I never thought I'd find myself agreeing with Carmen, but she's 100% right on this.  This amendment probably has two agendas. One is to make the proponent of the laudable goal of assisting a few families of Alaska's fallen heroes, to look more electable. The amendment however,  would cause the measure to become unconstitutional. For that reason, it would not accomplish anything for those families. Zero. It's pure grandstanding.

The second part of that agenda is far more insidious. It would kill the bill, and therefore the reform effort that seeks to restore rationality and rehabilitative functions to the criminal justice system. That measure, by making reasonable adjustments to the legal process, would help save a substantial part of the budget and dilute the pressing need to raid the Permanent Fund. That would tout the dubious and irrational "law and order" credentials of those self-promoters who would sacrifice the public good merely to improve their chances in an upcoming election.