31st Legislative Swearing-In Ceremony & Oath of Office
Meet Team Spohnholz
The Budget
Constituent Coffee: Saturday, Feb. 9th
Buzz Around the Capitol
Upcoming Community Council Meetings
House Swearing-In Ceremony & Oath of Office
We started the 31st legislature on Tuesday, January 15th with the traditional swearing-in ceremony led by Lt. Governor Kevin Meyer. The Lt. Governor swears in newly elected legislators because his office oversees elections.
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux (middle, District 15), Rep. Kelly Merrick (right, District 14) and I were sworn in together.
Meet Team Spohnholz
Team Spohnholz came together for the signing of my Oath of Office. Pictured are Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer and me in the front row and aides Bernice Nisbett, Ted Madsen and UAA intern Miranda Dordan (L to R). We are always happy to serve constituents and look forward to your calls!
The Budget
Like most new Governor's administrations, Governor Dunleavy introduced a
placeholder FY20 budget in December in order to meet a statutory deadline. That budget includes a $1.626 billion deficit. To give you a sense of the size of that gap, the Department of Education & Early Development's Fiscal Year (FY) 19 Undesignated General Fund (UGF) budget is $1.336 billion.
The revised budget is expected to be released on Feb. 13th. We have been advised that it will be a balanced budget with no new revenue.
We can expect either huge cuts in services or spending down the Permanent Fund to reduce the gap.
When the final budget comes out, I will get to work understanding the impacts of the budget on Alaskans and our economy.
The House isn't organized yet, but that doesn't mean we aren't working. On Thursday, January 24th we received an informal revenue forecast
presentation by Commissioner designee Bruce Tangeman. You can see the high level projections for FY20 and FY21 below.
Constituent Coffee: Saturday, Feb. 9th
Buzz Around the Capitol:
Juneau Women's March
My husband Troy and I joined Rep. Harriett Drummond and hundreds of others at the Juneau Women's March in front of the Capitol on Saturday, January 14th.
Upcoming Community Council Meetings for District 16
The most local form of government we have in Alaska is the
Community Council. We have three in our district. You can find the agendas and more information on the individual community council websites we have linked below. If you don't know which one is yours, call our office at 907-465-4940 and we will help you figure it out!
Russian Jack - Second Wednesday of the month, next one is Feb. 13th, 6:30 pm at Wonder Park Elementary School.
Northeast - Third Thursday of the month, next one is next month, Feb. 21st, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Muldoon Community Assembly Youth Facility, 1005 North Ermine St.
University Area - First Wednesday of the month, next one is Feb. 6th, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the University Baptist Church on Tudor Road.
I will send out email updates fairly frequently during the legislative session. Please let me know if you want to know about anything that I don't cover in the updates. You can reply to this email or give me a call!
To learn about other upcoming events and meetings, follow me onFacebookandTwitter. You can also check my website for past newsletters and updates on legislation.
