http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Governorship
In 2006, Palin, running on a clean-government campaign, executed an upset
victory over then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.[8]
Despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her
Democratic opponent, she went on to win the general election in November
2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles.[8] Palin said in 2006 that
education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of
her administration.[11]
When elected, Palin became the first woman to be Alaska's governor, and the
youngest governor in Alaskan history at 42 years old upon taking office.
Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S.
statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in
Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She
took office on December 4, 2006.
Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics
bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans.
Palin successfully killed the Bridge to Nowhere project that had become a
nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending.[16][20] "Alaska needs to be
self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,'
as the state does today."[9]
She has challenged the state's Republican leaders, helping to launch a
campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don
Young[21] and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about
the federal investigation into his financial dealings.[16] Palin supports
holding occasional legislative sessions outside the state capital, and
municipal revenue sharing to help local governments.[citation needed]
In 2007, Palin had an approval rating often in the 90s.[9] A poll published
by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%.[22]
Energy policies
Palin's tenure is noted for her independence from big oil companies, while
still promoting resource development.[9][16] Palin has announced plans to
create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors, to address climate change and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.[23]
Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded an appointment by Murkowski of
his former chief of staff Jim Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development
Authority, one of thirty-five appointments made by Murkowski in the last hour
of his administration that she reversed.[24][25] Clark later pled guilty to
conspiring with a defunct oil-field-services company to channel money into
Frank Murkowski's re-election campaign.[26]
In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as
the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's
North Slope.[27] Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted
against the measure,[28] and in June Palin signed it into law.[29][30] On
January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian company, Transcanada, was
the sole AGIA-compliant applicant.[31][32]
In response to high oil and gas prices, and in response to the resulting
state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month
energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical
utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates.[33] She subsequently
dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send
Alaskans $1,200 directly and eliminate the gas tax.[34][35]
Social issues
Palin is strongly pro-life and belongs to Feminists for Life.[11] She opposes
same-sex marriage, but she has stated that she has gay friends and is
receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination.[11] While the
previous administration did not implement same-sex benefits, Palin complied
with a state Supreme Court order and signed them into law.[36]
She supported a democratic advisory vote from the public on whether there
should be a constitutional amendment on the matter.[37] Alaska was one of the
first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998,
along with Hawaii.[38]
Palin's first veto was used to block legislation that would have barred the
state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In
effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The
veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska's attorney general on the
constitutionality of the legislation.[39]
Matanuska Maid Dairy closure
When the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an
unprofitable state-owned business, Palin objected, citing concern for the
impact on dairy farmers and the fact that the Dairy had just received
$600,000 in state money. When Palin learned that only the Board of
Agriculture and Conservation could appoint Creamery Board members, she simply
replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and
Conservation.[9][40] The new board, led by businesswoman Kristan Cole,
reversed the decision to close.[40] The new board approved milk price
increases offered by the dairy in an attempt to control fiscal losses, even
though milk from Washington was already offered in Alaskan stores at lower
prices.[41] In the end, the dairy was forced to close, and the state tried to
sell the assets to pay off its debts but received no bids.[42][43]
Budget
In the first days of her administration, Palin followed through on a campaign
promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit
account) by the Murkowski administration. The state placed the jet for sale
on eBay three times. In August 2007, the jet was sold for $2.7 million.[44]
Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled an 11-mile (18-kilometer)
gravel road outside of Juneau to a mine. This reversed a decision made in the
closing days or hours of the Murkowski Administration.[45]
In June 2007, Palin signed into law the largest operating budget in Alaska's
history ($6.6 billion).[46] At the same time, she used her veto power to make
the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The
US$237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the
construction budget to nearly US$1.6 billion.[47]
Commissioner dismissal
On July 11, 2008, Governor Palin dismissed Walter Monegan as Commissioner of
Public Safety and instead offered him a position as executive director of the
state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he subsequently turned
down.[48][49] Monegan alleged shortly after his dismissal that it may have
been partly due to his reluctance to fire an Alaska State Trooper, Mike
Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with
Palin's sister, Molly McCann.[50] In 2006, before Palin was governor, Wooten
was briefly suspended for ten days for threatening to kill McCann's (and
Palin's) father, tasering his 11-year-old stepson, and violating game laws.
After a union protest, the suspension was reduced to five days.[51]
Governor Palin asserts that her dismissal of Monegan was unrelated to the
fact that he had not fired Wooten, and asserts that Monegan was instead
dismissed for not adequately filling state trooper vacancies, and because he
"did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues."[52] Palin
acknowledges that a member of her administration, Frank Bailey, did contact
the Department of Public Safety regarding Wooten, but both Palin and Bailey
say that happened without her knowledge and was unrelated to her dismissal of
Monegan.[52] Bailey was put on leave for two months for acting outside the
scope of his authority as the Director of Boards and Commissions.
In response to Palin's statement that she had nothing to hide, in August 2008
the Alaska Legislature hired Steve Branchflower to investigate Palin and her
staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal, though lawmakers
acknowledge that "Monegan and other commissioners serve at will, meaning they
can be fired by Palin at any time."[53] The investigation is being overseen
by Democratic State Senator Hollis French, who says that the Palin
administration has been cooperating and thus subpoenas are unnecessary.[54]
The Palin administration itself was the first to release an audiotape of
Bailey making inquiries about the status of the Wooten investigation.[52][55]
Wooten and the police union alleged that the governor had improperly released
his employment files in his divorce case. However, McCann's attorney released
a signed waiver from Wooten demonstrating that Wooten had authorized the
release of his files through normal discovery procedures.[56][57]
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