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Current Topics
Alaska educators welcome one-time funding boost but say a permanent increase is desperately needed. ADN
Permanently increasing the Base Student Allocation, the state’s per-student funding formula, was a top priority for many in the Legislature this year. School districts across the state reported being in crisis after six years of essentially flat funding, high inflation and the end of federal COVID-19 relief.
Alaska child care providers say funds approved by Legislature are crucial to staying open. Alaska Beacon
The funding is half the amount advocates say it would take to boost wages and stabilize the industry. Some lawmakers say they have more work to do. Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said she’s hugely supportive of funding child care centers. She’s the leader of the bipartisan Senate majority caucus. She said that reliable, safe child care affects the mental health outcomes of the state’s population in the future. “We save money by appropriating for these vital services now,” she said. “The Senate majority leadership certainly saw the need for that for next year.”
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy signs bill granting free fur-trapping licenses to disabled veterans. Alaska Beacon
Senate Bill 10, by Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, is intended to fix a gap in state law, Kiehl said. Disabled veterans were eligible for free hunting and sportfishing licenses, but they didn’t have access to the free trapping licenses that are available to Alaskans over 60 years old.
Microbes discovered in the Alps and Arctic that can digest plastic at low temperatures. SciTech Daily
Researchers have discovered microbial strains in the high altitudes of the Alps and in the polar regions that can break down biodegradable plastics at temperatures as low as 15°C (59°F).
Economy
Alaska Permanent Fund account that pays for state budget, dividends is under pressure. Alaska Beacon
Permanent Fund managers have long known the fund could one day have less available to spend than is needed. They now say that day could be coming uncomfortably soon, in perhaps just three years.
Alaskans MUST pay attention to this. The days of Mega-Dividends is over
Alaska's heavy dependence on federal dollars could mean big impacts from debt default. Alaska Public Media
Alaska is really dependent on the federal government and federal spending. About 5% of all jobs in the state are federal jobs. More than a third of the state’s budget is paid for with federal dollars. We have lots of federal retirees. We have active duty military. We have industries like tourism, fishing, oil and gas, that depend in large part on the actions of the federal government to keep going, and if there’s any kind of interruption in that, that has really severe consequences here. And we saw that back in 2019.
SNAP and Work Requirements. Axios
The debt ceiling deal imposes new work requirements on food-insecure Americans in their early 50s in a move that has alarmed anti-hunger advocates.
Fisheries
Justice Department will appeal court order forcing Southeast Alaska troll fishery closure. Alaska Public Media
This is really important for Alaska: The Justice Department’s notice to appeal was submitted on May 23 on behalf of the Department of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
These are Alaska's priorities for fishery management council. Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s federal fisheries for halibut, pollock, Pacific cod, crab, and other groundfish are economically important at the local, state, and national level. These fisheries provide an economic base for many of our coastal communities through jobs and income from fishing, processing, industry support services, transportation, and shipping. Sustainable management of these fisheries is critically important to our state.
Proactive measures key to king salmon recovery. Peninsula Clarion
Fishery biologists do not completely understand what is causing the steady decline in the king salmon stocks.
Health Care
Medicaid unwinding will catch many off-guard, survey shows. Axios
About 1 in 4 Medicaid enrollees don't know where to look for other coverage if they fall off the safety net program's rolls, and 15% say they'll be uninsured.
Return of working moms defies pandemic expectations. Axios
Nationally, the return of working moms defies pandemic expectations. The ability to work remotely was a game-changer for parents but especially mothers. The share of women with children under 18 in the workforce is now well above where it was in February 2020, at 71.6%.
Alaska Legislature passes bill to exempt veterinarians from opioid reporting. Alaska Public Media
Both the Alaska state House and Senate have passed a bill to exempt veterinarians from reporting to the state's prescription drug database.
A bill to get nurses licensed more quickly in Alaska faces pushback from unions. Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s nurse shortage is widely acknowledged, but there’s less consensus on how to manage solutions. A bill that aims to get nurses licensed and working faster by joining Alaska in a 40-state nurse licensure coalition is mired in pushback. Hospitals and the state’s nursing board support the legislation, but nursing labor unions oppose it.
(Note from Cathy: I’m not a union member but I vigorously oppose the Compact. A “compact” is a contract. In a contract, terms are spelled out: cost, who controls what, how long it lasts, etc). None of that is included in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): Control of the compact is given to a compact commission of unelected, unidentified people who don’t live in Alaska. The costs are not stated but the controlling board has authority to hire staff, purchase office space and change membership fees at will. Nurses from other states will come to our state, earn wages here but move out at will without paying anything back for the infrastructure you and I pay for (public safety, transportation, education, etc); this is a big reason we need an income tax, just as is needed to reclaim funds from oil field and fisheries workers who live in Lower 48 but fly in and out for work).
Of course the corporate hospitals want a readily available workforce of mobile nurses; they will move their employees around their national facilities as needed. It costs them much less, removes having to deal with workplace needs of Alaskans.
There’s much more to this that Alaska stands to lose but I’ll stop here.
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