Governor Palin and Per Diem

9/9/08

Topline Messaging Points:

Governor Palin shook up the Alaska establishment and the business-as-usual crowd upon taking office.
- During the first year of her administration, Gov. Palin's travel expenses were nearly 80% less than her predecessor's.
- Gov. Palin sold the governor's personal jet and removed the tax-payer provided chef.
Governor Palin took a hard-line stand protecting the taxpayers' money.
- Gov. Palin cut $268 million from the 2008 Alaska state budget.
- Using her veto pen, Gov. Palin saved taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
- Gov. Palin attacked pork-barrel spending, vetoing 15 percent of the state's budget
  set aside for pet projects.
Governor Palin has brought a new era of openness and transparency to Alaska politics.
- Gov. Palin created an online checkbook that allowed the public to view the state's
  financial information.
- Gov. Palin ended the backroom deals of the gas line negotiations and made it
  available to the public.
As governor of the state, Palin is expected to travel across Alaska to meet her constituents and attend community events. As a mother of five, she occasionally brought her children with her. Her travel-related activities have been appropriately documented and are completely transparent.

TAKING ON GOVERNMENT WASTE

During Her First Year In Office, Palin's Personal Travel Expenses Were Nearly 80% Less Than Her Predecessor. "Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office. ‘She flies coach and encourages her cabinet to fly coach as well,' said (Kim) Garnero, whose job is equivalent to state controller. ‘Some do, some don't.'" (James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick, "Palin Billed State For Nights Spent at Home," The Washington Post,
9/9/08)

One Of Palin's First Acts As Governor Was To Sell The Governor's State Jet Which Was Too Big To Land On Many Of Alaska's Airstrips. "One of Palin's first acts as governor was to sell the governor's jet on eBay. She thought it was wasteful and, besides, couldn't even land on many of the state's short, gravel airstrips. ('It was for out-of-state trips,' she said, disapprovingly.)" ("Evan Thomas And Karen Breslau, "McCain's Mrs. Right," Newsweek, 8/30/08)

Governor Palin Said No Thanks To Taxpayer-Provided, Gourmet Executive Chef At The Governor's Mansion. "Gov. Sarah Palin knows how to cook. And her children are capable of making sandwiches. ... The Palin family will prepare its own meals, she said. The cut was important to Palin because she's demanded that other departments make reductions, Stapleton said. 'She wants to do her part.'" (Katie Pesznecker, "To Slim Down Budget, Palin Dumps Chef," Anchorage Daily News, 6/29/07)

A HARD LINE ON SPENDING

Governor Palin Vetoed Dozens Of Capital Projects And Cut More Than $268 Million From The State Budget In 2008. "Gov. Sarah Palin vetoed scores of capital projects around the state, striking more than a quarter billion dollars from the nearly $3 billion dollar public works budget that state lawmakers approved last month. Palin's vetoes were made public on Friday the deadline for her to sign the budget. All told, the cuts totaled just over $268 million, $152 million of which were state general funds." (Anne Sutton, "Gov. Palin Vetoes Capital Projects," The Associated Press, 5/24/08)

Governor Palin's Capital Budget Vetoes Saved Taxpayers $231 Million In 2007. "Gov. Sarah Palin vetoed nearly a quarter-billion dollars in projects from a proposed $1.8 billion state capital budget on Friday, a move that angered some lawmakers who hoped to fund hundreds of district projects with surplus revenue from high oil prices. Palin's vetoes, about $231 million, may be the biggest single-year line-item veto total in state history. ... 'There should have been more dialogue about her acceptable level of capital spending,' said Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage. 'That way you have fair warning when things get vetoed.'" (Sabra Ayres, "Palin Trims $231 Million From Budget," Anchorage Daily News,
6/30/07)

As Governor, Palin Attacked Pork-Barrel Spending. "Though Palin speaks respectfully of Senator Stevens, she has gone to war on pork-barrel projects, vetoing about 15 percent of the state's capital budget set aside for the pet projects of legislators. Her attack on pork helped endear her to McCain, who has been the leading foe of 'earmarking' in the federal budget. Both McCain and Palin were vocal critics of the Bridge to Nowhere (she expressed initial support), a $223 million project in a remote Alaskan community, sponsored by Stevens and Congressman Don Young." ("Evan Thomas And Karen Breslau, "McCain's Mrs. Right," Newsweek, 8/30/08)

OPENNESS & TRANSPARENCY

Governor Palin Created Alaska's Online Checkbook - An Easily Searchable Public Index Of The State's Financial Information. "The State of Alaska is publishing information from the statewide accounting system on the web. This is part of a national trend for governments to develop websites that allow constituents to view financial information in searchable formats. Such websites are widely considered to improve transparency into the financial operations of government. Governor Palin supports this trend, and as a result, this website was created." (Alaska Department Of Administration's Division Of Finance Website, http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/dof
<http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/dof/checkbook_online/index.jsp> , Accessed 9/9/08)

Palin's Adherence To Transparency And Accountability Contributes To Her Story Of Political Success. "The wipeout in the 2006 election left Republicans in such a state of dejection that they've overlooked the one shining victory in which a Republican star was born. The triumph came in Alaska where Sarah Palin, a politician of eye-popping integrity, was elected governor. She is now the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating in the 90s, and probably the most popular public official in any state. Her rise is a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle--especially to transparency and accountability in government--can produce political success. And by the way, Palin is a conservative who only last month vetoed 13 percent of the state's proposed budget for capital projects. The cuts, the Anchorage Daily News said, 'may be the biggest single-year line-item veto total in state history.'" (Fred Barnes, "The Most Popular Governor," The Weekly Standard, 6/16/07)

Governor Palin Delivered On Her Promise To Bring An Open, Transparent Process To Gasline Negotiations. "Elected by a wide margin after promising to bring 'new energy' and 'transparency' to the pipeline project, Ms. Palin took office in December and immediately backed away from the negotiations that her predecessor, Frank H. Murkowski, had been pursuing with the three major energy companies that control much of the land where gas would be developed. Ms. Palin has long criticized those negotiations as back-room dealings whose extensive incentives and tax breaks would have benefited the energy companies, BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, far more than they would have Alaska. 'Don't get me started,' she said in an interview in her Capitol office on Thursday. So next month, Ms. Palin intends to introduce the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, a bill that would open the bidding to new players, as well as the old ones. She says her plan would ensure new jobs and access to gas for state residents." (William Yardley, "With New Pipeline Plan, Alaska's Governor Enters Precarious Territory," The New York Times, 2/19/07)