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DISTRICT 35 VISIT
I had a great visit with many of the groups in the Kachemak Bay area of District 35 last weekend. It was a hectic schedule and if we
were unable to meet, please contact me in Juneau. I am hoping to schedule another trip to the Seward and Cooper Landing portion
of the District for later in the session.
SPECIAL SESSION CANCELATION
I am pleased that our legislative leaders and the Governor were able to come to an agreement to address our State’s fiscal gap
without having a Special Session this March, therefore avoiding a constitutional conflict concerning the legal separation of powers
between the administrative and legislative branches of government.
REVENUE PROPOSALS
The Percentage of Market Value and personal income tax bills are in the Ways and Means Committee, which meets on Wednesdays
and Fridays at 7 am. I am staying involved in discussions on these proposals.
LEGISISLATION STATISTICS
Now that the deadline for introduction of personal legislation has passed, I wanted to let you know how many bills have been
introduced in the 23rd Alaska State Legislature. The House has introduced 524 bills/resolutions, and the Senate has introduced
365. To give you an idea of how much work we still have ahead of us, the House has passed 96 items and the Senate has passed
65. So, overall out of 880 pieces of legislation introduced, 161 have passed both bodies. I wanted to share this information with
you because before I came to Juneau, I was not aware of the shear number of proposals brought before the legislature for
consideration. Later on this session, we will have extended Floor Sessions and Committee Meetings in order to maximize discussion
on as many bills as possible before the session ends on May 11th.
SHALLOW NATURAL GAS UPDATE
SB 312 -This bill ends the shallow natural gas lease program of much controversy and replaces it with a “gas only” leasing program
that requires a best-interest-finding, public notice and public comment review process. This new program corrects the problems of
the Shallow Natural Gas program but fails to address the concerns surrounding the current leases. SB 312 was heard and held in the
Senate Resources Committee, it is scheduled for another hearing on March 5th at 3:30 pm. HB 364- Homer Shallow Natural Gas
Leases- I anticipate a hearing on this bill sometime soon. As I indicated in the last newsletter, the Sponsor Substitute for HB 364
preempts the re-issuance of the recently let shallow natural gas leases in the Homer area if the leases are not proven economically
viable by the end of their three-year term. This is a more politically feasible and less expensive way of safeguarding the interests of
local residents. HB 395 received another hearing on Thursday February 26th, but was held again for additional review because
some members of the House Oil and Gas Committee had not had ample time to review this complicated bill. I anticipate another
hearing on HB 395 next week. HB 395 addresses many of the specific grievances surrounding the shallow natural gas leasing
program (public notice, bonding, water quality assurances, local ordinances).
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Education Committee did not meet the week of February 23rd, but next week we are scheduled to hear: HB 405- An act
relating to accountability of public schools and school districts, and reports concerning assistance to improve school performance;
and providing for an effective date, HB 333- An act relating to an endowment for public education; and providing for an effective
date, and HB 425- An act relating to funding for school districts operating secondary school boarding programs.
FISH CAUCUS
The Fish Caucus met Thursday for the first time this session. The topic for this meeting was the upcoming “gulf rationalization.” The
Fish Caucus listened to presentations from the State of Alaska and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
(NOAA) Sustainable Fisheries Division. The “gulf rationalization” is a proposal to address commercial fishing that occurs in state and
federal waters in the Gulf of Alaska. Currently, the federal government manages the harvest of cod, pollock and other bottom and
mid-water species of fish in waters more that 3 miles offshore. The state manages the same fisheries within three miles of the shore.
Governments at both levels are collaborating to prevent the over-harvest of species, while ensuring that the fisheries are economically
viable for future generations. The state has begun the moratorium process to limit the number of eligible fisherman, while the federal
government has already halted new fishermen from entering into the federal fisheries. The North Pacific Fisheries Management
Council is hearing many proposed options about future fisheries. With regards to Homer and Seward, the Council is considering
requiring that fish must be harvested and processed in the same area as a local community and processor protection measure. I
requested a 10-year phase out of the port preferences be analyzed so the free market system could function over time.
HOUSE FISHERIES
HB 444 corrects unfair tax measures placed upon direct market fishermen. HB 444 passed from Committee on Wednesday the
25th. The current tax laws levy the tax on the value of the semi-processed product direct marketers produce. This law creates a
disincentive for adding value to Alaska’s fisheries resources. HJR 36, a resolution asking the National Park Service to mitigate the
adverse effects of the Glacier Bay management program on local fishermen, was also moved from Committee. HB 415 would
remove authority from the Board of Fish to limit salmon net fishermen from fishing in more than one salmon administrative area per
year. Support and opposition on HB 415 appeared to be regionally based. A lot of issues were raised and we requested legal
analysis to address those concerns. The committee was not comfortable with moving this legislation and the bill was held for further
review. It appears the Board of Fish could already lift or modify this regulation. The Committee may request the Board of Fish to
address this subject soon. The Committee felt that detailed analysis and decision about the applicability of this fishing management
tool was better suited to the Board of Fish process. We will hear HB 415 again after we receive the legal opinions requested by the
Committee. HB 478 is a technical bill requested by the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to make clear their authority to
issue “interim use permits” in fisheries they do not intend to limit entry. This bill was held to await opinions from our legal department
and will be heard again on Monday, March 1st.
STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
The State Affairs Committee again considered HJR 3. If passed, HJR 3 would put the issuance of the Permanent Fund Dividend
(PFD) into the State Constitution along with the formula currently used to calculate the PFD. I am in favor of incorporating the PFD
into the Constitution, but I have several question about the methodology used in HJR 3. Analysis shows that the formula contained in
statutes that is currently used to calculate PFD's does not work well with the way the Permanent Fund is now managed (real estate
and stocks more than bonds), therefore I do not think this formula should be put into our Constitution. The PFD calculation formula
is contained in a series of very detailed and complicated statues. Incorporating the PFD calculation formula statutes into our
Constitution would be inconsistent with the way the rest of it is written because the Alaska Constitution is purposely easy to read and
understand. HJR 3 also requires a 60% vote of the people to spend any Permanent Fund earnings. It does not make sense to
require a higher standard for an appropriation from the Permanent Fund earnings than the 50% vote of the people needed for a
Constitutional amendment. There may be amendment offered next week to change HJR 3. The Committee passed HB 297, which
was introduced by Rep. Stoltze. This bill creates a new crime if a person makes a false statement about living in an area affected by
a wildfire. HB 297 addresses many issues associated with recent natural fires in the Mat-Su area, where criminals said they were
residents in order to access home vacated under threat of disaster. HB 351 also moved out of Committee. This bill is sponsored by
Reps. Gatto and Gruenberg and was introduced in response to the recent deaths from carbon monoxide in Anchorage and Big
Lake. HB 351 requires carbon-monoxide sensors to be placed in homes. I hope HB 351 will keep this silent killer from claiming
more lives.
HESS COMMITTEE
The House Health, Education and Social Services Committee met to discuss HB 394, which extends the Commission on Aging.
Several of the Committee members had questions related to the Commission’s grant administration policies and the Commission’s
move from the Department of Administration to the Division of Senior and Disability Services, within the Department of Health and
Social Services (HSS). The Committee was satisfied that the HSS Dept. has detailed regulations in place to deal with grant
administration. We were also reassured that more site visits are being made to grant recipients, and that cost containing measures
such as Faith-Based Services are being considered. HB 394 was passed out of Committee. HB 197, an act relating to Intensive
Family Preservation (IFP) Services was the second bill we heard. This bill asks the HSS Dept. to do a study on the need,
effectiveness and funding availability for IFP and Reunification Services in Alaska. Other states use these services to prevent kids
from being placed in foster home and to reunite children with their families after they’ve been placed in foster care. The HSS Dept.
testified that they are working towards implementing IFP in Alaska, and are not sure legislation is necessary, nor does the HSS Dept.
feel they could take on a study of IFP at this time. The bill was held for further discussion. The final bill heard in the HESS
Committee was House Concurrent Resolution 31, establishing April as Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month. After some
poignant testimony from the bill’s sponsor, Rep. McGuire, HCR 31 moved from Committee.
HB 260 UPDATE
HB 260 is the bill I sponsored to promote volunteerism among healthcare providers was heard in Senate Judiciary on Wednesday.
A few legal questions arose and the bill was held until they could be answered. The bill is scheduled again for Wednesday March
3rd.
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:
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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