E-News No. 17
April 18, 2014

As your representative,
I am here to listen and to help. Please don't  hesitate to contact me.

Rep.Harriet.Drummond
@akleg.gov

IN JUNEAU
Mid-January to mid-April
(907) 465-3875
State Capitol Rm  112
Juneau, AK 99801

IN ANCHORAGE
May to December
(907) 269-0190
716 W. 4^th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501

Voice your opinions!
Here are some way to make sure your voice is heard:

Write a Letter to the Editor
It's the most read section of the newspaper. Submit up to 175 words to the Anchorage Daily News at www.adn.com

Contact the Governor
Governor Parnell's Office may be reached at 907-465-3500, or you can email him at sean.parnell@alaska.gov

You can also visit the state website at www.state.ak.us

Contact your
Congressional Delegation

Senator Mark Begich
www.begich.senate.gov
Anchorage Office
(907) 271-5915

Senator Lisa Murkowski www.murkowski.senate.gov
Anchorage Office
(907) 271-3735

Congressman Don Young
www.donyoung.house.gov
Anchorage Office
(907) 271-5978

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Minimum Wage Shenanigans

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Rep. Drummond (left) confers with caucus members during the floor vote on House Bill 384.

I want make you aware of a blatant political maneuver underway designed to take away your right to vote on a ballot initiative to increase the minimum wage.

This past year over 43,000 signatures were gathered around Alaska to put the question of raising the minimum wage to Alaska citizens on August’s primary ballot. Under Alaska’s constitution, a citizen’s initiative may be removed from the ballot if the Legislature passes substantially similar legislation before the next election.

This has happened before.

In 2002, with a minimum wage initiative on the ballot, the Legislature passed a similar bill, raising the minimum wage and removing the initiative from the ballot. The very next year, the next Legislature gutted the minimum wage law, something they would not have been able to do had the citizens’ initiative passed.

On April 4 of this year, the 74th day of the 90 day legislative session, the House Majority leadership introduced House Bill 384, which is similar to the voter approved initiative on the August 19 primary ballot. Its passage would once again remove the minimum wage initiative from the ballot.

While House Bill 384 claims to be a minimum wage bill, it is not. It is a bill to take the initiative  off the ballot. It’s as simple as that.

Even the Anchorage Daily News has called them out on this nonsense, calling the bill an “insult to intelligence.”

On April 13 all members of the House Minority joined with a few majority members to oppose the late introduction and tainted appearances surrounding this legislation. But House Bill 384 passed the State House by a razor thin margin of 21-19.

House Bill 384 has now been transmitted to the Alaska State Senate, where supporters of the citizen’s initiative have been working around the clock to oppose its passage in order to protect the public’s right to vote on this issue.

I encourage you to call or email your state Senator and tell them to oppose this cynical and insulting attack on the minimum wage and on Alaskan voters.  Pass the word on to your friends and neighbors.

You can learn who represents you in the Senate and how to contact them at the following link:

http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/

I hope to see you in Anchorage this weekend,

Harriet Drummond