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CONFERENCE OF ALASKANS
Last week, the Conference of Alaskans in Fairbanks preempted Floor Session and a number of Committee meetings. Some members of the legislature
traveled to Fairbanks for the Conference, therefore it was difficult to establish a quorum. You may notice that a number of meetings and bills have been
rescheduled for this week due to the Conference. I enjoyed watching the conference members deal with the basic questions submitted by the Governor. I
believe the conference members fairly articulated a direction and I agree that incorporating the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) into the constitution will
provide all Alaskan’s with the assurance that the PFD would be protected and insured for future generations. A program guaranteeing an annual PFD over
$1000 is vital to our economy and citizens. However, the results of our ever-shrinking state budget are apparent within our schools. Basic services that
sustain our quality of life need to be funded; additional taxes and a Percent of Market Value split could fund vital services. I was glad that the conferees
final communication called for other sources of revenue, but disappointed that they did not specify their preference for an income tax, as the effect of a sales
tax would not be the same as an income tax. Earlier on in the conference, two-thirds of the conferees voted by straw poll that they supported an income
tax. Hopefully, the Governor will consider the conferees initial support of an income tax.
SHALLOW NATURAL GAS BILL UPDATES
Legislation to address the many concerns surrounding the current shallow natural gas (SNG) leasing program is gaining broad support. A draft of HB 395,
sponsored by Reps. Harris, Gatto, Stoltze, and myself, now incorporates the water quality assessment/fund concept found in Rep. Kohring’s HB 420. This
diverse bill offers the public broad safeguards from the potential hazards of SNG development (especially coal bed methane), and hopefully will enjoy the
support of all legislators facing prospective SNG development in their Districts. This new draft of HB 395 is scheduled for a House Oil and Gas Committee
hearing on February 17th. See past newsletters on my website for details regarding this bill. In other SNG news, the Senate Resources Committee, Chaired
by Senator Ogan, introduced a bill that would effectively do away with the current shallow natural gas leasing program and replace it with a more
conventional “gas only” leasing program. This new bill is SB 312, which establishes a leasing program that would be for gas only, shallow or otherwise, but
would require a best interest finding and a competitive bid process. SB 312 is scheduled for its first hearing on February 23, in the Senate Resources
Committee. HB 364/SB 250: As many of you probably know, the Homer area SNG buy-back bills have not made much progress. Without the Governor’s
support, and hampered by the difficulty of estimating an accurate fiscal note (cost to state), there is currently very little support for HB 364/SB 250 among
colleagues in the legislature. A potential workable solution to the Homer area’s unique SNG situation is to preclude the re-issuance of the leases if gas
production has not started by the end of the leases three-year life span. If the Homer leases expire without extension, new leases in the area would have to
go through the process mandated by SB 312 (outlined above), if it becomes law by that time.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS TO VISIT DISTRICT 35
While I am back in District February 21-24, Senator Gary Stevens will also be in town. We will be attending some of the same functions, but he has some
meetings of his own planned too. Below is a schedule of Senator Stevens planned meetings. I know he would like to meet with you.
- Saturday Feb. 21:
10am-4pm District 35 Republican Meeting at Oceans and Islands Center
6-8pm District 35 Republican Dinner at the Anchor River Inn
- Sunday Feb. 22:
2:30-4:00pm Public meeting at Seldovia Community Center
7:00-8:30pm Visit with Anchor Point folks the Anchor Point Senior Center
- Monday Feb. 23:
11am-1pm Open House at Homer Legislative Information Office (LIO) to meet constituents and address general concerns
1:30-2:30pm Meet with constituents on
Shallow Natural Gas development concerns at the Homer LIO
3:00-5:00pm Meet the media at the Homer LIO
7:00pm Homer City Council Meeting
SEWARD LAMINATED VENEER LUMBER PLANT
Senator Gary Stevens and I met with representatives from the Department of Natural Resources’ Forestry Division to identify any problems that might be
impeding development of a laminated veneer lumber (LVL) plant in Seward. There are two companies interested in securing limited state timber for their
projects, one of them is the Seward LVL plant, the other is a log chipping operation that would operate out of Valdez and Point Possession. The company
competing with the Seward LVL plant is the same one that recently purchased the Homer chip facility. It is yet to be seen if both the log chipping and LVL
projects would be economically viable. Due to limited timber, a decision may have to be made between the two proposed projects. I feel the LVL project
would be a better use of state timber and create a manufacturing base and would contribute more to our economy. The State is waiting on due diligence
proposals and requests from both companies in order to make a determination on the feasibility of the projects.
EDUCATION FUNDING SUBCOMMITTEE
We continued to meet last week, listening to heartfelt public testimony from around the state in support of fully funding education. The committee has not
settled on a Base Student Allocation increase for this year, but did forward on to the full Education Committee a bill that would provide for an appropriation
of 35.8 million dollars to school districts for the purpose of meeting this year’s increase in Public Employee’s Retirement System/Teacher’s Retirement
System contributions. The budget concerns of our schools are even more severe this year than last, and though this issue is on the forefront of the
legislature’s agenda, easy answers do not present themselves. With no increase in state revenues, finding the money to fund our school districts adequately
will be impossible. Both the Education Funding Subcommittee and the Education Committee will meet this week to continue to wrestle with these issues.
STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
HB 319, sponsored by Rep. Fate, would allow for state residents to choose pockets of land on which to build remote cabins. HB 319 does not set out a
process for determining state land sites. Under HB 319, the Dept. of Natural Resources must select and make remote sites available. HB 319 does stipulate
that remote cabin sites may not be adjacent to other chosen sites. HB 319 has been heard in State Affairs three times already, and I expect Rep. Fate will
continue to work on its logistical problems before the bill will move. The committee also heard HB 394, the Commission on Aging Continuation. Rep.
Weyhrauch asked questions seeking clarification on what kind of services are provided by the Commission on Aging. Questions were brought forward that
the role of the Commission of Aging could be continued under the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services, which is part of the Department of Health
and Social Services. Currently, the Commission only appropriates federal money for senior citizens; further duties of the commission will be brought
forward in the next committee hearing. The House State Affairs Committee will maintain a full docket of bills over the next few weeks. Here is the
schedule for the week of February 16th: Feb. 17th HB 394-Commission on Aging, HB 329 Retirement Incentive Program and HB 270-Avalanche
Awareness Month. On Feb. 19th we can expect to hear HB 319-Remote Cabin Sites, HJR 3-Constitutional Amendment to the PFD, and HB 351 Carbon
Monoxide Detection Devices.
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES BUDGET
This week the House Finance Subcommittees are expected to closeout. I sit on three Finance subcommittees, Dept of Revenue, Dept. of Transportation
and Dept. of Fish & Game. There are very few changes to the Dept. of Revenue and Transportation budgets. The ADF&G budget is down well over a
million dollars this year. As I have stated in previous newsletters, the cuts to this year’s budget will affect the amount of fishing time allocated to fishermen.
The expected revenue shortfall to fishermen could be as high at $3 million; this could be disastrous for any business related to commercial fishing. Rep.
Wilson and I submitted a request to restore funding to the ADF&G budget; I hope we can convince the administration to support this proposal.
HOUSE FISHERIES COMMITTEE
The Fisheries Committee heard House Joint Resolution 34, asking the federal government to consider revising the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to
be more specific and beneficial to Alaska’s fishermen. HB 410 is a housekeeping bill supported by the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission that would
allow the commission to forward fund a buy-back program if, for example, a federal appropriation became available for this purpose. Current statutory
buy-back language would not allow for this beneficial option. HB 409 would lift the statutory maximum seine vessel length of 58 feet, and leave it to the
Board of Fish’s discretion to allow longer vessels on a district-by-district basis. HJR 34 and HB 410 were passed with no objection from committee; HB
409 was held and will be heard again on February 16th.
TALKING BOOKS PROGRAM
I was recently made aware of a program offered by the state library that provides folks who have difficulty reading printed material or holding books to
access books on tape for free. This is a great program that provides you with the book on tape, the equipment to play it and the postage to return the items.
You can find more information on the Talking Books Program, including applications and book catalogs online at
http://www.library.state.ak.us/dev/tbc.html#what
INTERNET ACROSS THE BAY
I had a chance to meet with representatives from GCI this week, and I was very pleased to see that Port Graham and Nanwalek are scheduled for
installation of residential wireless high speed internet this calendar year. The wireless access will tie into GCI's service at the schools and is to be provided at
urban residential rates.
BILL ACCESS SYSTEM
All bills can be found on the State’s BASIS system. You can
see what committee a bill is in, when it will be heard, how
committee members voted, and much more. You can access the
system from the website below:
LIVE ON THE WEB
Remember that you can hear most committee hearings or tune into just about any legislative session, present or past, by going to Gavel to Gavel, which transmits TV and public radio broadcasts of the state legislature as they occur. Gavel to Gavel also has an online archive of past meetings. Click on the link below to connect to Gavel to Gavel:
Link to Governor's State of the State Speech:
If you need to contact the staff please click on one of the links below:
Lauren Radcliffe,
Cameron Yourkowski,
Chris Knight,
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