As I write this, the "State of the Economy Forum" is being conducted here in Juneau. Participants include members of the public, legislators and staff, the Governor's office, government economists, Pacific Rim specialists, and private sector folks. There is a wide range of issues being discussed. I will give you an analysis of this forum in my next update.

In my last update I indicated that Governor Tony Knowles' proposed budget plan didn't go far enough. With strong pressure from the majority, the Governor has now announced he will restrict state travel and purchasing and order an immediate hiring freeze of nonessential workers. This is expected to save the state $6.25 million between now and the end of June. The Governor is still asking the Legislature to approve an additional $50 million for unbudgeted costs incurred this last year to run state government. This "supplemental" money is not likely to be forthcoming any time soon. The Governor's fiscal year 2000 budget spends an additional $100 million on new state programs. With low oil prices and declining oil production, this just doesn't make sense unless we as a state can raise new revenues.

One major piece of early legislation that we will have to deal with is the Y2K or the year 2000 date-change problem, already affecting computers worldwide. House Bill 64, which passed out of the Finance committee February 8th, appropriates $17.4 million out of the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) for assessment, compliance and remediation projects throughout all state departments for Y2K. Federal receipts and other monies will compliment the CBR appropriation. No general fund money is being utilized for this fix.

I believe that in working toward any long-term financial solution, Alaskan's have to tell their elected officials what they want for state services. It's up to the administration and the Legislature to tell the public, what the state is spending on these services. From there we can have an honest dialogue on who's going to pay for it. Only when we bring the public fully into the budget discussion, can we expect to develop a plan that will work for most people. Please continue to send me your ideas about cutting state government and what we can do to raise revenues. I will report on these ideas in a future update.

Subsistence Update

Although the subsistence issue has been on the back burner, it has been slowly simmering all summer and fall. So far, two pieces of legislation have been introduced on this slow burning topic. House Joint Resolution 4, gives the Legislature general authority to enact a subsistence preference and House Bill 30, would give the Boards of Fish and Game the power to allocate for subsistence harvests. No hearings have been held yet.

It has been my opinion that there are not enough votes in the House and definitely not enough votes in the Senate to place a constitutional amendment before the voters to create a rural preference. That is also the opinion of the House majority leadership. Speaker of the House Brian Porter and several legislators, met with staff members from both Senator Ted Stevens' and Senator Frank Murkowski's offices recently to pass on that message. During the meeting, Speaker Porter placed on the table a proposal for putting a constitutional change question before the voters that would add a preference for subsistence "use" of fish and game. This proposal does not have the word "rural" in it.

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) requires a rural preference. If Senator Stevens or Murkowski agree to this change, there would still need to be an agreement from U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and then changes would have to be made to ANILCA. Meanwhile, Congress has appropriated $11 million to fund the Federal takeover of subsistence fishing in Alaska if we do not come into compliance with the rural preference parts of ANILCA by June 1, 1999. $1 million will go to the federal agencies to begin planning for the takeover, with the remaining $10 million made available on September 30th for carrying out their new responsibilities. Under an agreement between Senator Stevens and Secretary Babbitt, if the State of Alaska were to come into compliance with ANILCA, the full $11 million will be paid to the State of Alaska to fund the state's subsistence program. Presently, we are waiting to hear back from Senator Stevens and Murkowski.

Task Force Update

As a member of the Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force, I recently attended meetings in which Dennis Streifel, the Minister of Fisheries from British Columbia (BC), spoke about how the Canadians are working to save their salmon stocks. According to him, BC has enacted a Forest Practice Act that is probably the most restrictive in the world. They have also enacted the Fish Protection Act, which has created very restrictive building conditions in riparian areas. According to the Minister, Canada and BC have, over the last three years, spent $300 million on restoration for fish habitat. In Canada, the jurisdiction over control of fisheries is separated between the federal government and the provincial government. The federal government has management control of its salt-water fisheries, such as salmon. British Columbia has control of all freshwater fish and salmon only after it is out of the water, beginning with the processors.

According to Minister Streifel, the federal government, in an effort to rebuild stocks in the Thomas and Skein Rivers went to a weak stock management system of these two rivers. This created a $30 million loss to commercial fishermen and, in order to protect over-escapement on several smaller tributaries, they had to go in and block off these streams. There is a very real conflict between federal and provincial management of the fisheries within Canada. This conflict only adds difficulties in our two country's reaching a resolution in the ongoing Alaska/Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty talks.

Commercial Fish

In acknowledgment of the importance of the commercial fishing industry to Alaska, the leadership of the Alaska Senate and House has taken a stance on the National Park Service's proposed rule restricting commercial fishing within the boundaries of Glacier Bay National Park. They stand beside the Governor's recommendations that the proposed rule is withdrawn and the new rule and Environmental Assessment be submitted for public comment. They recommend that the National Park Service look carefully at the need to do an Environmental Impact Statement, which is more thorough than the previously executed Environmental Assessment.

ASMI Board Appointment

I was named the House member to sit on the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute Board of Directors. ASMI promotes all species of Alaska seafood worldwide and works to improve seafood quality to enhance profitability and growth for the Alaska seafood industry. Additionally, I was reappointed to a third term on the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation's Board and for another term on the Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force.

Internet Long Distance Charges?

I have received quite a few emails and phone calls concerning opposing the per-minute usage charges on consumer access to Internet Service Providers (ISP's), that supposedly the Congress in Washington, D.C. is considering. Provided below is a response from U.S. Representative Don Young of Alaska.

"Unfortunately, there is some misinformation being circulated that is misleading many Internet users. Let me clarify what is actually taking place at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with regard to any additional charges. First of all, there is no legislation in the House of Representatives to assess usage charges on the Internet."

"Secondly, the FCC has no intention of assessing per-minute charges on Internet traffic or of making any changes in the way consumers obtain and pay for access to the Internet. The source of the misunderstanding is as follows. The FCC has a proceeding underway regarding carrier-to-carrier payments, so-called 'reciprocal compensation'. These payments compensate a local telephone company for completing a local call that is placed by one of its competitor's customers."

Visitors

Clarence Selig, Brian Cleary and Debbie Winstead stopped by the office to visit on a variety of issues. Former long time Kodiak resident Dennis Murray also stopped in. Remember - My door is always open!