Rep. Petersen’s Report from the Capitol: Special Session Continues: Senior Benefits, Regulatory Commission Extended

Today is the fifth day of the special session, and it is getting to feel pretty weird here in Juneau. My Capitol office is bare, since almost everything in it has been boxed up and is being shipped to Anchorage. I am really anxious to go home, but I am going to stay here in Juneau as long as it takes to get the job done. The House and Senate Finance Committees are still at an impasse over the operating and capital budgets, but we have been able to pass some important bills in the last week.

Rep. Petersen’s Report from the Capitol: Session Adjourns, Special Session Starts On Monday; Computer Privacy Law Passes;

Tonight the Legislature voted to adjourn, despite the disagreements between the House and Senate Finance Committees over the operating and capital budgets. I voted to adjourn, because I believe it is important to honor the 90 session law passed by the voters. But this is not an end to this year’s legislating, and we will be starting a special session on Monday to complete the budget and address other important unfinished business.

Crime Bill Updates Computer Hacking Protections

Common hacking method, keystroke logging, made illegal

JUNEAU - Tonight, the Alaska Legislature made keystroke logging, a common computer hacking method, illegal when it passed its version of Governor Sean Parnell’s omnibus legislation to update Alaska’s criminal statutes.

Legislature Requests TSA Hearings in Alaska

Air travel, airport procedures of upmost importance to Alaskans

JUNEAU – Today, fifty-nine of sixty members of the Alaska Legislature sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs requesting hearings be held in Alaska on the often invasive procedures used by the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA).

“Alaskans depend on air travel more than most other Americans,” said Rep. Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage) who drafted the letter and gathered signatures from his colleagues in the State House. “The committee needs to hear from Alaskans about our unique concerns.”

Rep. Petersen’s Report from the Capitol: Garbage to Energy and Education Bills Considered in Committees; Getting Children with Autism the Treatment they Need;

We have eight days left in the legislative session, and I am hard at work to make sure your voice is heard in Juneau.

Using Garbage to Make Electricity

This week the House Energy Committee heard my resolution, HCR 10, to encourage the development of waste-to-energy technology in Alaska. Across the world, and in 24 states, this technology is used to burn garbage to make electricity. The remarkable thing about this technology is that modern waste-to-energy facilities actually produce fewer emissions than would be created from the garbage decomposing in a landfill.

Legislature Designates November Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Rep. Petersen’s resolution will raise awareness of deadly disease

JUNEAU – Today, the Alaska Legislature passed a resolution naming November 2011 Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Rep. Pete Petersen introduced the legislation to raise awareness of the deadly disease after a constituent told him of her father’s difficult battle with pancreatic cancer and the relative lack of research and attention the disease gets.

Democrats Offer Oil Solution that Gets for Every Give

Proposal would set development and production benchmarks, help those who reach them

JUNEAU – Today, Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) filed the Alaska Oil Production Enhancement Act designed to set production and development benchmarks and provide incentives for industry to meet them. The bill would extend the successful Cook Inlet exploration credits to the North Slope, add tax credits for developing new facilities to get oil from the well into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, and provide new credits that only apply to development work done that is more than what a company did the previous year.

[video] Rep. Petersen: School funding needs to keep up with inflation

Rep. Petersen: School funding needs to keep up with inflation

Committee Hears Waste-to-Energy Resolution

Turning local garbage into energy could be common sense solution for Alaska communities

JUNEAU – Today, the House Special Committee on Energy heard a resolution urging support for turning garbage into energy. According to the resolution (HCR 10), waste-to-energy technologies using municipal solid waste have been successfully used around the world and in at least 24 states in the United States to produce energy and reduce landfills.

Rep. Petersen’s Report from the Capitol: Anchorage Caucus Meeting Saturday; Computer Privacy, Pancreatic Cancer Bills on the Move

I hope you will be able to make it to the Anchorage Caucus meeting tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 am in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library. I will be chairing the meeting, and it will be a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts and concerns with all the legislators from Anchorage area districts. At the last meeting we had a lot of invited testimony, but this meeting will focus on hearing from the public. This will be a great opportunity to make your voice known on local road and school issues, as well as statewide issues like the proposed Susitna/ Watana hydroelectric project or the governor’s oil tax bill.