The session of the legislature for 2018 begins on Tuesday, January. 16. Before returning to the Capitol lawmakers are making use of the pre-session bills to establish the priorities for the months ahead.
The first set of bills that have been prefiled was announced on Monday. The apprehensive proposals from lawmakers of Senate and House members. House and Senate include all aspects of energy policy, from funding for the Alaska Permanent Fund to psychedelic medication and teacher pay.
A bill introduced by Rep. George Rauscher, chairman of the House Energy Committee, would try to alleviate the looming natural gas shortage within Cook Inlet. While the area has lots of natural gas beneath the surface however, officials have cautioned that oil and gas companies aren’t drilling enough wells in order to meet the anticipated demand, which could threaten the supply of energy for more than half of the residents of the state on the Railbelt.
The bill will eliminate royalty and gas tax on newly discovered wells provided they provide gas to electric companies in the state or heating service providers. The royalties on gas provided to customers from other companies will be cut in half. The idea is that reducing taxes and royalties could encourage the drilling process to continue.
Another bill relating to energy from Rauscher, who is a Republican from Sutton and Sutton, will lower the liability of electric utilities for damages resulting from contact between power lines and trees in cases where the trees aren’t the property of the utility.
A proposal by Rep. Jesse Sumner would instruct to the Alaska Permanent Fund to obtain an interest of 25% in an upcoming natural gas pipeline that would be a part of to the North Slope. It is believed that the Wasilla Republicans’ bill will establish the Permanent Fund dividend at up to $1,000 per individual while construction progresses. In the event that the gas pipeline was completed the dividends will increase to half the amount of the legislature’s annually drawn down from fund.
There is two other bills by Rep. C.J. McCormick who is a Democrat from Bethel connected to disappearing and killed Indigenous people, who are sometimes referred to as the initials MMIP. One of the proposals would oblige police officers to be trained in cultural aspects focused on tackling MMIP cases. It would also require that the Department of Public Safety to employ at minimum 2 dedicated MMIP investigators. Four of them are in the budget request of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget plan. The bill will also establish an MMIP review commission and demand an annual report from the department on the next steps to tackle the issue.
The second bill by McCormick will oblige officers to submit missing people to a clearinghouse in the nation known by the National Missing or Unidentified Persons System within 30 days.
In the list of six bills introduced in the name of Anchorage Rep. Andy Josephson who is a Democrat the most important one is a bill that could restrict the state’s authority to enforce laws on abortion in other states. The Alaskan Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that abortion was protected under State Constitution.
A bill proposed by Republican Rep. Sarah Vance of Homer will prolong a scheme offering up to $250 per month in cash payments to seniors with low incomes that’s scheduled to end this year. Vance’s bill would extend Senior Benefit Program through 2034.
The two senators who filed the bill, Democrat Scott Kawasaki of Fairbanks and Republican Shelley Hughes of Palmer, filed similar bills. The bill did not was not included in the governor. Mike Dunleavy’s budget request.
The bills from the House and Senate from Fairbanks Republican Rep. Will Stapp and Anchorage Democratic Sen. Forrest Dunbar would establish “Alaska Veterans’ Day” on the Friday preceding Memorial Day.
Another bill by Dunbar could establish a task force to study the role that psychedelics could be able to play in the treatment of mental health problems. A similar House measure is authored by a the Anchorage Democrat Rep. Jennie Armstrong. The task force will be expected to submit a report before the close of the year.
A final idea by Sitka independently elected Rep. Rebecca Himschoot will boost the pay of teachers for new teachers who are outside of the state. Her bill would eliminate the statutory limits for the quantity of service outside of state which can be counted towards the salaries of teachers.
This year’s session being the second session of the 33rd Alaska Legislature, hundreds of other bills that were introduced in the past year are still open for discussion.
The Second batch of the presession documents is scheduled to be released on Friday.
