Kawasaki-JuneauNote

Here is the historic fight and win for education over the last six months. Alaska schools have not been failing-they have been starving due to more than 10 years of no increase to the base student allocation per kid. With a decline in the total number of students and a decade of inflation, it meant that schools have had to close, classroom sizes have increased, and students have had less opportunities than we had growing up.

Dan started his career at UAF in 1993 and was hired in 1995 as a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In 2017, he was selected as Chancellor and after 30 years he is stepping down from at the end of the month. Chancellor White is unique as the national average for chancellors is four years and he stayed at our institution for eight years.

As President Trump’s signature budget passes the House, there are real concerns for the nation and especially our state. The bill represents the largest redistribution of wealth in modern US history giving the wealthiest the largest tax breaks while middle class and lower income citizens receive the brunt of the negative impacts and fewer breaks. The bill is over 1018 pages long and tucked into it there are many areas that will impact Alaskans. Below are some of the lowlights from the legislation:

With the first session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature finished, it is time for the office to head back home to Fairbanks for the interim until we are called back to Juneau next January. This is a time for the office to regroup from the fast pace of Juneau, strategize our next moves for the second year of the session and interact with our constituency. It would be our pleasure to talk with all of you through email or over the phone, and I encourage you to schedule an in-person meeting with me.

The First Session of the 34th Legislature ended Tuesday afternoon with little applause or fanfare as the conference committee budget was passed along with a few undebated and uncontroversial bills. I’ll highlight the legislation that passed in the last few days before signing off to relocate back in district by the end of this week.

We are one week away from the end of the first session of the 34th Legislature! As the session concludes, there are several important and timely items of business to be considered in the last few days. There may be other bills or interests which are placed on hold or in a subcommittee for further study. The good news is that the bills will be picked up next January where they were left this year.

There are a mere 20 days remaining in the first session of the 34th Alaska Legislature! A lot can happen in these next two weeks and there is much activity that has already begun to slow assuming we will take it back up next year or even over the summer and early fall. I’ll try to keep folks informed on a frequent basis, but as things can change daily, it would also be great to send an email or contact me directly at the office at 907.456.7423.

Today is day 87 of the 34th Alaska Legislative Session, meaning we have a mere 33 days remaining to pass a balanced budget, work on education reforms and pass signature legislation from individual members and committees. I will continue to bring current news to you on a more frequent basis as items begin to move more quickly since the Operating and Capital Budget have been moved from each of the houses of the bicameral legislature along with an education funding bill that passed both houses but has been vetoed by Governor Dunleavy. The veto override of education support will be done after this Easter on Wednesday in a joint session.

Today is day 81 of the 120-day Alaska Legislative session and only 1/3 of the session remains. Boy how time flies.

The House Finance Committee has been trying to approve an operating budget, which is a difficult task, given that the state is facing financial straits and a deficit of $1.9 billion. The House Majority and Minority are deeply divided on how to deal with Alaska’s fiscal problems. There has been some contention this week, as House Finance tries to compromise on a budget to send over to the Senate. Both the House Minority and Majority held separate press conferences on the issue and painted two very different pictures for the people of Alaska.

Today is day 74 of the 120-day Alaska Legislative session. Now that it is April, we are in our penultimate month of this session, so we are really starting to focus on getting things buttoned up. My office had two bill hearings this week. One for SB129, which is discussed later in this newsletter and the other for SB110 which establishes a museum construction grant fund. Both bill hearings were successful, and I expect to have these bills heard again in committee soon. The bill hearing process may seem overly long and onerous, but it is essential to ensure that good policy is leaving the legislature, and my office is dedicated to shepherding these bills through.