Scott Hawkins (Alaska)

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Scott Hawkins

Republican Party

Contact

Personal website

Scott Hawkins was a candidate seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Alaska in the 2018 election. Hawkins withdrew from the race in July 2018.

Biography

After moving to Alaska in 1981, Hawkins spent time working as a laborer before joining the University of Alaska at Anchorage, where he taught economics. From there, Hawkins spent four years working at Alaska Pacific Bank as a corporate economist. In 1987, Hawkins was named the inaugural president and chief executive officer of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. After spending eight years with the AEDC, Hawkins founded a tourism firm and, two years later, a supply chain management company. At the time of his entrance into the 2018 election, Hawkins remained active in both companies.

Elections

2018

See also: Alaska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

On September 28, 2017, Hawkins declared that he would run for governor of Alaska in 2018.

Campaign issues

The following issue statements were found on Hawkins' official campaign website. For a full list of issue statements, click here:

“	More Jobs and Opportunities for Alaskans We need to get our economy moving again. Alaska is in the third year of a slump. And yet, we have more economic opportunities than ever before. More new oil has been discovered in the past three years than at any time since the Prudhoe Bay discovery. Mining companies have more new projects in the pipeline than ever. Other industries also have ample potential. We need to move these projects ahead with the same approach I used in the 1980s and 1990s to bring international air cargo hubs and destination resort development to Alaska. Stop Deficit Spending Our legislature and governor have been squandering our savings to the tune of billions of dollars each year. Massive deficit spending must be reined in before our savings accounts are completely drained. We need to start by trimming our bloated state budget and making meaningful reductions in the operating budget, a job that remains largely undone. Meaningful trimming can only be done with strong leadership from the Governor. And, we need a spending cap that steps the budget down over several years. Then, we need to start managing our $60 billion Permanent Fund like other large foundations, trusts and sovereign wealth funds are managed. Taking these steps will balance the budget and fund a healthy, stable and growing dividend for Alaskans. New, broad based taxes are entirely unnecessary. The steps I have outlined above will close the fiscal gap. Our current governor and the House Democrats are trying to use the fiscal gap as an excuse to grow an already over-sized state budget. Depoliticize the Dividend Program Governor Walker made a grave error when he vetoed the Permanent Fund Dividend amount by half. Rather than being driven by a formula, it is now whatever the Governor thinks it should be. We need to get back to a formula driven program and set that firmly in law, preferably in the constitution. We need to dedicate a set percentage of Permanent Fund earnings to the dividend, as we have done for decades. We need to think of it as a “minimum dividend,” thereby creating powerful political incentives for lawmakers to increase it even further as spending is reduced. By taking these steps, we will restore the public trust that Gov. Walker has shattered. And, we will put the dividend back on a growth path, such that Alaskan families see upside potential in their future. The dividend needs to be set at the highest level we can afford without levying broad based taxes to pay for it. Should we ever find ourselves taxing one another in order to pay one another dividends, we would forever alter the character of the PFD program. The good news is that the numbers work without resorting to new taxes — we can already afford a dividend that is much higher than today’s politically arbitrary $1,100. The dividend has always been intended to be Alaskan families’ “piece of the action”, their share of the state’s oil wealth. We need to get back to that.	”
—Scott Hawkins

See also

• Governor of Alaska
• Alaska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018
• Alaska gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 21 Republican primary)

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Governor of Alaska
• Scott Hawkins for Governor