Disaster, Defenses, & Dough

December 7, 2020

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We're holding everyone in Haines in our hearts. Folks there stepped up in amazing ways to help their neighbors. Thank you to the Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard, State Troopers, CCFR, SEADOGS, Mountain Rescue, Salvation Army, Red Cross, and others on the ground. The LeConte made two runs bringing emergency relief supplies and equipment, including a vactor truck on loan from the City & Borough of Juneau.

The outpouring of support from our communities is amazing—Haines had to ask out-if-town volunteers to stop coming. There's more help than they can house right now. You can still send food and supplies though. If you’re able, you can also support the organizations helping out, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Tlingit & Haida, and many others.

With tremendous support from people to help one another, we could use a little help with the weather. Not something that's in the hands of governments or volunteers, but if you're the praying type, a word about letting things dry out wouldn't go amiss.

A key slide is from this morning's Senate Health & Social Services Committee meeting. Click the image for the whole presentation.

Warping Ahead

I grilled experts from the Department of Health and Social Services last week about the State’s plan for vaccine distribution. The Senate Health & Social Services Committee got a briefing this morning, too. There's some encouraging news—the state is better prepared to handle the 'cold chain' than I expected. With a lot of help from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, they're very close to ready to ship the vaccine—even the one that has to be kept ultra-cold—to all our communities.

The first doses will go to health care workers and first responders, of course. And Uncle Sam suggests poking senior citizens in the arm next.

After that, we need a couple of things. First, we could really use more health care providers to give the COVID vaccine. Most practices and clinics who vaccinate today are focused on children. We need a new, wider set of health care professionals to serve everyone.

Second, Alaskans should let the folks making distribution plans know exactly when and where the need is. Does your industry need workers to finish their shots by early May to serve tourists? Could your plant hold out until mid-June to process salmon? Or are all your folks year-round? And is that a dozen people in Gustavus, 100 in Excursion Inlet, or a thousand year-round folks in Fairbanks?

Communities and organizations should talk to H&SS now about how much vaccine you'll need and when. The Vaccine Allocation Committee is a hard-working group. They need information to do the best job. If you can lend some insight on your corner of Alaska, let me know and I'll get you the contact info!

Coming Soon...

A quick final note: Alaska is coming up on an important yearly deadline: the governor needs to release his budget proposal within the next eight days. I’m very curious what that’s going to look like this year. In the past, Gov. Dunleavy has shown a willingness to ‘balance’ the budget on extreme, unworkable cuts. Alaska's fiscal position is even worse this year, with savings all but gone, oil prices down, and tremendous needs caused by COVID. I hope the governor will make real proposals to increase our revenue, spend responsibly - but not overspend - from the permanent fund, and provide the essential services Alaskans so desperately need. Keep an eye out for his proposal.

All my best,