NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Save the Date for Politics and Pizza with Rep. Wool & Sen. Bishop

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Fellow Fairbanksans,

I am getting ready for the upcoming legislative session in January, and I want to hear your thoughts and ideas about the issues we'll be facing during that 90 days.  There's a few upcoming opportunities for you to make your voice heard:

On Sunday, December 6 from 2-4 PM I'm hosting Politics and Pizza with Senator Click Bishop at the Blue Loon (2999 Parks Highway).  I hope you'll join us for pizza and to talk about your priorities for Fairbanks.  It's our opportunity to hear from regular people and listen to your concerns and try to answer your questions.  There will lots of tough decisions to make in the upcoming session and it helps me to hear from as many people as possible. Sometimes legislators tend to hear from only a small circle of citizens and it's good to expand the circle as much as possible.

Save the Date for two more events coming up:  On Tuesday, December 15 from 4:30-6:30 PM the Fairbanks Legislative Information Office will be hosting the annual Holiday Open House, where you can come and visit with the Interior Delegation and enjoy refreshments.  Finally, on Thursday, January 7 from 5-7 PM, Representative Guttenberg and I will be hosting a constituent meeting (location TBD).  I'll send more information out on these two events soon.

Legislature Votes to Buyout TransCanada

In the third special session of the year, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly to buyout TransCanada's interest in the AK LNG natural gas pipeline project.  Even before reviewing many hours of testimony from experts, I was thinking that this was the right move for Alaska to make and after the testimony I was convinced.  I appreciate all of the feedback from my fellow Fairbanksans on this vote.  Perhaps more than anywhere else in the state, Fairbanksans understand how important it is to build a gasline and bring affordable gas to Alaskan homes.  I'm glad Alaska will have a 25% ownership in the entire project, this will help it to move forward.

Rep. Wool & Rep. Guttenberg speaking to a UAF political science class about the regulatory process.

Legislative Ethics Committee Looking for Public Members

The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics is looking for applicants to serve on the committee.  This committee is in charge of enforcing the legislative ethics laws and investigating complaints and potential violations.  The committee is made up of four legislators and five public members, and currently four public seats are up for appointment.  In order to keep this committee nonpartisan, the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court appoints the public members.  You can go here to learn more about how to apply.  This is a great opportunity to help play an important role in holding your government accountable.

Rep. Wool's 2015 Budget Survey

If you haven't had a chance to fill out my 2015 budget survey, please do so online at repadamwool.com/2015budgetsurvey.  This helps me better serve you in Juneau, and I appreciate all the responses that have already been submitted.  I'll be sending out the results of the survey in early January.

As always, please send me any thoughts, ideas, and concerns.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Representative Adam Wool