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Fisheries
Alaska's seafood industry is in trouble. Processors and policymakers blame Russia. Alaska Public Media
Alaska’s fisheries are facing a massive economic slump right now, and policymakers are increasingly blaming flooded global markets. The private sector and federal policymakers are teaming up to try to stop the bleeding.
Commercial fishing groups bring new legal action over Cook Inlet's federal waters. Alaska Public Media
The United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund filed a complaint Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. They allege that an amendment approved in April to the fishery plan for the inlet’s federal waters defers the federal government’s management responsibilities, in violation of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Stuff I Found Interesting
MLB's new GOAT. Axios
After winter of wonder, Anchorage's white raven takes flight. Alaska Public Media
While a raven of any other color would be as full of mischief, somehow its white feathers and clear blue eyes stole the hearts of Spenard, the Anchorage neighborhood where this love story first began.
Economy
Permanent Fund bosses vote to defy Alaska Legislature, keep Anchorage office. Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. will keep its Anchorage office, ignoring state lawmakers’ instructions to shut it down. The corporation’s Board of Trustees voted 4-2 on Thursday to continue operating the office, though board members acknowledged that the decision is likely to intensify legislative dissatisfaction with the corporation. The corporation, which manages Alaska’s $80 billion trust fund, opened an Anchorage office last year, in space already leased by other state agencies. In this year’s state budget, lawmakers inserted a clause stating, “It is the intent of the legislature that the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation will not establish or maintain new office locations without corresponding budget increments for that purpose.”
Alaska Permanent Fund leaders vote to hire law firm to investigate leaker and themselves. Alaska Beacon
The board in charge of Alaska’s $80 billion trust fund has voted to hire a third-party law firm to investigate who leaked internal emails that indicated board member Gabrielle Rubenstein may have engaged in self-dealing. The law firm, whose hiring was approved in a unanimous 6-0 vote on Thursday, will also review six years’ worth of interactions between Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. staff and members of the corporation’s board of trustees to determine the scope of problems within the corporation. The leaked internal emails, first published in April by the Alaska Landmine, indicate Rubenstein set up meetings between staff and her own business associates.
A benefit for high earners. Axios
We are in the midst of a "silver tsunami," in which 4.1 million Americans will turn 65 annually, this year through 2030, a record number per data from the Alliance for Lifetime Income. And these folks will be "going it alone," as Felix Salmon reported in April. They're the first generation to rely on private savings like 401(k)s instead of pensions. Those private savings, even combined with Social Security, may not be enough to sustain their lifestyles. With a retirement crisis looming, workers need the money from those 401(k) matches — but that money is not distributed equitably.
Education
Mat-Su school board considers elimination of student representative position. ADN
A student representative position that has been part of Mat-Su school board meetings for more than 40 years could be eliminated under a proposed policy change the board will consider next week.
Politics
The political future of Fani Willis. Governing
“Nationwide, over one-third of state legislative incumbents face neither a primary nor general election challenger,” says Steven Rogers, a political scientist at St. Louis University who has written about lack of legislative competition. “These incumbents win re-election by just signing up for the job.”
Policy ideas for boosting defined benefit pensions in the private sector. NIRS
The research brief, Policy Ideas for Boosting Defined Benefit Pensions In The Private Sector, details six options for Congress to consider to help expand pension coverage in a manner that is workable for both employers and employees. It indicates that future policy solutions must address two key issues. First, private-sector pension plans should provide an avenue for retirement adequacy for the large majority of Americans lacking pensions regardless of their demographic profile and income. Second, private-sector pension plans must be affordable and sustainable for employers.
Legislation not always pretty, but HB 50 geothermal section nutritious. Petroleum News
Lawmakers dumped various types of Cook Inlet energy bills into HB 50, including expansion of the state's geothermal energy program.
How open primaries and ranked-choice voting can help break partisan gridlock. PBS News Hour
“Right now, we have a system that overrepresents those at the fringes of both political parties, at the expense of the majority. What was stunning to me is that, in the last midterm elections, 83 percent of U.S. House races were not decided in November. They were decided in the primary elections months before November (2022). It was only 8 percent of voters nationally that cast ballots in those primaries that determined the outcome. So you had 8 percent of voters electing 83 percent of our leaders. It's no wonder why Congress doesn't represent us.”
The upside of a little progressive pension paternalism. Governing
Tight labor markets now place a premium on the value of a guaranteed pension for workers of all ages, making it a valuable fringe benefit that attracts some employees. There are public pension adversaries who disagree, citing the unfunded liabilities for paying benefits today to retired baby boomers who seldom paid an equitable share of the costs of their pumped-up pensions, but today’s competition for talent is the immediate challenge for public employers.
Since the 1990s, the defined-contribution (DC) retirement plan industry has been pitching the public sector with 401(a), 457 and 403(b) plans as a better alternative to traditional fixed pensions. By sidestepping unfunded liabilities and shifting stock market risk to public employees rather than taxpayers, the DC industry also enjoyed some limited popularity in scattered jurisdictions for more than a decade. But the 2008 financial crisis and market meltdowns of that era shed new light on the plight of a cohort of older firefighters and police officers who suddenly could not afford to retire because their defined-contribution savings accounts had abruptly lost half their value
Healthcare
Rural Pharmacies fill a healthcare gap. ADN
Pharmacist Craig Jones makes house calls when no one else can, answers his phone at all hours of the night and stops to chat about bowel movements at church. Yet Jones keeps a pile of his own paychecks on a desk in the back of his pharmacy. Four months’ worth, uncashed.
Need a pharmacy? Finding access depends on the states and neighborhoods you live in. AP News
Residents of neighborhoods that are largely Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than people who live in mostly white neighborhoods, according to an Associated Press analysis of licensing data from 44 states, data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the American Community Survey. It’s consistent with prior research that documents where urban “pharmacy deserts” are more likely to be concentrated.
Addiction crisis reality check. Axios
Nearly 49 million Americans 12 and older had a substance use disorder in 2022, including 30 million with an alcohol use disorder and more than 27 million with a drug use disorder, according to the most recent federal survey on drug use. Put another way, that's more than 17% of that population. Among young adults ages 18-25, the share jumps to 28%.
(My Comment: Behavioral health access needs to be more available for kids age 16 or older, allowing them to seek help themselves, with or without parental consent.)
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