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Contact Information:
Toll Free:(800) 665-2689
In the Homer Area:(907) 235-2921
Via Mail or in Person: 345 W. Sterling Hwy., Suite 102B
Homer, Alaska 99603
Fax:(907) 235-4008
Website:
Email:
Greetings from Juneau on the 22nd day of the session. Both Tina and I recovered enough from an illness circulating around the capitol building to have enjoyed a performance by the Juneau Symphony yesterday. Bills are starting to move through committees now, though the action is still pretty slow. I will be back in the district for a Resource Committee hearing on Feb.11 and down in Homer on Saturday. Please contact my staff if you would like to get together then.
Alaska Coastal Management Program
, passed in 2003, required every Coastal Zone Management District to rewrite their enforceable policies. The deadline for submission of the revised local Coastal Management Plans to the Department of Natural Resources is July 1, 2005. Because the Coastal Zone Management Program is a local/state/federal partnership, the state’s plan must be consistent with federal requirements. On January 28th the state’s plan was not acceptable to the feds. Obviously this is a confusing situation for the districts that are attempting to revise their programs before July 1. In an attempt at clarifying the current situation and the future prospects for the program, House State Affairs will hold an oversight hearing on the Alaska Coastal Management Program sometime in February.
Roads
I met with Kenai Peninsula Borough Assemblywoman, Millie Martin, along with John MacKinnon, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT), in order to discuss road maintenance priorities for the Homer area. Mr. MacKinnon said that the state has scheduled the paving of Diamond Ridge, East Skyline and Hudsputh roads for summer of 2006. However, DOT will attempt an "advance build" for this project during the coming summer. This basically involves DOT borrowing money that the department is scheduled to receive during the following fiscal year in order to begin a project a year in advance. We called Mr. MacKinnon’s attention to the need for Permazyme instead of calcium chloride for dust control along the North Fork Road, and also to the dangerous nature of the Sterling Highway between Diamond Ridge and Baycrest Hill. Mr. MacKinnon discussed with us the possibility that water trucks could be utilized to mitigate the dust hazard in some areas. In many small villages across the state the dust problem is very bad. Even if paving were to occur, the dust brought onto the paved roads by ubiquitous ATV traffic would cause dust hazards. DOT plans to purchase water trucks for villages to water down the dust during the driest months. An additional benefit is that water trucks could also be used by local fire departments. This could be a possibility for communities like Port Graham where dusty conditions can make the runway hazardous.
State Affairs
This week we heard HB 21, "An act relating to false statements in state election advertising," sponsored by Representative Jay Ramras (R) Fairbanks. HB 21 is an attempt to "clean up" state elections and would allow a candidate or group victimized by false political advertising to file a complaint with the Alaska Public Offices
Commission (APOC). Additionally, once a form is proven false, APOC would be required to respond to the complaint in an expedited manner.
Problems with this bill include the very broad nature of what constitutes a false statement, the potential fiscal impact on APOC, and the legal opinion that this bill might violate free speech rights guaranteed by the first amendment. HB 21 was heard and held.
We heard overviews of the Divisions of Personnel, Retirement and Benefits, Risk Management, Finance and General Services within the Department of Administration. A major topic discussed in the Division of Personnel overview was the recent integration of Human Resources services from all departments into Personnel. According to the director of Personnel has been a success increasing operational efficiency and reducing administrative costs.
The overview of the Division of Retirement and Benefits focused primarily upon the Public Employees’ Retirement System/ Teachers’ Retirement System (PERS/TERS), a hot topic that will receive much attention this session. A follow-up hearing on PERS/TERS scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 1 will detail the state’s initiative to add a fourth tier to PERS and a third tier to TERS. This meeting will be teleconferenced on a listen only basis. Those interested should feel free to listen in at their local Legislative Information Office.
As PERS/TERS will be visited often this session, I urge constituents to weigh in on the subject.
This week we will also hear: HB 79, making a supplemental appropriation for increased operating costs of the division of elections; HB 97, relating to notaries public; and HB 94, relating to qualifications of voters, requirements for independent candidates, voter registration and voter registration records, political parties, early voting,
absentee voting, voting machines, and just about every other topic concerning elections in Alaska.
Ways and Means
The Ways and Means Committee met this week to continue an overview given by the Department of Revenue. The department is examining several options for bridging the projected fiscal gap. These include the existing Percent of Market Value (POMV) proposal, utilizing the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR), boosting production on the North Slope, and reassessing a number of taxes. We have not received any formal recommendations from the Department of Revenue, but anticipate these will be discussed more thoroughly in the future.
The committee also heard a report on the Department of Revenue’s successful refinancing of a number of state bonds. Due to Alaska’s high credit rating, the department was able to refinance these bonds at a lower interest rate, saving the state approximately two million dollars.
Health, Education and Social Services
The HESS committee continued with overviews this week, beginning with the Department of Health’s report on the leading causes of death in Alaska. Obesity was mentioned as a leading cause of death, along with the widespread use of tobacco and various types of cancer. We also heard from the Division of Public Assistance regarding the food stamp program. On Thursday commissioner Joel Gilbertson outlined Governor Murkowski’s "Bring the Kids Home" program. The committee will continue overviews next week, beginning with the Department of Behavioral Health and the Office of Children’s Services.
HB 20
HB 20, Early Funding Education, was postponed last week and will be heard for the first time in the Education at 11am on Tuesday. Please contact my office if you wish to testify.
HB 25
We have held a number of meetings with interested parties regarding the fish tax structure in Alaska and changes that would occur under HB 25. We have met with the mayor of Homer, delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the mayor of the Bristol Bay Borough as well as with the mayor and city manager of Unalaska regarding this bill. In our discussions we stressed that this bill corrects an inequity in the disbursement of the Fisheries Business Tax, by taking into account the changes in the industry and the tendency by fishing communities to export more high value fresh/unprocessed product. Unalaska recognized that the federal crab rationalization program will expand the live market for Bering Sea crab, increasing the unprocessed/exported Fisheries Business Taxes coming out of Unalaska.
HB 25 will be heard again in House Community and Regional Affairs on Thursday, February 3rd at 8:00 a.m. The meeting will be teleconferenced.
Following Bills
All bills can be found on the State's Bill Action and Status Inquiry System (BASIS). You can see what committee a bill is in, when it will be heard, how committee members voted, and much more. Don't forget that you can view all bills relating to your areas of interest by selecting "Subject Summary" from the menu on the right. You can access BASIS through the link below.
Live on the Web
Most committee hearings can be seen and heard on Gavel to Gavel, which is broadcast on both local access TV and on the internet. You can also access online archives from their website. .
Contact Us
If you would like to speak to me regarding a specific issue, it is helpful to first get in touch with the member of my staff handling related issues. You can click on their email addresses to send them a note, or just give us a call at the office. Please provide your full name, address and phone number on any correspondence with the office. Your time and effort are much appreciated.
Louie Flora
State Affairs, Resources, Fisheries, HB 25
(907) 465-4963
louie_flora ''@'' legis.state.ak.us
Katie Shows
Health Education and Social Services, HB 20, HB 24
(907) 465-2028
katie_shows ''@'' legis.state.ak.us
Ian Laing
Ways and Means, HB 50
(907) 465-2689
ian_laing ''@'' legis.state.ak.us
Rep. Paul Seaton
House District 35
(800) 665-2689
rep_paul_seaton ''@'' legis.state.ak.us # # # |
