JUNEAU – Saturday, Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 51 by Rep. Stanley Wright (R-Anchorage). The bill contained provisions from a bill by Sen. Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau) preventing future spills of per- and polyflouroalkyl substances, added on the Senate Floor by agreement with the bill sponsor.
ANCHORAGE – Yesterday, Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson (D-Anchorage) attended the White House States Convening on Child Care to discuss child care policies throughout the nation. The meeting will helped support legislators’ work to make child care more affordable and accessible for working families, increase child care employment, and improve job quality for child care workers.
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JUNEAU – Today, the Alaska Senate passed House Bill 39, Fiscal Year 2024 operating and capital budgets. The Senate’s version of the budget increases education funding outside the formula by $174.9 million – the single largest increase in state history, provides Alaskans with a $1,300 permanent fund dividend, and leaves the state with a $84.2
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JUNEAU – Today, the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 123 by the Senate Transportation Committee, which repeals the requirement that applicants for a commercial driver’s license (CDL) hold a regular driver’s license for one year. This requirement was enacted in 1985 before state and federal regulators modernized the training and licensing standards for CDLs.
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JUNEAU – Today, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, released the findings of a research report reviewing profit data recently released by ConocoPhillips. The legislature’s non-partisan research division found that in the first quarter of 2023, Alaska was the most profitable geographical area in the world for ConocoPhillips on a per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE). ConocoPhillips’
Juneau – Today, the Alaska State Senate passed Senate Bill 52 to increase education funding by $175 million for Alaska’s public schools and correspondence programs. This significant increase provides school districts with a $680 addition to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) calculation, which the Senate Education Committee determined is the simplest, fairest, and most effective
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JUNEAU – Today, the Alaska Senate passed Senate Bill 22, sponsored by Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, establishing Juneteenth, June 19, as an annually observed state holiday. In 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, proclaiming the civil war had ended and that any enslaved people were now free. This day became known as Juneteenth, a
JUNEAU – Today, the Alaska House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 87, sponsored by Senator Jesse Bjorkman (R-Nikiski), with a vote of 38 to 1. The bill allows Alaska sawmill operators to become certified to grade and sell certain types of dimensional lumber they produce for residential construction.
JUNEAU – The Senate Finance Committee introduced a committee substitute for the state’s operating budget this afternoon. The new committee substitute provides a permanent fund dividend consistent with a 75/25 percent of market value (POMV) split of the annual earnings, translating to an approximate $1,304 dividend. The committee substitute also increases the funds going to
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JUNEAU – The Alaska Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Senator Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau). Senate Bill 12 lets sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, along with peace and correctional officers, keep their address confidential from public records. Currently, forty-one states provide address protection for victims. Senate Bill 12 requires the State of Alaska
