newsminer.com • Palin rejects $28.6 million in federal energy stimulus funds

newsminer.com • Palin rejects $28.6 million in federal energy stimulus funds: "ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday vetoed $80 million from appropriation bills, including $28.6 million from the federal stimulus funds for energy efficiency.

Despite pressure from some lawmakers and others to accept the federal money, the Republican governor said she won't accept funds tied to adoption of building codes by local governments."

"Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.," Palin said in a statement announcing the veto. "This principle of maximum self-government for local communities is also set out in our constitution. There isn't a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes, but lawmakers can always exercise checks and balances by overriding my veto."

Palin had earlier accepted about $900 million in other federal stimulus funds, all available to the state except the energy funds. Palin initially indicated she would accept only 69 percent of the total amount available, but said lawmakers could determine how much of the rest to accept, after a public vetting process. The energy stimulus is the only amount from the federal package Palin ultimately rejected.

Sens. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, and Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, who head the Senate Resources Committee, have urged Palin to accept the money to address needs in a state with some of the highest energy costs in the nation.

State budget director, Karen Rehfeld, said the governor's resistance wasn't over concerns about taking the money, but in being required to take an active role as to promote the adoption of local energy efficiency codes throughout the state.

"The governor believes these are decisions best left to local governments," Rehfeld said.

Lawmakers noted that the U.S. Department of Energy accepted Missouri's approach to rely on local governments to adopt standards rather than imposing a statewide code.

There's no reason why Palin couldn't have followed Missouri's example, said McGuire. She said she closely looked at the issue as a Republican concerned about intrusive standards that supersede reasonable local control.

"My disappointment is that Sarah Palin hasn't paid attention or looked closely enough to the Missouri model," McGuire said. "This was an opportunity for real leadership."

To qualify for the federal money, 90 percent of new and renovated structures would have to be constructed under energy efficiency standards between 2009 and 2017. Wielechowski said Thursday that Alaska has either reached that measure or is close to it.

He said there was no rational or legitimate reason for Palin to reject the energy efficiency money, the only governor to do so.

"The way it's set up if one state rejects the money, it doesn't go back to federal treasury, it gets divvied up to every other state that accepted it," he said. "Basically the governor has written a check out to the other states."

Rehfeld said the state's $10.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2010 still includes nearly $115 million for energy remediation efforts. Among them are $26.4 million for heating assistance and $25 million for renewable energy projects such as wind and geothermal.

Other vetoes include $11.9 million in the capital budget and $35 million of a $450 million transfer from a fund for tax credits for companies investing in oil and gas development in the state.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said energy reduction is the goal in about a third of the more than nearly $5 billion in federal funding requests from Alaska communities and nonprofits his office has received this year.

"With Alaskans facing the highest energy prices in the nation, it's disappointing that our governor is turning thumbs down on federal funding that could help our families and communities reduce their energy bills," Begich said.

Meanwhile, both Wielechowski and McGuire have introduced legislation creating a statewide energy code that would apply to both rural and urban areas, without growing government.

They also have said many structures built with public money in rural communities through agencies such as the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. already have an energy code requirement. Also, rural projects paid for through the Denali Commission incorporate energy efficiency standards into their design.

The Legislature could overturn the veto. Wielechowski said he would support a move to override her decision, but added it would take three-fourths support from members of both the Alaska House and Senate. McGuire said she also would support an override, but warned that it would be daunting to achieve for a "citizen legislature" that is scattered attending to other responsibilities.

Like Alaska, Wyoming also doesn't have a statewide building code. But Wyoming still wants to obtain its full share of stimulus funding for energy efficiency if the state can get it, said Chris Boswell, chief of staff to Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

"We certainly haven't turned it down," Boswell said.

Wyoming officials have been in "back and forth" talks with the Department of Energy to determine how the state could obtain the full funding, he said.

Boswell said Freudenthal would have to call a special legislative session to enact a statewide building code, but has no intention of doing that.

Wyoming is eligible for about $25 million under the State Energy Program.

Good for Palin and better for Alaska!

What people never say and forget is that when the money runs out, these federally MANDATED programs have to be continued as part of the bargain for taking the money. Well where does that money come from when it is gone and the programs need to be funded?

the federal government will not do it a second time, so the STATES who have accepted the money have to come up with the funds somewhere. guess where they come up with it?

THEY TAX THE PEOPLE OF THAT STATE!