weren't there. It just takes a simple majority to pass it. And so, you know, the Democrats saw the opportunity and they took it. Because they couldn't get their own members to vote to reduce the member, two of their members to reduce the permanent fund. So it was an absolute scumbag move. When you're told we are not going to do it, we're going to hold it back,
That's it. We will do amendments on Monday. And then they saw it. Look, in my view, Bryce Edgman went back on his word. Now, the inner workings of what actually happened. Effectively, he was ruled by his caucus, right? His caucus said, nope, we're going to do it. And him as the leader decided, yeah, we're going to do it, right? So what happens, and this is the part.
that I've been holding on to for a few days because I wanted to confirm and make sure I was right, or what I was being told was right. So what ends up happening about 9, 9.30 in the morning, Bryce Edgeman calls the minority leader Mia Costello to his office. She's a Republican in charge of the Republican minority, right? calls her to his office, says we're going to take up this budget amendment to reduce the PFD.
And Mia Costello has Delaina Johnson from Palmer come down. Now, again, two women from the Republican caucus. that are both in leadership for the Republican caucus, neither one of them tells anybody. They don't tell anybody in their own caucus.
See, at 9.30 in the morning when they find out that they're going to take up this amendment, they could have picked up the phone, called their members that were out of town, and their members that were out of town could have attempted to jump on a plane and probably could have made it back to Juneau for this vote. But they didn't say anything. Not a word. So then the members get to the floor. And you can hear the surprise on Kathy Tilton's voice because Kathy Tilton wasn't having it.
And Kathy Tilton starts to say on the floor, you know, this isn't right. We weren't told. We were basically told minutes before you have this session. And Bryce Edgeman, you can actually hear it. And this is why I'm playing primary audio, because I want you to hear Bryce Edgeman. Effectively, in these series of audio clips I'm going to play, he confirms what I'm saying to be true. All right, here's Representative Kathy Tilton on the floor of the House on Friday. This has been through finance.
That opportunity to make this type of amendment failed in the Finance Committee more than one time. So we're bringing it to the floor and yes, it was noticed. that there would be a budget on the floor today, and yes, you would know it was in second reading, but our caucus was told we would not do amendments until Monday.
At least that's what I was told, and that's what I heard, and that was through our minority leader, through her discussion with you, Mr. Speaker. So it is very disheartening. Representative Tilton, I am going to intervene here. I had conversations with the minority leader to tell her about this possibility. So to look me straight in the eye and tell me that there was no awareness. you should reconsider that statement. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will reconsider it, although I believe that...
That conversation was had about two minutes before this happened. That's not correct. Well, Mr. Speaker, I am very disappointed in the process. And we talk about we want to come together. We want to come together on other things. And these are the reasons that we cannot come together. Okay, so here's the reality. You can hear the surprise in Kathy Tilton's voice. She clearly didn't know. And I'm going to take it a step further. What I also know.
is when members of the minority elected Mia Costello as their leader, they specifically said to Mia Costello, you do not meet with Bryce Edgman alone. If you meet with Bryce Edgman, you take Kathy Tilton with you. But she didn't. She met with him by herself, and instead of going and getting Kathy, she goes and gets Delaina Johnson. Why? Because she knew damn well Kathy Tilton would tell the rest of the caucus.
Bryce Hedgeman is saying on the floor. That is not true. See, Kathy didn't know. She's like, I'm telling you, we didn't know. We weren't, you know, and he's like, well, I had a conversation with your minority leader, and he's saying it on the floor. Now, fast forward a little bit further.
Mia Costello gets up and she is smacked down by Bryce Edgeman. And you can hear her response. And when you hear the response, it tells you everything you need to go. No, here's Mia Costello on the floor as well. We must also speak honestly about how we fund these investments and the role of the permanent fund dividend. The dividend reaches every corner of Alaska. It impacts every Alaskan, urban or rural, young or old, rich or poor, including those.
whose lives may not otherwise be directly touched by the state budget. For many families it's a lifeline. For others it's a foundation for savings or a chance to breathe just a little easier before winter. We've all learned something from the voices of thousands of Alaskans who have given us their input. who remind us with conviction and clarity that the permanent fund dividend belongs to the people. not as a gift from government, but as a rightful share of Alaska's collective resource wealth.
We're reminded that this dividend wasn't meant to be optional or convenient. It was designed to connect every Alaskan directly to the land we share and the resources we steward. The public has made sure this conversation never drifts too far from its roots. We've learned from voice and pen just how passionate and personal this issue is for so many Alaskans. The majority misled our caucus and deprived three of our members present.
sidelining the voice of tens of thousands. Representative Castillo. I want to remind you that you and I had a conversation many hours before that vote took place. So the direct assertion that we deprived the minority that vote, I beg to differ with that. As presiding officer, I'm not allowed to get. into the debate but when i hear something that i think is a factual error i'm going to set forth so please continue thank you
We should remember the original structure of the dividend. The dividend was not only a way to share resource wealth, it was also intended to place downward pressure on the growth of state government. Okay, there you have it. She didn't refute him at all whatsoever. Nope, not a word. Guilty. Guilty. And here's the thing about politicians that just ticks me off. I don't care what you say. I care what you do.
And the reality is, don't give me this big old floor speech about and about how important the Alaska Permanent Fund is, how many people have written you and talked to you, and how important it is. You coordinated and assisted the Democrats in cutting out thousands of dollars from every Alaskan's pocket. You screwed over your own caucus. You lied to them. You're busted.
Busted. Done. The reality of the situation is this is why you can't trust politicians. If you in the minority caucus have somebody in leadership. that will lie to you and make no mistake, an omission is a lie. If somebody knows something that is consequential to every single Alaska voter in your district, And they don't tell you. You find out minutes before when you potentially could have got your members back to protect that permanent fund and your own leadership.
withholds that information from you, they're taking that money, they're helping the Democrats take that money out of your pocket. I'm just telling you right now, 100%. And I've known me a long time. I've considered her a friend. If I was in the minority confidence, I would replace her as a minority leader. She would be out on her ass faster than you could even blink. That's what would happen. She would be gone. She'd be out.
She'd be out because she lied to her own membership. An omission in Amy's world is a lie. And the reality of the fact is busted. Busted. All right, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Currently steady traffic inbound on the Glen Highway. I'm not seeing any major stoppages or slowdowns out there in town traffic. As we climb into the upper 40s and lower 50s and remain there through the rest of the week. For Alaska's weather source, I'm meteorologist. Welcome back, current time 654. So I did my due diligence. I have talked to many, many, many, many people that are in the eye of the storm in Juneau.
I pulled the audio. I went back there. And, you know, the first clue, something was amiss. There was a press conference last week, and someone asked Mia Costello when she knew and if she knew about this ahead of time. She lied her butt off. She lied. She said no. She didn't know. She lied. I mean, you busted. Busted. And a slight correction, Delaina Johnson's not in leadership for the minority this year. She's, I think, the ranking member on finance for the Republicans.
But the reality is, I think Kathy Tilton's the whip. So Mia, when she goes to meet with leadership, she should be taking Kathy Tilton with her. Why did she not do that? It's obvious. Ray Charles could see the answer because Kathy Tilton wouldn't have lied to her own caucus.
Kathy Tilton would have been like on the phone with staff and prox and more and saying, hey, you guys, they're going to take up this budget amendment. It would have at least given them the choice to get on the plane or not get on the plane. But you know what? Delaina Johnson and Mia Costello knew this information and didn't share it, so they took that choice away from their own members.
I've got to be honest with you. This is why I say I hold Republicans to a higher standard. And now Republican lawmakers know their leadership is willing to coordinate with the Democrats. caucus in order to take money out of your constituents pockets Daryl did the math over the break A family of four, if they would have gotten the full PFD, would have gotten $15,200. That little stunt that happened on Friday.
reduced that number down to about $5,200. Took $10,000 out of your family of force pocket. I will be honest with you. I don't know how this caucus moves forward with Mia Costello and leadership. How do you How do you trust her? How do you trust Delaina? They both knew. Not one of them told you. I got to tell you, if it was me, I'd be irritated. And you know what I would do? I would immediately go into...
and I would boot her out and I would put somebody else into leadership. You've got to have somebody you can trust. If you don't have somebody you can trust, how in the world are you supposed to take on the Democrats? How are you supposed to do that? I don't know. All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we are... shower. Stay with us.
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Install it quickly. I mean, like, no time at all to install it onto your phone. And then you have the option of, A, searching through all the podcasts, all the shows that are live. Don't forget to do that. Yeah, I can do that.
fun yesterday also that I didn't know by accident. You can also pick up our news programming, the one that you hear before we come on the air. They have that America in the morning and stuff like that. You can actually pick up that broadcast also and put it in your presets so you get any news you missed earlier so iheartmedia app presets it's the way to go fantastic well joining the show right now is none other than one of my faves. Some call him Dozer. I call him Senator Schauer.
But it is pretty cool. He is the only man I've ever met that has a confirmed mid-kill on his resume. It is pretty impressive. Good morning, Senator Schauer. Well, I tell you, he's so fired up with the coffee. But when you just said that, some call me this, it made me think of Monty Python. Some call me Tim. I love money. I gotta be honest with you. I mean, I don't know if it makes me a good parent, a cool parent, or a bad parent.
But one of the things that I had my kids watch when they were growing up, and it was funny depending on the age, like my son didn't get the jokes because he was about nine at the time, but my daughter did because she was about 13. But we sat and we watched Monty Python, and when they came to the performing arts center up here, I had to bring them through all the Monty Pythons.
And then when they came up to the pack and performed, we went there. And my daughter kept saying, Mother, this is inappropriate. And I'm just laughing because my son didn't get some of the jokes. But I got to tell you, it was a classic in my house. It's dry sense of humor, England. You've got to know those guys, but, boy, are they something else. It is. Well, something else that's something else is Juno towards the waning days of the end of every session.
Oh, Senator Schauer, where do we even begin? Please, please share what your thoughts are on the shenanigans that are happening in Juneau. Whether you want to talk about the budget-specific legislation, I'll just turn it over to you, sir. Well, I tell you what, it's either in the water or in the air. I don't know what the heck is up with this place, but I know people watch the Stranger Things show, and this place really is the upside down. It is just the oddest.
We do things, you're like, how in the world did you come up with that one? Or why are we doing this? And, you know, of course, I know many people talked about the education thing, this whole... saga since the beginning of the session where I give Governor Dunleavy credit. They came up with that out-of-the-box idea. Let's have all the caucuses sit together. I was there, one of the four caucus leaders in the legislature.
We had the meeting with the governor, and he's like, hey, let's get together. Let's try to come up with a solution. Outside of the, what would I say? The normal committee process, right? So let's do something. I go, okay, cool. Good idea. Let's give it a shot. And so we did. We started. There was some hope and hope and change. and maybe we'll get something done this time. So it was looking pretty good for a few weeks, and then the normal politics started to creep in, and then...
You know, the majorities walked away from the table, didn't like what was happening. Then it was like it started to kind of become the normal Juno politics. And then it was like, wait a minute, we all agreed. You've got to have, including from the governor's own, you know, I've got to see this.
policy you know enough policy to make it worthwhile so you get people on you know that kind of side of the argument then you need to have some bsa increase because everybody agrees we're you know you got to have some of that this is the policy and the funding piece so you got both sides of it to pull enough people to get it through the building, have the governor sign it. And then all of a sudden, here we go with the standard Juneau thing. It's like, what?
This goes from, everybody says 680 is about the max we can afford. That's about $175 million when we're already several hundred million underwater right now for the budget this year. And then, my last final and then. Not only do we go way off the rails by the time it comes over to the Senate, we strip out all of the policy and go to a $1,000 BSA, which is over a quarter of a billion dollars.
We already said we couldn't afford the first one, but we're going to try to swallow that and make it work. and they strip out all the policy. Zero policy. Nothing. Zero policy. Increase the BSA, and then they even send over a budget that's not even funded to the Senate. I mean, let's be honest, it wasn't even fully funded. No, it wasn't fun. Yeah, no, it's a complete chocolate mess. And then I'm going, so...
We have all this chance of actually solving a problem with the education package with some good policy in it that's going to improve student outcomes, proven in other states to work, things we know we need. helping out charter and correspondence schools, money to the brick-and-mortar school, all of this stuff. And then go not only for the big $1,000 one, which is everybody's, we know we can't do it. Well, look, Amy, you know this. When the finance co-chairs of the Senate, the three of them,
When they vote against the bill that passed out of their committee on the floor, that is a strong message. That just never happens. And they voted with the minority. So it barely passed 9 to 11 out of the Senate. And then, of course, you know, now we've got to have a dog and pony show. You know, I'm looking at everybody going, why are we doing this?
Right. Everybody already knows it's going to fail. The governor already said he was going to veto it. Let's just get back to work. No, we've got to go two days ago. Right. On Tuesday. It has to be a show. It has to be a show. An hour and a half will watch people gaslighting and speeches and soap operas. I'm like, to what? We already know the votes. I predict it. I think 28. It ended up being 27. Yeah, 27, 28 votes.
to uphold his veto, and let's get back to work. And, no, we've got to sit through speeches where everybody's saying, oh, you know, the children and all this. I'm like, what are you doing? I wanted to call the question. I was just close to calling the question, which means you're forced to take the vote. I don't want to listen to the speeches. We are wasting time. We took three months to get here and fail to do the job.
Now we've got 30 days left. We've already vetted all these ideas. The governor's already dropped new bills. Let's just get it done, put a package together, and get this through. It is infuriating when you see how close we were to doing this. And by the way, you may have seen this. Two weeks ago, roughly, when we went through the debate in the Senate,
Before we had the floor debate and then, you know, Senate, you know, did our thing, we had an amendment from the Senate minority. And that Senate minority, you know, Senator Kaufman and myself were sitting with the governor's people. So it would have worked. It was an amendment that would have put the bill back into a good form from all those months of negotiations.
And we put that on the floor. The six of us in the minority voted for it. It was way more BSA than we wanted. Instead of 680, it was about 800. But it also had all the policy, almost all of it. So it would have been...
A little more expensive than we wanted, but it also had all the policies that not everybody else wanted, and it would have passed. And we put that on the floor and said, let's just solve the problem and be done with it. Let's go back to that form. Here's the extra policy that got stripped out. Let's just get it done.
and the entire Senate majority, all of them, voted against it. And I'm just looking at them going, you guys don't really want to solve this problem, do you? No, no, they don't. It's all politics. It's all apologies. Why would we send something, no, it's going to fail? Why? Well, because it's possible. The only reason that explains that is because it's politics.
I would love to hear your response to this. As I listen to the floor session and the joint session of both houses, I listen to the floor speeches. I'll be honest with you. Some people, as soon as they started talking, I fast forwarded because I didn't want to hear their whining. One of the responses, and it seemed like the talking point that all the Democrats had,
was we have a constitutional obligation to fund education. What is your response to that? When they talk about passing a $1,000 unfunded BSA increase, but they're going to vote for it because they have a constitutional obligation to fund education. What is your response to that? We don't have a constitutional obligation to fund something higher than we have money to pay for it, nor do we have a constitutional obligation to fund something that might be a bad bill.
We also have a constitutional obligation, Amy, to have a balanced budget. So do we not follow the Constitution for one thing that you want but follow it for this other thing that you want? Oh, boy, look at that. You've got to think about that one, don't you? Let's just pass a bill and violate the Constitution. You know, Senator Schauer, you make an excellent point because I don't want to co-mingle two topics, but I'll do it.
Because I remember thinking how ironic it was that people were trying to force us to take the COVID vaccine. when they were screaming, if you don't take the COVID vaccine, basically, you're killing us all. But then I keep thinking back to My Body, My Choice, how convenient it is for them to take two positions. I've got to be honest with you. That is a great response because as I was thinking about this unfunded.
you know, BSA increase, and then them screaming, we have a constitutional obligation. I think the BSA right now, the base student allocation, is $5,960 per child. And that's even before the escalators, right? I think that's pretty adequately funding education. As Senator Hughes has pointed out multiple times, It appears there's at least one school district in the state that has a pretty hefty slush fund.
So I feel like the legislature has been doing their constitutional job funding education. It's up to the school districts to decide how they allocate that money. Am I wrong on that? No, no, you're right. How they allocate the money is not our call. We send them the money right from the state and sometimes through the boroughs and the districts.
And then they do what they do. And don't forget that there's also a lot of federal money. People seem to, we sometimes seem to forget that our budget is more than twice as big as what we're always talking about because that's just the state portion. We get about over 60% roughly of our funding from the federal government.
as a state. So we say, oh, our budget's six, seven billion dollars. No, it's really more like 13, 14, 15 billion. But it's like we don't even talk about that part of it. So it's not just what the state is. It's also what the federal government is providing. So there's more than that to it. But you're not wrong. And Anchorage, and I know, boy, they've really been firing back trying to cover their tracks on this one. And I'm sure Senator Hughes talked about it on the program with you.
I think the number, I believe, is something like $61.7 million that they still have when they went to how they overestimated their HR funds. And it's a whole formula stuff. The Commissioner of Deed talked to us and has given us the numbers. And here's the point. They could use that right now to fund the 360 positions they keep talking about cutting because what they're doing is the old Washington Monument Syndrome. We don't like what you're doing. You're not giving us what we want.
We're going to make this as painful as possible. We're going to say we're going to cut these 360 positions, even though we know we don't have to, but it's going to make everybody mad, and then it's going to put pressure on the legislators to give us all the money we want. Or we're going to cut these sports programs. We're going to cut these after-school programs. Is it true that inflation has been going up and that there is some funding that should be helpful to many of the districts? It is.
But they also tell us flat funding, Amy, when it's not true because not only did they get COVID money, in addition to that nobody talks about in the coffers that they were using for the last five plus years. But there's also, in addition to that, one-time funding we've been providing every year as a legislature outside of the BSA because we haven't been able to agree.
on this little thing we started your program with here a few minutes ago about the BSA and policy to get a package across the board so we could do it. So we've been funding them in addition anyway. So when they say they haven't been getting any extra money, They couldn't be giving more misinformation in air quotes because they've been getting COVID money, federal money, extra money from the state. But no, no, no, we've been flat funding. No, we haven't.
But just go back to that Washington Monument Center. They're going to make it as painful as possible to scare the parents, to scare the teachers, to get them fired up, to get them to call and email and testify in front of the legislature so legislators get worried about what. whether or not they're going to have the unions coming against them with somebody next November and make it hard to get reelected. The entire thing is a kabuki theater.
Well, no doubt about it. You know, Senator Schauer, this is why I love talking to you is because you're so direct and on point. You know, do you have one more segment that you can stay with us? Because I'd love to talk to you, if you have a chance, about revenue measures. Because I heard that being floated around a lot on the floor. I heard one of the co-chairs of your Senate Finance talk about
We're working on three revenue measures, but I can't talk about what they are right now. To me, that says taxes, but I'd love to get your insight on what we might expect. We're talking with Senator Mike Schauer. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Traffic's moving well all around the Anchorage Bowl.
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You know, Senator Schauer, if you actually just listen to what legislators say, they typically signal big signals to you what's actually going on behind the scenes. I remember listening to Andy Joseph in the House talking about... Yes, this budget basically is not fully funded, but I've been in discussions with the other body. And, you know, they have a plan. Well, they're going to bridge the gap, basically. I'm paraphrasing widely.
And I hear him say that immediately my mind goes, oh, they have a tax that they're going to pass. That's what it is. And then I hear Lyman Hoffman on the floor talking about, we have three revenue measures that we're looking at. I can't talk about them all yet. And I'm like, okay, that's taxes. And then I see this bill pop up, SB 113, that looks like an online tax to me. It looks like some sort of tax to me that did pass the Senate that nobody's really talking about.
But I haven't quite dived into it. So I was hoping you could, number one, explain to us maybe what SB 113 is, and then talk to us about potentially anything you're hearing or you think might be coming relating to potentially taxes. Yeah, so first I'm going to set the definitions because I am not a fan, never have been. I don't even like using the word revenue. Revenue, to me, Amy, is something that a business in the private sector creates jobs, creates wealth, produces something.
and then they get revenue for it. You pay them for what they produce, the service they do. When the government says the word revenue, it's like when we said, oh, we don't have dedicated funds. So, like the PFD now, we don't do designated, we do designated. They use a different word, but it still starts with the letter D, and it makes it sound better. No, no, we can designate. We just don't do.
dedicated funds, right? So we just change the definition and the people go, that's fine. So we don't say the tax word because people have a negative reaction to the word. tax because they know we're coming after you out of your wallet, out of your business, and we're going to take money from you and do what we do with it, right? So we work with the word revenue because that sounds so much better. Oh, revenue, right?
Stop. I don't like the word. It makes us sound like a business. We're not. We're in the business of taking money from other businesses so that we can do what we want to do with the money. So let's be honest, folks. Let's say the word. Don't say revenue, say taxes. So when they say revenue measures, what they mean is taxes, but it's a softer word. So I spent a minute on that, but it's very important to me because...
People need to hear it loud and clear what it is. We're not talking about revenue, folks. The government doesn't create. We're talking about taking money from you. and then spending it. It is a tax and spend legislature right now. That's been the key word. You got the rules here with a tax. You got the...
They sent a majority leader with attacks. You've got all these different things, people saying, you know, I listened to some of the press conferences a couple weeks ago. One of them said that, actually said that. There can be no private sector without the public sector. I'm like, My jaw doesn't hit more often, but it did. I'm like, you got that, my friend, exactly backwards.
There is no public sector because there's no money without the private sector. I mean, the thought processes, the cognitive dissonance going on right now in the legislature is just vexing to me. It's at a height. I've never seen it this high. So, yes, S213, it's like the digital online tag. It's collecting the tax from other states.
Trust me. I mean, I heard the speech on the floor from the bill sponsor. This isn't going to raise a single tax on Alaskans. This isn't going to cause prices to go up. Everything's going to be perfect. We're going to get from 20 to 65 million, pretty wide number. of taxes collected for the state, right? But no way ever are the prices going to go up. So you're right. You know, Mr. Bill Sponsor, I am sure
that the other states that we take this money from are just gonna eat it. Those other big states are just gonna eat it. They're gonna take that tax hit. They're not gonna go after that company. through any other means of raising taxes there to get their pound of flesh right.
Because you know what's going to happen, Amy, and they'll never tell you what's going to happen. Those other states go, oh, we lost a million dollars in revenue. We're going to raise our tax rates because we can't afford that because we got all the money we got to get so we can spend it down here on whatever we're doing. So it will absolutely trickle down, love that word, right, to us, and it's going to cause the prices to go up. There is no way. This is the old thing of get the rich.
homeowners right the people that own the rental properties because then we'll get them if we just raise taxes on them and you know what they're going to do they're going to turn around at the next time they negotiate rates and they're just going to increase the rate on the poor people that are actually having to rent the houses. That's how it works.
They're not charities, Amy. The government can act like charities because we're other people's money, but we're not. So, yes, it's a digital online tag. It's going to collect it from other states because everybody wants to get their pound of flesh, right? So it's going to be through a lot of your online purchases. And trust me, one way or another,
it's going to cause prices to go up. Because when the government taxes, whether it's here or there or anywhere, to be green eggs and ham this morning, other states are taxing, the federal government's taxing, when they take taxes. The people that actually produce wealth in this country, the companies that actually do business in the private sector, will have to raise their rates.
Because with the price of goods and inflation to be a non-charity because they have to make money to pay their taxes and their people and make enough to survive, they have to raise their rates. So that's a tax. You've got the SB-92 tax coming out on the S-Corp, right, S-Corp, C-Corp, that whole battle.
So hitting what's essentially the Hillcorp tax, as it was so-called. And then you're going to have these other revenue measures we're looking at that are coming out on oil credit per barrel tax change. There's at least three or more taxes that are already here, but they're also talking about, you know, we're hearing the income tax word, we're hearing other different taxes. It's a tax and spend season right now. This government has gotten desperate because we have spent...
You're going to love the numbers. I should send this to you. Maybe we should talk in next week. I'll show you what's on my board right now. Oh, 10, 12 years ago, it's about $30 billion, billion, in our savings account, CBR, SBR, and ERA. And at the height of 2013, the ERA SBR had about $17 plus billion. The ERA in 2018 had about $13 plus billion.
How much are in those accounts today is under $6 billion. So we have spent that amount of money out of our savings accounts to get to this point today, including $24 billion. That COVID money was put into the state that we can't even account for all of it. Six, seven billion of it went through the state. He hands the rest direct at different places. All of that money flowed into the state.
And I hear these legislators, especially a lot of Democrats, saying, we've flat-funded. Government's actually been underspend. We don't need a spending gap. Can you explain to me how then we have spent all of those savings down to where we are today and the fact we're having to take the dividend? Because we went from a statutory dividend to a 50-50 split to a 75-25. Now they're saying an 86-14. Maybe it's going to be a 92-8.
The point being, that small number is what's left that goes to the people in the private sector and the dividend. We have to take all that to balance the budget, but people stand on the floor. and give speeches about how we haven't actually increased the size and cost of government. Yeah, it's laughable. absolutely laughable you know senator shower it is refreshing to have somebody who's actually watching the numbers and I think you and I both would agree
The government politicians must be put in a box because they cannot control spending. They clearly have demonstrated that year over year. Senator Schaller, I have one parting question for you. I had a lot of people asking me, would you consider running for governor? I don't know, Amy. I'm not asking you for a yes or no like you're going to do it, but it's something. I mean, you've got to be hearing this. I'm hearing this everywhere. People are chomping at the bit for leadership.
They're looking for somebody who's going to follow through and partner with the Trump administration. Is it something you would ever even consider? I don't know. I think the biggest thing, I have to get that past my wife. You need to ask Michelle that number. Oh, I got her cell number. I got her cell number.
You know, I will let you off the hook with that answer, sir. I appreciate you calling in this morning and taking so much time with us. Thank you so much for all you do. We will talk with you in the very near future, all right? Sounds good, Amy. I appreciate it. You guys have a good morning. All right. Thank you so much for the call, Senator Schauer. I appreciate it. We're going to go ahead and take a quick break when we come back.
I am an equal opportunity debater. Representative Mia Costello is on hold. I have been very critical of her this morning. I am going to give her all the time she wants to rebut my comments. And to make her case as to why she didn't tell her caucus about the amendment on Friday. I'm going to give her the chance. She deserves that. We'll be right back. Turn up your radio.
The Morning Minute. You can't make this up. Congressman Peter Welch visited detained Columbia University activists this guy calling him a friend and praising his work with Jewish brothers and sisters on Columbia's campus. Oh, okay. Well, this guy that he was visiting with could empathize with Hamas' decision to launch the attack and use the siren to drown out pro-Israel.
students protesting for the release of Israeli child hostages. This is what the Democratic Party has now been reduced to? Pretty amazing. This is the hill that they want to die on. Protecting and championing men's rights for women's sports, championing pro Hamas sympathizers. Check out the Sean Hannity radio show later today, right here. Now, don't get suckered into the same old free phone game by Big Wireless.
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Wireless by Americans for Americans. News Radio 650. KENI. Depend on it. Welcome back, current time, 740. Well, if you've been listening to the show, earlier in the show, I played a series of audio clips, and I've been very critical this morning of Representative Mia Costello. I just want to refresh everybody of basically what's going on. So if you're just joining the show, you're up to speed.
On Friday, the House took up the operating budget. They took up one amendment, only one amendment. The House minority had previously been told that, no, we're not going to take up any amendments until Monday. So three other members were gone, one for a graduation, one for a funeral, one was receiving a military honor.
And it has been alleged by many, and I've talked to many legislators, many staffers, and I pulled the audio clip, that House minority leadership was informed hours before the vote that, in fact, This amendment was going to be taken up and I have I have clearly stated on the air that I've been told by multiple people
And I pulled the audio that says the House Minority Leadership knew, and they didn't tell their membership. So I'm going to refresh for you a part of, look, I agree with the part about the PFD, but Representative Edgeman. literally rebutted on the floor the commentary. I'm going to play Representative Mia Costello, and then when we come back from this little audio clip, I'm going to ask for her side of the story, because that's the right thing to do.
So, Daryl, go ahead and play this just for a refresher. Go ahead. We must also speak honestly about how we fund these investments. and the role of the permanent fund dividend. The dividend reaches every corner of Alaska. It impacts every Alaskan, urban or rural, young or old, rich or poor, including those...
whose lives may not otherwise be directly touched by the state budget. For many families, it's a lifeline. For others, it's a foundation for savings or a chance to breathe just a little easier before winter. We've all learned something from the voices of thousands of Alaskans who have given us their input.
who remind us with conviction and clarity that the permanent fund dividend belongs to the people, not as a gift from government, but as a rightful share of Alaska's collective resource wealth. We're reminded that this dividend wasn't meant to be... optional or convenient. It was designed to connect every Alaskan directly to the land we share and the resources we steward. The public has made sure this conversation never drifts too far from its roots.
We've learned from voice and pen just how passionate and personal this issue is for so many Alaskans. The majority misled our caucus and deprived three of our members present. sidelining the voice of tens of thousands of elections. Representative Castillo. I want to remind you that you and I had a conversation many hours before that vote took place. So the direct assertion that we deprived the minority that vote, I beg to differ with that. As presiding officer, I'm not allowed to get.
into the debate, but when I hear something that I think is a factual error, I'm going to set forth. So please continue. Thank you. We should remember the original structure of the dividend. The dividend was not only a way to share resource wealth, it was also intended to place downward pressure on the growth of state government.
That was the exchange that happened on the floor on Friday. Now joining the show is Representative Mia Costello. Mia, I wish this was under better circumstances, but I'm so glad you called in because I think it's only fair. for you to answer the question to a lot of people, why didn't you tell your caucus about this amendment that was going to strip thousands of dollars out of every Alaskan's pocket as soon as you learned that they were going to take it up?
Well, first of all, Amy, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. So Thursday night, as you know, the House Finance Committee met. It was a disastrous meeting. They did not have the votes to move there. their version out that they wanted after the meeting we asked when are you taking up amendments and they said Monday We got verification from multiple sources that it was Monday.
So then the next morning on Friday, before floor was scheduled to start, I was asked to drop by Bryce's office, and I did. And in the meeting, basically the focus of the meeting was how upset they were about what happened last night in the House Finance Committee. And by the way, our minority members were amazing in that meeting. I don't know if you saw that. They were. They were great. Yeah.
So essentially it was, you know, wringing of hands and what are we going to do? And essentially it's not our problem, right? We're not in the majority. It's their problem. So I was told they're very upset. There were several members in his caucus. that were wanting to address this issue sooner than Monday in an amendment. And I said, Bryce, you can't do that. You gave your word that Monday was the amendment deadline.
And essentially what transpired next was, well, we're going to meet with our caucus, his caucus, and we'll get back to you and I'll let you know if we are going to do that amendment. So that was a half hour before floor was scheduled to start. At 10 a.m., right? So this meeting then was at 9.30.
No, the meeting, actually, he had to leave at one point to pick up his daughter and then it resumed. So it wasn't, you know, it kind of came and went. So when I stopped by the first time, I ended up having to come back. When you came back, did you come back with Delaina Johnson? They asked to bring her back because they had questions about the dividend and, you know, essentially whether or not we could help them get the vote.
to pass something lower. And we were like, you know, our caucus wants a full dividend. We can't help you. We're not, you guys have your caucus. If you can't make this happen, you can't rely on us. We are pretty strong in that area. So at 10 o'clock when we left, it was, well, we'll get back to you if we decide we're going to do it. We'll let you know. So even if at that point I had called up to our member who was in Wasilla, the flight was an hour and five minutes after that time.
So that's not enough time to drive back to Anchorage, get a flight, and fly into Juneau. We thought that floor was starting. So as the day progressed, we never heard that. And so we went to the floor and... He called me up to the dais and he said, we're offering an amendment to reduce the dividend. That's when I found out for sure that that's what they were doing. And prior to that, I didn't share anything with the caucus because essentially it was a meeting where they were upset with us.
communicating how upset they were about what happened in the finance committee last night. what Bryce did on the floor. He also interrupted Kathy Tilson when she was talking, and he interrupted her after she mentioned that he told us amendments were Monday. And after he interrupted her, he called me up to the dais and he apologized because he knows that that meeting was not where we were told anything was going to happen. So, you know.
When I look at this, I think to myself, this is their disastrous leadership. They have not been able to create a budget that was balanced. They put the CBR in, they put it out, they put it in. They didn't keep our members of finance apprised of what was happening in finance. Those members were also surprised with the CS that came in front of them.
Representative Johnson even said, this document is still warm. So what happened is just par for the course with this majority. They're not in a position to lead with effectiveness. And it's an unfortunate situation, yes, but the focus should not be on... on what we are doing wrong. The focus should be on what the majority is doing wrong. They are not taking the last things in the right direction. They are not able to lead well. And our group, they come to us.
This is consistent with them, too. They continually come to us and say, we have a problem. How are you going to fix it? And so that meeting was essentially more of, we have a problem, how are you guys going to fix it? They were going to come back and let me know. And I think that the other point that's interesting is that Bryce said he didn't want to do that.
He called it a nuclear option. He said he didn't want to do it. And keep in mind, they're a binding caucus. So if their leadership says, we don't want to do this, their members fall in line. We don't have that in our caucus. We have to coalesce together and come up with a strategy. And you saw that strategy when we chose not to override the governor's veto on the education bill.
So, you know, he's got this caucus. He's got members, and the way he controls them is he just tells them what to do. And we had members who received text messages from the minority staff saying, I'm so sorry, we didn't know this was going to happen. So I think, Amy, when you look at it, There's no doubt they're a disaster. I mean, you could see that in the House Finance Committee meeting.
Representative Costello, I've got to take a quick break, but I appreciate you sticking with us through the break so we can finish up this conversation. We're talking with Representative Mia Costello. We'll be right back. Get total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning.
The majority, when they said Monday and then went in that meeting, I did not believe that they were going to take that vote. They told me they didn't want to and they would get back to me. So I have told the caucus that I, you know, I apologize for not bringing that up. And I think moving forward, as we move into, you know, an additional round with the education issue, that I am, you know, going to be very vigilant in talking to the cops. you know, the understanding that people have
I thought we were going to the four and a half an hour, and, you know, they were telling us that they would get back to us. Well, you know, I appreciate you calling in. I'm sorry we have to end it there. The end of the show is upon us. Thank you so much for calling in. We report, you decide. We'll see you tomorrow.