It is my belief, contention, and understanding that those caucus rules, as executed by the majority in the House Majority’s case against Rep. Reinbold, violate Article 1, Section 2 of the Alaska State Constitution ( § 2. Source of Government. All political power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the people as a whole. ).
It was Rep. Reinbold’s constituents that elected Lora to her office & she upheld their wishes in her role as representative of her constituents. It was not the caucus that gives Rep. Reinbold her political power, but those voters who elected her, which is reaffirmed by not only Article 1, Sec. 2 of our state constitution, but also Article 2, Sections 1 (Membership), 2 (Qualifications), and 3 (Election and Terms).
The caucus merely serves a self-promoting function, primarily that of organizing committee assignments, that also siphons off taxpayer money from the budget, which perpetuates the financial activities of the caucus through its requirement that its members vote in unison on all budget matters. If the caucus cannot maintain its budget voting requirement, then it cannot maintain its own reason for existence, that being a conduit of funds from the state budget to serve its own political control ends.
Also, a district’s voting constituents do not elect a caucus, but elect instead its representatives and senators — a long established principle of democratically elected representative republicanism. The caucus is not accountable to, nor representative of, the same district from which a representative or senator is elected, but is accountable to its own members only.
Therefore, a caucus is not the source of the “inherent” power as stipulated by our state constitution, so any attempt by the caucus to reduce an ousted member representative’s or senator’s influence or representation abilities through the reduction of paid staff or benefits or through minimized committee assignments results in the abridgement of that “inherent” political power which is guaranteed by our state constitution that could and should be exercised by that elected representative or senator in fulfillmenting their constitutional representational duties.
