Dear Neighbor,
The Washington Post and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are reporting on legislation (HB 405 and HB 406) that Labor and Commerce Co-Chair Ivy Spohnholz and I introduced to prevent Russian oligarchs from hiding their wealth in Alaska. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have moved swiftly to do everything we can as a state to support democracy and defund Putin’s war machine. Trust reforms are the latest policy we have championed to address to ensure criminals don’t exploit our weak, secretive statutes. Thanks to former Governor Tony Knowles for his advocacy on this subject.
Unbelievably, Alaska’s current trust laws are so secretive that we have no idea how many sanctioned oligarchs or international criminals are hiding their wealth in our state right now. As I’ve been working on this legislation, regulators in the Department of Commerce Community and Economic Development have told me they are extremely concerned that Alaska’s longstanding ties to Russia, combined with our lax statutes, make our state a target for hidden oligarchs wealth. Simply put, we must put safeguards in place so sanctioned oligarchs and other international criminals can’t abuse our system of trusts. Other legislative updates follow:
House to Vote on Transformational Child Care Legislation:
We have finished voting on amendments, and I expect to have a vote on House passage of HB 149 next week. I’ve worked with child care providers, child care advocates, our business community, and many other legislators over the last year and a half to craft transformational legislation that would empower child care providers through sectoral bargaining and establish a Child Care Trust Fund to sustainably infuse much-needed resources into the child care sector. This is the most ambitious legislation the House has considered this year—on any subject. I’m humbled by how much time child care providers from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Petersburg have put into developing and advancing this bill. Alaska has seen the greatest decline in labor force participation rates of any state in the last decade, the pandemic has shut down 1 in 5 child care providers, and the lack of child care has sweeping negative impacts on the gender wage gap and economic security of working families. We must advance this bill to support our child care sector and ensure working families have access to child care.
Other legislation:
The House recently passed my bill to help our non-profits raise funds through online raffles (HB 128), and bills to re-establish campaign finance limits after Dunleavy appointees on APOC eliminated them (HB 234), combat invasive species (HB 54) expand energy efficiency and renewable energy financing for building renovations (HB 227), update Workers Compensation rates so injured workers are adequately compensated (HB 30), protect the Higher Education Fund from being swept (HB 229), expand access for deployed military and family members to obtain drivers licenses (HB 268), and strengthen our firefighting workforce so we’re as prepared as possible for ever-worsening fire seasons related to climate change (HB 209).
The Senate is working on the operating budget now, and I expect to have additional budget updates next week or shortly thereafter.
