Governor reorganizes AIDEA, AEA boards
Dunleavy cuts barbers' board, rubs out massage board (and about the midwifery board, fill in your own pun)
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It was a busy couple of days in Juneau as the legislative session got underway, with 60 lawmakers and their staffs converging at the Alaska Capitol, where intrigue and purpose collide. And the lobbyists — how can we forget the lobbyists? Here’s your lobbyist list for 2024.
125 or more people attended the Capital City Republican fundraiser on Monday, in spite of 29 inches of snow in Juneau making conditions challenging. They raised north of $40,000.
Noted: Shannon Mason, deputy comms person for Rep. Mary Peltola, was in attendance, chatting up Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom for a good chunk of the night. Mason is registered as “undeclared,” and word is she is not working out over at Maryville.
Another surprise, former Sen. Josh Revak was at the reception/fundraiser. He was a Republican state senator for Anchorage, briefly ran for Congress, and recently had a split from being state director for Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola. Everyone has been saying he was moving back to Minnesota, but there he was. He is president at Alaska Strategy, where he is 51% owner with partner Tyler Moore.
Dunleavy Legislative Director Laura Stidolph, DNR Commissioner John Boyle, and AG Treg Taylor from the governor’s office were also at the fundraiser, but no Dunleavy.
Most Republican legislators walked through, but not Sen. Kelly Merrick or Sen. Cathy Giessel, both who are on the outs with Republicans. Weirdly, Senate President Gary Stevens introduced Giessel to the crowd as though she was in the room. He also struggled to remember that Republican Sen. Rob Myers and Sen. Shelley Hughes were in the room. They are not part of his Democrat-led majority.
Congressional candidate Nick Begich gave the invocation at the Republican State Central Committee meeting earlier on Monday and Lt. Gov. Dahlstrom gave “welcome to Juneau” remarks.
The Democrats also had a fundraiser on Monday but it was not as well attended.
House and Senate ratify victims’ advocate
House and Senate bodies ratified Gov. Dunleavy’s appointment of Angela Garay as the state’s victims advocate. Garay joined the Alaska Office of Victims' Rights as a staff attorney in September 2021. She was raised in California and migrated to Alaska in 2004 to work as an assistant district attorney in Kenai.
Close but no cigar: Cal Schrage moved to override the governor veto
Anchorage Rep. Cal Schrage, the Democrat majority leader, moved to meet in joint session to override the governor’s partial veto of the education boost in funding last year. But the motion failed to pass the House on a vote of 20-20, as seen above. Rep. David Eastman voted with the Democrats after giving an explanation saying that he was bound to because of language in the Alaska Constitution, which is open to interpretation. The screenshot above of the vote shows just how fragile the House majority is, which is why the coup-minded “Freshman Caucus” is continues its Democrat-led efforts to install freshman Justin Ruffridge as Speaker.
Palace intrigue
Word’s out that Rep. Dan Saddler, House majority leader, is persona non grata in the Governor’s Office, after he voted in Legislative Council to fund a lawsuit against the governor. Is Saddler a team player?
With the governor, none of this is personal, but he is not the type to coddle those who sue him. Same thing with Alaska Federation of Natives — they’re suing the governor, so good luck getting a private meeting with him. Saddler has fence-mending to do with his majority since he had to sit out the caucus meeting with the governor.
Party on, Slide City
Juneau was snowed in. Juneau schools, which hardly ever cancel classes, were shuttered. State workers were told to stay home. Three boats in Aurora Harbor sank from the weight of snow. There was an avalanche on Thane Road (and a couple of controlled slides via dynamite) and another above the Breakwater Hotel on Behrends Ave. There was also a notable slide in Chop Gully, another historic slide zone that comes down Mount Juneau toward Gold Creek.
But the annual “Welcome Back to the Legislature” party at newly renovated Centennial Hall was not cancelled on Tuesday. After all, Rep. Hannan said on the floor of the House, you don’t want to miss those gift bags.
Wednesday
House Judiciary
HB 129 Voter registration - over-inflated voter rolls (Judiciary)
HB 4 Elections, repeal ranked choice voting and open primary (Vance, Rauscher, McCabe, Tomaszewski)
HJR 7 Constitutional amendment: Permanent Fund dividend (House Ways & Means, Carpenter)
House Labor and Commerce
HB 100 Paid family leave for teachers and public employees (Democrat-sponsored)
House Resources
HB 177 Critical natural minerals (Saddler, Fields)
HB 169 Fisheries rehabilitation permit/project (Cronk, Vance)
Senate Judiciary
SB 28 Workplace violence protective orders (Sen. Matt Claman-D)
Senate Rules Committee
SB 140 Internet for schools and paying for it (Democrat-sponsored)
Snowbird hunting? Law takes resident fishing permits away from those who spend too much time Outside
Rep. Himschoot and Sen. Bjorkman would create a bureaucratic and expensive Fish and Game empire.
Off the presses: Juneau Empire, Peninsula Clarion, Homer News get new parent company — again
The newspapers change hands in what looks an awful lot like a bankruptcy reorganization, as David Black also announces his retirement.
Dunbar bears down on Airbnbs: Alaska partiers a protected class?
It turns out bed-and-breakfast operators don’t like renting to high school seniors for graduation parties. That’s just a buzzkill for Sen. Dunbar.
More real estate crackdown from Senate Democrats
This time, putting more financial risk on landlords, not allowing them to collect a last-month’s rent. (And they can’t figure out why there are not enough rentals.)
Governor’s executive orders get rid of bureaucratic layers, and splits AEA and AIDEA boards
AEA and AIDEA are two huge organizations with different. They share a board, after House Speaker Ramona Barnes combined their boards back in the last century, but not for long.
Goals: Dunleavy lays out his priorities for 2024 legislative session
Affordability is the big thing this year.
Trump wins Iowa: 53% … and counting
Vivek Ramaswamy drops, endorses Trump
Day 15: Lloyd Austin was released from hospital
We appreciate all generous Alaskans who keep this conservative enterprise going!
The battleground: Record number of Americans say they are not Democrat, but not Republican either
People are just not into the Democrats, especially. Lowest enrollment in their party in a long time. Why could that be?
Question of the week
If a man undergoes penile inversion-vaginoplasty surgery and takes feminizing hormones, can he be rightfully called a woman?
This day in history
Jan. 17,1961, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warned against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex."
Columns
Alexander Dolitsky: Israel-Gaza war would be over if…
If Hamas surrendered and returned hostages. So why don’t they?
Alex Gimarc: Alaska Railroad, a feral corporation with a feral board of directors
The railroad is having its way with rights-of-way, and writer Alex Gimarc is having none of it.
Linda Boyle: Dr. Fauci confesses the six-foot distancing rule ‘just appeared’ without science
Around the country, you can still see taped-off, six-foot-rule queues. How embarrassing that there was no science behind it.
Kassie Andrews: ‘Green’ rate case puts Chugach Electric vs. ratepayers and taxpayers
Get caught up on how Chugach Electric is going to screw consumers.
Alaska oil: $78.66
Henry Hub gas: $3.31
Alaska North Slope Production: 480,873
Permanent Fund (principal and earnings reserve): $78,629,500,000
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