House Passes Law to Make Folding State Flag More Complex

Here's the current Alaska Law (ec. 44.09.030.) for Display and retirement of flags.

(a) The official flag of the state shall be displayed with the flag of the United States only from sunrise to sunset, or between the hours designated by proper authority. However, the flag may be displayed after sunset upon special occasions when it is desired to produce a patriotic effect.

(b) The flag of the United States and the flag of the State of Alaska shall be displayed daily, weather permitting, in the following places:

(1) on or near the main administration building of every institution under the authority or control of the state government;

(2) in or near every schoolhouse during school days.

(c) An official flag of the state that is no longer a fitting emblem for display because it is worn, tattered, or otherwise damaged may be respectfully retired by fire.

Short and sweet.

Here's a law sponsored by Rep. Craig Johnson (and co-sponsored by Reps. Hawker and Keller), making it more complex.  About 140 words in the old law, 440 in the new one.

HOUSE BILL NO. 98

01 "An Act relating to display, folding, presentment, and retirement of the state flag."
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
03 * Section 1. AS 44.09.030 is amended by adding new subsections to read:
04 (d) When displayed horizontally, the flag shall be positioned with the hoist on
05 the left and the North Star in the upper right corner.
06 (e) When displayed vertically, the flag shall be positioned with the hoist at the
07 top and the North Star in the lower right corner.
08 * Sec. 2. AS 44.09 is amended by adding new sections to read:
09 Sec. 44.09.032. Folding and presenting the state flag. (a) When folding the
10 state flag, the following procedure shall be followed, whenever possible:
11 (1) hold the flag waist-high with another person, so that the flag is
12 parallel to the ground and the hoist is on the left;
13 (2) fold the flag lengthwise, with the open edge up;
14 (3) holding the edges securely, rotate the flag so that five stars are< 15 facing up; 01 (4) fold the flag lengthwise a second time, with the open edge up; 02 (5) holding the edges securely, rotate the flag so that two stars are 03 facing up; 04 (6) fold the flag widthwise, with the North Star facing down and the< 05 hoist on the right; 06 (7) holding the edges securely, fold the flag widthwise a second time, 07 with the North Star facing down and the hoist on the right; 08 (8) fold the flag widthwise a third time, with the North Star facing up. 09 (b) When presenting the folded flag to another person, the folded flag should
10 be turned so that the North Star is nearest the receiver.

11 Sec. 44.09.034. Retirement of the state flag. An official flag of the state that
12 is no longer a fitting emblem for display because it is worn, tattered, or otherwise
13 damaged may be respectfully retired by fire in a ceremony or other dignified manner
14 honoring the flag as a fitting emblem for the state. When practicable, retirement of the
15 state flag should occur in a public ceremony under the direction of uniformed
16 personnel representing a state or federal military service or a patriotic society. If a
17 formal ceremony is not practicable, a private ceremony is acceptable.
18 * Sec. 3. AS 44.09.030(c) is repealed.

It passed the House of Representatives today with no dissenting votes.

Rep. Johnson's website says the law was brought to him by the Dimond High ROTC

As part of Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) curriculum, "Service Learning Project", the cadets of the A. J. Dimond High School JROTC Program realized there were several issues concerning the handling of Alaska's state flag, including statutory ommissions. Based on their research, the following three issues were identified and are recommended for inclusion in statute:

Even though this new bill would triple the words in the flag statute, it's still much shorter than the US Code.

I thought less government, less regulation were important to the party of the sponsors. But at least it's written as a guide, not a mandate. There don't seem to be any penalties for getting it wrong.

But I don't understand why military should be favored over civilians in retiring the flag. It just seems a way to link the flag and patriotism to war. I would hope think that it would be better if people around the world saw our flag as a symbol of peace and prosperity.

Key Campaign Rally for Families with Kids with Serious Health Problems

 When I got back from the Alaska ferry terminal to see Rep. Cissna's homecoming, there was a rally in front of the Capitol. They had a song book and were singing their message with familiar tunes with new lyrics.

I wasn't completely sure who was putting this on or their specific objectives, so I looked on line.  The information is on the Hopealaska website - I think this is the organization that used to be known as Hope Cottages:

Anyone who is concerned about the rights, dignity and dreams of individuals who experience disabilities is encouraged to join in the efforts of our Key Coalition. The Key Campaign will be held in Juneau February 23-24, 2011, with similar advocacy rallies across the face of urban and rural Alaska, taking place on Thursday, February 24.

In addition to joining the rallies, you are asked to contact your legislator personally by sending an email or submitting a Public Opinion Message (POM): Submit POM Online or Download the POM Form.

Their specific objectives are:

The Key Coalition has identified four major priorities to be addressed during this year’s Key Campaign.

Wait List Reduction—Currently the State of Alaska has committed to drawing 50 people from the State Wait List for Community Services each quarter. This initiative encourages the State to increase the draw to 75 people per quarter (from 200 people to 300 people annually).

Periodic Rate Review—Establish a periodic rate review into statute. This statute would address an equitable process to establish rate increases for community services that are in place for institutional services.  All we are asking in community programs is a simple matter of equity—the same ability to predict consistent budgets in a similar process dictated under state law.  This discrepancy between institution and community resulted in a previous period of a four year rate freeze for programs similar to Hope, while nursing homes and hospitals received much needed annual adjustments.

Complex Behavior (HUB)—Support the Hub component (point of entry) of the Alaska Complex Behavior Collaborative, which is an investment in Alaska's workforce and services for individuals with cognitive disabilities and complex behavioral needs.

Autism Insurance— Pass HB79 and SB74 requiring insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorders.  Most insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for treating autism, even when the services are otherwise covered by the health plan. Coverage of medically necessary autism treatment in Alaska will enable many children to access the services they need and live more productive lives. 

 But the real reason this is important comes through in this short video of a mother of a severely brain damaged child.  She and her husband had no one to turn to until Key Campaign organizations helped them out.

Alaska Rep. Sharon Cissna Finally Arrives in Juneau via Ferry

I went out to the Alaska State Ferry terminal about 14 miles north of downtown to be there when Rep. Sharon Cissna disembarked after her long journey following her refusal to be patted down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEATAC) security.  (For those unfamiliar with the situation, she had a mastectomy and did not want TSA people putting their hands on her chest as they did on her last trip.)

My Juneau host was headed to a meeting at the university anyway, and she graciously offered me the car for the rest of the way.  The M/V Matanuska was already in dock, but people hadn't disembarked.

I probably should note that I've known Rep. Cissna for a while.  Although, she had a masters degree already, when she was elected to the State House, she decided to take graduate classes in public administration.  That was when I got to know her quite well.

As a member of the minority, Rep. Cissna knew she had limited power, but she decided to become an expert on health care and education (the U-Med - University-Medical - district is in her house district) and she has traveled the state and researached to be, I'm quite sure, the most knowledgable legislator on these issues.  She even canoed (or rafted?) down the Yukon River with her husband to visit remote villages and talk to folks on their own turf.  Plus she is the warmest and most caring person you could want to meet.






Although the video ends abruptly, that was the end of things. This video captures about 98% of what Rep. Cissna did and said as she came off the ferry.

ALEC's Clinton Woods Helping Legislators Fight Obamacare, the EPA, and Other Conservative Nightmares

Like lots of other people, I looked into room 106 of the Capitol because it was lunch time and someone had provided free sandwiches, potato chips, fruit, and cookies to attract legislators and staffers to their talk.  I had no idea who was talking.   The bins were full.  You can see that lots of folks made off with sandwiches.  But only a few stayed.  I got a sandwich for a nearby staffer, but there was nothing vegie, and I had brought my own, so I only took a banana for me. 


It turned out to be the American Legislative Exchange Council - an organization I hadn't heard of.  A young man named Clinton Woods was recruiting people for this organization which is a smaller competitor of two other organizations state legislators traditionally belong to:

•  the National Council of State Legislatures and 
• the Council of State Governments. 

These are non-partisan organizations dedicated to basic principles of good government such as these:

The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan organization founded to:

• Improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures;
• Promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures;
• Ensure state legislatures a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (he kept calling it ALEC) clearly states that they are based on Free Market, Jeffersonian Principles and are open to the private sector members as full partners.

I noticed Rep. Carl Gatto there. He reported last year getting $2249.68 to attend a Heartland Institute conference in New York on International Climate Change.  Heartland doesn't believe much in Climate Change and pushes market solutions in any case. Also present were Reps. Keller and Tammie Wilson and Sen. Dyson.

Their brochures made their position on the political spectrum fairly clear.  This is not a neutral better government organization.  It's an anti-government organization.   


In his talk, Clinton Woods said they create model legislation for their members to push, "Over 1000 of our model bills spread across the US with 20% enacted."

Clinton Woods

They have various task forces working on these model bills. 

• Civil Justice (working on tort reform, which tries to limit the liability or organizations who have done harm) 
• Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
• Education
• Energy, Environment and Agriculture (lots of stuff on fighting the EPA)
• Health and Human Services (repealing Obama's health care legislation)
• International Relations
• Public Safety and Elections
• Tax and Fiscal Policy
• Telecommunications and Information Technology
• Federal Relations

Wikipedia's post on ALEC includes charges that the corporate members call the shots on the kind of policies they pursue:

Criticism

ALEC has approximately three hundred private sector members including corporations, state and national think tanks, and trade associations. Some corporations and trade groups that have supported ALEC include: American Nuclear Energy Council, American Petroleum Institute, Coors Brewing Company, Texaco, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, VISA, Exxon Mobil, the National Rifle Association, Amway, Koch Industries, and others. Groups critical of ALEC claim that the organization is controlled by the entities that fund it, subsequently promoting donors' agendas and goals, along with attempting to advance legislation that favors their interests. NPR reported that the Corrections Corporation of America was present at meetings when legislators were introduced to model immigration laws, used for example as the template for Arizona SB 1070, passed in 2010. The report suggested that the group could be used to avoid state laws requiring legislators to disclose meetings with and gifts from politically unpopular corporations. Shortly after the report was published, ALEC released a response statement addressing some of NPR's accusations.

People for the American Way, the self-proclaimed left-wing advocacy group, refers to ALEC as "a right-wing public policy organization with strong ties to major corporations, trade associations and right-wing politicians" with an agenda that includes "challenging government restrictions on corporate pollution, limiting government regulations of commerce, privatizing public services, and representing the interests of the corporations that make up its supporters."

Truthout identifies ALEC as a Koch Industries supported organization that has helped Wisconsin's Governor in his labor busting attempt in Wisconsin:

A Koch-financed front group, the American Legislative Exchange Council, has prepped Wisconsin GOP lawmakers with anti-labor legislative ideas.

I haven't been able to verify that.  Charity Navigator rates them 49 (out of 70) and got two ** out of four.  It says they do not have audit data, nor are IRS  990 forms available so their accountability is low. 

 
You can watch part of Clinton Woods' presentation. 






[UPDATE March 19, 2011: Hector Solon at Daily Kos has a more thorough piece on ALEC, links to this post. It would be nice if he also credited the photo of the brochures from here that he posted.   LATER, as he says in the comment below, he added the links and credits.]

". . . no one should have to sacrifice their dignity in order to travel"

[Update, Feb. 24: New post with video of Rep. Cissna talking to media as she gets off the ferry.]
The Alaska State House passed a "Sense of the House" resolution today in support of Rep. Sharon Cissna, offered by Rep. Chris Tuck. His introduction was:

Last weekend the long-time member of this body from District 22 chose respect. She stood up for her rights, her sense of decency, and her prior commitments to herself at the Seattle airport by not submitting to an intrusive search of her body.

The sense of the house that passed stated:

"It is the Sense of the House that efficient travel is a cornerstone of the economy and our quality of life, especially in Alaska, and that no one should have to sacrifice their dignity in order to travel."

The vote was 36 yeas, 2 excused (Cissna, Fairclough), and Representatives Bob Lynn and Dan Saddler voted against.  

Cissna's office has been inundated with supportive emails from around the country.  The stack in the photo above is just Monday, and an equal sized stack came in Tuesday.  

Meanwhile there was a lively forum at flyertalk.com. (Not sure the link works if you don't register - for free - to flyertalk.)  Here's a post that apparently was also sent to Rep. Cissna:

Dear Rep. Cissna,

I wish to congratulate you on your bold stand against the TSA at SEA as recently reported in the Seattle press. Please know that a number of your fellow Americans stand behind you, and we, too, are tired of the ongoing abuse leveled by this agency. No one wants less security. What we do want is security that is safe, sane, effective, respectful, and doesn't make people like Michael Cherthoff richer. Instead what we have at the hands of the TSA are expensive machines that can't detect guns (recently reported in Dallas), thieves who have stolen a combined total of nearly $300,000 from innocent travelers (Newark and New York - JFK), and people who are literally sticking their hands in our pants. The images created by the full body scanners would make decent people blush, and as you are unfortunately aware do not protect anyone from an invasive body search demanded under threat of authority. I wish you good health, and as a fellow Democrat hope for your continued political success.

Sincerely,
barbell

 Here's another:

And check out TSA's reaction:

Quote:

TSA spokesman Kwika Riley was asked to respond to Cissna’s comments when contacted by The Associated Press. But a general statement issued later did not mention her or her claims, saying the agency is "sensitive to the concerns of passengers who were not satisfied with their screening experience and we invite those individuals to provide feedback to TSA."

Translation: Stuff it, you whiner.

A number focus on TSA's treatment of people with medical prosthetics:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BubbaLoop As usual, the TSA fails horribly when dealing with prosthetics. Lucky for us, it was with a public figure. This has to get out to more news media. I´ll do my share to make this link go viral.

Problems with abusive and humiliating treatment of breast cancer survivors has been reported before. In that case, a TSA agent put her full hand on the (prosthetic) right breast of a US Air flight attendant and made her remove the prosthesis from her bra for inspection.

This post gives contact info for various beast cancer organizations.

These organizations should be "strongly encouraged" to fight for the rights of women to continue with their lives and careers after surviving breast cancer, including the right to travel without harassment, humiliation, and abuse.

Mental Health Wild Game Feed

I've got a couple of posts backed up - synthetic marijuana bill, driver's license time for non-residents, election booklet for primaries - but I'm trying to make them less tedious, so I'll slip in this easy one.

There is a lot of food offered to legislators and staffers in and around the Capitol each year.  Tuesday afternoon several mental health related organizations - the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Alaska Mental Health Board, Statewide Suicide Prevention Council (and maybe others) - had a wild game feed.  The food and cooking were provided by board members of these organizations.

These are justified by all as a chance to talk less formally about important issues.  And the food does tend to attract people.  And people do talk.  I've gotten to meet and/or just talk to folks in a more casual setting.  Legislators are right there and not rushing off to a committee hearing.

Legislators and staffers and the people who want to influence them (they would say educate and that's also true) do get to connect more as human beings than as players in political theater.

The video has Kate Burkhart (Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse) briefly describes this event and Kris Duncan (Alaska Housing Finance Corporation) talks about what AHFC does and what they want from the legislators. 

The Mobile Billboard Business - Lots of License Plate Bills

[I need to run, so I'm going to post this now and try to do more proofing later. Sorry.]

There are six license plate bills that I can find on BASIS.

l-r Sens. Geissel, Meyer, Wielechowski, Paskvan, Staffer Karla Hart testifying

Right now, as I understand this, people can get vanity license plates in Alaska and there are special organizational license plates.  Whenever constituents call their representative to ask for a special license plate - such as the bills today heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee for Choose Life, Breast Cancer Awareness, and the National Rifle Association - the legislator has to write a bill and it has to go through all the hoops of the legislative process.  And legislators being legislators, politics plays a role.  So Sen. Bill Wielechowski has offered SB (Senate Bill) 93 to take this process out of the legislature and let the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) handle these administratively.

Key issues raised:

1. Should the State license plates be made into mobile billboards for various not-for-profit organizations?
   
2. How will the DMV decide to allow a particular organization to have a license plate? 
   
   Another issue that I had, but that I didn't hear raised is:
    
3. Whether the state should be in the business of helping fund raising for not-for-profit organizations?  

Should the State be in the mobile billboard business?
From what I heard in the committee meeting, while Sen. Paskwan asked if the state should get into the "mobile billboard business."  it didn't seem that anyone really cared, or if they did, whether they take the political heat they would get from organizations that already have such plates.  Sen. Paskwan asked and then the subject was dropped as they went on to other things.   The answer is the state is and will be.


How will the DMV decide to allow or not allow plates?
This was the focus of most of the discussion.  Whitney Brewster, the head of DMV, spoke by phone and described the process they would follow.  Now they have standards for vanity plates that allows them deny plates that are

• vulgar, 
• indecent, or 
• have a sexual connotation,  
• patently offensive to a racial, ethnic, or religious group

Pennsylvania was identified as a state that has the DMV administer the specialized organizational license plates and Brewster and Wielechowski staffer Karla Hart reported that Pennsylvania does not report any serious problems.  There are also legal cases that have identified precedents to follow.  You can click here to see all the Pennsylvania organizations that have specialized plates.

Most of the people calling in to testify were in favor of either the NRA plates or the Choose Life plates.  Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU, called in to say their main concern was that the process has to be viewpoint neutral. 

Should the state be raising funds for non-profits?
The state gives money to non-profits all the time in grants and contracts to do business the state wants done.  The State has something no one else has - license plates.  In the case of vanity plates, individuals agree to pay a premium, which goes to the state, to get their own personal license plate.  But this is different.  Here, non-profits can raise money using the state's special monopoly on plates.  There may even be a sense to some that the state endorses the organizations since they are on the plates. Russ Amerling, National Publicity Coordinator, Choose Life License Plates, testified by phone that his organization nationally had raised over $13 million through license plates. Obviously, the more supporters in an organization, the more money they can raise. So, essentially, the state is aiding larger organizations more than smaller ones.

How the money gets distributed
Neil Moss, head of the Scholastic Clays Target Program, who testified by phone that he had initiated the idea of the NRA plate, said his organization would use the money for youth gun safety education.  He even said it wouldn't be limited to SCTP.  SCTP would allocate monies to organizations around the state that do these types of youth safety programs.  But there was no discussion of how this money would be audited.  Instead, the organizations would collect the money from people, then send a portion of it to the state.  What they then did with the money afterward was never discussed.

Another issue is that some organizations take their cut and others don't.  The National Rifle Association people will get, if I understood it right, about $20 per license plate.  But the money for the Breast Cancer Awareness would go to the state.  I would note that the Breast Cancer Awareness was being pushed by Rep. Holmes, who is in the minority and less likely to get it through the Republican dominated House, so she was able to get Republican Sen. Linda Menard to add it to her NRA bill.  But when asked where the money should go, Menard said that the Breast Cancer folks hadn't asked to keep the money, so it should go to the general fund.  I wonder if the question had even come up in the prior discussions.  Why didn't Menard suggest it go to the Breast Cancer group?  I don't know.

A plate for a Planned Parenthood related group, if I understood this right, got added to the Choose Life bill (SB 16) before today's hearing.  


Related Bills
In addition to the organizations mentioned in the committee today, there's a bill for the Lao Vets to have their own license plate.  They didn't take a vote today and I'm guessing that Wielechowski is hoping that SB 93 will be passed and all this will be delegated to the DMV so that the legislature doesn't have to deal with it any more. 

There are also two bills on driver's licenses - one to limit the validity of licenses for non-residents to the length of the person's permission to stay in the US.  That will be heard in the House Finance Committee this afternoon. 

HB 3 REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE
"An Act relating to issuance of driver's licenses."

And there's this one.  I don't really know any more about this than what it says:

HB 149 DRIVER'S LICENSING; MEDICAL CONDITIONS
"An Act relating to drivers' licenses and to immunity for persons who report persons
who have a medical or other condition that may impair the ability to operate a motor
vehicle."


Below are my notes for the discussion of SB 2 and SB 16:

 
LICENSE PLATES: NATIONAL RIFLE ASSN.

Linda Menard - would create two new optional license plates for additional fee.  NRA commemorative license plate and Breast Cancer Awareness.  NRA will cost $50 fee and then $30 extra fee above regular fees.  Breast Care bill $50 extra.

Extra fee goes to skeet shooting - money will be appropriated directly to those programs.

Brewster:
Wielechowski: Can you talk about how your dept. administers these sort of bills
Brewster: Specialty license plates that are fund raisers - we account for those funds separately for legislature. Dealing with plates in excess of our costs. It costs us about $10 per set plus shipping charges, so anything above that is reported to finance and those funds go into the general fund.

Neil Moss: Live in Wasilla - state director for Scholastic Clay Target Program - my idea to get this on board. Alaska has more NRA members per capita than any other state, I'm involved with youth shooting sports. Always in search of money. Firearm safety literature. Always scrounging around to pay for something. This bill is a great fund raiser - successful in Tennesee - I don't have exact numbers and have spoken with the director there and they're happy with program. ASCTP is a 501 - it's not all for the clay target program, it would be available to any youth shooting project in the state of Alaska through our board of directors. I'm aware of all the state programs,ASCTP is primarily a shotgun program. About firearm safety and and I started this.

BW= For sponsor = Breast Cancer Awareness plates - where would you like the excess funds to go.
Menard: They haven't specified this so they can just go to the general fund.


Senate Bill 16: Senator Meyer
*+ SB 16 SPECIAL REQUEST LICENSE PLATES: TELECONFERENCED
Choose Life/Pro-Family Pro-Choice
Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled

Michele Seideman - inclusion of pro-family pro-choice license plate, establishes where those funds will go for these plates.

Meyer: Comments to original bill. Allow AK drivers to purchase a specialty license plate "Choose Life". We have a lot of license plate bills and so think your bill is probably the answer to this. This is not a fund raiser - an additional $30. 26 other states have these license plates and brought to us by our constituents. I personally like the idea. My family adopted a child. I see this as a pro-adotption message. Also strong pro-life message. And also the suicide prevention people like it. So it can mean whatever people wish. Not intended as a license plate.

Brewster: [No Questions]

Jeff Mittman: ED of ACLU for the state of Alaska, we've raised issues in other bills. These raise significant speech issues. The previous bill SB 96 addresses those, but there are still some. Process has to be viewpoint neutral.

Russ Emerling: Natl Publicity Coordinator for Choose Life License plate. 26 plates approved in US. 24 on the road, 2 in pre selling stage. It is a fund raiser in the other states. $13.? million raised to support adoption. I didn't know there would be no fundraisers. Intended to support life and get unwed pregnant mothers to choose life and choose adoption.

Jim Minnery: Rep the Alaska Family Council representing 1000s Alaskans across the state. 1000s of people whose lives have been affected by adoption.

Mike Paulson: Chair of Choose Life Alaska, here to answer questions.

Kelly Foreman: Also with Choose Life Alaska - discussion on this for two years and we came on in February to get sponsors, worked with DMV to design the plates. We encourage. We see that there is another license plate added. We asked so they would need to go through the same process we did for design.

Bob Head: Juneau resident 35 years. Dir. of American Family Association of Alaska - I've had the privilege to raise an adopted son, he's gone on to be research science and would be a mind that would be wasted. My wife and I have been chaplains who worked at half-way house and with ???

Sid Hydersdorf: Juneau resident. I support SB 16 that would allow the Choose Life license plate. Some critics may exist - result of our abortion culture. I think this is good public policy. I hope the committee will support the idea of affirmation and celebration of life, promote a culture of life.

Karen Robinson: Representing Alaska's Women Lobby and Planned Parenthood. We support the committee substitute. Thank the offices for their assistance. I'm still not clear that it would raise dollars, would support agencies that help with adoption. I'd suggest the Children's Trust which already has a Kid's License plate and get money from that.

Gorgeous Juneau Dressed in Snow and Blue Sky

There was a good amount of snow on the ground when I arrived Friday night.  It snowed Saturday.  Sunday morning was beautiful.  By Sunday night it was snowing again.  And this was Monday morning.  By Juneau standards, this is a fair amount of snow I'm told.  It was in the mid 30s during the day. 

And the Presidents' Day war protesters in front of the Capitol when I got there were also enjoying the sunshine. 

 

House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula is in the black boots.

Cissna Ferries To Juneau and Other News from the Capitol

Some notes while walking through the Capitol Building today.



Rep. Cissna Says No to Airport Pat Down

Traveling and staying with friends, I haven't heard any news for a couple of days, so when I was in Sharon Cissna's office and meeting her new staff person Marie, she was a little amused that a blogger didn't realize he was in the eye of the storm. That's where I learned that Rep. Cissna is a national news item for refusing to be patted down by TSA. Marie was answering phone calls from news outlets and having to say, "Sorry, I can't tell you any more than you know, because I don't know." Readers of this blog know that I find TSA's strategy to be serious lacking.

While Marie was not answering questions, Time magazine was saying that Cissna was going to take the Alaska ferry to Juneau.  I heard from others as I walked the halls that  Rep. Cissna is on an Alaska ferry and should arrive in Juneau Wednesday.  Time got this response from TSA:

. . . the TSA issued a general statement that they are "sensitive to the concerns of passengers who were not satisfied with their screening experience." Whatever Cissna's reason for declining to fly, we can only imagine it was worthy enough of enduring the 1,000 mile + journey to Juneau by sea.

I'm in Juneau, so people reading this listening to the radio and watching TV probably know more about this than I do.


Coastal Zone Management

Gov. Sean Parnell has allowed the CZM regulations put in place by Gov. Murkowski,  to continue for another six years.   I'm told, that local governments were pretty much cut out of any say over what happens on their coasts and the state has all the authority.  But in response to a question asked at a State Chamber of Commerce luncheon, apparently backtracked on this.   (Sorry I'm vague here, this is my first day, and I'll have a firmer grasp of things as days go by.  I'm trying to give a sense of things I heard as I talked to folks.  House Bill 106 as I understand it, is an attempt to make the renewal much shorter.

"An Act extending the termination date of the Alaska coastal management program and relating to the extension; relating to the review of activities of the Alaska coastal management program; providing for an effective date by amending the effective date of sec. 22, ch. 31, SLA 2005; and providing for an effective date." 

Or Senate Bill 56

"An Act extending by one year the date the Alaska coastal management program will be subject to termination under the statute establishing a procedure for evaluation of agency programs and activities; providing for an effective date by delaying the effective date of the repeal of the program; and providing for an effective date." 

These bills are not easy to understand.  I need to get more information.  


Jay Ramras,  former legislator, is making money in Fairbanks and Southern California and has taken up gardening.


North Slope Facilities Access - Rep. Gutenberg is sponsoring a bill to give companies not already on the Slope access to facilities.  OK, that isn't completely clear, but I'm trying to give you a sense of being here and getting lots of information very fast and trying to put things into context.  What I understood was that the current companies are making it difficult for companies that don't have facilities necessary for getting oil and gas to market. HB 138, from what I see, adds certain oil and gas facilities, whether publicly or privately owned, to the list of public utilities regulated by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.  The specific activities added to the statute in this bill would be:

(H) furnishing, to the public for compensation, the service
12 of
13 (i) oil, gas, and water separation;
14 (ii) gas dehydration, compression, and reinjection;
15 (iii) natural gas liquid production; or
16 (iv) water treatment and reinjection;

Restricting Drivers' Licenses for Non-residents to the length of their US visas.

House Bill 3 is sponsored by State Affairs Chair Rep. Bob Lynn and a bunch of others:

REPRESENTATIVE(s) LYNN, HAWKER, CHENAULT, JOHNSON, GATTO, Millett, Thompson, Fairclough, Keller, P.Wilson, Olson, Pruitt, Dick, Saddler, T.Wilson, Doogan 

Does having Doogan as a co-sponsor make this a bi-partisan bill?  Maybe now that Eric Cordero  has become a Republican, he can have some influence on his new party's views on this.    Here's the the whole bill:

HOUSE BILL NO. 3
01 "An Act relating to issuance of driver's licenses."
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
03 * Section 1. AS 28.15.101 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
04 (d) Under regulations adopted by the department, the department may issue to
05 a person a driver's license with a duration of less than five years if the person is
06 authorized to stay in the United States for less than five years or the period of
07 authorized stay is indefinite. The department shall issue the license for the period of
08 the authorized stay. If the period of authorized stay is indefinite, the department may
09 not issue the license with a validity of greater than one year.

I notice that although Rep. Millet is a co-sponsor, Rep. Johansen voted NR ("no recommendation") rather than DP ("do pass") when it was heard in the House State Affairs committee.


Divesting Investments in Iran, the Sequel 

Rep. Gatto has reintroduced his bill to Divest State Holdings in companies doing business in Iran, though I was told a major supporter of the bill last year, David Gottstein, has changed his stance on this as a strategy given changes in the international situation.
[Update Feb. 22: I ran into David Gottstein on the stairwell in the Capitol today and asked him about this.  My informant wasn't well informed.  He said that he still supports the divestment, but that his focus is on gas pipeline and so he thought there wasn't enough time in the 90 day session to get the divestment bill through.]  The summary of HB 2:

"An Act relating to certain investments of the Alaska permanent fund, the state's retirement systems, the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan, and the deferred compensation program for state employees in certain companies that do business in Iran, and restricting those investments; and providing for an effective date."

You can read all of HB 2 here.  You can see my account of the debate in the State Affairs Committee where Gatto was a member and where the bill failed last year.  A problem that Republicans had with the bill was that it would require the state to stop doing business with major oil related companies that are doing things in Alaska. 


That should give you enough to chew on. 

If anyone is asking, yes, I'm back in Juneau - as Harpboy so precisely commented in my previous post Where's This?  And back in the Capitol.  But only for a few weeks this year.  Some good friends have offered me a place to sleep - and since I'm not an employee of the legislature, or even a volunteer, I can accept their offer - and I'll blog the Legislature while I'm here.  But I want them to continue to be good friends so I can't mooch off them for too long. 

It's a spectacularly beautiful today in Juneau.  More fresh snow and a brilliantly blue sky. (I didn't bring my card reader with me to the Capitol so I can't post pictures, but I will.)   I can tell how much I learned last year as I walked over to what are now familiar digs. So I walked around and visited different offices to let people know I was here and find out what people think is important this year. So, this is just a very superficial first take.

Conversation With a Brigittine Monk

This past Wednesday, I got to visit a Brigittine Monastery, the Priory of Our Lady of Consolation in Amity, Oregon. I really didn't know what to expect, but drove out through the brown February rural landscape. There were patches of blue after the mostly rainy Tuesday.








The monastery is back off the main roads and secondary roads amidst farm lands.













The parking lot was empty and it was quiet as  I walked the short path to the priory church.

 I sat in the empty church and read what I thought was the Monastery newsletter - The Rosary Light & Life - which had a long story by Father Reginald Martin about going to Lourdes.  As I look at it now, that turns out to be from the Rosary Center in Portland.  But the Monastery's newsletter is online.


Then I walked over to the main entrance and rang the doorbell and entered into a small shop where the chocolate made at the Monastery is sold.

It was there that I met Brother Francis, who's been a Brigittine monk for 32 years.  I told him I'd heard the monastery was here, but didn't know what I'd find, but I did know they had chocolate.

He said, unfortunately, that was what most people knew about it.

I said that I was more interested in learning about what life was like here.  But no, to his question, I wasn't interested into looking into the possibility of entering the monastery.

We talked for about 20 minutes.  First he told me some of the basics of the order - things I'd read online already.

The Order of The Most Holy Savior, popularly known as Brigittine, was founded in the year 1370 by St. Birgitta of Sweden to give praise and honor to God. Elements which characterize the Brigittine Order include a deep love of Christ, especially in remembrance of His sufferings, the fullness of liturgical worship, a respect for learning and authentic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the holy Mother of God, all incorporated into a simple monastic life style.

The Brigittine Order exists at present with thirteen monasteries of contemplative nuns and a congregation of contemplative -apostolic sisters whose mother-house is located in Rome, in the actual former dwelling of St. Birgitta.

The Brigittine Monks existed from the fourteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century, when they were dispersed, largely due to the European wars. (In 1970, a Brigittine Monk, Richard Reynolds, martyr, was declared a saint.)

. . . In March of 1976 Brother Benedict Kirby founded a new branch of the Brigittine Monks. This monastery has the canonical status of a Priory "Sui Iuris."

Then he told me their schedule, which is also online. 

4:45 am Rising

5:05 am Office of Readings, Lauds

6:00 am Solitude

7:45 am Mid-morning Prayer

8:00 am Conventual Mass

8:45 am Conference/Work

12:00 nn Mid-day Prayer

1:oo pm Solitude

3:00 pm Mid-afternoon Prayer

3:30 pm Work

6:00 Evening Prayer

6:30 pm Collation

7:00 pm Recreation

8:00 pm Rosary, Night Prayer

 They basically live, work, and stay at the monastery which is about ten acres - plus they have an agreement with local farmers to be able to walk around on the farms neighboring the monastery.  They have a day off every year when all the monks go on an outing.  They've been to the coast, to Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, and I think Brother Francis said they'd been to Portland.  They can leave the monastery for doctor and dentist visits. 

I was interested in how they kept contact with the world.  The prior of the monastery gets email, a major way they get requests for prayers, which the prior passes on to the other monks.  Prayers can't tell God to do anything, they have to be conditioned - God willing.

They don't watch television (I didn't ask about radio), they have magazine subscriptions, and his favorites were the Smithsonian and National Geographic.  They also get a number of Catholic journals.

Silence was not a part of this order, if I remember correctly, though it is part of some meditations

Originally, the monastery was just south of San Francisco, but they knew it was a temporary location and was too noisy right next to a busy street.  They eventually found this spot in rural Oregon, well off the main road and some minor road until you get to the dirt road Monastery Lane.


New Advent tells us about St. Bridget of Sweden:

The most celebrated saint of the Northern kingdoms, born about 1303; died 23 July, 1373.

. . . Her father was one of the wealthiest landholders of the country, and, like her mother, distinguished by deep piety. St. Ingrid, whose death had occurred about twenty years before Bridget's birth, was a near relative of the family. Birger's daughter received a careful religious training, and from her seventh year showed signs of extraordinary religious impressions and illuminations . . .

In 1316, at the age of thirteen, she was united in marriage to Ulf Gudmarsson, who was then eighteen. She acquired great influence over her noble and pious husband, and the happy marriage was blessed with eight children, among them St. Catherine of Sweden. The saintly life and the great charity of Bridget soon made her name known far and wide. She was acquainted with several learned and pious theologians, among them Nicolaus Hermanni, later Bishop of Linköping, Matthias, canon of Linköping, her confessor, Peter, Prior of Alvastrâ, and Peter Magister, her confessor after Matthias. She was later at the court of King Magnus Eriksson, over whom she gradually acquired great influence.

 Her husband died in 1349.

Bridget now devoted herself entirely to practices of religion and asceticism, and to religious undertakings. The visions which she believed herself to have had from her early childhood now became more frequent and definite. She believed that Christ Himself appeared to her, and she wrote down the revelations she then received, which were in great repute during the Middle Ages. They were translated into Latin by Matthias Magister and Prior Peter.

St. Bridget now founded a new religious congregation, the Brigittines, or Order of St. Saviour, whose chief monastery, at Vadstena, was richly endowed by King Magnus and his queen (1346). To obtain confirmation for her institute, and at the same time to seek a larger sphere of activity for her mission, which was the moral uplifting of the period, she journeyed to Rome in 1349, and remained there until her death, except while absent on pilgrimages, among them one to the Holy Land in 1373.

It was an interesting and peaceful morning.   (I could take pictures, but not of the monks, who wear grey robes.)