Juneau – Today, the Alaska Legislature passed House Bill 27 to make significant reforms to help improve the lives of foster youth in Alaska. The bill, sponsored by Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage), includes provisions to get youth into stable, permanent, loving homes and out of foster care, where youth often bounce between a dozen or more homes.
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Juneau – As the Second Session of the 29th Alaska Legislature reaches the constitutionally mandated end of session, lawmakers and advocates for a healthy K-12 public education system are reeling from a surprise cut to public education. On Tuesday night, the House and Senate Operating Budget Conference Committee slipped a $50 cut to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) into the proposed FY 2017 budget in violation of funding promised by state law.
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Juneau – Tonight, the House Finance Committee passed out House Bill 247 sponsored by Alaska Governor Bill Walker. The version of the bill approved by the committee is substantially different than the version of the bill put forward by Governor Walker. The new version of the bill includes less than half of the savings anticipated in the original bill.
Read More →April 5, 2016 - Participants include AIDC Leader Rep. Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage), House Finance Committee member Rep. Les Gara (D-Anchorage), and House Health and Social Services Committee member Rep. Adam Wool (D-Fairbanks)
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Juneau — The Alaska Legislature’s legal department has confirmed that the Senate Finance Committee bill to end the Alaska Performance Scholarship program also ends the Alaska Education Grant program, which offers needs-based financial aid for college and job training. House Finance Committee member Rep. Les Gara (D-Anchorage) worked to help start a two year needs-based aid effort several years before the current aid plan was passed.
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