Senator Guess’s Bill To Protect Alaskans’ Privacy
Passes Senate State Affairs

Senate Bill 284, introduced by Senator Gretchen Guess (D-Anchorage) will protect Alaskans’ privacy rights. A survivor of domestic violence brought attention to the fact that the list of PFD applicants and their addresses are currently public information. Although this appears benign on the surface, to victims of violent crime, disclosing their mailing address can be a terrifying and potentially life-threatening mistake. Senate Bill 284 would allow a Permanent Fund Dividend applicant to check a box to keep the information disclosed on their form private, except in cases where disclosure of such information is required by the state or federal government.

Senate Bill 284 [sponsor statement] now moves to the Senate Finance Committee.

Representative Kapsner’s Bill To Help Students and Teachers
Passes the House Education Committee

House Bill 353, sponsored by Representative Mary Kapsner (D-Bethel), provides an exemption from jury duty for teachers in schools that have failed to meet adequate yearly progress under state and federal law. The role of the classroom teacher has taken on new importance in recent years with the passage of state and federal laws aimed at accountability in education. Jury duty can be lengthy, resulting in a significant impact on classroom learning. When a teacher is absent from the classroom the flow of learning is affected. In many small communities in Alaska, qualified substitute teachers are simply not available, and the person placed in charge of the classroom may be an aide pulled from other responsibilities or an individual who holds a high school diploma. Moreover, ratio of scale in small communities creates an additional burden on the school.

Although jury duty is an important civic responsibility and part of the foundation of our legal system exemptions are appropriate under certain circumstances. House Bill 353 limits its impact by exempting only those teachers whose school has failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress. In a time of so many educational mandates and with a lack of available educational resources in some areas of the state this is a reasonable solution to the problem.

House Bill 353 [sponsor statement] now moves to the House Health Education and Social Services Committee.

Ellis wants accurate vote count

Senate Bill 296, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Johnny Ellis (D-Anchorage), will assure all Alaskan voters that their votes will be accurately counted by requiring an auditable paper trail for electronic voting.

Senate Bill 296 will be heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Thursday February 19th at 3:30 pm.

Upcoming Events-

Thursday, February 19th - Senator Johnny Ellis (D-Anchorage) will speak at the Bill Egan Forum at the Baranof Hotel (Juneau) beginning at noon. The title of the talk is “Conference of Alaskans: Triumph or Tragedy.”

Friday, February 20th - The House and Senate Democrats will hold a Joint Open Caucus titled, “The Brain Drain: A Discussion of Why Many Young Alaskans Leave the State and Don’t Come Back Home to Live and Work” with UA President Mark Hamilton, Alaska Commission on Post-secondary Education Director Diane Barrans and Juneau Douglas High School student and legislative intern Elizabeth Schoenfeld.

Tuesday, February 24th - The next meeting of the Joint Legislative Health Caucus will take place from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Butrovich/Fahrenkamp room. The subject of the meeting will be "The Big View of Individual Seniors and Their Health Care." Statewide teleconferencing will be available. For more information, contact Representative Sharon Cissna's office at 465-3875.

Putting Alaskans First - Moving Alaska Forward