Protecting Your Rights: Serving Sand Lake, Spenard and Turnagain

February 12, 2021

In this issue:

•House Elects Speaker

• COVID-19 Disaster Declaration

• General Obligation Bond

• Anchorage Parks Survey

• ICYMI: History and Laws of Permanent Fund Dividend

• Community Events

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Thursday, the House voted 21-19 to elect Representative Louise Stutes, an experienced legislator from Kodiak, as permanent Speaker of the House. This selection is an important step toward organizing the House and getting started on critical work for Alaska.

Congratulations Madam Speaker!

I was pleased to support the election of Representative Louise Stutes to Speaker of the House. I've known Speaker Stutes since 2014 when we were both elected to the House. In 2019, Speaker Stutes and I were chosen from applicants across the nation to participate in the Henry Toll Fellowship, one of the nation’s premier leadership development programs for state government officials. Speaker Stutes has been a fierce advocate for her coastal district and, over the past four years, she has provided sound leadership in our tri-partisan coalition.

Yesterday, after Speaker Stutes was elected, she addressed the body: "I want to thank you for the trust you put in me and I look forward to uniting this House. We all need to walk down the same side of the street and I'm very excited to be instrumental in bringing this House back together. Thank you, thank you for the confidence." I agree with Speaker Stutes' sentiment. Working effectively in the legislature requires individual legislators to work across the aisle with other members of the legislature regardless of party affiliation. I wish Speaker Stutes the best of lucking moving forward and look forward to working with her.

Speaker Stutes and Rep. Claman on the House Floor.

Speaker Stutes and Rep. Claman graduating from the Henry Toll Fellowship in 2019.

COVID-19 Disaster Declaration

On Tuesday, Rep. Zulkosky (Bethel) hosted a webinar with health experts, business leaders, and local officials about the importance of extending Governor Dunleavy's COVID-19 disaster declaration. The presentation highlighted why extending the disaster declaration is essential for continuing to test, treat, and vaccinate for COVID-19.

Discussions centered on tools that would disappear if the disaster declaration is allowed to expire February 14, including: access to federal waivers of regulations for testing and vaccination sites, the ability to use National Guard assets to support contact tracing and vaccine distribution, and potentially losing out on federal relief funds. Additionally, healthcare professionals would lose waivers to care for patients telephonically, proximity requirements for treatment would be imposed, and cross-state licensing flexibility would end.

Governor Dunleavy has asked the legislature to extend the public health emergency. But there’s been some confusion about the state’s COVID-19 declaration, so I took a moment to discuss the rest of the story.

Click here to hear about the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration

General Obligation Bond

Last week, Governor Dunleavy introduced a proposal to borrow $356.4 million for a variety of construction projects across the state. This proposal is the first statewide bond proposal in nearly ten years. The plan is envisioned as a way to take advantage of low interest rates to spur the state’s economy during the ongoing recession.

The proposal also calls for a special election this spring or summer, allowing voters to ratify or reject the plan, which would cost the state $22.8 million per year.

The proposal totals $356,405,952 and leverages a federal match of $1,003,471,000. Projects of interest included in the general obligation bond include:

$25 million for School Major Maintenance Grant Fund (projects such as West High School Roof Replacement)
$19.5 million for Alaska Vocational Technical Center upgrades
$12 million for Alaska Public Safety Communication Services System upgrades
$20 million for Statewide Firebreak Construction Program
$2.4 million for Alaska Wildlife Troopers Marine Enforcement repair and replacement
$29.6 million for University of Alaska infrastructure projects

For the complete text of the general obligation bond proposal, including a comprehensive list of project proposals, click here.

Anchorage Parks Survey

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way communities live, work, and play. Anchorage Parks and Recreation would like to know how residents' use of parks, trails, and facilities has changed these past 10 months. Please consider completing this short survey to help the department gather data to help with future programming, services, and activities to support the Anchorage community.

The survey will be open through February 19, 2021, and any resident of the Municipality of Anchorage who utilizes parks and trails is welcome to participate (youth, too)! Complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/parks_covid.