Dear Friends,
I want to take a moment and reflect on this month-long celebration of Black History Month. I was honored to see Senate Bill 40, an act establishing the month of February, each year, as Black History Month. This month honors and recognizes the contributions that African Americans have made in Alaska and the United States.
We have officially begun the second session of the 32nd legislature. I am honored and continue to look forward to doing the work of Alaskans. Many others and I recognize that the work we do should be done by working across the aisle and setting aside differences. This will always be by goal while working on behalf of the citizens of Alaska.
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Ranked Choice Voting
On January 19th, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system and non-partisan primaries are legal and can be used for the 2022 elections.
- The Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on January 18.
- The ranked-choice voting system was approved with the passage of Ballot Measure #2 in 2020.
- Alaska will become the 2nd state in the nation to implement ranked-choice voting.
- In 2018, Maine became the first state to use ranked-choice voting.
- Utah and Virginia have passed legislation authorizing ranked-choice voting in local elections.
- Ranked-choice is used in some capacity in 25 states and 18 U.S. cities.
How does Ranked Choice Voting work:
The top four candidates who advanced from the primary election will appear on the General Election ballot. In each race, voters will rank their choices in order of preference. If voters would like to vote for a write-in candidate, they may do so and include that candidate in the ranking. For a candidate to win, they must receive a majority (50% + 1 vote) of total votes cast. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of counting, more rounds of counting continue until a candidate reaches a majority.
How are votes counted in Round 1:
Only the vote for your 1st choice candidate is counted.
- If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that candidate wins.
- If no candidate wins in Round 1, the counting goes to Round 2.
How are votes counted in Round 2 and subsequent rounds:
The last place candidate from each race in Round 1 is eliminated and their supporter’s 2nd choice selection is allocated to the remaining candidates on the ballot. This vote redistribution process continues until one candidate reaches over 50% of the votes or until there are two candidates remaining and the candidate with the most votes wins. In each round of counting, each voter gets one vote.
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State of the State
On January 25th, 2022, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy gave his fourth State of the State speech.
A few of his speech’s highlights are:
- How he envisioned Alaska as a state that is a leader in renewable energy.
- He sees Alaska finally developing its vast stores of natural gas on the North Slope.
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He also called for the settling of the dividend issue.
- The Governor spoke of the redistricting plan what is currently under litigation, and where 59 of the Legislature’s 60 members face election this year: including himself.
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The Governor spoke of his administration’s handling of the pandemic, as its goal is to make sure our healthcare system is strong and that we have the tools available for each of us to take care of ourselves.
- Governor Dunleavy talked about how oil prices in recent months have been among their highest levels during his administration.
- Dunleavy also urged lawmakers to prove Alaskans wrong who think nothing will get done during this election year.
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Speaking of his vision, Governor Dunleavy said “The test is going to be, how serious is that vision and is the administration going to put the work in on being here in the Capitol for the next 90 days, guiding us through and working with us.”
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No More Surprise Medical Bills
On January 1, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration followed through on delivering the No Surprises Act, a groundbreaking consumer protection law that prevents surprise medical bills that burden working families and helps lower health care costs. Under new federal protections, patients with private insurance who receive emergency care out-of-network, or care at an in-network hospital but from a provider not covered by their insurance, can only be charged the in-network rate. Thanks to the bipartisan legislation the Biden-Harris Administration is implementing, patients can now seek health care in times of critical need with the peace of mind that doing so will not result in a large, surprise medical bill. In addition to protecting millions of Americans, these protections will further the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to promote competition in health care and other sectors of the American economy to help lower health care costs even more.
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Build Back Better
Build Back Better will create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the labor force, spur long-term growth, reduce price pressures, and set the United States on course to meet its clean energy ambitions. I look forward to this Bill moving forward in Congress in the near future.
Investments in Children, Families, and Caregiving that Grow the Economy’s Capacity
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Universal Preschool for all 3- and 4-year Olds: Expand access to free high-quality preschool for more than 6 million children. This is a long-term program, with funding for six years.
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Affordable High-Quality Child Care: Limit child care costs for families to no more than 7% of income, for families earning up to 250% of state median income. It enables states to expand access to about 20 million children. Parents must be working, seeking work, in training, or taking care of a serious health issue. This is a long-term program, with funding for six years.
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Affordable, High-Quality Care for Hundreds of Thousands of Older Americans and People with Disabilities in Their Homes and Communities: Strengthening an existing program through Medicaid and ending the existing backlog and improving working conditions for home care workers
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Expanded Child Tax Credit: Extend for one year the current expanded Child Tax Credit for more than 35 million American households, with monthly payments for households earning up to $150,000 per year. Make refundability of the Child Tax Credit permanent.
Investments in Clean Energy and Combatting Climate Change
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Clean Energy Tax Credits ($320 billion): Ten-year expanded tax credits for utility-scale and residential clean energy, transmission and storage, clean passenger and commercial vehicles, and clean energy manufacturing.
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Resilience Investments ($105 billion): Investments and incentives to address extreme weather (wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes, including in forestry, wetlands, and agriculture), legacy pollution in communities, and a Civilian Climate Corps.
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Investments and Incentives for Clean Energy Technology, Manufacturing, and Supply Chains ($110 billion): Targeted incentives to spur new domestic supply chains and technologies, like solar, batteries, and advanced materials, while boosting the competitiveness of existing industries, like steel, cement, and aluminum.
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Clean Energy procurement ($20 billion): Provide incentives for the government to be purchasers of next-gen technologies, including long-duration storage, small modular reactors, and clean construction materials.
Affordable Care for Millions of Hardworking Americans
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Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits: Extend the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits through 2025. Experts predict that more than 3 million people who would otherwise be uninsured will gain health insurance. Also, make Affordable Care Act premium tax credits available through 2025 to 4 million uninsured people in uncovered states.
- Allow Medicare to cover the cost of the hearing. Establish a hearing benefit in Medicare, a crucial benefit to our seniors for a reasonable cost.
Bringing Down Costs, Reducing Inflationary Pressures, and Strengthening the Middle Class
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Housing: $150 billion investment in housing affordability and reducing price pressures, including in rural areas. Funds go towards building, preserving, and improving more than 1 million affordable rental and single-family homes, including public housing, plus rental and down payment assistance.
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Education Beyond High School and Workforce Development: Reduce costs and expand access to education beyond high school by raising the maximum Pell grant, providing support to Historically Black Colleges & Universities (“HBCUs”), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Minority Serving Institutions (“MSIs”), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (“TCUs”), and investing in workforce development, including community college workforce programs, sector-based training, and apprenticeships.
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Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 Million Low-Wage Workers: Extend for one year the current expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers.
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Equity and Other Investments: Other targeted investments include maternal health, community violence initiatives, Native communities, disadvantaged farmers, nutrition, pandemic preparedness, supply chain resilience, and other areas.
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Free COVID Test
FREE at-home COVID-19 test kits are now available through the United States government.
Each household can order up to four COVID-19 rapid antigen tests. The U.S. Postal Service will begin delivering the kits to homes later this month. Place your order today.
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If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to my office at any time:
L. Keith Bauguess
Legislative Staff
907.269.0174
Besse Odom
Legislative Staff
907.269.0155
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I’m Senator Elvi, always.....
"Listening and Representing Your Interests!”
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