March 6, 2020

Session:

Capitol Building

Room 417

Juneau, AK 99801

(907) 465-4930

Interim:

1500 W Benson Blvd.

Room 328

Anchorage AK 99503

(907) 269-0174

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET

The Governor’s FY20 supplemental budget was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, February 26^th. This supplemental budget was the largest in Alaska’s history, totaling $526.2 million. $293.6 million of this is State Unrestricted General Funds (UGFs), and the remaining $225 million is Federal funding. The budget primarily funds Medicaid, firefighting efforts, and earthquake relief costs. The supplemental budget also includes funding for: the Alaska Marine Highway System, the Department of Public Safety, Alaska Psychiatric Institute, the Utquiagvik DA’s office, the Adult Public Assistance Program, and the Adult Preventative Dental Program.

HOUSE OPERATING BUDGET

The House was able to pass the operating budget (HB 205) in record time. The Budget approved $4.5 billion in UGF spending with the majority dedicated to essential services with support for our urban and rural communities, as well as public safety and education. The budget ensures investments in the Marine Highway System of approximately $11 million, and approximately $10.6 million in special needs education funding. Much of the focus of the budget was centered upon public safety. The funds were allocated as follows:

$7.6 million to address Alaska’s growing prison population. This includes funding for mental health and rehabilitation services that will help reduce recidivism rates.
$6.3 million to hire 36 Alaska State Troopers
$1.7 million for the court systems productivity
$1.6 million for criminal prosecutors
$1 million for expedient processing of evidence, ensuring justice to victims
$1 million to grow the VPSO program

In addition, the funding for the Ocean Rangers Program was restored, $1 million was added to protect Alaska Public Radio, and a small amount of approximately $200,000 was given to ensure that Alaska’s food security is protected. The Permanent Fund Dividend will be addressed in a future appropriations bill.

SB 133

Last Thursday (March 5, 2020), we had the chance to testify on the importance of SB 133 before the Senate State Affairs Committee. SB 133, the companion bill to HB 182, would ensure that sexual assault kits are tested within six months instead of the current deadline of one year. The shortening of this testing timespan will decrease the number of backlogged sexual assault examination kits that currently sit in the Alaska Crime lab which will guarantee that justice is served to survivors of assault at quicker rates. We believe this bill is a key piece in the effort to reduce the disproportionate rates of sexual assault in Alaska and to safeguard public safety. I would like to thank Representative Tarr for introducing HB182 and her efforts over the years addressing this issue.

In light of our work focused on helping sexual assault survivors, I also wanted to include a link to the AK-SAKI sexual assault victim-survivor research survey. This survey is online, completely confidential, and includes a $25 Amazon gift card as compensation.

The survey link is bit.ly/AKSAKI2020

BETTYE DAVIS EVENT

On February 29th, I had the privilege of attending the second annual Bettye Davis African American Summit at Bartlett High School. I was happy to see so many community members, advocates, and lawmakers gathered together to celebrate the diversity of our great state and the legacy of the late Senator Bettye Davis. The Bettye Davis summit continues to successfully spread knowledge about the issues the African American community faces today, to increase civic engagement, and to advance social justice throughout our institutions and society. A huge thanks to the summit organizers for inviting me, Senator Begich, Senator Wilson, Representative Sponholtz, Representative Tarr, and Representative Claman to speak during the Legislative Luncheon.