Hello, I hope that your summer is going well!
The legislative session when we have to be down in Juneau typically runs from mid-January to mid-May. We refer to the rest of the year as “The Interim,” as that’s when we leave Juneau and get to come back home to be in our districts, work and visit with constituents and hopefully take care of some personal business.
Although the interim is typically more relaxed than the legislative session, it is amazing how busy it can get, and this particular interim is a busy one.
There are conferences, presentations, workshops, community meetings, constituent casework, and bill signing ceremonies. It can get a surprisingly hectic!
As far as bill signings, we had a lot of success in the 2023 legislative session, made significant progress on multiple pieces of our legislation, and best of all, we passed two bills, SB 25 and SB 123 unanimously through the House and Senate. It was quite an honor to cap off all of the hard work that comes with crafting and passing legislation with two bill signing ceremonies hosted by the Governor!
This interim I am also working on learning as much as I can about clean and renewable energy by attending several clean energy conferences. I committed to attending these because I wanted to learn more about the complexities of renewables like wind and solar, hear about concepts for improved transmission and distribution systems, as well as other emerging technologies such as micro-nuclear reactors. I’m learning a lot and will provide a more in-depth report later this year when I complete my final conference.
Last but not least, we have an event coming up at the Alaska Zoo on the 10th of August, see below for details!
Thank you for subscribing and taking the time to review our updates. Please remember that you can keep up with day-to-day things over on our Facebook page. As always, feel free to reach out if there is anything I or my team can do for you!
Second Cement Ship Docks at the Port of Alaska
In June, my team and I had the pleasure of touring the Port of Alaska terminal facilities, seeing the progress on the Port Modernization Program, and talking with some of the folks who are deeply involved in successfully delivering this critical infrastructure improvement.
While there, we received a progress report on replacement of the cargo dock structures that are in critical condition. Huge strides have been made over the last two years to get a well planned, well designed, and on budget project into construction!
PHASE 1, replacing the petroleum and cement terminal, was completed last year, and as icing on the cake, we just happened to be at the port to witness only the 2nd cement delivery at the new terminal sail up to the new dock, tie off, and begin to use the upgraded facilities to unload. This is the delivery of tons of cement destined for construction projects in Alaska.
PHASE 2, relocating the admin building, is well underway. Once the current admin building is removed, construction on the replacement dock for the first cargo terminal will be able to break ground.
Among all of the challenges, the Port of Alaska team has made great progress to ensure that federal, state, and municipal funds will be expended efficiently, effectively, and under a solid management plan. With continued diligence and work in the right direction, the development of a solid earned value tracking system, and a few improvements to their oversight processes, I am confident the Port project will be a success—and a critically needed one.
I look forward to continuing to work with the Municipality and the Port project managers to ensure the project continues to progress well.
Upcoming Transportation Committee Meeting
Join us for our upcoming Joint Senate and House Transportation Committee meeting! We will be hearing an update from the Department of Transportation on the newly released Four-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
Date: August 22, 2023
When: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Watch Online: At akleg.tv
Join in person: At the Anchorage Legislative Information Office building, 1500 W Benson Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99503.
FY 22 Statewide Audit is Released
The Legislative Budget and Audit (LB&A) Committee met on June 28th for the purpose of reviewing and authorizing the release of the State of Alaska Single Audit for the fiscal year July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
The Single Audit is the annual financial and compliance audit for all expenditures in state government. Once released, the Legislative Auditor and LB&A collaborate to compile a prioritized short list of the most important audit findings and actionable steps that can be taken to resolve them.
For years, Audit findings would be published, reviewed, and discussed, but rarely were steps taken by the legislature or the executive branch to resolve them. When I learned this, I worked with our incredible Legislative Audit Division and past LB&A Chair Natasha von Imhof to establish this framework to ensure that our findings are prioritized annually and that actions are taken on each through to closure. Without this regular process, our findings would have only continued to grow, along with the dollar amount of misused funds.
This legislature’s LB&A Chair Representative Ben Carpenter has been very supportive of this process. I look forward to working with the LB&A committee this year to see another set of priorities set and actions taken to get a few more issues off our plate.
The final audit is published and available at the LB&A website. I encourage you to take a look here >>
My Bills Signed into Law
I am excited to report that two of my bills passed this session, along with HB 62 which was the companion bill to our SB 33, and have now been signed by the Governor, making them officially new laws! For each I want to thank the community members, constituents, staff, and my House colleagues who sponsored companion legislation for working so hard to get these great pieces of legislation to the finish line. It takes incredible effort and time to pass a single piece of legislation. I’m very grateful to have worked these three through the process. Read more about the three bills below.
Repeal of a Barrier to Entry for Prospective Truck Drivers becomes Law!
SB 123, sponsored by the Senate Transportation Committee, removes an unnecessary barrier to obtaining a Commercial Driver’s License to help address the over 500 trucker shortage in Alaska. Now, whether you are coming in from a remote community of Alaska with limited DMV access, new to the country, or just waited longer than normal to get your regular driver’s license, you will be able to begin pursuing your Commercial Driver’s License without holding that regular license for a year. Alaskans are ready to work, and this bill helps our state attract drivers to fill jobs in industries critical for food security, construction, transportation of goods, mining, oil, and gas. Click here to learn more >>
Unused Funds and Accounts are Repealed!
Senate Bill 25 cleans up our books, deleting fund accounts that we no longer use and establishes a mechanism to repeat this clean-up process every two years. New accounts are created all of the time through legislation, but are never closed once programs or funding are completed. With this legislation, stale money available in unused accounts can be reallocated and administrative accounting burdens of unused accounts can be eliminated. Check out the bill documents here >>
Renewable Energy Grant Fund is Permanently Extended!
The Renewable Energy Grant Fund (REF) ensures that communities facing higher-than-average energy prices can continue leveraging REF Grants to pursue cheaper renewable alternatives. House Bill 62 permanently extends the program so that projects like these can continue pursuing funding as our state budget allows. Thank you to Representative Bryce Edgmon for carrying the House Bill that passed and is now law. I was honored to carry the Senate version and contribute what I could to the passage of Representative Edgmon’s House Bill.
Energy Conferences
As I mentioned in my introduction, one of the things that I committed to for this interim was to learn much more about what is commonly referred to as “clean energy” technologies.
There is a massive technology transition going on, and it is being driven by a broad range of factors including federal policy and financial subsidies, corporate governance trends, and emerging/developing technologies.
I have always stated that I have an “all of the above” energy policy, which to me means that if the economics, reliability and environmental footprint make sense, then I’m ready to listen. On the other hand, it has to make sense for Alaska, and that we’re not just checking the box on an agenda that doesn’t adequately consider our unique circumstances and challenges.
The lesson that is being reinforced by attending this series of conferences is that there are definitely opportunities for Alaska to improve its energy production, transmission, and distribution, but we need to manage the transition to new energy sources and improved transmission very carefully. In my opinion, we should strongly emphasize cost and reliability, as well as all of the other considerations, and the effective management of the transition is paramount.
Luckily, as technology improves, there are definitely situations where the right mix of clean power production is the best solution for locations throughout Alaska, particularly those in remote locations. In many cases, improvement on the economic and reliability front can be gained along with the desired reduction in carbon emissions.
I’ll give a much more detailed report later in the year, so stand by!
Community Bulletin
Join us at District 11-F Community Event!
When: Thursday, August 10, 5am – 7pm
Where: The Alaska Zoo, Gateway Hall, 4731 O’Malley Rd, Anchorage, AK 99507.
