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Senate Majority Bipartisan Coalition Website
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State Senator District E
Senate Majority Leader
Senator Cathy Giessel Newsletter
UPDATES
Issues affecting
your family, community and jobs.
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Dear friends and neighbors,
Photo: Fairbanks aurora, (9-15-24)
I was at a meeting this week at which a question was asked about Ballot Measure 2 (An Act to get rid of the Open Primary System and Ranked-Choice General Election).
An elected official answered the question by saying that he didn't like the open primary and RCV general because
it confused people.
Not True: Alaskans have proven to be very smart! First of all, they make choices every day between the menu item they most want, and their second choice if the first choice isn't available. Ask any 5 year old to tell you what their favorite ice cream flavor is; they will rank the flavors for you.
Data shows that in 2022 - 99.9% of the ballots were completed correctly. Nearly 80% of Alaskans say RCV was simple.
The other thing that was said is that it took "weeks to get results", and blamed RCV.
Not True: It is completely erroneous to claim that RCV delayed Alaska election results tabulation. In accordance with long-standing Alaska statutes, all absentee ballots must be counted no later than 10 days after the date of the primary election and 15 days after the general election and all other state conducted elections. This is not new and applied to the previous, party-controlled primary elections and general elections in Alaska.
At Day 15 after the 2022 General Election, our Division of Elections broadcast live the counting of the ballots. A majority of ballots did not go beyond the first choice counting because one of the candidates achieved more than 50% of the vote. The few that did proceed to more tabulations took less than 60 seconds each for the computer to execute the counting of voters' rankings. The public watched how the numbers were counted. All the data remains available for scrutiny on the Division of Elections website.
Most Importantly: What's in it for you, the voter?
The Alaska Model of top-four, nonpartisan primaries combined with RCV places much greater requirements on candidates.
· No longer can someone win with as little as 34% of the vote.
· No longer does the support and funding from a political party in Alaska determine the outcome of an election.
The candidate is now required to talk to all voters, hear from all voters and represent all voters.
Candidates must earn the confidence and support of a majority of voters (more than 50%).
The Alaska Model of non-partisan, open primary and ranked-choice general election is designed to benefit voters, not empower political parties.
Items in this Newsletter:
· Public Member Opening in Legislative Ethics
· 2025 Congressional Medal of Honor Citizen Awards
· Alaska Health Fair Blood Testing
· $3.2 Million for Salmon Habitat Restoration
· Current Topics, Stuff I Found Interesting, Economy, Education, Politics, Healthcare
· Resource Values, Permanent Fund
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Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
Ethics Committee Alternate Public Member Vacancy
Do you know someone interested in serving as an alternate public member on the Ethics Committee? Public members are selected by the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court and ratified by two thirds of the full membership of the legislature. Public members serve a three-year term.
Interested persons may apply to serve by sending a letter of interest, your resume, and your political affiliation on file with the Alaska Division of Elections to The Honorable Peter Maassen, Alaska Supreme Court, 303 K St., Anchorage, AK 99501.
Learn more about the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics at http://ethics.akleg.gov/.
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2025 Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Citizen Honors Award
The deadline is approaching for 2025 Citizen Honors Awards nominations. If you know a neighbor, co-worker, or community member who deserves recognition for extraordinary acts of courage or service, nominate them by December 1.
https://www.cmohs.org/citizen-honors/nominate
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We are pleased to announce new blood tests available to support your health this season:
· Magnesium ($25): Essential for energy production, muscle function, and bone health.
· Uric Acid ($25): Helps diagnose gout and monitor levels during treatments.
· Celiac t-Transglutaminase (tTG) ($40): Screens for celiac disease, an immune reaction to gluten.
These tests complement our existing range of affordable blood screenings, providing valuable insights into your health for early detection and prevention.
Affordable Blood Tests Available at All Health Fairs
· 27 panels - Comprehensive Blood Chemistry Screen - covers infection, anemia, liver disease, clotting ability, kidney and adrenal function, liver function, bone disease, tissue disease or damage, heart function, liver function, muscle function, coronary heart disease, & more - $45
· Thyroid Screen - $40
· Prostate Disease Screen - $25
· Vitamin D Screen - $55
· A1C diabetes - $25
· Blood Typing - $25
· Vitamin B12 – $40
· Ferritin – $40
· Testosterone (men) – $55
Details on our website, www.alaskahealthfair.org.
Upcoming Events in September and Early October
Walk-ins are welcome at all events; however, we recommend scheduling an appointment for quicker service. Please call us with questions - (907) 278-0234 Anchorage/Statewide
· Palmer - September 28, 2024: Palmer Depot Health Fair, 8:00am–12:00pm, 610 S Valley Way, Palmer, AK 99645
· Anchorage - October 5, 2024: Make It Alaskan Day 1, 10:00am–6:00pm, Egan Center, 555 W 5th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501
· Anchorage - October 6, 2024: Make It Alaskan Day 2, 12:00pm–5:00pm, Egan Center, 555 W 5th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501
· Palmer - October 9, 2024: Mat-Su College Community Health Fair, 9:00am–1:00pm, 8295 E. College Drive, Palmer, AK 99645
· Anchorage - October 10, 2024: Community Fair at Hope Community Resources, 8:00am–12:00pm, 570 W 53rd Ave., Anchorage, AK 99518
· Anchorage - October 12, 2024: Enlaces Hispanic/Latino Health Fair (Bilingual), 8:00am–12:00pm, Our Lady of Guadalupe, 3900 Wisconsin St., Anchorage, AK 99517
· Girdwood - October 12, 2024: Girdwood Community Health Fair, 9:00am–1:00pm, 250 Egloff Dr., Girdwood, AK 99587
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Biden-Harris Administration Invests $3.25 Million for Salmon Habitat Restoration
Investment advances the $36 million Gravel to Gravel initiative to advance Pacific Salmon habitat restoration
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Bureau of Land Management today announced that $3.25 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is being awarded to support the Department of the Interior’s Gravel to Gravel Keystone Initiative to improve ecosystem health and Pacific salmon resiliency in the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Norton Sound regions in Alaska.
Salmon in the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound regions in Alaska hold deep cultural, subsistence and ecosystem significance. In partnership with Tribes, Indigenous leaders, other agencies and community partners, the Department’s new initiative is bringing Indigenous Knowledge and the best available science to the table to inform plans for collective action to support resilient ecosystems and communities in the region and make immediate investments to respond to the salmon crisis. Today’s funding implements – through partner award – part of the $36 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding dedicated to the Gravel to Gravel initiative. The project work, implemented in partnership with the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District under Good Neighbor Authority, includes efforts to restore areas impacted by historic land uses.
“Restoration is an important aspect of the BLM’s mission, and this partnership allows us to continue our effort to improve watershed health,” said Matt Varner, Fisheries Resources Lead for the Aquatic Resources Program. “This Keystone Initiative is about working with everyone to urgently address Pacific salmon habitat restoration. Agreements, such as this, help expand the collective work to support the Pacific salmon populations that are so vital to our culture, ecosystems, and economy.”
BLM’s current restoration focus has been within the Birch, Beaver Creek, and Fortymile Wild and Scenic River systems. These rivers are (or were historically) habitat for salmon. This additional investment supports expanded restoration and resiliency efforts beyond these Interior Alaska river systems to areas located throughout the Keystone Initiative region. Future work is expected in more remote areas of the Keystone Initiative region, including the Salmon River near the community of Platinum.
The BLM and partners are also working to finalize the development of a mapping tool coupled with a prioritization framework using a variety of factors such as salmon habitat potential, land status, and access. Once fully developed, the tool and framework will be shared with regional stakeholders interested in restoration to leverage local knowledge, including Indigenous Knowledge, to target future work in the areas with the highest salmon habitat restoration and resiliency needs.
Near-term efforts continue to focus on the headwaters of salmon-bearing rivers along the road system. This allows the BLM and partners to intensively monitor and refine restorative techniques while minimizing overall costs. This data-driven adaptive management approach helps to guide the strategies and techniques used on more remote restoration projects to help maximize restoration and resiliency results.
Project work under this new agreement is estimated to begin in early September 2024 and continue through the end of summer 2029.
The BLM has made immediate investments in the foundational science and projects needed to respond to the salmon crisis and invested in restorative projects to heal the broader ecosystem. BLM’s focus remains on the expansion of stream habitat assessments across the entire Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Norton Sound regions to create a network of hundreds of permanent monitoring sites. The information gathered will inform restoration plans and serve as long-term habitat monitoring sites across the region to improve our understanding of climate-driven change.
Learn more about BLM’s project work and restoration efforts by visiting the BLM Alaska Gravel to Gravel Keystone Initiative webpage.
[Photo caption: An example of recent stream restoration along Nome Creek in 2024. Crews worked to realign the channel within the valley and restored both stream and floodplain conditions along 1,500 feet of the creek. BLM photo.]
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Current Topics
How the Kroger merger could further erode the administrative state. Washington Examiner
In unusual move, U.S. Army sends missiles and airborne infantry to Alaska base near Russia. Alaska Beacon
The U.S. Army has deployed airborne soldiers from within Alaska and additional soldiers from Hawaii and Washington to isolated Shemya Island in the Aleutians, it announced late last week.
The deployment, first reported by Stars and Stripes, is a test of the Army’s ability to move fast, said the commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, based at Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks.
4 Russian aircraft groups in 5 days fly through airspace near Alaska. Alaska Public Media
For the fourth time in five days, Russian aircraft have flown through international airspace off Alaska’s coast. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said Sunday that it detected and tracked a couple of Il-38 maritime surveillance aircraft Saturday as they were flying through the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.
Stuff I Found Interesting
Inside Graphite One: A look at Alaska's largest graphite deposit. Alaska Public Media
Located just over 30 miles north of Nome, the Graphite Creek property is believed to be one of the largest known graphite deposits in the world. The entire deposit spans about 10 miles along the Kigluaik mountain range, just south of the Imuruk Basin.
Polar bears adapted to the Arctic just 70,000 years ago. Popular Science
“It was always assumed that when polar bears diverged from brown bears, they must have quickly adapted to the Arctic in one rapid evolutionary change. However, our results suggest that may have not been the case, and the adaptation to the Arctic was a more gradual process.”
(My comment: The only certainty is…change. Adaptation will always happen.)
Economy
Number of the day: Up to $100 billion for data centers. Axios
That's how much BlackRock, Microsoft and other giants hope to mobilize to finance data centers and energy to power them.
(My comment: Alaska’s climate (cool) would be ideal for data centers. Sadly we lack the Terrawatts of electricity needed by the data centers and lack to high capacity connections to the rest of the world. We are still dealing with outages from undersea cable failures.)
Education
Feds plan to withhold $17.5 million in pandemic era aid for Alaska schools due to ongoing equity dispute. ADN
The U.S. Department of Education intends to withhold $17.5 million in COVID-19 aid to Alaska schools because it asserts the state failed to adequately fund its highest-need schools during the pandemic.
(My comment. The Senate anticipated this and put the money into the budget. The Governor vetoed it.)
Alaska pursues appeal of $17.5 million in funding penalty over federal education funding equity dispute. Alaska Beacon
Consequences are mounting for Alaska as a dispute continues between the state’s education officials and their federal counterparts over whether the state spent pandemic relief equitably.
Politics
Alaska PFD amount to be announced soon as deposit day nears. Alaska's News Source
Health Care
Oregon lawmakers eye pharmacy benefit manager regulation. Axios
Some Oregon lawmakers say they plan to propose regulations on pharmacy benefit managers, following the lead of Congress and other states' Legislatures. Supporters of the regulations say the goal is to ensure the state's dwindling independent pharmacies have a better chance to stay in business.
(My Comment: The signing of Alaska’s new PBM law (HB 226) is scheduled for Sept 23.)
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Alaska Oil Resource Values
Alaska North Slope crude oil price (9/18/24): $74.73
FY24 budget (beginning 7/1) is fully funded at a
forecast of $73/barrel of oil.
Price on 9/30/23: $87.99
Price on 9/30/22: $86.91
Price on 6/29/22: $116.84
Price on 3/08/22: $125.44
Price on 12/22/21: $75.55
ANS production (9/17/24): 439,000 bpd
First look: Exxon, Mitsubishi link arms on hydrogen project. Axios
Mitsubishi Corp. is exploring an equity stake in Exxon's proposed Texas hydrogen and ammonia plant and would also be a customer under the brewing deal.
More Mahn Choh ore feeds Fort Knox mill. Mining News North
After receiving roughly $32 million of gold and silver in August from the first direct shipping ore processed under its hybrid royalty model, Contango Ore Inc. reports that Kinross Gold Corp. is processing the second batch of high-grade ore from Manh Choh through the mill at its Fort Knox Mine north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
(My comment: Often missed in the conversation is the positive impact of this gold’s value on the landholders, the Tetlin Tribe, who receives royalties and jobs for tribal members. Add to that the impact of the Fort Knox Mine facilities on reducing the cost Permanent Fund electricity for Fairbanks residents. Fort Knox is a major industrial consumer of electricity, which lowers residential electricity costs.)
U.S. electric power sector explores hydrogen cofiring at natural gas-fired plants. EIA
Natural gas is the single-largest source of energy used to generate electricity in the United States, making up 43% of electricity generation in 2023, but hydrogen use is not currently widespread or used regularly in the plants where it has been tested. The process of burning a blend of hydrogen with natural gas for electricity generation is known as cofiring. As the percentage of hydrogen by volume in the blend increases, the carbon dioxide emissions decrease, albeit at a slower rate because hydrogen is less energy dense than natural gas.
Report pitches Alaska gas line over imports as cheaper solution to looming energy challenges. ADN
Wood Mackenzie also reported that Cook Inlet gas production is expected to be depleted in the mid-2030s. “Relying on additional production from Cook Inlet is not considered a viable option to meet long-term demand,” the report says.
Precious Metal Prices
September 18, 2024
Gold - $2576.28
Silver - $30.52
Platinum - $990.50
Palladium - $1101.43
Rhodium - $4750.00
Alaska Permanent Fund
website
Fund value September 16, 2024 - $81,481,500,000
PFD payout from ERA, Fiscal years 1980-2023: $29.7 Billion
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Click here to see list of accomplishments from the 33rd Alaska State Legislature Senate Majority.
Click here to view my webpage. It has links to all previous newsletters.
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