State legislature

1981 Coup -- Alaska Legislature

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• published: 13 Aug 2016
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"It was 1981. The state was awash in petrodollars; state revenue from taxes on Prudhoe Bay oil production that year would be $4.1 billion. The greatest challenge for the Legislature was how to spend all the money. Gov. Jay Hammond was trying to impose some discipline on the spending spree and having a hard time of it. Democrats had a slim majority in the House, 22 of 40 seats; there were four Libertarians. They had elected Jim Duncan of Juneau as speaker. Sessions were not limited to 90 days then, and the 1981 session had dragged on six months. Duncan was getting nowhere in negotiations with the Senate and the governor. On June 24, during a lull in proceedings, a young, brash legislator from Anchorage, Russ Meekins Jr., took the lectern. Speaking for a new coalition he had helped surreptitiously to organize, Meekins called for an election to oust the speaker and elect himself temporary speaker while the new coalition decided on a new permanent speaker. It was a legislative coup d'etat. What had upset Meekins and his fellow conspirators was what they viewed as an inequitable distribution of the spoils. They felt they weren't getting enough for their districts. In particular, the Native caucus felt their projects and the needs of Native villages were being ignored. Duncan protested, of course, and so did the leadership in the state Senate, but to no avail. The new coalition held together, and shortly elected Joe L. Hayes, Republican of Anchorage, as the new speaker. When all the dust settled, the Senate, House and governor effectively agreed on a budget that divided the flowing money into roughly equal thirds. Hayes would serve as speaker for the remainder of the 12th Alaska Legislature, and would be elected to and would serve as speaker for the 13th as well, serving from 1981 to 1985. Juneau voters forgave Duncan, who was subsequently elected to the state Senate. Meekins later charged that another legislator, George Hohman of Bethel, had offered him a bribe, and after Hohman's conviction, Meekins left Alaska for good." Complements to Steve Haycox: http://www.adn.com/commentary/article/steve-haycox-alaskans-know-something-about-legislative-upheaval/2013/10/18/