Fixing The Broken
Living in Alaska is a privilege—though it comes with costs. Mail comes late, morning exercise has involved a snow shovel almost every day this year, and we have to keep the garbage away from bears. The inconveniences are more than worth it, but sometimes we experience a true natural disaster. Avalanches, landslides, and floods are a tragic fact of life.
Another unfortunate fact is that we don’t do enough to support Alaskans they harm.
Under current law, Alaskans who survive a disaster can get a mere $21,000 from the state to cover their costs. That seldom meets their needs.
And thanks to some old language in the law, a person who is part of a condo association can’t use that relief to pay for condo-wide damage. So if the condo’s foundation needs repair, as happened on the Mendenhall River last summer, owners can't use state help to fix it.
But they could use it to replace their personal furniture. I'm not sure that's the priority.
I’ll soon introduce a bill to increase the state relief amount to $50,000. With a tie to federal program, that will later rise with inflation. My bill will also give Alaskans who own a condo the flexibility to pay off condo-wide disaster expenses with that money. It’s the least we can do for our neighbors impacted by the worst the Last Frontier dishes out.
