Greetings from the legislature: Spring is just around the corner and there are just 25 days to go before this 90 day session adjourns.

Come Talk to Me on March 27th!

Let’s talk – I need your input!
What: Meet & Greet with Constituents
When: 5:30pm, Thursday, March 27th
Where: Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 9161 Cinema Drive. I’d like to meet with you to discuss issues of importance to you – we’ll have pizza and beverages to share! See you there!!

Still Fighting the Capital Move

We are still fighting proposals to move either the Capital or “just the Legislature.” The most recent bill, HB54 by Representative Neuman (MatSu), proposes that communities put in proposals to build a new legislative hall –He presents the bill as an economic development opportunity for communities to “compete with a private developer in MatSu who is offering 1000 acres of land and a proposal to develop it.” This bill passed State Affairs and is now in Finance. Here are some of the issues:

• First: Only communities that have large tracts of land would qualify, since developers have to build the building and then lease it to the legislature for ONE dollar, which means they have to offset costs in other ways, such as surrounding development.
• Second: Municipalities would submit proposals, which mean that most would have to bond in an election for funds to build the facility, unless a tract of land and private developer was already available and willing to build the hall.
• Third: The bill repeals the FRANK amendment, which requires full disclosure of the costs involved.
• Fourth: The Legislative Council (mostly Central Alaska legislators) will make the decision on which proposal to choose. While the legislature would have to approve their decision, the legislature would not be permitted to evaluate or choose between proposals. There are no boundaries on how they would decide or choose proposals – if one community had to bond and another had the land, the second could be chosen just for convenience.

Capital Creep

On a related issue, we had a hearing Saturday on my bill (co-sponsored by Rep. Kerttula), HB374, which would require 30-day notification to the public and legislature before any state job position is transferred from one area of the state to another. We felt it was important aspect of the public right to know. The administration testified against this bill stating the request intrudes on executive powers; I disagree with this assessment. The bill is still being held in House State Affairs committee.

Budgets

As you know the Senate and the House are compiling the Supplemental budget (SB256), the Operating budget (HB310), and the Capital budget (HB311). Many important community projects were vetoed by the Governor last year and have been put back into this year’s Supplemental Budget. ($70 million). It is too soon to tell whether these additions will survive the anticipated Governors veto. There is common agreement across the aisle to save our surplus for what most people agree will be lean years ahead.

Support for State Employees

Thank you to our hard working state employees! I’m happy to say that a significant item in the supplemental budget we passed this week includes funding for collective bargaining agreements that were negotiated by the administration for the General Government Unit (GGU) and Supervisory Unit (SU). This funding pays for a negotiated salary increase that is retroactive to July 1st of 2007. I was very pleased to support this important legislation for our hardworking state employees to you help keep up with the increases in cost of living.

Protecting Our Youth on the Internet

I am also happy to report that House Judiciary passed out a bill that I co-sponsored with Rep. Buch, HB278, which would require sex offenders who have to register with the state to also provide all their email addresses and online names at websites such as MySpace. Alaska has the highest per capita rate use of the internet in the country. I believe it is vital to protect our youth from predators, and changing technology and internet access has made our youth much more vulnerable. On that same note, I was glad to see information on Internet safety in Floyd Dryden’s March newsletter. I’ve passed it on along with some other tips from the FBI for others to use:

Internet Safety Tips:

Keep the computer in a family area to better monitor Internet activity. Kids will be less likely to engage in inappropriate activity and more likely to ask for help if something happens.

Teach your children to NEVER give out personal information. This includes name, age, home address, phone numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, and user names.

Opposition to Real ID

Yet another issue from this past week was a hearing on a resolution I co-sponsored (HJR19) to encourage the federal government to repeal the Real ID Act of 2005. Although it is very important to have valid and reliable identification, I believe this legislation goes too far in creating a national ID card and adversely affecting Alaskans. If implemented as directed by the federal government, individuals without compliant identification would be restricted from traveling on aircraft even within the United States. That’s obviously a huge issue for Alaskans and for Juneau, so I’ll continue to push this issue. The resolution is headed to the House floor for a vote in the next few days.

Empire Story About "Ferry vs. Road" (March 13th)

I, along with the rest of the Juneau delegation, chose not to sign the letter to the Co-Chairs of the Finance Committee that would have taken all funds from the road and put them into a fund for the ferry. The ferry system is a necessity for southeast but we as a community cannot close off alternative access. The Juneau access road project is impacted by the level of support from Governor Palin as well as the recent increased cost estimate released by DOT. I cannot support road vs. ferry perspectives. We as a state must view them collectively.

Address by Senator Murkowski

Today Senator Lisa Murkowski addressed the House of Representatives and the Joint Armed Services Committee on issues regarding veterans, future oil prospects, and other issues. One great piece of news for Juneau is that the Veterans Administration is planning to open a Community Based Outreach Clinic (CBOC) this summer to serve veterans in Juneau and Southeast Alaska.

Alaska Youth for the Environment

This week Alaska Youth for the Environment had their annual summit in Juneau with over 20 high school youth visiting from around the state. I spoke on a panel (pictured) and had the honor of receiving an award from them for our efforts to support a reduction in pollution from plastics, which have a particularly heavy impact on our marine environment.

Pizza Night Reminder

Don’t forget to come on out to share pizza and talk with me next Thursday, March 27th, at Aldersgate United Methodist Church on 9161 Cinema Drive! See you there!

My contact information is listed below and I welcome and encourage you to contact me or visit my office anytime.

Here’s to daffodils and spring sunshine!
Sincerely yours,