March

03-02-98

1. Committee Chairman, Representative Scott Ogan, reflects upon hearings his Resources Committee is holding on proposed subsistence legislation. The House Resources Committee took over five hours of public testimony Saturday, February 28th. During a statewide teleconference hearing dozens of Alaskans from every corner of the state testified on House Bill 406: Subsistence Users of Fish and Game.
   
   "This hearing was a good first step on the road toward reaching a consensus on subsistence," said Representative Ogan. "We're certainly willing to look at the concerns Alaskans, especially rural Alaskans, have about the bill."
   = Scott Ogan, 64 K
2. Representative Norman Rokeberg, talks about his legislation that passed the House Monday on a 36 to 0 vote. The Alaska Real Estate Commission would have the power to license professional real estate community association managers. The measure makes other changes to Alaska real estate law. Among those changes is a prohibition against unlicensed activity by so-called "marketing kickback" corporations. It also clarifies that the property disclosure statement for every residential real estate sale will include a notice on the availability of information regarding sex offenders in the neighborhood.
   = Norman Rokeberg, 102 K
3. Senator Dave Donley comments on his SB 117, which passed the House Monday. The measure adds infant care instruction to the list of subjects allowed in state law for each school district to include in its health education curriculum.
   = Dave Donley, 56 K
4. Senator Dave Donley, further comments: "By giving young Alaskans basic infant care skills, my hope is they are better prepared to become parents later in life. Making this small change in state law will be worthwhile if the life of even one child is saved."
   = Dave Donley, 33 K
5. Senator Robin Taylor, comments upon a recent court ruling invalidating Alaska's marriage statute that defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman.
   = Robin Taylor, 110 K
6. Senator Loren Leman, further reflects upon last week's court decision in Brause and Dugan v. State of Alaska. The Senate Health, Education, and Social Services (HESS) Committee today introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. "The court ignored several millennia of legal traditions and public opinion when it struck down Alaska’s 1996 law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman," stated Senator Loren Leman (R-Anchorage), who serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate HESS Committee. "Voters should have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment, to restore the definition of marriage understood and supported by a strong majority of Alaskans."
   = Loren Leman, 91 K

03-03-98

1. Senator Dave Donley comments on his SR 1, which passed the Senate Tuesday. This legislation requests compensation of holocaust victims by the Swiss government and banking industry. Senate Resolution 1 will now be sent to Alaska’s Congressional Delegation, the United States State Department, and the Swiss Government.
   = Dave Donley, 57 K

03-04-98

1. Senate President, Senator Mike Miller, talks about his SCR 22, which passed the Senate Wednesday on a unanimous vote. The measure encourages all Alaska citizens to develop Kids Voting programs in their communities, to participate in elections, and to become actively involved in the Kid Vote programs to help develop an involved and informed electorate.
   = Mike Miller, 47 K

03-05-98

1. Senator Jerry Mackie, talks about his resolution that supports S. 1221, authored by U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, called the "American Fisheries Act". The Senate voted 19-1 to support SJR 33 Thursday. The measure urges Congress to pass legislation that would restrict foreign owned factory trawlers from fishing within the nation’s 200 mile off shore zone.
   = Jerry Mackie, 27 K
2. Representative Scott Ogan discusses House Bill 406, which passed out of the House Resources Committee Thursday evening. HB 406 is the subsistence bill. This measure calls for an advisory vote on subsistence for the August primary election and makes implementation of the law contingent on Congress changing ANILCA to conform. HB 406 moves next to the House Judiciary Committee.
   = Scott Ogan, 74 K
3. Chairman, Representative Con Bunde discusses a hearing held before his House Health, Education, and Social Services Committee Thursday. Officials from the Knowles Administration appeared to offer testimony on behalf of House Bill 375, the Administration's "Crimes Against Children" Bill. Rep. Bunde is trying to determine if problems in the Division of Youth and Family Services can be cured by management changes or whether other remedies are required.
   = Con Bunde, 76 K

03-06-98

1. Representative Bill Hudson talks about the Forest Practices Act that passed the House Friday. The measure amends the current law to strengthen stream and water quality protections.
   = Bill Hudson, 50 K
2. Representative Ivan Ivan, Chairman of the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee discusses recent hearings his Committee has been holding rural - state relationships. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 9th at 8:00 am in Room 124 of the State Capitol building.
   = Ivan Ivan, 127 K
3. Representative Ivan comments in Yupik.
   = Ivan Ivan, 37 K
4. Representative Eldon Mulder comments on the passage of his legislation, HB 53, that encourages and authorizes the Dept of Corrections to enter into a contract with the City of Delta Junciton to use the deactivated Fort Greely facilities for a prison.
   = Eldon Mulder, 42 K
5. Senator Jerry Mackie, comments upon legislation of his that passed the Senate Friday. SJR 38 urges the United States Government to apologize for a naval attack on the village of Angoon in the early territorial history of Alaska.
   = Jerry Mackie, 28 K
6. Senate Finance Co-Chair, Senator Bert Sharp, discusses gaming legislation sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee.
   = Bert Sharp, 108 K

03-09-98

1. House Speaker, Representative Gail Phillips, talks about an upcoming Revenue Summit to be held March 10 to gather information relating to short term and long term oil revenue projections for Alaska. The meeting will be held in the Senate Finance Committee room 532 from 9 to 11 am.
   = Gail Phillips, 74 K
2. Senator Loren Leman comments on the unanimous passage of his SJR 40 from the Senate Monday. This resolution expresses the Alaska Legislature's opposition to a proposed fisheries management fee included in President Clinton's FY 99 budget.
   = Loren Leman, 106 K
3. Senator Robin Taylor talks about the Senate's unanimous passage of his resolution supporting the federal Reading Excellence Act. This act provides federal funding to improve reading skills.
   = Robin Taylor, 55 K
4. Senate Finance Committee Member, Senator Sean Parnell, discusses his support for the passage of SB 36 from Committee. SB 36 is the Foundation Formula rewrite that will restructure how Alaska funds its K-12 education system statewide.
   = Sean Parnell, 34 K
5. Senate Finance Committee Member, Senator Dave Donley also discusses his support for SB 36.
   = Dave Donley, 9 K

03-10-98

1. House Finance Co-Chair, Representative Gene Therriault, comments upon near term and long term world market oil price predictions in Tuesday's Revenue Summit.
   = Gene Therriault, 26 K
2. House Finance Co-Chair, Representative Mark Hanley, also comments on Tuesday's Revenue Summit findings.
   = Mark Hanley, 20 K
3. House Speaker, Representative Gail Phillips, explains that Alaska's Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund (Alaska's rainy day savings account) will be completely gone within 2 or 3 years if the Governor's current levels of spending are maintained.
   = Gail Phillips, 99 K
4. Senate Finance Co-Chair, Senator Drue Pearce, talks about recent North Slope Crude Oil world market prices and their impact on Alaska's CBR fund and the Governor's current levels of spending.
   = Drue Pearce, 151 K
5. Senate President, Senator Mike Miller, also comments on Tuesday's Revenue Summit world oil market price predictions.
   = Mike Miller, 80 K

03-11-98

1. Senator Gary Wilken discusses the Foundation Formula rewrite. This measure passed out of the Senate Wednesday.
   = Gary Wilken, 19 K
2. Senator John Torgerson comments on the Foundation Formula rewrite.
   = John Torgerson, 23 K
3. Senator Randy Phillips, sponsor of SB 36, also talks about the Foundation Formula rewrite.
   = Randy Phillips, 77 K
4. House HESS Committee Chairman, Representative Con Bunde, comments upon legislation (HB 459) that passed out of his committee Wednesday. The measure allows more Alaskans to continue to work even as they receive Medicaid benefits for their injuries.
   = Con Bunde, 32 K
5. Chairman Bunde talks about legislation sponsored by his HESS Committee that passed the House Wednesday. House Bill 335 makes it illegal for non-custodial parents to kidnap a child out of Alaska and win custody in another state in opposition to Alaska courts.
   = Con Bunde, 37 K
6. House Judiciary Chairman, Representative Joe Green, discusses a recent letter sent to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit asking him to offer all the land in the Barrow Arch secton of the National Petroleum Reserve for oil and gas leasing.
   = Joe Green, 98 K

03-12-98

1. Senator Loren Leman discusses the unanimous passage from the Senate Thursday of a Senate HESS resolution asking the Alaska Supreme Court to review a decision by a lower court judge who suggested it was unconstitutional for Alaska not to grant marriage licenses to couples of the same sex.
   = Loren Leman, 83 K

03-13-98

1. Chairman of the House Economic Development Committee, Representative Jerry Sanders, announces that his committee will hold a hearing on gasoline prices in Alaska. Gasoline prices in the Lower 48 have fallen well below the dollar/gallon level, but prices in Alaska remain high. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 1998 at 5 pm in room 17 of the State Capital Building in Juneau. The hearing will be teleconferenced statewide.
   = Jerry Sanders, 78 K

03-18-98

1. The lead attorney for the Legislative Council subsistence lawsuit against the federal government answered questions from the news media today at a press conference. Constitutional attorney Mark L. Pollot of Idaho explains the main elements of the suit.
   = Mark Pollot, 103 K

03-19-98

1. Senator Loren Leman discusses the recent Energy Council annual conference held in Washington D.C. March 14-17. Alaska's natural gas project, access to federal lands, and the impact from dropping oil prices were among the top issues discussed.
   = Loren Leman, 157 K
2. Senator Loren Leman talks about a bill that was passed by the Senate today (SB 254) that will reduce the ability of debtors to shield their Permanent Fund dividend checks from garnishment by private parties seeking to collect legitimate debts.
   = Loren Leman, 46 K

03-20-98

1. Representative Jerry Sanders reports on the Gasoline Price Hearing held thursday and what he views as the next step is to lower gasoline pump prices in Alaskan communities.
   = Jerry Sanders, 92 K
2. Representative Ivan Ivan comments on the passage of his HB 285 from the House Friday. The measure would establish a point system against a commercial fishing permit holder for commercial fishing violations. A suspension of a permit for a period of one to three years could occur depending on the number of points accumulated by the permit holder.
   = Ivan Ivan, 35 K in English
3. Representative Ivan comments in the Yupik language.
   = Ivan Ivan, 22 K in Yupik
4. Senator Jerry Ward comments on the unanimous passage of his SB 309 from the Senate Friday. The measure protects law enforcement officers who use non-lethal projectiles from legal action when acting within their training and operational guidelines
   = Jerry Ward, 41 K
5. Senator Bert Sharp discusses the reasons he introduced SCR 11. The measure sets up the Long-Term Care Task Force to review actuarial data on senior care in Alaska. After reviewing the data the task force is charged with developing an equitable plan for providing opportunities to acquire sound and affordable long-term care for all Alaskan senior citizens.
   = Bert Sharp, 65 K

03-23-98

1. Senator Bert Sharp comments on legislation passed by the Senate Monday. SB 313 attempts to return the ballot initiative process to grassroots level. It prohibits the exchange of money for signatures.
   = Bert Sharp, 112 K
2. Senate Finance Member, Senator Sean Parnell, discusses legislation passed by the Senate on Monday. The measure, SB 76, changes Alaska's budgeting process to a results based system.
   = Sean Parnell, 22 K
3. Senator Gary Wilken comments on legislation unanimously passed by the Senate Monday that would create a task force to examine the issue of mental health parity in health insurance policies.
   = Gary Wilken, 65 K

03-24-98

1. Representative Norman Rokeberg discusses his amendment to HB 393. The amendment includes in the bill Anchorage and other communities which would be economically affected by the proposed Natural Gas Pipeline project. As written, HB 393 addresses the impact of the project on those communities along the physical route of the proposed line.
   = Norman Rokeberg, 125 K
2. Senate Finance Co-Chair, Senator Drue Pearce, talks about recent oil price developements on the Senate Floor Tuesday.
   = Drue Pearce, 121 K
3. Senator Pearce continues her comments.
   = Drue Pearce, 97 K

03-25-98

1. Senator Jerry Mackie comments on the passage of his SJR 33 from the Legislature Wednesday. The measure urges Congress to pass legislation that would restrict foreign owned factory trawlers from fishing within the nation's 200 mill offshore zone.
   = Jerry Mackie, 37 K
2. Senate Finance Co-Chair, Senator Drue Pearce, comments on the passage of the Fast Track Supplemental Budget from the Senate Wednesday. The Legislature was surprised by the size of the Governor’s supplemental request and it pulled several time-sensitive items from the Governor’s bill and incorporated them into HB 461, the "fast-track" supplemental.
   = Drue Pearce, 132 K
3. Senator Robin Taylor comments at length on the surprising size of the Governor's Supplemental Budget request.
   On actuality phone lines only due to length
4. Senator Taylor further comments on the Governor's budget process.
   On actuality phone lines only due to length

03-26-98

1. Bill sponsor, Representative Fred Dyson, responds to questions about why he introduced House Bill 367. The measure prohibits school districts from discriminating against part time students. HB 367 passed the House Thursday.
   = Fred Dyson, 56 K
2. House Transportation Committee Chairman, Representative Bill Williams, comments on the passage of HB 404 from his committee Thursday. The measure proposes to conform Alaska's archaic commercial vehicle inspection law with criteria found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
   = Bill Williams, 59 K
3. House Special Committee on Oil and Gas Committee Chairman, Representative Mark Hodgins, discusses the movement of HB 393 from his committee Thursday. HB 393 addresses mechanisms for developing natural gas deposits in Alaska as well as the effects such development might have on impacted communities in the state.
   = Mark Hodgins, 67 K
4. Senator Dave Donley talks about his Animal Cruelty legislation, SB 284, which passed the Senate unanimously Thursday.
   = Dave Donley, 56 K
5. Senator Loren Leman reports on the Alaska delegation's experiences during talks held with British Columbia officials over the Pacific Salmon Treaty and other fisheries issues.
   = Loren Leman, 84 K

03-27-98

1. House State Affairs Committee Chair, Representative Jeannette James, with unique Alaskan eloquence expresses her opinion of President Clinton's American Heritage Rivers Initiative. "Like a dead salmon in the moonlight, it shines and stinks at the same time," James said. Her resolution, which passed the House Friday, asks for the termination of the federal program.
   = Jeannette James, 62 K

03-30-98

1. House Finance Committee Vice-Chair, Representative Eldon Mulder, comments on floor debate Monday on HJR 44. The measure proposes Constitutional Amendments to reform the state's outdated, controversial, and constitutionally dubious reapportionment and redistricting provisions.
   = Eldon Mulder, 36 K
2. House Majority Leader, Representative Brian Porter also discusses HJR 44's provisions.
   = Brian Porter, 64 K
3. Representative Terry Martin discusses HB 265, which Governor Knowles signed into Monday morning. Rep. Martin sponsored HB 265, which eliminates a number of costly and time consuming state government reports.
   = Terry Martin, 44 K
4. Senator Drue Pearce talks about her legislation that would better protect Alaska's children again individuals who possess and distribute child pornography or indecently expose themselves. SB 323 unanimously passed the Senate Monday.
   = Drue Pearce, 49 K
5. Senate Judiciary Chairman, Senator Robin Taylor, expresses his dismay at blatant misuse of the State's confidential criminal information files and the lack of meaningful trooper investigations into their misuse.
   = Robin Taylor, 154 K

03-31-98

1. Representative Pete Kelly comments on the passage of his HB 16 from the House, Tuesday. The measure authorizes communities to get more involved with minor juvenile offendors as well as allowing the state to authorize and license semi-secure and secure residential treatment facilities for minors.
   = Pete Kelly, 70 K
2. Representative Eldon Mulder discusses why he thinks his HB 53 passed the Senate Tuesday. The measure authorizes the Department of Corrections to enter into a contract with the City of Delta Junction to use the deactivated Fort Greely facilities for a prison.
   = Eldon Mulder, 28 K
3. Senator Jerry Ward comments on the reasons why the Senate passed the Fort Greely prison bill Tuesday. HB 53 passed on a 12-7 vote.
   = Jerry Ward, 70 K