State senator Matt Claman recently visited Bethel on his campaign trail for governor.
Before representing West Anchorage in the Senate, Claman served as a State Representative from 2015 to 2022. Claman currently serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on the Resources and Health and Social Services Committees, and on the Legislative Council in the State Senate.
Claman is one of three democrats in a field of mostly republican candidates vying to replace Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s seat in the fall.
The state senator visited Bethel on a weekend away from the legislative session in Juneau, during which he held a meet-and-greet event at the Long House Hotel.
Claman spoke to KYUK’s Samantha Watson about what was on voter’s minds and his plans to support the Y-K Delta if elected in the fall.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
KYUK (Samantha Watson): In the meet and greet and in your stops, what are you finding are on people's minds on the Y-K Delta?
Claman: One of the things that people have really been emphasizing is affordable housing, and the concern with the lack of affordable housing. There was a lot of discussion, for example, about how the [Yukon-Kuwkokwim] Health Corporation has done well to get apartments and housing for hospital workers, but that doesn't address all the community wide needs for more affordable housing. So I've been hearing a lot about that. There's been certainly a number of questions about work we're doing in the legislature to put together a comprehensive crime package that's going to include raising the age of consent. So just a number of different things that we're working on.
KYUK: I know part of your campaign, one of your key issues is making communities safer. Out here in rural Alaska, what does that look like to you?
Claman: Well, the most important thing, both in the Y-K Delta and other parts of rural Alaska, is resources, both financial resources and human resources. In the 11 years I've been in the legislature, we passed over 20 pieces of legislation that are specific to public safety concerns and address public safety concerns. But if we don't invest in the police, if we don't invest in the troopers, don't invest in the prosecutors that are going to work on these issues, then passing laws alone really doesn't do any good for the communities. We're very much aware. And I heard some already here in Bethel about the concern with the number of cases that the prosecution's office declines. It's about 50% of sex cases they don't go forward with. And some of that is because there's not the investigation resources with police. There's not enough prosecutors. And so I really come back and I really hear again [and] again, people want to feel like when they go to the police, they're going to be, feel safe going and sharing that information and sharing their story and having it investigated. And that's a challenge for many people, which is why sometimes people don't seek [help] even though terrible things happen, they don't report it to the police. And so we want this to be a place where people feel they can come and get justice for what's happened to them. It's more than passing laws. That's human and financial resources to support the laws.
KYUK: As governor, you would be inheriting the ongoing recovery after Typhoon Halong. Can you tell me how that has been coming up for folks on your trip here?
Claman: We’ve heard a little bit about it on the trip here. It's been, I'd say, in some ways, more of an example of the legislature and the governor actually working together fairly well. The governor has been pushing to advocate allocate money, but we're doing it on a month to month basis, as the needs come along. And in some things, you will really see where we don't find common ground in the legislature, [...] Halong has been an area which the governor and the House and the Senate have worked well together, and I certainly think the kind of damage that occurred isn't going to get fixed in a month, and so I would anticipate that we continue to be efforts to deal with the consequence or the after effects of that hurricane.
KYUK: There's repair and funds towards recovery, but also a lot of communities are wanting to relocate. How would you possibly support those communities?
Claman: Well, I think support the best we can. I recognize that the last thing you want is a governor that comes into town and says, ‘You will stay here’ or ‘you will move.’ That is actually just not that, not how I think the governor should be working. The governor's job is to listen to people in communities and work with them to find common ground. And I think, I think that's, that's how I would approach it is really be sure to hear what people's concerns are and figure out the best, best path to do that. There's no question that whether it's relocating or rebuilding, it’s going to be expensive, and so part of what you want to do is proceed in ways that work most efficiently for everyone.
KYUK: As we're entering this recovery mode [and] this push for relocation, both roads are going to be long ones. And I think there's this question oftentimes out here of are these leaders going to remember us? When you think about that ongoing support for a disaster like this, how would you as governor approach that?
Claman: I think we really have to work hard and be committed to looking forward and continuing those commitments. I don't want to underestimate that challenge. Let's look at the rural school issues and the maintenance and repair issues that are going on in all our rural schools, where we haven't made the investments. It was easy to make the initial investment to build a new school. And then you go 15,20, 25,30, years later, and you look at the quality of the schools, and you realize there's just long lists of maintenance that we haven't done. And so I look at the hurricane relief in the same way as the schools. We have to be reminded every year that these are when we build in the first place. We have to have a continuing commitment to keep doing the things to make those work, because it's not just a one time thing.
KYUK: What would you do to support these rural schools?
Claman: One of the first things that I've been talking about a lot, is that we really have to think differently about how we fund education. The Base Student Allocation, I think started out as a great idea. You'll get this base amount, and every year you'll adjust it for inflation. But as you I look back both before I was in the legislature, but certainly since I've been in the legislature, the Base Student Allocation. I feel like it's Hans Christian Andersen, the emperor has no clothes. Because as a structure to really create consistent funding for education, it hasn't worked. And the reason it hasn't worked is because the legislature has to increase the amount, and the legislature tends to make compromise decisions. And then, instead of increasing it every year, every five, six, seven years, we increase the Base Student Allocation. But it's a compromise amount, and then we're five or six years before we increase it again. So what happens over time is you underfund education when you increase the Base Student Allocation, and then when five years later you increase it again, you've again underfunded education. And the result is that we're not having these direct conversations about, what do we need in communities? And you look at every other department in the state, in state government, you actually look at last year's funding and adjust it for inflation and say, ‘Is that the right amount for next year?’ We should do the same thing for education. I appreciate the really good intention that the Base Student Allocation started with. But if we're really going to have effective discussions in the legislature and have the governor effectively talk with communities, if we're talking about the Base Student Allocation, and whatever was the last compromise, we're actually saying to the people we're not making the investment in education that we need to. And so that's the biggest part, in terms of my effort in education, is to say, ‘Where were you last year? Where do we need to be next year?’ And let's not argue about the Base Student Allocation anymore.
KYUK: Out here, subsistence is huge. When you are thinking about that piece of Alaska culture and that, especially on the Y-K Delta, what would you do to support that?
Claman: We've heard more discussion about subsistence and subsistence interests than commercial fishing or sport fishing, which is what I would expect here in the Y-K Delta. And my commitment in terms of fish in particular is I think we really need to be paying attention to science, make science-based decisions. But I think part of that is we really need to make sure on the fish boards and the different appointments that the governor makes that are going to be making fish policy. I think it's really important that we have a balance of interest, not only commercial and sport fish, but also subsistence interests that are really going to be committed to following the science and being willing to make hard decisions that are science-based and not just kind of politically based in what are popular. And then the second thing as governor that I'm very committed to getting a kind of a Fish and Game advisor in the governor's office that really will be very focused on looking at these kinds of science-based solutions and addressing the problems in a very science-based way, so that as governor, I'll be well informed about these issues, and have somebody in in the governor's office, in the administration that's that's really looking at these in a bigger picture, and then working with commissioners and whatnot.
KYUK: Out here it's these fall storms, [but] different areas in Alaska are facing different climate related issues. How are you looking at these changes in climate and bringing that into how you're thinking about the state's priorities?
Claman: I think in terms of climate, climate change is real. We have, you'll get different people that have different perspectives about what's the cause of climate change. But another perspective is, you can argue about the cause all you want, but the reality is, we're seeing the effects of climate change in communities across Alaska and I think it's not just storms. It's also fires. We've had a lot more forest fires than we had in years before, and all the indications are those costs aren't going to go away. And so again, we have to, we have to plan and include in our planning dealing with some of those things, and then also look at ways to try to reduce the impacts of the climate change and all those things. They don't happen overnight, that you know, you have to have plans and work towards it. And so those are, those are my focus on both of those areas is to not say, oh, it's not going to happen next year. I know I was, we had a meeting with Senator Hoffman just recently, and he was saying the projections are we're going to see, on an annual basis, the kinds of storms like we saw from Halong we're likely to see similar kind of hard storms most years, maybe not as bad, but we're going to see storm issues like that that are going to cause issues. We've seen it in Juneau with landslides. We've seen it in parts of Southeast with landslides, and those are all kind of the frequency has increased and that we need to be prepared for that, and also try to figure out ways to reduce those from happening.
KYUK: On the ballot running for governor there are several Democratic candidates. Could you tell me what separates you from the others?
Claman: Well, I think there's three areas that I would say that I'm, well, first and foremost, I think we largely agree on many things. One of the differences that particularly on the school funding, the Base Student Allocation, I think I have a position about the Base Student Allocation that I haven't heard supported by anybody else in the governor's campaign, and not just the Democrats. Second in terms of the Democrats, I think I'm perceived, and probably accurately, is a bit more industry friendly, particularly in terms of the oil and gas and mineral development in industries. I'm probably more industry friendly than the other Democrats, although that's ultimately for the voters to decide, and they can articulate that. And I think third: just in terms of experience in the legislature, I've been in these bipartisan majorities. Now this is my 10th year in the bipartisan majority, and so I bring a lot of experience. And how do you work with those bipartisan majorities in ways that you find common ground, and do that in a way that you're able to set both on the more liberal and the more conservative side, the things that really don't have great odds of success. Put those aside and focus on the things that are going to work for Alaska.
