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Current Topics
Airlines are ordered to give full refunds instead of vouchers and to stop hiding fees. Alaska Public Media
In an effort to crack down on airlines that charge passengers steep fees to check bags and change flights, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced new regulations aimed at expanding consumer protections.
More than neighbors, a story of the North. Mining News North
Today, it is widely known that the 141st meridian west serves as the international border between Alaska and Canada, but it was not always this way. While the Yukon and Alaska share a mutual respect for shared realities of Arctic living, when the Klondike Gold Rush hit, it became evident that demarcation between countries would need to be put in to quell disputes over the gold-rich land in these northern territories once and for all.
Honoring Alaska Constitution Day. ADN
If you’re like me, you occasionally find yourself defending why Alaska is the best state to friends and family that live Outside. You may point to our state’s natural beauty, our people and communities, or our lifestyle and freedoms.
Elongated snouts protect snow-diving foxes from injury. Science News
In new research, scientists at Cornell University found that the elongated snout with higher curvature generates less impact force when it penetrates the snow, reducing the possibility of injury during impact.
Economy
The FTC banned noncompetes. What that means for workers and companies. ADN
The Federal Trade Commission has banned noncompete agreements for most of the U.S. workforce, freeing an estimated 30 million people bound by contracts that limit their ability to change jobs within their industry or strike out on their own.
Alaska Senate panel approves state spending plan with smaller dividend than House proposed. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Senate is moving toward a final vote on its draft state spending plan for the coming fiscal year, with lawmakers expected to vote next week on a proposal that includes enough money to pay a 2024 Permanent Fund dividend estimated to be $1,580 per recipient.
(My comment: I get a lot of emails requesting funding for childcare providers, to subsidize increase wages and childcare availability - $15 Million. We could fund that, if every PFD recipient (including the children benefiting from the childcare) gave $23 from their PFD, meaning a PFD of about $1,557.00.)
Education
School closure on Alaska Air Force base highlights effects of education policy choices. Alaska Beacon
Stagnant state funding has increased pressure on the Fairbanks North Star Borough to fund its schools at a time when it is uniquely unable to do so.
Refocus on supporting our public schools. ADN
There is ample room to revise Alaska statutes to address correspondence school funding and reposition it squarely within the letter and intent of the Alaska Constitution. This would ensure that all students (correspondence and traditional) have access to a broad array of public educational services and opportunities, including online resources.
As session winds down, lawmakers tackle education bill of rights, potential homeschool funding fix. Alaska's News Source
A bill aimed in part at increasing parents participation in their children’s education is still being debated by legislators in Juneau, but some House lawmakers are concerned about some of the language contained within the bill.
Both sides of Alaska homeschool case want programs in place, disagree over how it should happen. Alaska Public Media
The correspondence school allotment lawsuit. Alaska Public Media
PODCAST: Who should decide how public education dollars are allocated?
(My Comment: At issue is the use of the state subsidy for homeschool families. Homeschooling has been done in Alaska for literally decades. It has been done, previously, without any state subsidy. Today, families receive 90% of the BSA to cover costs. Unfortunately, some have used the money for trips to Hawaii for the family, horseback riding lessons and other items that are clearly a stretch to call “homeschool need”. Then there is the issue of the money being automatically diverted to private schools. There is, in the law passed in 2014, a ban on any requirement for academic testing or disclosure of any records.)
Fisheries
Report portrays mixed picture of Alaska's huge seafood industry. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska seafood industry remains an economic juggernaut, but it is under strain from forces outside of the state’s control, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s seafood marketing agency.
Politics
Legislature's budget work proceeds smoothly so far; differences in PFD still to be reckoned with. Frontiersman
The Legislature is moving along like clockwork in its work on the state budget. Last Thursday, April 25, the Senate Finance Committee voted its version of the state operating budget out of committee, setting the stage for an expected approval by the full 20-member Senate.
Alaska Senate budget crafters reduce dividend size in effort to avoid draw from savings. ADN
Senate budget crafters have adopted a spending plan that includes dividend payments of nearly $1,600 for eligible Alaskans. The Senate Finance Committee this week reduced the dividend payments approved by the House earlier this year, which would have given every eligible Alaskan nearly $2,300 and would have required a significant draw from already-depleted state savings.
Alaska House approves social media ban for young kids, online pornography ID checks for all. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives voted by a wide margin and with bipartisan support on Friday to ban children younger than 14 from using online social media.
Alaska House votes down ethics board alternate member, citing signature on Dunleavy recall petition. Alaska Beacon
The situation was different in the House, where lawmakers on Monday said they doubted the ability of Cook and Kelly to be impartial, in part because they signed the petition seeking to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, from office.
Entering their final two regular weeks, Alaska legislators are narrowing their focus. Alaska Beacon
As the Alaska Legislature enters the final two weeks of its regular session, lawmakers are consolidating their attention on a handful of subjects, rolling together bills that deal with particular subjects into bigger “omnibus” legislation that includes several smaller bills all rolled together into one because it’s speedier and easier to pass them together.
Lawmakers push to revive Senate-passed pension bill stuck on House committee. Alaska Public Media
One of the financial reports from a consultant hired by senators says it would more or less come out in the wash. The idea is it saves on recruiting, retention, training and so on, basically offsetting the cost. Another analysis commissioned by the Department of Administration puts the cost at $1.2 billion over 16 years, but that assumes the state’s payroll grows significantly — basically, that everyone switches over to the pension system and that they spend the rest of their careers working for the state.
Healthcare
Last year was Alaska's deadliest on record for opioid overdoses. Alaska Public Media
More Alaskans died from an opioid overdose last year than ever before, according to preliminary data, and the state reported the nation’s highest per capita increase in opioid overdose deaths.
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