NEWS: Lawmakers Applaud Today’s Superior Court Decision to Dismiss Ill-Advised Lawsuit Over Medicaid Expansion in Alaska
Juneau - Today, Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner issued a ruling in the case brought by the Alaska Legislative Council against Alaska Governor Bill Walker over his decision last year to expand Medicaid without legislative approval. Judge Pfiffner found that the Social Security Act requires Medicaid expansion, and that existing state law required Governor Walker to provide Medicaid to the group of Alaskans eligible for expansion. In his 26-page ruling, Judge Pfiffner granted the Governor’s motion for summary judgement and dismissed the case brought by the Alaska Legislative Council, which is made up of ten members of the Alaska Legislature.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Part 2 of 2: Facts Matter & Upcoming Public Testimony To Legislators
Yesterday I gave you a quick heads up about tomorrow’s chance to testify before your Anchorage legislators, and on next week’s public testimony on the House version of the Operating Budget. The legislature writes the budget in old style Aramaic. So I thought I’d decipher a few things you might be interested in.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Part 1 of 2: Public Testimony Coming Soon
I’m a little frazzled from having way less fun than you might think legislators have (prompt: eye roll because you all work hard too!). But I wanted to get you some information between hearings and meetings, and well, work.
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VIDEO: Press Availability Feb. 23, 2016
Video from AIDC’s February 23rd, 2016 Press Availability with Representatives Les Gara, Scott Kawasaki, Chris Tuck and David Guttenberg.
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NEWS: New Analysis Shows Current Oil Tax System Vastly Shortchanges Alaskans
Juneau – Today, Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) released an analysis of Alaska’s current oil tax system by the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division. The analysis shows that Alaskans are being vastly shortchanged by the current oil tax system.
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Note from Rep. Gara: Citizen Max – Tribute To A Friend
I am writing this between tears today. Yesterday Alaska lost a statesman. Many of us lost a good friend. I’ve served with Max Gruenberg my whole career in the legislature. I got to know a man who – despite how some in the press who didn’t know Max might describe him (they saw that he fixed a lot of bills with amendments) – was a passionate, funny husband and father who cared deeply about others. He cared deeply about giving people born with little a chance in this world a fair shake. He cared deeply about fairness.
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