Hello!

This week will be another busy week in the Capitol. Both US Senators will give their annual updates, the Legislature will vote up or down on the Governor’s Executive Order that would create a new Alaska Department of Agriculture, and the Education omnibus bill, HB 69, will be heard in the Senate Education Committee beginning on 3/17!

 

In case you missed it, Happy St. Urho’s day! Celebrated on March, 16th, it’s the lesser-known mid-March cultural tradition. Finlanders celebrate a wee bit earlier than the Irish. Who is St. Urho? Find out more here.

 

Also, this week my Senate Labor and Commerce committee will be having a presentation from the University of Alaska Anchorage System on all of the options that they provide for workforce development! This hearing will be jam packed with usable information for folks who want to learn more about what UAA has to offer.

On Wednesday we will be hearing two very important insurance reform bills. The first is designed to modernize and streamline Alaska’s insurance regulations and the second is to make sure that people who need medical care don’t need to wait ridiculous amounts of time for health insurance companies to approve standard treatment plans from reputable providers.

 

That’s only a small portion of what we have going on this week!

 

I am honored to be your effective advocate in Juneau. Please contact my office when you have ideas or concerns by calling 907-283-7996 or by email at sen.jesse.bjorkman@akleg.gov

Instacart, Door Dash, and other delivery apps provide services that many Kenai Peninsula residents have come to rely on. Drivers for these delivery services appreciate the opportunity to work for themselves, setting their own hours and choosing which assignments to accept, working as little or as much as they want to. I introduced Senate Bill 35, which has a hearing in the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 18, to make it clear that these drivers are independent contractors, preventing the sort of bureaucratic overregulation that could bring an end to the operations of these services in Alaska. 

Discussion continues in the Legislature on the Governor's proposal to create a Dept. of Agriculture. There are many reasons why the Department should be created, however, I have significant concerns about how this new Department would be funded and would operate. I am open to continuing the conversation regarding a new Department, if it is set up to succeed and be successful for the people it is designed to serve. Read more in my most recent Capitol Corner post in the Peninsula Clarion.

When Alaska became a state, we were promised 90 percent of the revenue from oil and gas production on federal lands within our boundaries. However, Congress broke that promise for the NPR-A and ANWR, demanding a 50/50 split in exchange for opening those resources for production. Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski will be in Juneau this week and I will be discussing with them how we can get the federal government to keep its promise to Alaskans and pay us the money we are due.

Kyle McFall, David Segura, Joel Isaak, Ronette Stanton and Bernadine Atchison stopped by my office to talk about the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s support for Kenai Peninsula’s public, charter, and compact schools while they were in Juneau.

The State of Alaska must ensure that kids

receive the best possible care while they are in the State’s custody. I introduced SB 88, which has a hearing in the Senate Health and Social Services Committee on March 20, to encourage timely and diligent family searches to help place kids with family members, and to provide the State with more latitude to make placement decisions that are in a kid’s best interest.

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Senator Jesse Bjorkman | State Capitol Room 3, Juneau, AK 99801-1182