Addressing the Juneau Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, U.S. Sen Dan Sullivan, R-Juneau, said Alaska may suffer if the Democratic Party takes control of the U.S. Senate with November’s national elections.
“I actually think for the good of the Alaska economy, keeping the Senate … majority in Republican hands is good,” he told a packed meeting hall at the Juneau Moose Lodge.
Sullivan spoke at the conclusion of an extended stay in Southeast Alaska while the U.S. Senate is on its Labor Day break. Congress is expected to return to regular work next week, and Sullivan jetted into the cloudless blue sky after delivering about 30 minutes of remarks and answering a pair of questions from the Chamber audience.
According to the latest forecast from the New York Times’ statistics and polling branch, The Upshot, Democrats have a 56 percent of earning a majority of at least 51 members in the 100-person Senate.
“In November, it’s going to be a battle,” Sullivan said.
The Senate is currently controlled by the Republican Party, which holds 54 seats to the Democrats’ 46. Those figures include independents that caucus with the two parties.
Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska (and running for election this November), both hold significant leadership roles in the Senate because their party holds a majority.
Sullivan implied that Democratic control of the Senate would significantly hamper his efforts to reduce federal regulation and improve the economy.
“We can grow our economy, not just locally but nationally,” he told the Chamber.
He advised listeners to not believe that lower rates of economic growth are the “new normal.”
“When you hear ‘new normal,’ don’t accept it,” he said.
Sullivan said his attempt to force government agencies to retract one regulation for every new regulation they add was defeated by “radical environmental groups” that tore away the Democrats who supported the bill.
“We didn’t get one Democrat who voted for it,” he said, even though he supposes the measure would get “90 percent in favor” support if Americans were asked door-to-door about it.
“The thing about regulations is that they’re taxes,” Sullivan said, because they require companies and individuals to spend time or money to meet regulatory standards.
Sullivan spoke at length about the time it takes to obtain federal permits for infrastructure projects and explained that it takes much longer to permit some projects than it does to build them.
“On the regulatory reform issues, I know — because I’m part of it — the Republican majority in the Senate wants to get some of these reforms done,” he said.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at 523-2258 or james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.
