Jeremy Bynum
Jeremy Bynum is transitioning from being a member of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly to his new job as state representative for Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Wrangell and Coffman Cove.
He has a lot to do in the seven weeks before he is sworn in as a member of the state House when the Legislature convenes in Juneau on Jan. 21.
He is looking for housing and for office staff; there will be orientation and training sessions for new lawmakers; there are legislative rules and procedures to learn; and issues to consider for possible legislation he might sponsor.
Orientation sessions start Dec. 16-18 in Anchorage, he said.
Bynum resigned from the borough assembly and attended his last meeting on Monday, Dec. 2. The Republican easily outpolled his two opponents in the Nov. 5 election to fill the seat vacated by the retirement of Rep. Dan Ortiz, who cited health reasons for his decision not to seek reelection to a sixth term.
As of last weekend, the freshman House lawmaker was undecided whether he would join the Democrat-led bipartisan coalition that holds a slim majority of 21 of 40 House members, or stick with the 19 remaining Republicans who are trying to pry away a couple members so that they can form a controlling majority coalition.
"It's a long time between now and Juneau," Bynum said in an interview on Nov. 30, adding, "21 is a hard number to hold."
The political party or bipartisan coalition representing a majority of the House gets to choose the speaker and other leadership positions, including committee chairs, and decide generally which bills will come to the floor for a vote by the full membership.
Bynum would like to get a seat on the finance committee, which writes the budget, though it is uncommon for a freshman to get assigned to the most powerful committee in the House - and most every legislator wants a seat on the 11-member committee.
If not finance, he said "resources (committee) wouldn't be a terrible place to land." Other preferred options, he said, would be the transportation committee, which oversees the state ferry system, or the rules committee, which determines which bills go to the floor for a vote.
Many of the finance committee's budget-writing decisions are determined by oil prices, which provide the second-largest source of general fund revenue for the state, behind the annual draw on Permanent Fund investment earnings.
With oil prices about $10 a barrel below the level in May, when the Legislature finished its budget work for the year, the 2025 session could find lawmakers struggling to fulfill spending requests.
"I am under no illusion that oil prices will be better than they were last year," Bynum said.
While he is preparing for the move from Ketchikan and learning the details of the legislative process, he also is considering what issues he will want to focus on in Juneau and what bills he may want to introduce for legislative consideration.
He is considering a bill that would deny the Permanent Fund dividend to any Alaska with an outstanding warrant for their arrest. State law already denies the annual dividend to anyone in state custody on a felony charge or their third misdemeanor. Bynum is thinking about proposing a bill to add arrest warrants to the list.
As of Nov. 30, the Alaska State Troopers listed almost 6,500 outstanding warrants on their list.
The threat of losing their dividend might encourage people to report to law enforcement, Bynum said. "I think that would be a good incentive for people to clear their warrants."
Bynum also is considering introducing legislation that would add another multiplier to the state funding formula for public schools to pay out more money to districts that offer career-track vocational education programs.
The amount of state funding to local districts is an annual debate in the Legislature.
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