Menu
James Kaufman has been leading the charge for common sense budgeting that makes government work just like family budgets. James has taken his management experience to Juneau to make government work for all Alaskans. That’s straight talk. That’s leadership we can trust. That’s why James Kaufman is the best choice for State Senate.
I came to Alaska and found my home on the Anchorage Hillside when I accepted a position as a resource projects Quality Manager and Team Lead. I helped project management teams improve the quality and efficiency of their North Slope projects to deliver greater value for the money spent on capital improvements.
I retired from that position in 2017 and stayed right here in Anchorage, because this is our home! I have been focused on community safety and security by being very active in our local Community Councils, AnchorageHALO.org, and the Hillside Lead for the Coalition of Community Patrols.
In late 2019 early 2020, I helped organize public events to improve our community resilience in the face of potential disasters such as fire, earthquake, eruptions, and pandemics. In 2020, I ran for public office for the first time and was elected twice, winning the primary and then the general election. I served as the State Representative for District 28 in the 32nd Legislature
My career and experience in the legislature shows the ability to analyze complex and expensive scenarios, determine the root cause of failure, find efficient solutions, identify improvements, and manage changes to avoid unforeseen consequences and impacts.
I have championed spending controls, better budgeting, increased accountability, and transparent governance in the 32nd Legislature as a member of the House of Representatives. I passed and cosponsored numerous pieces of legislation that helped reduce the cost of government and increase government performance. Now I hope to use my range of skills to continue to direct the State of Alaska towards a more fiscally-sound future in the Senate.
Accountability is when a politician makes choices on behalf of the people they represent, those choices are in line with the politician’s promises, and the politician is held to those choices. I am reusing my slogan of “Walk the Talk” because I stayed true to the promises I ran on during my last campaign.
We can also work to provide greater accountability across government. I have contributed language to many bills which would require greater accountability in elections, ferry services, and government spending as a whole.
Alaska has extensive regulatory burdens. Research reveals that the Alaska Administrative Code in 2019 contains 52,570 guidelines, 5.8 million words, which would take 8 weeks to read! We need to get government out of the way of the private sector.
I have been working with Senators and Representatives to come up with novel solutions for chipping away at these costly regulations.
I am a proud believer in inalienable rights of the people, as protected in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. During times of turmoil such as during COVID-19, these rights should guide government decision-making.
I am pro Constitution, so I am pro Bill of Rights, and believe that the 2nd Amendment is there to protect the 1st. I am a proud gun owner and a good-enough shot. I also regularly exercise my right to free speech, and I hope you do too! The genius of the founders is inarguable. They could not foresee every challenge that we would face, but what a job they did!
Alongside mining, oil, and gas, Alaska needs to work towards expanding clean energy across the state. As a member of the Energy Committee last year, we worked on the Governor’s Clean Energy Standards legislation. This bill, along with capital project investment, would be a step in the right direction towards wind, solar, micronuclear, and other energy sources.
Alaska’s persistent fiscal issues have driven people and private investment away from the state for far too long. It’s past time to solve these issues. While in the House, I helped to create a Fiscal Policy Working Group which agreed to components of a plan that needed solving.
I have been championing a spending cap tied to the health of the private sector as well as a rewrite of Alaska’s Executive Budget Act. These two pieces of legislation work together to control the state’s spending while measuring every dollar against the yardstick of value delivered. My innovative spending cap would ensure that Alaska’s government is focused on growing the private sector and better budgeting would lead to sustainable, performance-driven spending.
Alaska’s persistent fiscal issues have driven people and private investment away from the state for far too long. It’s past time to solve these issues. While in the House, I helped to create a Fiscal Policy Working Group which agreed to components of a plan that needed solving. (https://akleg.gov/docs/pdf/2021_Fiscal_Policy_Working_Group-Final_Report.pdf)
I have been championing a spending cap tied to the health of the private sector as well as a rewrite of Alaska’s Executive Budget Act. These two pieces of legislation work together to control the state’s spending while measuring every dollar against the yardstick of value delivered. My innovative spending cap would ensure that Alaska’s government is focused on growing the private sector and better budgeting would lead to sustainable, performance-driven spending.
I don’t know anyone that is truly “anti-education” and I am certainly not, but I do know that Alaska’s education system badly needs improvement. I firmly believe that we can and must do a much better job cultivating performance in Alaska’s education system. Take a look at this report (http://peaks.alaskapolicyforum.org) and then tell me that we can’t do a better job of assuring our children’s future!
Last legislature we passed the Alaska READS act, which was a great bipartisan step in the right direction. Now, Alaska needs to get creative with more solutions which give parents the choices they need and drive further performance in our education system
Alaska desperately needs the freedom to responsibly develop our resources. Resource development is often referred to as “extractive” industry which means that it comes from naturally occurring resources, but we must be sure that it does not extract from Alaska’s economy. A good project is one that passes basic economic evaluation for profitability and can be done responsibly in terms of both measures of responsibility, caring for our environment while economically benefiting our state and its people.
