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Keep it Rolling!!!!
Work has increased dramatically in the past week. Committee hearings have taken a large amount of our time as bills are being worked on and moved through committees. There is a move to pass all bills that have a financial impact to the Finance Committee, where those bills can be dealt with during the budget discussions. Please remember that when a member votes to move a bill from committee, he or she is not voting on the bill. Those votes occur on the House Floor with all members present.
On a different note, another one of my bills passed the House last week 37-0. The Transporter Bill(HB 118), discussed in previous newsletters, is now in the Senate. We hope to have a Senate Committee Hearing sometime soon. Below you will find recent action in the House including action on HB 118.
Kenai-Kodiak Caucus Teleconference meets Thursday
Another Constituent Teleconference for the Kenai-Kodiak Caucus is this Thursday, April 3rd from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. These teleconferences are a great way to let me know your thoughts and concerns. Stop by the LIO in Seward, Homer or call in from Seldovia. I look forward to hearing from you.
Recent Action on the House Floor
The House unanimously approved HB 118 allowing commercial fishermen to hire their own tender or pool their resources on one boat to transport fish to market. For more on my bill- click below.
The House unanimously approved HB 2 by a vote of 37 to zero. Sponsored by Rep. Meyer, HB 2 adds Unlawful Exploitation of a Minor, a class B felony, to the list of sexual assault crimes that have no civil statute of limitations.
The Alaska House of Representatives unanimously approved HB 59 on Friday. Sponsored by Rep. Holm, HB 59 sets basic standards and requirements for the cleaning and repair of former illegal drug-lab sites.
The House unanimously approved HJR 18 Wednesday by a vote of 39 to zero in support of our U.S. Troops engaged in combat. The resolution is a bipartisan effort to support America's troops stationed in the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The House unanimously approved HB 16 by a vote of 40 to zero on Wednesday. Sponsored by Rep. Fate, HB 16 renews the Stranded Gas Development Act by extending the June 30, 2001 deadline to March 31, 2005 to allow the state and producers to begin new contract negotiations.
HESS INFORMATION
You may notice that a number of the bills being heard in HESS have already been heard in the Education Committee. If you are interested in getting further information on any of these bills you can look at past editions of my newsletter, under the Education Committee heading. Most of the bills we heard in HESS last week had already been brought up for discussion in HESS at least once. I had anticipated a vote on House Bills 154, 167, and 171 but the hearing on Alyeska Central School (HB 174) ended up taking up an entire committee meeting. In fact, we did not have time to hear HB 171 as scheduled. HB 171 would repeal charter school general fund grants and substitute federal money. We should hear HB 171 and make motions to pass the other bills that are being held in committee sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Fisheries Information
While we had success with HB 118 on the floor, we did have two very long and contentious committee hearings on HB 191 and EO 107.
HB 191- Coastal Zone Management Program
The Fisheries Committee had a busy week with the Governor’s HB 191 (Alaska Coastal Management Program) and EO 107 (Habitat Division move to DNR). HB 191 takes all local control away from the Coastal Management Districts and establishes a State Coastal Management Plan that draws upon existing State agency regulations, a few CMP enforceable policies, and Title 29 ordinances. I am very concerned about the loss of local control. The bill passed out of Committee with a 5 to 2 vote down party lines. The majority was fully behind the bill once the Governor indicated that it was one of his top priorities. I had the choice of either voting against the bill “for show” or voting to allow HB 191 to move to the Resources Committee with recommendation for amendments.
I am working with the Governor’s office to try and improve the bill by including state habitat standards. I also encourage local communities to submit their enforceable policies to be included in the bill. If I had voted to keep the bill in committee, it still would have moved out as there were already 4 “yes” votes; however, I probably would not have been able to effectively lobby DNR for inclusion of local enforceable policies. I specifically requested that HB 191 receive an additional committee referral to the Fisheries Committee. This additional referral allowed for the Fisheries committee to hold two comprehensive hearings.
The hearings allowed us to examine the bill in depth, which will help us in making recommendations that change the bill. DNR has already indicated they will be submitting a new draft to the next Committee. Please be sure to contact local coastal zone districts for amendments and enforceable policies that each local area would want to include in the bill. These submissions must be submitted ASAP. Tentatively, the Resource Committee will be hearing HB 191 on April 9th. Please send a copy of any changes that you might suggest to my office as well.
Executive Order 107 (EO 107)-move of Habitat Div. to DNR
The three and a half hour hearing the House Fisheries Committee had on EO 107 was thorough and informative. We heard from many experts about their concerns over the future of fisheries habitat protection in Alaska. I believe these concerns were effectively conveyed to DNR. Suggested improvements to the new permitting structure included a specific mission statement for the Habitat Management and Permitting Division of DNR and included new habitat/biology background requirements for the DNR Deputy Commissioner overseeing permitting. My office is working to get assurances from the Department that these suggestions for improving the transfer will be adopted. Considering the political climate, I feel that this is the most effective course of action.
Other fisheries action
The Fisheries Committee also moved HB 98. HB 98 allows the Board of Fish to create special salmon seasons for children under the age of 16. This bill had broad support from the Committee, Sport Fish Division, and the Board of Fish.
We waived House Special Concurrent Resolution 1 from the Fisheries Committee. HSCR 1 would disapprove of EO 107 if passed in a joint session.
State Affairs Committee
We passed out HB 127, a bill allowing for Roadside Memorials- introduced by Rep. Whittaker. The committee also passed out HB 102 and HB 107, two bills dealing with concealed handguns. This past Saturday we had a full morning of testimony on HB 45, an act relating to use of credit information by Insurance Companies in order to set rates for insurance coverage. No action was taken, but we may bring the bill up next week in committee.
HB 158-Longevity Bonus dismantling
I do not support holding a hearing in the State Affairs committee for HB 158 until the Senate takes action on similar legislation. This is a very important issue for many of our elderly constituents and I do not support moving the bill along at this time. There may be a push by the House to forward all budget bills to the Finance Committees where debate about budgetary items and cuts can take place in the fiscal arena.
Independent Living Center
Today in the budget subcommittees, we restored roughly $385,000 of the Governor’s recommended cut of $619,000. I hope that we will restore the remaining money to fund the program. This continues to be one of my highest priorities for funding as we continue the budget process.
Bill Access System
Remember, all bills can be found on the State’s BASIS system. You will find the system to be accessible at the website below.
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp
Live on the Web
Remember that you can hear just about any committee hearing or tune into just about any legislative session-present or past-by going to Gavel to Gavel, public radio and tv’s broadcast of the state legislature as it occurs. Click on the link below to connect to Gavel to Gavel.
http://www.ktoo.org/gavel/schedule.cfm.
Contact Staff
If you need to contact the staff please click below:
Lauren Radcliffe,
Cameron Yourkowski,
Chris Knight,
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