(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Craig Stowers gave the annual State of the Judiciary Address yesterday to the members of the Alaska House and Senate. In his speech, Chief Justice Stowers outlined, in great detail, how the Alaska Court system is working to streamline services and save money as Alaska is facing huge fiscal challenges. He also called on the members of the House and Senate to work together and make the hard decisions that are needed to allow Alaska to weather the current fiscal storm. Representative Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage), a member of the House Finance Committee’s Courts Budget Subcommittee, praised Justice Stowers’ speech as an example for lawmakers to emulate as they consider how to address the nearly $4 billion budget deficit.

“Chief Justice Stowers’ called upon the Alaska Legislature to make bold and difficult decisions to meet the current economic crisis, not as lawmakers, but as statesmen,” said Rep. Gruenberg. “The most important message he gave us was that now is the time for lawmakers to have the courage to make the difficult decisions, no matter if those decisions are unpopular.”

Wednesday’s State of the State Address was the first such address for Chief Justice Stowers since being elected Chief Justice by the other four members of the Alaska Supreme Court. He acknowledged that the budget shortfall in Alaska warrants cuts in funding for the Alaska Court System but stressed the need to protect the core mission of the Court System, which includes providing a fair and impartial forum for the resolution of disputes, making the justice system accessible to the public, and providing the highest quality of service possible to the people of Alaska.

“Alaskans value our long history of fair and impartial courts and our court’s work is vital to countless Alaskans. I am pleased that Chief Justice Stowers is committed to maintaining the critical services the court system provides to Alaskans while balancing the need for cost savings,” said Rep. Matt Claman (D-Anchorage), a member of the House Finance subcommittee that deals with the budget for the Alaska Court System. “Alaskans need a responsible action plan for the budget that maintains critical services to Alaskans while cutting costs across state government.”

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition
www.akdemocrats.org

SitNews ©2016
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.