Let me start by saying I totally disagree with the recent decision by Legislative Council to require visitors to the Capitol to go through a metal detector. I think it was a huge mistake. It’s too bad Juneau can’t properly police their vagrant problem – the real reason this was implemented. 

The decision was not well thought out and will result in many unintended consequences – namely long waits to get into the Capitol when there are large groups of visitors like students, trade groups, or tourists. It will be even worse in January and February when people will have to wait outside when it’s cold and snowing. I have already witnessed a family of four cruise ship tourists take three minutes to go through security.

There is only one metal detector and x-ray machine setup in the front entrance. All the other front doors are now locked. Those who have key fobs – legislators, legislative staff, certain executive branch officials, family of legislators, and press with a press desk (yes, I have one) – are not required to go through the metal detector. Those with key fobs can use them to access locked doors at the entrance, on the side of the building, or in the back of the building. Everyone else has to go through the new screening. 

It’s also security theater. People come in and out of the side door of the Capitol all the time. If someone really wanted to do something crazy, all they would have to do is wait by the side door and walk in when someone walks in or out. Does anyone really expect a twenty-something legislative staffer or intern to tell some psycho they can’t go in? 

Lobbyists, many of whom have been working in the Capitol for decades, are now required to go through the metal detector every time they enter the Capitol. It’s not uncommon for a lobbyist to enter the Capitol four or five times a day for meetings. 

Say what you want about lobbyists, but they serve an important role in what happens in Juneau. They represent clients from across the spectrum – businesses, trade groups, non-profits, local governments, and many more. Most of their clients can’t be in Juneau to watch what is happening everyday, so they hire lobbyists to watch and communicate on their behalf. Lobbyists also pay the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) $250 for each client they register. 

Since the new security screening has been put into use, a growing list of people who have business in the Capitol have been given key fobs to bypass the metal detector. These include commissioners, deputy commissioners, legislative liaisons, Alaska Court System personnel, Office of Management and Budget personnel, University of Alaska personnel, people from quasi-state entities like the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, the Alaska Railroad, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. It’s like an episode of Oprah – everybody gets a key fob! 

I pay $275 per session for a press desk, which comes with a key fob to the Capitol. I have had my own office across the street for years but I have continued to pay for a press desk each year because it’s convenient for me to enter from the side door, which has always required a key fob. It’s also convenient to have access later at night when the doors are locked but meetings are happening. 

The Legislature should make an exception for registered lobbyists and provide them with key fobs that allow them, and their clients when they are in town, to bypass the new security. It will not only make their lives easier, it will free up the staff working the metal detector and x-ray machine from having to screen them every time they enter the Capitol. It will also incentive the shadow lobbyists – the shady ones who don’t register – to officially register.   

The Legislature could even make some money to offset the additional $64,000 a year they now are spending on this. They could charge lobbyists $500 per session, or maybe a little more, for a key fob. Most or all of them would happily pay the fee.