To the Editor:

Only 15 seconds into my April 12, one minute public testimony for the state operating budget, my microphone was abruptly muted by finance committee co-chair Senator Stedman. His justification explained afterward was, "We are talking about the operating budget." If freeing up $32 million dollars to put toward genuine transportation needs is an invalid suggestion toward relieving our state's fiscal crisis, then Alaska residents have no hope for honest fiscal conservatism. Sen. Stedman, a Sitka resident, may have an alternative rationale for muting my testimony. Censoring legiti...