I wanted to give you an update on the beginning of the second Special Session that is being held in Anchorage. The main focus will be the continued balanced budget discussion, education funding, Medicaid reform and expansion and Erin’s law. Here is my take on one of the strangest sessions I have had since being elected.
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As your Representative, I take very seriously that you have a right to be informed about what your government is doing. The Legislature has gone from the regular 90 day session into extended session and then into a special session in Juneau called by the Governor. It has now adjourned and called itself into a second special session in Anchorage.
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Below, and linked here, is an Op-Ed I ran today in the Alaska Dispatch on the status of Special Session. I’m working hard, and will offer a few words beyond what could fit in that Op-Ed, which I wrote in part to set the record straight on a few statements I’d seen in the paper by legislators who likely wrote in the heat of the moment. That’s understandable.
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Despite the governor’s call for the special session to take place in Juneau, the Speaker of the House has called House members to Anchorage on Thursday for a full floor session. It is unclear what this action means in terms of the special session coming to a close, or even the legality of the actions taken in Anchorage.
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ANCHORAGE – Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee passed a new version of a bill that includes Erin’s Law, which is a proven tool to prevent child sexual abuse. House Bill 44 also included language calling on public schools to teach students about how to prevent dating violence. The new version of the bill was amended by the Senate Education Committee, at the behest of Senator Mike Dunleavy (R-Wasilla), to bar organizations like Planned Parenthood from teaching students about sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases. It also requires school districts to get parental permission before students can take classes about human reproduction or sexual matters. The new version of House Bill 44 also eliminates requirements for schools to offer college readiness tests.
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