JUNEAU — With one day left until Alaska's regular legislative session ends Tuesday, lawmakers debated energy, education, elections and crime legislation.
The national budget was largely set and the fate of major legislation was expected to be decided in the final 24 hours of the session. The operating budget advanced to a final vote Tuesday, scheduled for the last day of the regular meeting. Congressional leaders agreed Tuesday to pay about $1,650 per eligible Alaskan this year in combined Permanent Fund dividends and energy relief checks.
A flurry of other bills passed between the House and Senate on Tuesday. Lobbyists, legislative aides and Dunleavy administration officials packed the hallways of the Capitol, trying to ensure their priorities passed before Congress adjourned.
[Alaska Legislature set to approve a $1,650 combined PFD and energy relief payment]
The status of major policy items as of Tuesday evening is as follows.
energy
On Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed a bill to create an integrated energy transmission system along the rail belt. The bill is a priority of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and is one of two key provisions that lawmakers said are aimed at ensuring a reliable energy supply in the region. Natural gas production from Cook Inlet is expected to decline.
House Bill 307 passed the House on a 36-4 vote and will now be sent to the Senate, which has indicated it will support the bill.
The bill is part of a bilateral agreement on major energy legislation, under which the House and Senate passed an electricity transmission bill alongside legislation creating a national framework for storing carbon dioxide deep underground. agreed to do so. The Senate is scheduled to take a final vote on the bill Wednesday before sending it to the House for approval.
The transmission bill would prevent regional power companies from charging each other certain fees called infrastructure fees. Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, who chairs the House Energy Committee, said the bill would ensure “a fair share for all stakeholders,” “promote competition,” and ultimately help Alaska's said that it will lead to a reduction in energy costs for consumers.
Rep. Alice Galvin, an Anchorage independent, said the bill provides a “unique opportunity” to send a message to separate power companies that they “play together in the same sandbox.”
Opinions among regional power companies in the rail belt are divided on this measure. The Homer Electric Association opposes the proposal, and three Kenai Peninsula legislators voted against it: Republicans Rep. Ben Carpenter of Nikiski, Rep. Justin Loughridge of Soldotna and Rep. Sarah Vance of Homer. Ta.
Vance and Loughridge said the bill could encourage a move toward renewable energy production, rather than focusing on increasing natural gas production. Carpenter called this policy a “socialist concept.”
Conservative lawmakers in other parts of the state also voiced support.
“Twenty years ago, we were having the same conversation. It's time to take action. It's time to move on,” said Anchorage Republican Rep. Craig Johnson.
education
Since an Anchorage Superior Court judge ruled that a correspondence school for about 23,000 Alaskans violates the state constitution by spending public money on private and religious schools. More than a month later, lawmakers have yet to adopt a bill that provides a path forward to ensure schools continue to operate.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Justin Loughridge, R-Soldotna, would direct the State Board of Education, which Dunleavy would appoint, to enact interim regulations that would expire next year, allowing the Legislature to amend its response to the court ruling. The contents are as follows. If the state Supreme Court overturns Zeman's decision.
House Bill 400 was adopted by the House Finance Committee on Monday, but lawmakers had not scheduled a floor vote as of Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Loughridge said Tuesday that the bill could be passed before the Legislature adjourns.
Sen. Loki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said the Senate is waiting for the House to act on Loughridge's bill. A competing proposal she authored that would have directed the school board to create more prescriptive rules that would be permanent rather than temporary, stalled in the Senate.
“The building is about wanting to provide stability. I want to provide certainty. But at this point, if stability is something that can be given to me, I want it to be given to homeschool families.” We’re going to give,” Tobin said.
Mr. Tobin said he was “confident” that lawmakers “want to find a solution” despite delays in scheduling a final vote on the education bill.
Since Dunleavy earlier this year vetoed an education bill that would have permanently increased school funding by about $175 million a year, some lawmakers have called for the provision to be passed again in a separate bill. Ta.
This year's budget includes a temporary increase in education funding of $175 million, but does not include any permanent increases that could be added to education bills on the House or Senate floors. Not yet. Anchorage Independent Minority Leader Calvin Schrage has said he will make the increase. We provide support.
“That remains my goal,” Schrage said Tuesday.
But Tobin, referring to the bill that Dunleavy vetoed, said that “especially after what happened with Senate Bill 140,” the Senate could add permanent funding increases to existing bills to bring them to the finish line. He said he was not proposing to pass the .
A bipartisan Senate majority made a major last-minute attempt Tuesday to reestablish one of its top legislative priorities: public sector pensions for state employees and teachers.
Sen. Cathy Giesel, an Anchorage Republican, introduced the entire 52-page pension bill as an amendment to the education bill aimed at hiring more out-of-state and retired teachers in Alaska. The amendment was added to the bill after a long debate, but was later removed after a long hiatus without explanation.
Instead, another provision was added to the education bill proposed by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman (R-Nikiski). Teachers with national certification will receive a $5,000 bonus. The education bill was introduced unanimously in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night.
crime
The Senate on Tuesday considered the anti-crime bill, which has broad support in Congress.
House Bill 66 was introduced by Dunleavy last year as a way to address the state's fentanyl crisis by imposing longer prison sentences for drug crimes. Supporters say this could serve as a deterrent to traffickers bringing fentanyl into Alaska. But opponents say longer sentences mean more drug users will be incarcerated for longer.
Sen. Matt Claman, an Anchorage Democrat, combined several provisions from other bills to ensure support for the bill in the House and Senate. The Omnibus Crime Bill includes changes such as extending prison sentences for stalking and imposing “some additional prison sentences'' for repeated violations of the conditions of release from prison.
The ACLU of Alaska opposes key elements of the bill. A civil rights law firm has raised constitutional concerns about extending the period of involuntary confinement at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute to a maximum of two years.
The omnibus crime bill would also expand the evidence allowed in grand jury proceedings. Under the bill, law enforcement officers involved in criminal investigations would be able to testify in felony cases to secure prosecution.
Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla, tried to limit the change to crimes such as murder and sexual assault, but was defeated. He said the crime bill focuses too much on prosecution and some provisions would disproportionately impact low-income Alaskans and minorities.
“We want criminals to be held accountable. But at the same time, we want them to have due process, because we're not always right,” Wilson said in an interview Sunday. Ta.
A provision added to the bill would require the Department of Justice to investigate why Alaska Natives and Black Alaskans are disproportionately incarcerated in Alaska.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the crime bill has rolled to the bottom of the Senate calendar, awaiting a final vote to send it to the House.
election
The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday will allow states to cull voter rolls, allow voters to correct errors on absentee ballots after they are submitted, and provide legal immunity to election ads that include images of candidates generated by artificial intelligence. He submitted an election omnibus bill that would make the provisions mandatory. Directs election officials to protect voter information from cybersecurity attacks. Allows state campaign finance regulators to track the use of campaign funds for candidates' legal costs.
The committee moved forward with the bill despite opposition from Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance, the sponsor of the underlying bill. When the bill passed the House, it included only a provision to remove inactive voters from Alaska's voter rolls. Vance told the Senate Finance Committee that the expanded version of the bill lacks support and it's unclear whether it will pass the House even if the Senate takes a final vote.
Most of the provisions in the election bill are being scrutinized by both houses of Congress. In both 2022 and 2023, lawmakers came close to passing election bills containing similar provisions, but ultimately failed to get the bills across the finish line.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill Tuesday night, and the House could vote on it Wednesday.
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