Toe-to-toe with the lame duck governor

By Bill Bjork, NEA-Alaska President, November NEA-AKtivist06

 Earlier this fall, soon-to-be former Gov. Frank Murkowski violated the law when he made an appointment to the retirement board of someone who did not appear on our list of recommended nominees. I approached the governor’s office thinking this was some mistake and expected it to be cleared up quickly and cleanly.

The governor’s office agreed that the governor had violated the law but also asserted that he ought to be able to appoint ANYONE he pleased. It soon became clear that nothing would be quick or clean about the resolution of this dispute.

A little background: When Senate Bill 141 dismantled the state’s retirement system in spring 2005, the bill created the new Alaska Retirement Management Board (ARM-Board).

The law is crystal clear – the governor has the right to make appointments to the board, but s/he must choose from a “list of four nominees submitted from among the teachers’ retirement system bargaining units.” AS 37.210.210(b)(D). This language can be interpreted in only one way – the governor must choose from our list. Applicable regulations support that conclusion.

Several weeks after his crushing defeat in the primary, Governor Murkowski suddenly announced his appointment of Dr. Richard Solie to the ARM-Board. The appointment was to fill the vacancy created when AEA Past President Bob Roses resigned in March to run (successfully) for the Alaska Legislature. We were stunned because Solie was not on our list of nominees. (The list was supported by our fellow labor groups in the Teachers Retirement System.)

We went to Superior Court and got a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the faulty appointment. Governor Murkowski filed for expedited consideration to resolve the constitutionality question before 12:00 noon on December 4. At press time we were awaiting the judge’s ruling. We’ll keep you posted as the saga continues.

If Murkowski’s demand prevails, he will be allowed to make a lame-duck appointment that would deprive Governor-elect Palin of her authority to make a quality – and legal – appointment from our list of nominees.