Representative Chris Tuck

Representative
Chris Tuck

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May 21, 2015

Special Session – The Straight Scoop

Dear Neighbors,

As your Representative, I take very seriously that you have a right to be informed about what your government is doing. The Legislature has gone from the regular 90 day session into extended session and then into a special session in Juneau called by the Governor. It has now adjourned and called itself into a second special session in Anchorage.

Above: Rep. Chris Tuck leads a press conference to detail the efforts of the House Independent Democratic Coalition to negotiate a solution to the special session which will serve the demands of Alaskans.

I know this is all very confusing, and it quite frankly is designed to be this way by the Republican Majority (no offence to my many wonderful Republican friends and neighbors) who control the agenda and are attempting to mislead the public.

I suspect things will continue to change faster than I will be able to keep you updated about in a detailed manner, but regardless of whatever cynical trickery occurs, the basic facts of the situation will not change. I and the other members of the House Independent Democratic Coalition are fighting for three things:

A reduced budget that protects promised school funding and poverty stricken senior citizens, and pays for it by reducing hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to multinational oil corporations.
Passage of Erin’s Law, which will implement age appropriate sexual assault awareness training in our schools, and has been proven to give children the tools they need to understand and seek help when they are in danger of being victimized.
Passage of Governor Walker’s plan to expand Medicaid to 40,000 Alaskans at no cost to the state. This would create 4,000 new jobs, save the state millions, and bring billions of dollars in increased economic activity to our state. We have already paid for this with our federal tax dollars.

The facts are that the Republican led majority is blocking these right actions out of pure politics. They have accused our coalition of being unwilling to negotiate, but in reality they have refused to talk with us or accept any offer other than to completely give up on all of these points, which are overwhelmingly supported by a majority of the Alaskan people.

Today I published an Opinion Editorial which details the efforts our coalition has made to reach out to the Republican Majority and find a bipartisan solution which cuts the budget but protects our most vulnerable citizens. I hope you will take a moment to read it at the following link:

http://www.adn.com/article/20150521/heres-truth-democrats-budget-cuts-more-gops-and-helps-alaskans

All we ask for is that the Legislature hold a public vote on our plan. After that, if the majority is willing to publicly deny the will of the Alaskan people, then we will have done all that we can possibly do.

As always, I’m here for you, so please keep in touch on matters important to you and your family!

Warm regards,

      Chris Tuck
      Alaska State Representative
      District 23 - Anchorage

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