SEPTEMBER 11, 2015  

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

If that chill in the air is any indication, it looks like summer is drawing to a close. I hope everyone had a great summer and got a chance to visit the Fair, and I hope you’re geared up for a lot of fun winter activities.

UAA Engineering & Industry Building

A ton of people showed up to watch the ribbon cutting for the Engineering and Industry building.

Thursday was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Engineering & Industry building at UAA. This building has been a long time coming and will do a lot to increase the number of homegrown engineering professionals.

The Alaska Department of Labor has forecasted that the state will need 120 engineering professionals annually through 2018. That accounts for 50 new positions and 70 more to replace retirees.
Alaska has truly unique engineering challenges, and I’m very excited that we’re going start producing a lot more engineers that will be able to tackle these problems with an insider’s knowledge of the Alaskan environment.

Here’s a good article on the building if you’d like to read more.

Medicaid Lawsuit

I recently joined my colleagues in the Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition and Alaska Senate Democrats in a letter asking the Legislative Council to drop the Medicaid expansion lawsuit.

Multiple legal opinions, including from the legislature’s own attorneys, have shown that Governor Walker has the legal authority to expand Medicaid in Alaska and provide healthcare to 40,000 Alaskans.

Two recent court rulings have also confirmed that the lawsuit lacks any legal merit. In this time of fiscal uncertainty, it’s a waste of money to keep trying to block Medicaid.

You can read the full content of the letter here, and read an article about the lawsuit here and a commentary piece here

Save the Date
Breath of Life Festival

Southcentral Foundation (SCF) will host the Our Breath of Life Festival, helping expand suicide awareness and prevention education, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sept. 8-16 at the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center lobby, located at 4320 Diplomacy Drive. The festival will conclude with the presentation of the play, The Winter Bear, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 and 19, at Alaska Pacific University’s Grant Hall, located at 4101 University Drive.

Sincerely,

Representative Geran Tarr