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Member:
Senate Finance Committee
Staff:
Denise Liccioli
Elizabeth Rexford
Seth Beaver
Contact Information:
Toll Free Year Round:
1-800-597-3707
LEGISLATURE
ON THE WEB:
WWW.LEGIS.STATE.AK.US
CONTACT OTHERELECTED OFFICIALS:
Senator Dan Sullivan Anchorage Office: 907-271-5915
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Anchorage Office:
907-269-7450
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31st Alaska Legislature
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February 12, 2020
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Kaktovik School Fire
Our deepest condolences goes out to the community of Kaktovik as the community recovers and adjusts from losing their school to a terrible fire. Below is the press release from the school district.
February 8, 2020
PRESS RELEASE FROM NORTH SLOPE BOROUGH SCHOOL DIST
KAKTOVIK HAROLD KAVEOLOOK SCHOOL FIRE
On behalf of the North Slope Borough School District Board of Education and District Administration, we are shocked and grieved to learn that a devastating and destructive fire took place in Kaktovik on the early hours of February 7, 2020, causing a total loss of the school. In this moment of deep grief, we extend our prayers to the community, the residents, the teachers, and most importantly the children in commiserating during such tragic and difficult times.
We are very grateful to our first responders, our fire fighters and volunteers who immediately responded to the incident and have worked tirelessly to put out the fire and ensure no one was hurt. We also want to extend our appreciation to the District Administration and the North Slope Borough including the community of Kaktovik working in close collaboration and expending their resources in dealing with such tragedy. The School District and Kaktovik commemorates the outpouring support from our business partners, federal and state agencies and other school districts throughout the State.
The District and the Borough has been in close communication with the State of Alaska Department of Education, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, including the Health and Social Services, Department of Transportation and Office of Management Budget to formulate a plan and provide the necessary resources to the community of Kaktovik. Yesterday late afternoon, the North Slope Borough declared a State of Emergency and formulated the Incident Command Team which includes representatives from the School District. The Incident Command Team will be traveling to Kaktovik today to further assess the incident including a Community gathering to identify the community needs and articulate a plan moving forward. At this point, the District is working with the Borough Health Department and the State of Alaska Health and Social Services to provide immediate counselors to the community including food and related supplies. It is the Board of Education and the Districts Administration commitment in working with the Borough and other Business partners to ensure we restore the education infrastructure in the community as soon as possible and make sure our children's education is not compromised for the remainder of the school year. Quyanakpak!
Don't forget to file for your PFD!
The deadline to apply for this year's PFD is March 31st. To file online or find out more information on where to find a paper application, please visit: https://pfd.alaska.gov/As part of the new online voter registration system, after you apply for your PFD, at the end of your application, a link will be provided for you to register to vote.
October 1 Deadline for Air Travel
Up to now, whenever you wanted to get on an airplane, all you had to do was have your driver license or state ID to get through TSA. But on October 1 of this year, that is changing. After that date, in order to go through TSA screening and board a plane, only certain types of ID will be accepted. There is a list of 16 acceptable forms of ID, but the 3 that you are most likely to have are: a passport or passport card, a REAL ID, and a Tribal ID with a picture.
If you already have a passport, or if you already have a tribal ID with a picture, you do NOT need to get a REAL ID. If you do not already have one of those three forms of ID, then if you want to travel on an airplane on or after October 1, you will be required to get one of them. Here is a little information about obtaining those IDs so you can decide what the best option is for you.
Tribal ID - requirements will vary depending on the tribe of which you are a member. Some are capable of providing an ID with picture and others are not. The best thing to do is to contact the office for the tribe and find out if they can issue a picture ID; and if they can, then they can also tell you what is needed in order to do so.
Passport or Passport ID - This will cost between $30 and $175, depending on whether you want a passport card, passport, or both; and whether it is your first getting a passport, or it is a renewal. You also need to pay for the photo, which is usually about $15. They are good for 10 years for adults, 5 years for those under 16. You must bring a birth certificate and another ID such as driver's license or enhanced Tribal Card. It will take about 6 to 8 weeks from the time you apply to get your passport, unless you pay for expedited service. Here is the website for all the information on getting or renewing a passport or passport card:
REAL ID - You can get either a REAL ID driver license for $40 or a REAL ID state ID for $35. It will be good for 8 years. There are several documents you must bring with you in order to get a REAL ID. You must bring a certified birth certificate or passport (again, if you have a passport, you do not need a REAL ID to travel); AND you must also bring something with your full social security number on it such as your social security card or a W-2 form or a paystub that shows your full social security number; AND you must also bring TWO documents that verify your residency such as a rental or lease agreement, a deed or title to residential property, a mortgage bill, home utility bill, insurance document, voter registration confirmation letter issued by Ak Div of Elections, or several other choices. The key burden seems to be whether you have the documents needed for a REAL ID. The passport will generally be easier to get, but it is more expensive if you do not already have one.
Legislative Committees and Input
If you are interested in following what is happening in the Legislature, I encourage you to do so and be a part of the process. The computer system the Legislature uses is called BASIS. BASIS has the schedule for those committee meetings and floor sessions, what is on the agenda for each, and whether or not there will be public testimony at the meeting. So if you are following a particular bill or the budget or just want to keep track of what is happening in a committee, you can find the information about the meetings in BASIS. You can also follow when there will be public testimony, so you can call in to the meeting on your areas of interest.
The legislature requires notice of a meeting to be posted by Friday of the week before the meeting. So if you go to BASIS on Friday morning, you can pull up the schedule for the next week to see what is happening. Here is the link to find the schedule: http://akleg.gov/index.php#tab2
When you pull up this link, it will default to the current day, but you can change the dates that default to be those of the next week. Or you can just look at that day and use the "next day button" to advance through the days of the next week. That way, you see it one day at a time.
If there are documents that will be used for the meeting, you will see the link in the upper right corner of the meeting notice. You can just click on that link and it will take you to a list of documents, which you can then click on whichever documents you want to see. This is the link to what the documents look like:
By using BASIS, you can also watch floor sessions and committee meetings as they are occurring, and you can also find recordings of those that you may have missed. You can access live and recorded floor sessions and committee meetings through the links below.
Floor session live streams are available through Gavel Alaska: https://www.ktoo.org/gavel/. Gavel Alaska also has links for past floor sessions and some committee meetings.
As with other sites, simply change the dates to have it pull up the timeframe you are looking for.
With some practice, you will be able to find out a lot of information about things of interest to you and your area, and participate in the legislative process by calling in to public testimony. You can also send in letters or emails to the committees on bills and topics they are hearing in the committee.
Capital Budget - CAPSIS
This is a final reminder that CAPSIS will close to communities on February 14th, so if you have any requests, they must be input by then. CAPSIS is the system used for the capital budget and is currently open to communities to input their requests. The capital budget is expected to be bare bones again this year, and to mostly contain matches for federal projects. Unfortunately, there will not be an opportunity for legislators to add any discretionary funds for our communities. If you need help, or have any questions, contact Denise in my office.
School District Week
This week we've had a number of students, teachers, staff and supporters visiting our offices. Unfortunately the North Slope Borough School District visitors had to cancel their visits due to the tragic school fire in Kaktovik. Please keep the families and Borough staff in your thoughts and prayers as we are all recovering from this tragedy.
Constituent Visitors
Many thanks to those individuals who take the time out of their busy schedules to come visit my office when they are in Juneau. My decisions are guided by the input of those I represent. I truly appreciate hearing from constituents over their concerns.
Senator Olson visiting with Lower Yukon School District
Senator Olson visiting with Kashunamiut School District
Senator Olson visiting with Bering Straits School District
Senator Olson visiting with Lisa Shield, Kelly Marcus, Saima Chase
Senator Olson and Representative Foster visiting with Matilda Hardy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my ULU Newsletter.
Best wishes and be safe,
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