NEWS: Lawmakers Applaud Today’s Superior Court Decision to Dismiss Ill-Advised Lawsuit Over Medicaid Expansion in Alaska
Juneau - Today, Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner issued a ruling in the case brought by the Alaska Legislative Council against Alaska Governor Bill Walker over his decision last year to expand Medicaid without legislative approval. Judge Pfiffner found that the Social Security Act requires Medicaid expansion, and that existing state law required Governor Walker to provide Medicaid to the group of Alaskans eligible for expansion. In his 26-page ruling, Judge Pfiffner granted the Governor’s motion for summary judgement and dismissed the case brought by the Alaska Legislative Council, which is made up of ten members of the Alaska Legislature.
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NEWS: Reps. Kawasaki and Tuck Propose the Creation of the State Bank of Alaska
Juneau – Representatives Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks) and Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage) have filed legislation to create a state bank as a public corporation of the State of Alaska. The Bank of Alaska would create new avenues for long-term economic growth by granting loans to Alaskan-owned businesses and emerging industries.
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NEWS: New Bill Encourages the Transfer of State Land into the Private Sector
Juneau – Representative Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks) introduced a bill in the Alaska House of Representatives last week to allow Alaskans to stake out their own parcels of remote state land for cabins.
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NEWS: Legislation Introduced to Give LGBT Spouses and Parents Equal Rights in Alaska
Juneau – Today, Representative Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage) introduced House Bill 342, which seeks to make Alaska statutes conform to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized marriage as a right regardless of gender.
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NEWS: Rep. Wool Introduces Bill to Protect Alaskans from Predatory Insurance Company Practices
Juneau – Today, Representative Adam Wool (D-Fairbanks) introduced consumer protection legislation to prohibit insurance companies from raising rates or denying coverage based on credit scores without the customer’s permission. Currently, insurance companies are allowed to use credit scores to decide whether to cover someone and to set the initial rates. However, without the customer’s permission they cannot consider credit scores when renewing an existing policy. House Bill 367 would prevent Alaskans from being denied insurance coverage based on credit scores and would require the customer to give permission for credit scores to be used to calculate prices.
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