My First Bill! And other AK House Updates

Representative James Kaufman

House District 28

Volume 1, Issue 6, April 2021

House Updates

Welcome back to our bi-weekly newsletter! We’ve now passed the 90-day statutory limit on the duration of the legislative session and are aiming at completing the budget work by the constitutional 120-day limit. It has been stated by the Finance committee co-chairs that they intend to present to the finance committee the new version of the operating budget within the next few days. Once that version is presented the finance committee will present and decide upon amendments and it will move to the house floor for amendments and votes. Committees are still working on, analyzing, and considering bills that come before them, and submitting possible amendments or substitutes to these bills.

I had the terrific opportunity to spend last weekend ‘in-district’ and in my time there met and had conversations with many constituents. In other exciting news, during yesterday’s House Floor Session, my first bill, HB 187, was read across the floor. I’ll discuss my weekend and my bill a little more later on in the newsletter along with my thoughts on HB63 (Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board) which I have spent some time working on with other legislators and which currently has been gathering momentum.

And of course, the usual Quality Corner. If you’re curious about past newsletter editions, see below for links.

Newsletter #1 (Vision, Mission, and Organization): https://conta.cc/3q7r6WV

Newsletter #2 (Legislative Process/Committee Work): https://conta.cc/3stR8US

Newsletter #3 (How I Consider Bills and Policy): https://conta.cc/3qG4Lze

Newsletter #4 (The Alaska State Budget Process): https://conta.cc/3ceU3M2

Newsletter #5 (Sessions of the Alaska Legislature): https://conta.cc/3mELRbC

As always, I love hearing from my constituents and other Alaskans, so reach out by phone or email and tell me your thoughts, concerns, or anything else!

In-District Weekend Recap

As I mentioned above, I tried to pack my weekend that I spent ‘in-district’ with as many events and conversations as I possibly could. On Saturday, I had a full day that started at Steam Dot South Anchorage and then I knocked on as many doors as I could before an evening meet and greet at La Mex. The next day I was able to make it to Challenge Alaska’s Girdwood facility for a tour and to hear about the great work they do for and with individuals with disabilities. Finally, before dinner, I met with a few others at Jack Sprat in Girdwood and heard about some of the specific issues that Girdwood has and how they differ from the Anchorage areas of the district.

I was happy with how every event turned out and the abundance of high-quality conversations. There were a few topics that many people were interested in such as moving the Capitol, getting the State opened up for business, and some issues with projects that the Port of Alaska in Anchorage is currently working on. These are all great issues for discussion and I look forward to opportunities to have them with other legislators.

As I buckle down for the last days of this session, I will be focusing on the various budgets the Legislature is required to pass. These will be busy times in Juneau, but I will never be too busy to hear from my constituents!

HB 187: My First Bill

During yesterday’s House Floor Session, my first bill, HB 187, was read across the floor and picked up two committee referrals, State Affairs and Finance. I’m honored that so far 16 of my colleagues endorsed the bill as cosponsors. Even more promising, this bill has already been scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, April 29^th, in House State Affairs!

HB 187 seeks to reduce waste and inefficiencies within the State’s executive branch through identification of publications that could be improved, consolidated, or eliminated as well as those which could be delivered digitally instead of physically. These are small changes, but I truly believe small fixes compound into meaningful improvement. A similar bill which was introduced but didn’t make it to the finish line was going to require all reports to be delivered electronically only, and the estimated savings to the state were almost half a million dollars. This bill is less prescriptive, and there could be future savings.

For more information, click on the link below to the Legislature’s website where the text of the bill is located. More documents will be added in the coming days.

LINK: AKLeg.gov - HB 187

HB 63 and the Alaska Marine Highway System

The State Affairs Committee has been hearing HB 63 which amends the quantity and composition of the board which provides oversight of the Alaska Marine Highway System.

My staff and I saw some real opportunities to drive performance improvement, so we got to work producing amendments to assure that the board had the key technical and managerial competencies that they would need and that there would be the needed rigor in execution planning and progress reporting. Other amendments focused on planning and reporting cadence and requirements and how the board would notify the public and others about how AMHS was deviating from policies and plans.

In the end, the amendments were well-received, and the bill passed out of committee in an amended form that, if passed into law, will help improve the operations of the ferry system. I was glad that the sponsor and the chair of the committee were open to working with us on applying some quality and performance management best practices to policy!

Quality Corner

Somewhere behind every successful endeavor there is a "QMS".

So... what is a QMS?

A QMS (Quality Management System) is a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for performance management, organizational efficiency, continuous improvement and for achieving other quality policies and objectives. That is a long definition but implementing a quality management system positively affects every aspect of an organization’s performance, no matter the size of the organization. A QMS aligns all of an organization's actions with their priorities and goals and ensures that there is a focus on what delivers value to the customer.

Simply put, it’s how organizations make sure that they are not wasting time, effort, resources, and money. So we vote YES on QMS!!