Polaris Students Lobby to Make Malamute State Dog

I met a group of students from Anchorage's Polaris K-12 School at the Capitol who were in town lobbying to get the Alaskan Malamute named the Alaska State Dog.  This campaign has been going for three years and and CS (Committee Substitute) for HB 14 passed the house last April.  Now it is wending its way through Senate committees. 




Here's the bill itself, short and simple.

Constitutional Amendment to Enlarge Legislature Passes State Affairs With Changes

Rep. Seaton had an amendment, which was accepted by the Resolution sponsor Rep. Peggy Wilson, to cut back the additional seats from eight new Representatives to four new representatives and from four new Senators to two new Senators. The size (in terms of population) of each district would remain nearly the same, increasing from 15,673 to 15,735.

This basically cuts the fiscal note in half. The estimated costs of the original resolution was about $4,470,000 million plus for each year and with the cut, it reduces the annual extra cost to $2,342,000. Also, wouldn't have to do any reconstruction changes.

I discussed the issues in a previous post. The impetus for the bill is to prevent the rural districts from losing representatives as the population grows in the more urban areas. As it is now, Rep. Wilson pointed out, urban legislators can walk across their districts and only have one school district. But rural legislators serve broad geographic areas that are expensive to travel around. The largest rural district is half the state with half the school districts. There would be new districts in the urban areas, but this change would not increase the geographic size of the rural areas.

One issue is that the Alaska Constitution (Article 6 - 6) requires:

Each house district shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as practicable a relatively integrated socio-economic area. Each shall contain a population as near as practicable to the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the state by forty.

Also the 1964 Voting Rights Act has requirements that redistricting not reduce representation of minority voters and Alaska must have all redistricting reviewed by the feds because of past problems.

The resolution passed 5 - 1 with Rep. Gatto voting nay.

You can listen to the discussion of this bill below as well as the rest of Thursday's State Affairs meeting:

00 - 19 - HB 292 - Increasing the cap on State Emergency Aid from $5000 to half the federal cap (about $30,000, so Alaska's would be about $15,000)

22:18 - 47:05 HJR 38 - Constitutional Amendment to increase the size of the legislature.

51:00 to end - HB 115 - Allow permanent absentee registration.

Juneau Fog and Sun

 

 This morning there was fog outside, but as I walked to the Capitol, Mt. Juneau was showing through the fog with a blue sky background.

  

 But looking to the east, Mt. Roberts was shrouded in fog.

  

 After the State Affairs Hearing and stopping in to check on a few offices, I headed to Centennial Hall for the Fetal Alcohol Conference.  More on that later.  Speakers were excellent.  Went down the stairs which give pedestrians a short cut.

  

 Just before I went into the meeting, I saw this view  of the 

mountains above the fog on the other side of the channel

  

 And when I left the meeting about 2:30pm, the sun was shining bright and the sky bright blue, but there was still some fog in the channel.  But it was rapidly evaporating as I walked over to get the picture above. 

 

And by 4pm, the sky was brilliant blue.  The stairwell (several pictures 

above) is to the right of the four story building on the right.

House State Affairs Passes HB 115 - Permanent Absentee Voting

I put up the Sponsor's Statement for this bill last night.  Basically this bill would allow people to sign up for permanent absentee voting without having to fill out the paperwork every election.  Eight states already do this including Oregon which began this 30 years ago according the the testimony of Rep. Buch and the Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai.  



The main questions were about security.  How would the division of elections know if someone died?  What would prevent the spouse or other relatives from using the absentee ballots to vote twice?  What happens if someone moves?   

The response boiled down to:

a.   To vote, you have to sign the envelope and have a witness.  Doing this falsely is a felony.  
b.   This hasn't been a problem other places.

A caller from Colorado who is in the division of elections there and had been in Oregon said this wasn't an issue.  He also said that about 70 percent of the people (in his district?  in Colorado?  not sure, my notes on this seem to have vanished when I shut down my computer) now vote absentee.  

So, this bill now moves on to the next committee.  Finance I believe. 


Rep. Buch and the Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai talk to Rep. Seaton after the meeting was adjourned.

Disaster Cap Increase Moves out of State Affairs

HB 292 - “An Act relating to grants to victims of a disaster in this state;  and providing for an effective date.”

The hearing on this bill began on Tuesday, Feb. 16 and continued today, Monday.

This was about the amount the state can give to help families after a disaster.  The cap on the grant to households hasn’t changed since 1977.  It’s $5000.  That’s $17,000 in today’s dollars, the committee was told.  

The proposal is for half of what the feds give out, which can vary slightly but is about $30,000. So the new cap would be at about $15,000.

On Tuesday they'd said they have a strict process,  People don’t automatically get the max.  Average is about 30% of the cap.  If you have insurance etc. you don’t get max, or even anything.  Reasonable amount to get people moving again, not to make them whole.

They assured the committee that there were clear procedures.  "We don’t cut checks, there’s an Interview, we go through the application process with them, take photos, verify that victims can’t make themselves whole and can’t recover insurance, identify the specific need and loss." 

Passed out of committee to the Finance Committee. 


Photo is Rep. Paul Seaton of Homer speaking to Mike O'Hare Mike O’Hare, Deputy Director, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management where the bill originated. 


Here's the whole bill (The way these are formatted online, they do not fit on the blog right.  Taking out some of the HTML formatting has its own problems as you can see.  I'll leave this one, but I have to find an easier way to do this, or just link you to the bill):

HOUSE BILL NO. 292
01 "An Act relating to grants to victims of a disaster in this state; and providing for
02 effective date."
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:   
04    * Section 1.  AS 26.23.090(b) is amended to read: (b)  The governor is authorized to make financial grants to an individual or
06       family to meet disaster-related necessary expenses or serious needs of individuals or
07       families adversely affected by the disaster that cannot otherwise adequately be met
08       from other means of assistance. The governor may make a grant to an individual and
09       family under this subsection as follows:                                                                          
10                 (1)  when the President declares a major disaster, the governor may                                    
11       make a grant of an amount whose total of federal and state shares does not exceed the
12       maximum amount authorized by 42 U.S.C. 5174(h) [42 U.S.C. 5178(f)] for grants
13       payable to individuals and families;                                                                             
14                 (2)  when the President does not declare a major disaster but the                                      
01       governor declares a disaster emergency, the governor may make a grant of an amount
02       not to exceed one-half of the maximum grant amount established under (1) of this   
03       subsection [$5,000].                                                                                         
04    * Sec. 2. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).     

Hooper Bay Student's Job Shadowing Trip to Juneau

Now, if I had a degree in journalism I'd have gotten her name spelled out and a little more information about the program she's on.  But I don't and I didn't.  I'm not proud of this, but it's how it is and so I'm posting this as is.  She does tell us her name in the video, but I'm sure I'll mangle the spelling.  And I didn't see Rena Delbridge, the reporter she was shadowing when I met her, of the Alaska Dispatch today.  And I'm trying to get my stuff up reasonably close to when I shot it.  But isn't she great?

She'll tell you who she is and what she's doing in Juneau on the video.








[Thursday afternoon: I ran into her again today when I stopped by Gavel to Gavel to check out there place and some questions I had. She's shadowing their producer today. And we decided that she really didn't need to have her name up beyond what is in the video.]

Senate and House Go Own Ways in Mandated 90 Day Session Review Report

From what I can tell, although a majority of legislators seem to think that the 90 day session has hurt their ability to do work, has tipped the balance of power further to the executive branch, and probably hasn't achieved any real savings, no one wants to be the first to take on a citizens' initiative and propose legislation to go back to a 120 day session.

Before this session began, a report reviewing the 90 day session was due to Legislative Council Chair John Harris. 

The report requirement was part of a longish 2007 bill (HB 171) which covered a variety of changes made to accommodate the switch to a 90 day session from 120 days ( Legislative reviews of the budgets were moved up 15 days, for example). A section of the bill called for a report before the session in 2010:

REPORT ON 90-DAY REGULAR SESSION. The Alaska Legislative Council shall prepare and deliver a report to each house of the legislature considering issues related to the duration of the regular session and making recommendations regarding the amendment or repeal of any statutes or Uniform Rules implementing the 90-day regular session. The report may be delivered at any time before the regular session is convened in 2010. By July 1, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council shall notify the chief clerk, the senate secretary, and each of the presiding officers of the date the report will be delivered.

A subcommitte was created to do the report.   And read the law carefully so you can see what was asked of the committee members.  The House members were:

• Chair:  Rep. Paul Seaton 
• Rep. Max Gruenberg
• Rep. Bryce Edgmon

The Senate members were:

• Sen. Charlie Huggins
• Sen. Gary Stevens
• Sen. Tom Wagoner

 In the end, the House members wrote their own report.
The House committee Report is four pages backed up by lengthy appendices based on a long Survey Monkey survey of their fellow House members and staffers. [The report itself is at the link above.  The survey results come in several different pdf files you can get through Rep. Seaton's website - on the right.  Here's a link for the survey comments.]

They write:

"House subcommittee members viewed our task as providing Legislative Council with a basis and recommendation for their report.  House subcommittee members felt that we needed a baseline information on which to base our recommendations." 

They used an online survey tool (Survey Monkey) to poll fellow House members and House staff.  31 (of 40) House members responded and  47 non-Juneau and 23 Juneau based staffers also responded.

67% (21) of the legislators preferred the 120 day session.  But 85% said the 90 day session had a detrimental effect.  The attached survey results give often lengthy examples of the issues people had with the session.  Unfortunately the report and survey results are in a pdf format that I cannot cut and paste, but here are a couple of screen shots that show you the kind of comments people made (again, double click to enlarge them):

This was what was happening Tuesday at the State Affairs in an attempt to get the HB 241 out quickly.  But in this case, enough members voted no to make sure the issues were dealt with before being sent on to Finance Committee. 

This comment is almost the exact sentiment conveyed at the State Affairs committee meeting.  The bill sponsor suggested letting the repairs be done in the next committee - Finance.  But someone else said, that wasn't Finance's expertise and the substantive changes needed to be taken care of in the State Affairs committee.

 

  

There's a lot of data there and probably would make a good student project to take the data and subject it to more rigorous analysis than it got.  

The House Report also says:

"Senate members of the subcommittee determined that they would proceed on a different track and did not participate in the survey." 

That is, apparently, why there isn't a single report from the whole subcommittee.  The Senate members, for their part, each submitted individual letters to Legislative Council Chair Harris.  

Senator Stevens submitted the most extensive letter (one and a half pages) which begins:


"I join with many of my Senate and House colleagues in opposition to the 90-day legislative sessions." (double click the page to enlarge it)

The other two Senators turned in letters which spelled out how many people in their districts voted for and against the 90 limit initiative.  Probably not quite what HB 171 intended.

HB 115 - Permanent Absentee Voting Option

Here's Rep. Buch's sponsor statement.  The bill comes up before the House State Affairs Committee tomorrow.  Here's a link to the Gavel to Gavel schedule for tomorrow (Thursday.)  At least you can go there and find the House State Affairs meeting.  And you can link to the bills from there as well.  I'm still trying to figure out what gets broadcast live and what after the fact.  I'm working on a post about the relationship between the Legislative Affairs Agency recordings and Gavel to Gavel.  As I understand it LAA does the audio and G2G does the video.  But their websites are linked.  It does say it will be teleconferenced.  The G2G schedule doesn't show it yet, so you'll have to check in the morning. 

See, I'm trying to get ahead a bit so some of you can actually find something you're interested in and listen in yourselves.  I've been wondering how long I could go out of town and how much I could cover via the internet before any one figured it out.  Probably because I use so many photos and videos you'd catch on pretty quick. 

Anyway, here's the Sponsor statement on HB 115: (By now you should know what HB stands for, if not, check the end of the post.) 

HB 115 An Act establishing a permanent absentee voting option for qualified voters
HB 115 will streamline the absentee voting process for Alaskans by giving voters the option to register for permanent absentee voting status for state elections. Once a voter is on the permanent absentee voter roll, they won’t have to fill out an absentee request form for each election cycle. Instead, an absentee ballot will be automatically sent to them by the Division of Elections.
HB 115 does not change anyone’s voting rights. Voters can still request a one-time absentee ballot, just as they can now. Voters can still vote at their regular voting places if they so choose. HB 115 makes voting more convenient for voters. It also streamlines the administrative process for the Division of Elections.
HB 115 does not change any of the security or evaluation procedures that are already in place in Alaska statutes for handling absentee ballots; all of the provisions currently in place for absentee ballots would apply to permanent absentee ballots. HB 115 includes a provision for removal from the permanent absentee roll if the Division of Elections receives notice that mail sent to the voter’s address is undeliverable.
HB 115 does not apply to local elections. It only applies only to primary, general and special elections, and any election for which the state has the responsibility for the conduct of the election.
HB 115 has an effective date of January 1, 2010 due to the implementation of a new voter registration system in May of 2010. The new system will be able to handle permanent absentee voting, according to the director of the Division of Elections.
Thank you for your consideration. Representative Bob Buch

HB = House Bill

It Does Rain in Juneau After All

We've had so much comfortable weather, Juneau's rainforest reputation was in jeopardy.  But we've had rain each day since Sunday.  But it's not too hard and the temperatures are comfortable (30s and low 40s).  See, I'm even too tired to convert that to C.  Just above 0˚C.

 

I'm stalling.  Yesterday I did too much and stayed up too late.  I've got stuff to post, but it's not quite ready.  Also trying to take care of day to day stuff.  Fortunately I have an incredible wife.  She got me a new cell phone today after I put mine through the washer and drier over the weekend.  It did light up and I did make some calls, but the battery was dead and they said they didn't have that kind of battery any more.  I can't fight them any more, so just said ok.   And we have a friend in Anchorage who just underwent serious surgey and trying to get J some tickets to spend some time with her, but also have a relative in LA who is also awaiting surgery and was hoping J would come down.  But that keeps being postponed since end of November.  Our daughter left for her six month fellowship in Berlin today and we've been looking for tickets to visit her.  So, you get some rain pictures.  But I'm working on several posts. 

Mandatory Winter Tire Bill

Rep. John Harris (R) Valdez spoke for his bill HB 322 before the House Transportation Committee. The bill would require vehicles above 60˚ North latitude (Someone said this would make it above Yakutat) and connected to the main Anchorage/Fairbanks road system to have US government designated winter tires. Such tires have a snowflake symbol on them. Below is an excerpt from Tirerack's history of such tires which are required now in Quebec.

In 1999, The U.S. Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC) agreed on a performance based standard to identify passenger and light truck tires that attain a traction index equal to, or greater than 110 (compared to a reference tire which is rated 100) during the specified American Society for Testing and Materials traction tests on packed snow. The new standard helps ensure that drivers can easily identify tires that provide a higher level of snow traction.

Severe Winter LogoA mountain/snowflake symbol branded on the tire's sidewall identifies tires that met the required performance in snow testing. The mountain/snowflake symbol is expected to be fully implemented on new tires by now, however there still may be a few winter/snow tires in the marketplace that meet the requirements but were produced in molds manufactured before the symbol was developed.  [more on this at the Tirerack link]

 Anchorage Johnson Tire co-owners Kelly Gaede and Michele Hogan offered a powerpoint presentation that pushed such winter tires as necessary for winter driving safety.  It was less about snow than about cold, which changes the composition of the rubber and their ability to grip the road.



(Photo:  Kelly Gaede at hearing]

Rep. Tammie Wilson (R) Fairbanks aggressively challenged Gaede on different points.  How were poorer families who could barely afford a car going to be able to buy a new set of winter tires?  What about soldiers stationed in Alaska?  Would they be required to change tires when they crossed the border in the winter?  How did their research know that tires were the cause of winter crashes?   Gaede explained that in 1972 the concept of all weather tires began to take over the winter tire business.  However, all weather tires, he continued, really have no traction in the cold. 

This slide was about Finland I believe.

Department of Transportation employees also testified.  By the end of the hearing there were suggestions to push back the starting date until 2014 and several other changes I can't recall. It was also conceded that people could drive on winter tires all year, but not with studs. 


The committee wanted to hear from experts other than the state's largest tire dealer.  As part of the benefit to the state, they said that Johnson Tire would grow from about 125 employees to 800.  Chair Peggy Wilson noted that they needed to hear about the tires from someone who didn't stand to profit from the passage of such a bill.  It was also noted that if the bill passed, Alaska would be the first state in the US to have such a bill.  However, it was pointed out that Quebec has passed a law requiring winter tires.


Here's a copy of the bill.  I can't see it all on my monitor.  If you have the same problem, you can get the bill here.

00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 322                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to winter tires; and providing for an effective date."                                                 
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 28.35 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
04            Sec. 28.35.158. Winter tires required. (a) A person may not operate a motor                                
05       vehicle registered in this state on a highway from December 15 to March 15 unless                                 
06       that vehicle is equipped with tires designed for winter driving.                                                  
07            (b)  In this section, "tires designed for winter driving" means tires                                        
08                 (1)  that bear the mountain snowflake symbol as certified by the Rubber                                 
09       Manufacturers Association or a comparable symbol as approved by the department;                                   
10                 (2)  that are approved by the department for winter driving; or                                         
11                 (3)  equipped with studs.                                                                               
12    * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to                          
13 read:                                                                                                                   
14       PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN. The Department of Transportation and Public                                            
15 Facilities shall undertake a public education campaign to notify the public about the                                   
01 requirements of AS 28.35.158, added by sec. 1 of this Act, before the effective date of that                            
02 section to ensure that the public is aware and has notice of the requirements of that section                           
03 before the requirements become effective.                                                                               
04    * Sec. 3. Section 1 of this Act takes effect December 15, 2011.                                                    
05    * Sec. 4. Except as provided in sec. 3 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under                        
06 AS 01.10.070(c).