It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Session is Coming to Town It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Session is Coming to Town December 13, 2023 Dear Friends and Neighbors, The holiday season is here! I hope you get to celebrate the season with people you like. I hope you can also stop by the Capitol Dec. 19 for a Holiday Open House. Rep. Hannan, Rep. Story, & I look forward to seeing you then! I'm waiting with bated breath for the governor's budget proposal later this week. In the meantime, read on for some updates, a deep dive, and some fun events. Thanks to everyone who came to talk with Rep. Story & me at our November town halls in Haines, Gustavus, & Skagway. It was great talking with you as we prep for the upcoming session. I Saw Three Ships (...Tied to a Dock) It's December so it must be time to think about summer travel. The summer 2024 ferry schedule is out for public comment. You can read the plan here and submit comments to [email protected] by Dec. 18. Having the Kennicott, the Matanuska, and the Tazlina all out of commission for the season is troubling. Six-seven day per week service to Haines & Skagway, and twice per week runs to Gustavus aren't bad, though (assuming the ships don't break and we can hire enough crew.) Check it out and let DOTPF know if it meets your community's needs. I hope to see you at our Holiday Open House Dec. 19 at the Capitol! All I Want for Christmas is Equal Rights For All A few months ago the State Board of Education changed a regulation, forcing the Alaska School Activities Association to change its rules on which Alaska school children can compete in sports. The board’s desired result: stop some transgendered children from participating equally. I wrote in opposition , and public testimony ran heavily against the idea, but the board was determined to single out a population of vulnerable Alaska kids. And without much reason or evidence, they did. I can’t tell you why they did it. There is no history of trans girls injuring cisgendered athletes at all, much less at higher rates. Nor is there a track record of trans athletes outperforming the field of cisgendered athletes in Alaska sports. So they weren't dealing with an actual safety or fairness problem. I heard the argument they were preventing a nonexistent problem from coming into being. That rings awfully hollow, since the state board didn't address any other nonexistent threats. It would be hard to overstate the impact this ban will have on our children. Activities are good for kids. Participating in sports teaches life lessons and skills. It also reduces suicide and mental health problems. Trans children are 3-5 times more likely to commit suicide than their cisgender peers. It's a group of people who need more participation in activities. The state board's changes will lead to less. Worse, it sends a message that trans children are somehow threatening and therefore unwelcome. That's a reprehensible message to send to the children already at the highest risk of suicide. And the new regulation was shockingly hamfisted in its approach. It requires trans girls to compete according to the gender they were "assigned at birth." A trans person can get a new birth certificate, so there's no way to enforce the rule. The blunt instrument of "assigned at birth" also gives the lie to any claim the board was trying to deal with fairness or safety issues. If so, they would have at least considered biological differences in sexual development. While that itself is a controversial issue, not even looking at it makes abundantly clear the board was not interested in safety or fairness questions. They had a bone to pick with trans girls. Only. The other smoke screen they threw up was to allow new categories of competition for trans children in 'separate-but-equal' leagues. Let's set aside the fact that separate inherently means not equal for just a second and look at the practical possibilities. First, no school district in the state has extra money for that. Second, there's no reason to believe there are enough trans athletes in the state to populate such a league. But third and most important: if someone waved a magic wand and created one, would you want your daughter to take part in it? Many trans children live their lives without telling anyone about their chromosomes. For some its not relevant. For far more, it's a matter of personal safety. Requiring these vulnerable children to advertise that they're transgendered in order to compete is a recipe for failure at very best. More likely it would serve as an extraordinarily visible mark to single them out for cruel treatment ASAA went along with the state board's new regulation without challenge. As a legislator, I normally wouldn’t comment on a nonprofit's decision, but Alaska has long outsourced student activities to them. ASAA's acquiescence forever tars the previously well-deserved reputation for helping children it spent decades building. Not only that—it directly contradicts local laws several municipalities have in place preventing discrimination. I should know—I helped write Juneau's. These rules put Juneau’s school board in a tough spot. They have to wrestle with whether to comply with the ban, or risk losing out-of-district sports and activity opportunities for our kids. Both choices would hurt our children. I'm glad the Juneau School District hired a lawyer to look at their options. I'm shocked and ashamed that the Alaska Board of Education and the ASAA forced them to spend money that should have hired teachers to do it. The board and ASAA should be ashamed of themselves. I gave a tour to a group of DNR 'future leaders' in November—it's always great to see public servants interested in the legislative process! Do you hear what I hear? Flood relief applications are open Were you affected by the Mendenhall Glacier flood this summer? The Juneau Community Foundation, working with JEDC, has flood relief assistance funds available. You can read about the relief program here and apply by email at [email protected]. (They also take paper mail: Juneau Community Foundation, 350 N. Franklin St., Suite 4, Juneau AK 99801. Applications are due by the end of December. Please help spread the word! Yesterday was a festive evening at the Governor's Holiday Open House. The cookies and music were worth braving the storm. O Come All Ye Legislators A couple years back, philanthropists using private donations bought the Assembly Building for the Alaska Legislature. The 1930’s building sits kitty corner from the Capitol. I was part of a group that reviewed possible uses of the building. We recommended going back to its original purpose: apartments. In January, the Assembly Building Apartments will open, with 33 furnished apartments available to legislators and staff. It’s another step in the endless quest to make Juneau the best capital city we can be. Before this little announcement could happen, there was a whole lot we had to figure out. I was honored to chair a subcommittee and work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We hammered out some policies and last week the Legislative Council both adopted them and hired a property manager to run the place. There were a lot of details like whether or not pets would be allowed (yes,) smoking or vaping would be allowed (no,) and who gets to pick units first (legislators in seniority order, followed by staff the same way.) Other, more interesting provisions were a little more difficult. Apartments will be rented out at fair market rates so they supplement the local housing stock for legislative folk—with no subsidy. And the apartments can’t be sublet during the interim. That keeps them available for special session housing, which is historically especially difficult because special sessions often conflict with the tourist season. Those months, when our typical ‘session’ housing resources are plugged full of tourism workers and the hotels are crammed with travelers, are prime special session territory. We owe a huge thank you both to Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, who chairs the Legislative Council, and her predecessor in that role, Rep. Sara Hannan. They both did a lot of heavy lifting to make this possible. All my best, Did someone forward you this newsletter and now you want your very own copy? Did you fall into it through the series of tubes but now you want it sent straight to you? SUBSCRIBE Events & Happenings Around District B Haines Holly Jolly Follies On Dec. 17, join the Lynn Canal Community Players for a community holiday variety show. Haines Messiah Singalong Get in the holiday spirit with this festive singalong in the Chilkat Center lobby Dec. 16. Skagway Yuletide Open House On Dec. 15, head to the Dahl Memorial Clinic for a tour and some holiday refreshments! Skagway Yuletide Craft Creations On Dec. 17, head to the Skagway Rec Center to make seasonal crafts! Gustavus Holiday Silent Art Auction The Holiday Silent Art Auction is happening now at the Gustavus Community Center and runs through the 21st! Juneau Santa Rides Parade Take the kids to see Santa & Mrs. Claus in CCFR's new ladder truck on Dec. 16! Juneau Breakfast with Santa Breakfast, Santa visits, crafts, stories, and more on Dec. 16! Bring the kids for holiday fun and support TMHS softball! Juneau Candy Cane Hunt Bring the kids for Parks & Rec's annual Candy Cane Hunt! Have fun & win cool prizes through Dec. 18! Juneau Holiday Cheer Concert On Dec. 16 & 17, join the Juneau Symphony, Sitka Fine Arts Camp's Holiday Brass, & Vox Borealis for holiday cheer, sing along favorites, treats, and photos with Santa! Is there an event in our district I should know about? Please call or email! Want to Send Snail Mail? Alaska State Capitol Room 514 Juneau, AK 99801 You Can Call: 800 550 4947 907 465 4947 Or Email Me! ‌ ‌ ‌ Contact My Staff, the people who power the work: Aurora Hauke 907 465 5051 [email protected] Ella Adkison 907 465 6419 [email protected] Cathy Schlingheyde 907 465 6827 [email protected] Senator Jesse Kiehl | Alaska State Capitol, Rm. 419, 4th Avenue & Main Street, Juneau, AK 99801 Unsubscribe [email protected] Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]