Governor Sean Parnell:  B

The governor showed good policy instincts on a range of economic issues, from the Alaska Coastal Management Program to much needed oil tax reform.  Also, his post-session budget vetoes in 2011 were principled and managed to curtail some of the worst excesses of the bloated operating and capital budgets in that year. 

However, the Administration encountered significant struggles with both internal preparation and external messaging during the two year period.   The 2012 special session was particularly troublesome in this regard.  Also, during the 2012 regular session the Governor conceded an unnecessarily high and unsustainable level of spending to House and Senate leaders without getting significant economic policy concessions in return.  Accordingly, the Administration gets an “A-” on policy stances, but lower marks on the internal coordination and external leadership required to enact its agenda.

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