Late last week, Alaska politics were roiled by another controversy involving Gov. Sarah Palin when Gary Stevens, the Republican president of the Alaska Senate, described a press release issued by Palin’s office explaining her reasons for skipping a vitally important economic meeting as “absolutely false.”

Instead of participating in the session with legislative leaders to discuss her decision to reject a portion of federal stimulus money, Palin attended a news conference to announce a new state attorney general. When legislators complained after she sent a staffer to meet with them instead of showing up herself as planned, she issued a press release claiming it was the legislators, not her own office, who had canceled the meeting — an assertion Stevens flatly denied:

“That is absolutely false, absolutely false,” Stevens said emphatically. “I am sorry that the governor has put this out … To say that we canceled the meeting to have a press conference is absolutely not true. Someone should be brought to task on that.”

He said House and Senate leaders have requested a new meeting for Wednesday or Thursday next week to talk with Palin about what federal stimulus money she will or will not accept, and about the capital and operating budgets.

But, the deadline for Palin to certify the state’s acceptance of stimulus money is April 3, next Friday. The clock is ticking…

Right-leaning Politico.com reports that Stevens added that Palin “often has trouble answering questions.”

The public accusations from her own party leaders that she lied comes just days after Palin made national news when she claimed in remarks at a state GOP meeting that McCain-Palin operatives were not worthy of praying with her before vice presidential debates last year. Former campaign staffers responded by saying they are growing tired of Palin “slapping them around” and “throwing them under the bus.”

Now, with state GOP leadership challenging her credibility, she risks leaving the impression with voters that her compulsion to appear before cameras at a news conference trumps her concern for unemployed Alaskans and their ability to buy groceries and pay their rent in the coming months.