Greetings from Juneau on this 28th day of the session. There are all kinds of reasons to celebrate this week, from Mardi Gras to Valentine’s Day to Elizabeth Peratrovitch Day – have a great week! I was delighted to hear the KBBI report on the community education opportunities through the Homer Library’s Girls Coding class. Click here to hear the giggles and fun girls had while learning!
Funding for Alaska’s schools is one of the most important pieces of our state budget. Yet, each year, school funding gets caught in the cross fire of budget debates and ends up being one of the last measures passed by the Alaska Legislature.
HB 287, which is co-sponsored by the entire Alaska House Majority Coalition, also included a provision requiring a separate vote to take the funding from the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR). Unfortunately, this provision, which required three quarters of the House to vote in favor, failed to pass, with 20 voting in fa-vor and 16 opposed.
One of the most important components of my work as your representative is hearing from West Anchorage constituents on the issues. This week, we launched our electronic Constituent Survey! Please take a moment to share your thoughts and suggestions by clicking the image below to access the survey. I appreciate your feedback!
I am sending this email quickly before I go back to the House Floor where HB 287 is being debated. I am so excited to cosponsor this bill with several of my colleagues. This is a very important education bill that will allow early funding for education. That means we will be able to fund schools separately from the operating budget, which really helps our students.
We have important work to do. It’s been sidetracked by harmful conduct towards women by a handful of legislators, and also by a few who have sought to score political points out of tragedy. You’ve read about it. My bi-partisan House Majority members and I have called for the resignation of both legislators involved in this misconduct. In one case, I’d known and respected both the victim and…
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As we continue to prioritize the budget, finance subcommittees have started to hear from various departments on the impacts of budget cuts over the last three years. Finance subcommittees will continue to meet until February 23, the final day for budget closeouts before the subcommittee recommendations are sent to the full House Finance Committee. Meetings are broadcast on Gavel Alaska. Many lawmakers are optimistic about finishing our work in 90 days.
I’m proud to stand up for hard working Alaska families every day. That’s why this week I’m proud to join legislators across the country as part of the State Innovation Exchange’s #FightingForFamilies Week of Action to celebrate the anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act and continue our work to make sure that all hard-working Alaskan and American families have economic opportunity.
