It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Session It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Session December 16, 2022 Dear Friends and Neighbors, Happy holidays! Even as the festive season ramps up, (We're having an open house! Look in the events below!) I'm getting spun up for the coming legislative session. I've hired an additional member of my staff, and I'm thrilled to have a University of Alaska intern coming aboard, too. I'll tell you more about them in future newsletters. The big news this week, though, is the governor's budget release. I have thoughts: The Juneau-Douglas & Thunder Mountain choirs joined forces to serenade guests at the Governor's Holiday Open House! O Come All Ye Budget Nerds Yesterday the governor released his budget proposal. It’s just that: a proposal. Turning it into a set of final appropriation bills will be the biggest single job of the session to come. It may be the most promising starting point yet from this governor. On the whole, it doesn't seem to have radically weird proposals, and a few even look pretty good. It’s about the same size as last year's, but true to form, he proposes a PFD so large we would need to draw from our savings. On the plus side, he seems to have gotten away from the idea of overdrawing the Permanent Fund—a non-starter for responsible fiscal policy. On education: last year’s reading bill started building toward universal pre-K. Other than that, the governor proposes flat funding in a time of raging inflation. That doesn’t meet our constitutional duty to maintain a public school system. And it doesn't do right by our kids. The University also faces cuts. Never mind its vital role in our economy. On the other hand, the governor suggests increasing WWAMI, which provides medical school spots for Alaskans to become doctors and come back to practice here. He also suggests pretty much flat funding for our struggling state agencies. Ask anyone who’s trying to get a professional license, a permit, or temporary assistance like Medicaid—you’ll learn how badly underfunded the agencies trying to run these programs are. We’ll need to work on these budgets, too. The ferry proposal has enough money to run the ships all winter—and real investments in maintenance. It needs some improvement—not least because it uses too many federal infrastructure dollars for operations instead of replacing worn-out ships. It also doesn't invest in fixing AMHS' desperate understaffing problems (caused largely by the deep cuts of 2019-2020.) But the new ferry board is doing some good work with DOT, and there's progress we can make. The capital budget, which funds infrastructure projects, is just a bare bones base. That’s not awful. I think it will serve as a jumping-off point to meet Alaskans' needs by adding projects. Chairing a mock committee meeting for UAS' aspiring superintendents. Educators We Have Heard on High Last week, I got to chair a mock committee meeting for aspiring superintendents. Nine Alaska educators studying at UAS practiced testifying to the legislature. Their faculty served as the other committee members. Not one of them went past their three minute time limit. No committee members asked any 'gotcha' questions. But other than that, it was pretty realistic practice. They talked about a wide range of things the legislature could improve for our schools. To nobody's surprise, the biggest one was funding. The governor acknowledged yesterday his budget will leave the legislature with more money for schools. It has to. Rising costs, COVID, and other challenges have put our educators in a bad spot. All of which comes around to... you. We need all Alaskans' help to do this right. Anyone can testify in the legislature. And it's hard to think of a better reason than funding our schools right. If you have questions or want a hand preparing, just give me a ring. I gave basketball players from Nikiski a Capitol tour during their stopover en route to Sitka on Tuesday. They asked some great questions! (Don't worry, I finished early so they could visit the Governor's Holiday Open House.) We Wish You A Bunch of Money Along with his budget, the governor said he's putting together a proposal for Alaska to make money on carbon sequestration. It's not a new idea. The legislature passed a bill in 2006 to study it, but never paid for the work. And some Alaska Native Corporations have made money selling the credits. But globally, carbon sequestration ideas run the gamut from serious-but-expensive experitments to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere to gimmicks and schemes. I look forward to seeing the details when he introduces his bill. I hope there's something there. At the same time, I'm a little concerned to see he built $300 million of state revenue per year into his 10-year fiscal projections without knowing if there's money to be made. Or whether it would be a good deal for Alaskans. All my best, Did someone forward you this newsletter? Did you fall into it through the series of tubes? Want more? SUBSCRIBE Events & Happenings Around District Q Juneau Capitol Open House Reps. Hannan, Story, & I are hosting a holiday open house next Thursday Dec. 22 from 11:30am-1:30pm. Come check out the Capitol and join us for holiday treats! Juneau Ugly Sweater Fun Run Head out to the Brotherhood Bridge Trail Head at TMHS tomorrow (Saturday) for the Ugly Sweater Fun Run! Haines Tinsel & Tidings The Lynn Canal Players will perform their Christmas Variety Show this weekend! It's not to be missed! Haines Kids Story Time Bring the young ones for songs and stories at the Library on Monday! Gustavus Bake Off! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the first Great Gustavus Bake Off! Come to the Community Center to see who gets crowned star baker. Gustavus Holiday Movie Join in the holiday spirit on Sunday for popcorn and a holiday film! Skagway Holiday Rollerblade Party & Light Show Come join the fun tomorrow with a Holiday Sing Along, Rollerblading, and more at the Rec Center! Skagway Holiday Book Club Come to the Library on the 18th for the book club in the holiday spirit! Is there an event in our district I should know about? Please call or email! Snail Mail? Alaska State Capitol Room 419 Juneau, AK 99801 Call: 800 550 4947 907 465 4947 Email Me! ‌ ‌ ‌ Contact My Staff, the people who power the work: 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]