"JUNEAU UPDATE"
Kodiak Daily Mirror publication date of March 4, 1998
A component of the Alaska Quality Schools Initiative calls for more involvement in our schools by parents, families and the community. A solid partnership needs to be forged between our schools, businesses and government agencies. I support the educational goals and concepts advanced by the Initiative.
Integrated with the basic skills of reading, writing and math, a fourth skill is still emerging on the horizon. Slowly, but dauntingly, technology is hammering its way into the classroom as a learning tool.
The global marketplace is being driven by fast-moving technological changes. Technical skills and adaptability are becoming the standard in the workplace. Robotics, computers, electronics, communications, genetics and countless other topics are among the forces driving industrial economies, and therefore, the job markets of those economies.
The U.S. Department of Labor has concluded that the lifetime earnings of individuals who work in high-skill, nonprofessional technical occupations will exceed the earnings of all college graduates, except for those who are successful in finding work in the professional or managerial ranks. Because of unfilled vacancies in technical occupations, the U.S. annually admits roughly 25,000 foreign workers with the appropriate technical skills.
The message should be clear. An unfocused general high school education is not enough anymore. Approximately 75% of America’s high school graduates are leaving high school without clearly defined job options. Career planning exposes students to a variety of career opportunities that helps in the selection of employment based on individual interests, skills, values and abilities. Along with the School to Work Initiative, vocational education is another cog in the machinery that has to be utilized to its fullest.
The State of Alaska has no specific high school graduation requirements in the area of vocational education. To promote a dialogue in this area, I have introduced HB 429.
This legislation would mandate that every school district in the state require at least two units of credit for vocational education to be completed before a student qualifies for graduation from high school. This requirement would not increase the number of credits required before graduation. The two units of credit for vocational education would come from the pool of a district’s electives.
Important Survey
By now you should have received a constituent survey asking for your opinions on a myriad of topics facing us as a state. I need your input! Please take the time to let me know what your perspectives are on these or any topics you have in mind. If you haven’t received a survey and would like to fill one out, please call my office at 1-800-865-2487, and I will be happy to send you one. So far the response has been overwhelming. I’ve received an average of 50 surveys a day since they started coming in. I will let you know the results in a future "Update."
PFD in Kodiak
The Alaska Humanities Forum is sponsoring 105 town meetings all across Alaska this spring to discuss the future of the Alaska Permanent Fund. The Forum will be in Kodiak on April 27, 28 and 29th to ask residents their thoughts on "What kind of Alaska do we wish to create, and how can the Fund help us accomplish that vision?" A site for the community forum has not been announced. You may also check the Internet at www.akhf.org for more information.
Tracking Legislation
You can track legislation yourself by going into the Alaska Legislature’s web page. The web site is: www.state.ak.us. After the site comes up, ‘click’ on legislature from the menu on the left. Select the acronym BASIS from the new menu, ‘click’ on once again and follow the instructions to locate any piece of legislation from this session of the 20th Alaska Legislature or the 18th and 19th respectfully. Other web pages of interest are: www.akrepublicans.org and www.akdemocrats.org. To listen to a short synopsis of some of the current bills being ushered through the Legislature, you can also call the radio actuality line at 1-800-478-6540.
INS Office
I had a very productive meeting with Director Robert C. Eddy, with the Anchorage office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) this past week in Kodiak.
Mr. Eddy agreed that Kodiak desperately needs an ongoing INS presence in our community. He will be traveling to Washington, D.C. on March 18, 1998 to hand deliver a letter to INS headquarters, requesting that a position be established in Kodiak as soon as possible. I have also been coordinating this effort with Senator Ted Steven’s office. Thanks to the City and Borough with their pledge of support for this endeavor.
Fisheries Update
Since the deadline for personal bills passed on February 16th, there have been no bills introduced on the subject of fisheries. Only bills sponsored by a standing committee can be introduced from this point forward.
Last Wednesday, the House Special Committee on Fisheries heard and passed out HJR 54 by Rep. Al Vezey. This resolution speaks to the absence of maritime boundaries with Canada and urges negotiation of establishing these through a federal process with Alaskan participation.
Depending on when this article makes the paper, the fisheries committee is scheduled to present an update on Stellar Sea Lions on Wednesday, March 4, 1998.
Dr. Trites of the North Pacific Marine Mammal Research Foundation will be making this presentation. The Kodiak LIO will be on line.
It is likely Rep. Ivan Ivan’s HB 318, relating to wanton waste of salmon, will be brought before fisheries committee again next week. The sponsor has drafted amendments for committee discussion to provide for brood stock roe stripping at hatcheries.
HB 392, which addresses exvessel value reporting and wholesale price reporting to the state, has been revised and is anticipated to come before the House Labor and Commerce Committee again this week or next. I have removed the audit language embodied in Section 10 and incorporated the threshold language which will exclude smaller processing operations from having to report wholesale price information. The remaining language allows the departments of Revenue, Fish and Game and Environmental Conservation to share exvessel information in confidence and updates the wholesale reporting statute for more meaningful information and an additional reporting period per year. The new committee substitute (CS) of HB 392 is available at the Kodiak LIO.
HB 394, by Rep. Bill Williams is awaiting a hearing in House Resources Committee, which is currently clogged with meetings on subsistence. The CS on this bill now defines direct-marketing fishing vessels and sets their seafood processing permit at $100. Speaking of subsistence, the federal subsistence board is holding a hearing in Kodiak Wednesday, March 4th in the Assembly Chambers from 7:00 to 10:30 p.m.
Senator Mackie’s SJR 33, on the Americanization of the offshore fleet was heard in Senate Resources on Monday, March 2nd. This resolution was amended and passed out of committee and will have a Senate Floor vote shortly.
I have just scheduled HB 423, Rep. Eldon Mulder’s limited entry permit buyback bill, next Wednesday, March 11 at 5:00pm. Commercial fishers have indicated mixed responses on this concept to me. Please familiarize yourself with this bill and attend the fisheries committee hearing next week.
HB 310, which I sponsored, relates to waste in groundfish utilization. This bill was heard in House Rules Monday afternoon. I requested a Rules Committee hearing because it was brought to my attention that an amendment was needed to exempt bait usage of groundfish from the waste prohibition. This bill will now be scheduled for a House Floor vote.
Rep. Ivan’s HB 285, is also awaiting scheduling in the Rules Committee for a House Floor vote. This bill would attach points to limited entry permit holders when citations and violations occur.
Visitors
In just two weeks, quite a few folks poured into Juneau for various meetings. Those in town and those stopping by the office to visit were: Gabrielle LeDoux, Walter Sapp, Bob Hatcher, Cliff Davidson, Ed Kozak, Marty Owen, Dan Ogg, Oliver and Eva Holm, Chip Treinen, Virginia Adams, Bruce Schactler, Ron Brockman, Betty Walters, Norm Wooten, Pat Jacobson, Jeff Stephan, Ed Randolph, John Whiddon, Ron Jolin, Jay Stinson, Jim Arneson, Mike Dolph and finally, Robyn Cassidy. I hope I didn’t miss anyone. I am always happy to see friends and neighbors from Kodiak. You are my first priority. If my office can coordinate or provide any additional services when you’re in town, please don’t hesitate to ask.