"JUNEAU UPDATE"

Kodiak Daily Mirror publication date of February 19, 1997

I would like to thank the Kodiak Island Borough, the School District and the Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the local Education Summit '97. I made a special trip back to Kodiak to participate and gather information at this summit. It was wonderful to see so many people in Kodiak attending this important forum on our future.

I was intrigued by all of the technology demonstrations ranging from student portfolios to Interactive Physics. I was genuinely impressed with the speech given by Kaia Tollefson on education standards and graduation requirements.

I believe the summit is a good start to generate ideas about partnering our schools with business and the community as a whole. As a legislator, I am watching with interest the debate on revamping the educational foundation formula currently used by the state to distribute funding to our schools statewide. The Governor's proposal seems just as complicated as the current system and Kodiak would probably lose funding under his scenario. Senate Bill 36 also revises the school foundation formula, but again, the rural areas seem to be the losers. Overall it will take several more weeks of research and input to ascertain if any of the current revisions are good for Kodiak.

Economic Development

I'm happy to report that House Bill 35 passed out of House Finance today. This is the bill I sponsored to extend the sunset clause on the ARDOR program. ARDOR stands for the Alaska Regional Development Organizations. The program has led to the formation of 11 regional development organizations such as the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference. SWAMC has over 125 public and private sector members. This organization advances Kodiak's and the entire Southwest's collective interests and helps promote economic development opportunities to improve the quality of life and influence long-term, responsible development.

The ARDOR grants, while not particularly large, are not tied to specific projects and so may be used for operating expenses and to leverage dollars from other sources. Millions of additional dollars have been leveraged from federal, private and other funding. The bill goes to the Rules Committee to be calendared for a Floor vote. Senator Drue Pearce, Co-Chair of Senate Finance has indicated to me that no companion bill was planned on the Senate side. This means HB 35 will be the vehicle that will eventually go to the Governor for his signature.

Subcommittee Appointments

The budget subcommittee assignments were announced late last week by the House Finance Committee. I will be serving on the Public Safety and the Community & Regional Affairs subcommittees. The subcommittees oversee appropriations to these state agencies and will be conducting public hearings on operating appropriations during the month of February, with closeouts in early March. We will be looking at all aspects of the agencies budgets very meticulously. Additionally, I am closely watching the Fish & Game budget, the DOT budget and the University funding as it goes through this rigorous process.

Roads

Speaking of the DOT budget, I have requested the DOT subcommittees on both the House and Senate side to look at how DOT spends their maintenance and operations budget. While on one hand DOT is denying basic service to specific routes, such as the Anton Larsen Bay Road and the Pasagshak Route, they awarded a very lucrative contract for bird hazing out of their M&O budget. I have received numerous calls and letters about the Anton Larsen Bay Road and the Chiniak Highway. The complaints are different, but they have a common denominator. The Federal Aviation Administration mandates for a state certificated airport are making greater demands on DOT's resources. Most of the DOT personnel on Kodiak are dedicated to the airport and meeting all of the stringent FAA requirements. This is continually pulling equipment operators off the highways in Kodiak. I have asked Joe Perkins, the DOT Commissioner to clarify DOT's authority to limit or suspend maintenance, particularly since by statute, DOT has responsibilty for all system maintenance. Failure to maintain a state highway through the winter may also violate the Code of Civil Procedure as the courts have ruled in the past. Senator Mackie and I will continue to work with DOT and the budget process to find a resolution to this matter.

Fisheries

The Fisheries Committee received one new bill in committee since our last writing. HB 123 by Representative Ivan Ivan, repeals the termination date of the federal tax obligation loan program under the Commercial Fishing Loan Act. Due to the recent salmon price slump, there are many fishermen who need to access this type of loan program.

Monday night, February 10th, the Fisheries Committee met and heard HB 27. This is the bill I introduced to modify the Conflict of Interest law as it applies to the Board of Fish. The original bill states that all members of the board shall participate and vote regardless of a conflict. I also prepared a CS (committee substitute) for the committee's consideration which would allow members with a conflict to participate and vote if a majority vote of the board allowed it. We had some support for both versions of the bill, but the administration stated they disapproved of special treatment or Executive Ethics Act modifications, solely for this board. I'd like to thank Nick Szabo for his teleconference participation and for talking to the Governor and his aide Mary McDowell about this bill while they were in Kodiak.

On Monday, February 17th, the University of Alaska's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences made a presentation to the Fish Committee. This presentation gave the Fish Committee, especially the new members, a chance to understand what the University does. I appreciate everything Dan Ogg did to facilitate this presentation.

The Fisheries Committee meeting Wednesday night will hear CSHB 19 again, my sport fish guide licensing legislation. Please check with Lorna or Mary at the LIO for the latest version of this bill. We have received strong support from the Board of Fish for this legislation. When I was home last weekend I had a meeting with several charter boat owners who are opposed to this bill. I hope to be able to answer some of their concerns.

This Thursday, HB 13, my Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) bill, will be heard in House State Affairs Committee. As you may recall from last year, this bill seeks to provide AMSEA with a small funding level on an annual basis. As it is currently written, HB 13 requests up to half of the interest earnings from the Fishermen's Fund go to AMSEA annually. All of the interest earnings now go into the state general fund. Also this Thursday, the House Resources Committee has scheduled my Shuyak Island State Park bill, HB 89, for a hearing. HB 89 is identical to Senator Mackie's SB 64 and will establish all of Shuyak Island as a state park lands, but will not effect the commercial fisheries that currently fish off the island or any of the private in-holdings.

The Fisheries Committee schedule for next week is anticipated to include HB 123, as mentioned above, a presentation from the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) on recent adverse IRS activities and more. Please check with Lorna at the LIO to verify the committee schedule for the week of February 24 through 28 at the end of this week.

Visitors

Those visiting Juneau these past two weeks were Bruce Schactler, Oliver Holm and Duncan Fields for United Fishermen's Association meetings. Also stopping by the office were: Susan Brockman, Doreece and Sam Mutch, Tom Hendel, Walter Sapp, Dan Ogg, Wendy Young and Mike Machulsky. Former residents in for a visit were: Jim Balamaci, Gaye Vaughan and John French. Remember, my door is always open.