Rep. Josephson’s Newsletter: A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
April 16, 2014
The past week has likely been the most interesting I have experienced during my time serving in the Alaska Legislature. In my last newsletter I wrote about a bill that did too much bad and not enough good for public education. Voting against the bill was extremely challenging. House Bill 278 included a slight increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA), but it was far from fully funding public education and included too many ill-advised changes, like allowing public dollars to go to private schools and creating an unfair teacher tenure system. Taken together, the bad outweighed the good, which led to my “No” vote.
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Rep. Kawasaki’s Juneau Note: Final Week - Important Bills Still on the Table!
April 14, 2014
Here we are: The final week of the Twenty-eighth Alaska State Legislature has arrived. While there are only six days left, we still have numerous bills that are moving toward passage. As always, I will stand up and ask the most important question: how it will impact the lives of everyday Fairbanksans.
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Rep. Sam Kito III’s Newsletter: Less Than Ten Days to Go
April 11, 2014
The pace here in the Legislature has picked up considerably with only a little over a week to go. With the passage of the operating budget from both houses, and establishment of the operating budget Conference Committee, we are now under the 24 hour rule which means committees can schedule bill hearings with 24 hour notice. We have also started having floor sessions into the evening, working our way through bills and resolutions. Some major pieces of the “end game” are in play including the capital budget, the education bill and the natural gas pipleline bill. There is still some question about whether we will be able to complete our work before the statutory session deadline of April 20th.
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Rep. Josephson’s Newsletter: Too Little, Too Late
April 11, 2014
Working late into the night Monday, the House had its long awaited debate on the education bill, House Bill 278. In January, the Governor introduced an omnibus education bill and deemed this session the “education session.” At the time, I did not believe the bill did enough for our public education system. After Monday night, I continue to believe we have not done enough for our children, teachers, and schools.
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Rep. Tarr’s Newsletter: The Education Session
April 10, 2014
This week, my colleagues and I in the Alaska House worked late into the night to provide opportunities to our children by offering fixes to House Bill 278, the omnibus education bill, the major legislation of the year pertaining to our public education system.
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