Capitol Beat
Peltola Addresses Joint Session—Newly elected U.S. Representative Mary Peltola addressed a joint session of the legislature. In her brief address, Rep. Peltola extolled what she called the “Alaska model” of governance, in which members of both parties work across the aisle to gather support and make progress on their initiatives. It’s a uniquely Alaskan system, and I’m grateful to Alaskan leaders like Rep. Peltola and Senator Murkowski who take the time to raise up that virtue and tamp down partisan rancor.
Willow Project Joint Resolution
Speaking of working across the aisle, I was able to secure favorable changes to a joint resolution on the Willow project this week.
During his address last week, Senator Sullivan asked the body for a unanimous, bicameral resolution endorsing the Willow project. The original draft resolution, in my opinion, failed to address the diversity of energy sources we’ll need to draw from going forward to meet our goals of lower and more stable energy prices. Just more oil and gas won’t get us there.
Working with Rep. Patkotak, who represents the North Slope, I was able to amend the resolution to include that broader context, adding language endorsing “the development and implementation of renewable energy systems” and promoting state investments “in technology and infrastructure to support the use of renewable sources of energy”. I appreciate spirit of collaboration exemplified by Rep. Patkotak and the majority members of the resources committee in accommodating this amendment.
Food Security Week—The week of February 13 was Food Security Week here at the capitol, with a variety of farmers, food pantries, soup kitchens, and service providers coming together in Juneau to advocate for the families they serve.
These faith-based and charitable organizations have been under tremendous strain in recent months as Alaska has failed to process applications for food stamps in a timely manner. The four-month application backlog that has opened up prevents eligible families from purchasing food through the traditional food distribution system (i.e. grocery stores), forcing folks to use food banks and other resources until their applications are processed. This of course places enormous strain on those food banks’ capacity, and many are simply unable to meet the needs of their communities. It is imperative that the Division of Public Assistance clear this backlog as soon as possible, and I look forward to providing them the resources necessary to do so.
I was happy to organize some of the events this week around this critical issue, including the inaugural meeting of the Food Strategy Task Force and an informational lunchtime lecture for legislators and their staff. I’m also proud this session to serve as co-chair of the legislature’s Food and Farm Caucus.