Juneau – In a bipartisan effort to improve health care, the Alaska Legislature acted to streamline medical licensing and addressed regulatory issues in the medical field on the final day of session. House Bill 280, an extension for the Board of Marital and Family Therapy sponsored by Representative Andy Josephson (D—Anchorage), was amended to include portions Senate Bill 108 sponsored by Senator Giessel (R—Anchorage), which dealt with reforms requested by the state Medical Board.

Juneau – Today, the Alaska Legislature passed legislation put forward by Alaska Governor Bill Walker to improve Alaska’s workers’ compensation system. House Bill 79 allows for electronic filing, reduces administrative costs, more clearly defines ‘independent contractor’, and provide adequate funding to administer the workers’ compensation system.

Juneau – Today, the Alaska Legislature passed a resolution urging cooperation among state departments to protect the health of wild and domestic animals. House Concurrent Resolution 23 calls for increased data collection on diseases and foreign pathogens to better facilitate science-based management decisions. The resolution is a call to action for the Departments of Fish and Game, Natural Resources, and Environmental Conservation to cooperate on measures to prevent the spread of diseases and pathogens among Alaska’s wildlife and domestic animals.

Juneau – Today, the Alaska House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation to ease an overly burdensome regulation that requires annual fingerprinting of those seeking to renew their marijuana establishment registration. House Bill 319 changes the fingerprinting requirement to once every six years.