Juneau – Today, the Alaska House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 61 to honor those veterans who have demonstrated valor in combat while in the line of duty. Current law leaves out license plate designations for most of the important “valor in combat” medals.
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Last week the Senate passed additional major cuts to public school teachers, job counselors and education staff. Last year I and others tried to amend a three-year “education” plan that required educator cuts in many districts, and that was made worse last month when the Republican-led House Majority passed a budget deleting $32 million in promised education funds. Things got worse Friday when the Republican-led Senate hit schools with yet an additional $47 million in cuts. I believe in smart budget cuts, but not cuts with a bludgeon, or cuts that harm educational opportunity for the next generation.
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JUNEAU— Thursday, the House Health and Social Services Committee passed House Bill 27 sponsored by Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage). The bill seeks to improve the lives of foster youth in Alaska by getting them into permanent loving homes, so they don’t keep suffering damage and neglect caused by bouncing between multiple temporary foster homes and schools. Rep. Gara thanks the members of the Health and Social Services Committee for their work on the bill.
Read More →March 31, 2015 Juneau - Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, hold a press conference about emergency legislation to help address Alaska’s fiscal crisis.
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JUNEAU— In the next fiscal year, the State of Alaska will be required to pay out $700 million in oil company tax credits while the state is projected to only take in $300 million in production taxes. That will result in a net loss of $400 million to the public. Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) and Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) have sponsored legislation to protect Alaska in times of depressed oil prices by adjusting the current production tax floor from 4% to 12.5%.
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