Fairbanks: Budget, Work zone Awareness, Bills and More!

April 19, 2023

Dear Neighbors,

The House passed the operating budget to the Senate on Monday. Now, with only 27 days left in session things are starting to kick up, bills are moving in both bodies leading to some great opportunities for public testimony. To learn more about the Budget, Work Zone Awareness Week, Bills on the move and a Pop-Up Health Clinic continue reading!

A Budget...but...

The House version of the budget passed the House Floor today by a vote of 23 to 17 with the Republican Majority supporting it and most of the Democratic Minority in opposition to the priorities. The major highlights of the bill are as follows:

The Budget passed the house with a 50/50 PFD.
$175 million will be allocated to additional education funding for FY24 only.
$1 million is going towards funding for public radio.
$400 Thousand to a program that distributes grants to 86 libraries across the state.

Here is what happens next over the remaining 30 days. The House version of the operating budget will come to the Senate for consideration, amendments and resetting priorities. The Senate will take its version of the operating budget and ‘mash up’ (an apt description of what happens) with some of the House budget priorities. It will then be passed by the Senate and then differences will be negotiated between budget leaders in the House and Senate for the remainder of the session. The budget balancing act is far from over and the public still has many opportunities to testify, provide input and information and put their mark on the state budget.

Work Zone Awareness Week

The Senator in front of Road Work

Yesterday kicked off Work Zone Safety Awareness Week! The annual spring campaign signifies the start of construction season and encourages safe driving through highway work zones. The key message is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones.

In 2018 I introduced and passed HB 204. The bill requires approaching traffic to move over into another lane, or slows down when it cannot while approaching a vehicle that is performing road service work while displaying flashing lights. I introduced this bill in the hopes of decreasing the number of work zone injuries due to drivers.

Go Orange Day will be this Wednesday April 19^th, Social Media Storm will be on Thursday, and on Friday there will be a Moment of Silence as a tribute to the people who lost their lives in a work zone accident. To find out more about the events and other resources click here.

Community Health Aide Appreciation Day

My House companion bill HB 78, the Community Health Aide Appreciation Day bill has passed the Senate! September 10^th will now be known as Community Health Aide Appreciation Day in the state of Alaska Community Health Aides are incredibly important and unique to Alaska and the health care continuum certainly deserving the day of recognition.

Congratulations to freshman Representative CJ McCormick and everyone who worked hard to get my bill passed this year. A clip of my floor speech is below and can also be found here.

House E-Bike Bill

My Fairbanksan Colleague Representative Ashley Carrick’s bill has passed over to the Senate! House Bill 8 which is the House version of my Senate Bill 62 will be heard in tandem at Thursday’s Senate State Affairs meeting. The meeting will be open to public testimony and will be streamed live here on Thursday.

The numbers for calling in are below. I’m excited to hear your input!

From Juneau: 907-586-9085

From Anchorage: 907-563-9085

All other callers; Toll Free: 844-586-9085

HB 99, SB 108

My Democratic Colleague in the House, Representative Armstrong’s HB 99 has moved from the Labor and Commerce Committee to Community and Regional Affairs. Throughout the many hearings this bill has had, the public testimony has been amazing, thank you to everyone who has called in or written testimony for the committees. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what is right.

My office has received hundreds of emails as well as letters supporting both these bills. I am very grateful for the community engagement and hope that the momentum keeps up. Keep an eye out for more updates from these two bills.

The Mountain View Lions Club and Remote Area Medical are partnering to offer a free pop-up clinic at Ryan Middle School (1450 Cowles St, Fairbanks, AK 99701) from April 22 at 6am until April 23 at 2pm. Remote Area Medical is providing a tractor trailer of medical equipment and supplies, expert administrative and volunteer coordination, a pool of volunteer medical professionals, and is ensuring full logistical support for the pop-up clinics at no cost to Alaskans.

The two-day event will provide hundreds of Alaskans with free, proactive health care services (dental, vision, mental, medical) so they can get help now with undiagnosed, debilitating, or life-threatening health issues, regardless of ability to pay. With a current glasses’ prescription, you can get free glasses made with the lens lab on site. Patient parking is offered at the Ryan Middle School parking lot, where people can start lining up in the parking spots on Friday evening. View the event link for more details.

My Staff and I are Here for You

As always, I and my staff are are still working for you. Feel free to contact my office and we will assist you with issues important to you and your family.

Working Hard for Fairbanks Families,