The first week of each session of the Alaska Legislature is always one of organization and preparation. With 15 new members in the 30th Legislature — a full 25 percent of the body — that’s particularly true this year.
Amid the organizational meetings and negotiations, lawmakers still managed to find time to introduce a panoply of bills. As of 5 p.m. Friday, the first week of the Legislature saw 37 new bills and 10 resolutions introduced.
Those are in addition to the 70 bills and resolutions pre-filed before the Legislature convened Tuesday.
Each measure must navigate a series of committee hearings and votes before it becomes law (and most never do become law). Most bills are changed before they come to a final vote, but a bill’s introduction is one indicator of what a particular legislator is thinking and what her (or his) priorities are.
Here are one-sentence summaries of each bill and resolution introduced during the first week of the 30th Legislature:
HOUSE BILLS
HB 48 (Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau) – Extends the State Board of Registration for Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors through 2025 and adds a landscape architect to the board.
HB 49 (Kito) – Extends the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives through 2021.
HB 50 (Kito) – Encourages state-funded contracts to use Alaska architects, engineers and land surveyors.
HB 51 (Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak) – State ferries are exempt from the 1 percent for art program and have an alternative way to meet sewage pollution guidelines.
HB 52 (Rep. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks) – Elementary schools in Alaska must provide pre-kindergarten programs for kids 3-5 years old.
HB 53 (Rep. Harriet Drummond, D-Anchorage) – Restricts the kind of flame retardants that can be used on furniture and kids’ clothing.
HB 54 (Drummond) – Doctors can prescribe fatal doses of medication to terminally ill people seeking to end their life.
HB 55 (Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake) – The state has to publish a list of new regulations and repealed regulations each half-year, along with the costs associated with the regulations.
HB 56 (Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan) – The state can loan up to $400,000 to commercial fishermen.
HB 57 (governor) – This is the bill containing the operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
HB 58 (governor) – This is the bill containing the capital construction budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
HB 59 (governor) – This bill contains the mental health budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
HB 60 (governor) – The governor proposes to triple the state’s gasoline (and jet fuel, boat fuel, etc.) taxes by summer 2018.
HB 61 (governor) – The governor proposes to use a portion of the investment earnings of the Permanent Fund to pay for state government services; it passed the Senate as Senate Bill 128 last year but died in the House.
HB 62 (Rep. Lance Pruitt, R-Anchorage) – The state can’t approve a new regulation unless it also removes one at the same time. It must be a 1-for-1 swap, unless there’s an emergency or the state uses one or more broad exceptions within the bill.
HB 63 (Pruitt) – State agriculture falls under the Department of Revenue instead of the Department of Commerce.
HB 64 (Drummond) – Creates a task force to draft recommendations to fight dyslexia and reading problems in schools.
HB 65 (Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton) – Reverses the $1,000 PFD payment vetoed by Gov. Walker last year.
HB 66 (Rauscher) – Appropriates money from the Permanent Fund to pay for a supplemental Permanent Fund dividend under House Bill 65.
HB 67 (Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla) – If you can’t work, you can’t get food stamps.
HB 68 (Eastman) – If you don’t pay child support, you can’t get food stamps.
HB 69 (governor) – Eliminates the workers’ compensation appeals commission.
HB 70 (governor) – Approves the sale of state royalty oil to Petro Star Inc.
HB 71 (governor) – The governor proposes to freeze the pay of about 5,000 nonunion state employees in the university, court system, Legislature and executive branch for two years.
HB 72 (Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks) – If a company collects biometric information, it can’t do so secretly. You have to know your information is being collected, and the collector has to keep your information safe.
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTIONS
HJR 4 – Congress should open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. (This one is from Republicans and independents.)
HJR 5 – Congress should open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. (This one is from Democrats and independents.)
HJR 6 – Congress should permit the construction of a road between Cold Bay and King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS
HCR 1 (Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage) – If you’re a legislator and you have a conflict of interest on a piece of legislation, it’s harder for you to vote on that legislation.
HOUSE RESOLUTIONS
HR 1 – Re-establishes the House committee on Arctic policy, tourism and economic development.
HR 2 – Re-establishes the House committee on energy.
HR 3 – Re-establishes the House committee on fisheries.
HR 4 – Re-establishes the House committee on the military and veterans affairs.
SENATE BILLS
SB 20 (Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage) – Adds a drug called U-47700 to the list of Schedule I-A controlled substances.
SB 21 (Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka) – Instead of being allocated automatically by formula, funding for Permanent Fund Dividends is picked by legislators.
SB 22 (governor) – This is the bill containing the operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
SB 23 (governor) – This is the bill containing the capital construction budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
SB 24 (governor) – This bill contains the mental health budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
SB 25 (governor) – The governor proposes to triple the state’s gasoline (and jet fuel, boat fuel, etc.) taxes by summer 2018.
SB 26 (governor) – The governor proposes to use a portion of the investment earnings of the Permanent Fund to pay for state government services; it passed the Senate as Senate Bill 128 last year but died in the House.
SB 27 (Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla) – Creates a task force to draft recommendations to fight dyslexia and reading problems in schools.
SB 28 (Stedman) – Petersburg Borough gets 14,666 acres of state land.
SB 29 (governor) – Eliminates the workers’ compensation appeals commission.
SB 30 (governor) – Approves the sale of state royalty oil to Petro Star Inc.
SB 31 (governor) – The governor proposes to freeze the pay of about 5,000 nonunion state employees in the university, court system, Legislature and executive branch for two years.
SENATE RESOLUTIONS
SR 1 – Re-establishes the Senate committee on world trade.
SR 2 – Re-establishes the Senate committee on the Arctic.
