SESSION UPDATE - May 6, 2024

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This is the final full week of your legislature’s regular session and with three days next week, the gavel should come down in adjournment sine die on May 15 – but will it?

How Much Havoc Can One Man Wreak?

Superior Court Judge Zeman put the question of adjournment into a tailspin last Thursday when he chose to grant the NEA plaintiffs’ request for a brief stay (suspension) on his court ruling that the core public correspondence school statutes are unconstitutional. The State of Alaska had requested a stay until the Alaska Supreme Court had reached a decision to prevent any disruptions to the education of nearly 1 out of 5 public school students. The judge turned down the State’s request and granted the NEA’s* request.

The judge listened to the union whose job is to lobby for funds for employees but

not to the State whose job is to ensure children receive an excellent education.

*Because NEA is footing the bill for the plaintiffs, I am using shorthand and referring to the “NEA” as the plaintiffs although they as an organization are technically not the plaintiff. The plaintiffs are Alexander Edwards, Josh Andrews, Shelby Beck Andrews, and Carey Carpenter.

Judge Zeman first created uncertainty for students and now has created uncertainty for the

legislative branch, the executive branch, and school districts throughout the state.

The shorter stay creates more uncertainty and chaos for correspondence families. Because correspondence is not based on a typical 9-month school calendar and is available year-round, the legislature does not have the summer months to analyze and vet policy options.

With too short of a stay, the judge has created an untenable situation in the people’s branch. He handed down a mess – a ruling that lacks precision and clarity and seems to be based on very little knowledge of a myriad of other educational programs in statute that involve public funds directed to private and religious educational institutions. He failed to analyze and consider the “direct benefit” language in the state constitution. The court could determine that the allotment is ultimately designed to benefit the student, not to benefit private educational institutions.

If I didn’t know any better, I would say the judge is essentially attempting to force

the rushed adoption of statutes to appease the NEA-backed plaintiffs and their attorney.

The judge should have known better than to give the deliberative lawmaking branch of government such a narrow window (2-months) to address his ruling to keep the public correspondence program afloat when he took a wide window (14.5-months) to determine his ruling.

The judge took more than 14 months to break it and gave the legislature less than 2 months to fix it.

His short-sighted stay could also cost the state millions in a 10-day extension of the legislature and/or a special session.

Ironically, in trying to clean egg off NEA and company’s face, the judge, by issuing too brief of a stay period has added yet another layer of it – with plenty of splash-back of yolk and albumen landing on his own face.

The State of Alaska Department of Law filed an appeal to Judge Zeman’s April 12^th ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court on Friday with a request that it be expedited. The Department of Law will also be filing a request to the Alaska Supreme Court to extend the short stay granted by the lower court; the request will be for the extension to remain in place until the appeal process is complete and the Alaska Supreme Court has issued its decision.

In the meantime, the legislature will have to make some temporary tweaks so the public correspondence programs across the state can continue. Because the Alaska Supreme Court could overrule the Superior Court’s decision, I am advocating that the current statutes not be repealed.

My big question now is how do we craft a temporary fix and not run afoul of violating the equal protection provisions in the Alaska State Constitution and the US Constitution?

Since our state allows public funds for private educational institutions for other groups of students (preschool, postsecondary, public neighborhood school students, etc.), how do we craft a temporary band-aid that is not discriminatory toward public correspondence students? I’m not sure we can follow Judge Zeman’s ruling without violating the equal protection provision.

Pass the Salt and Pepper and the Budget Please

The Senate passed its version of the operating budget (HB 268) on Wednesday after voting on 20 amendments offered by the Senate Majority. The significant difference between the Senate version and the House version was the Senate’s PFD amount at $1600 versus the House’s PFD amount at $2300.

Both the House and Senate versions include an increase of $175 million for school districts outside the formula. This amount is equivalent to a $680 per student increase in the BSA. Note that as that amount is inserted into the funding formula, the various multipliers make what comes out at the other end a higher amount per student.

As the Senate Minority we offered various amendments on priority issues; if the amendment involved an increase of an amount one spot on the ledger, we paired it up with a reduction elsewhere on the ledger.

We offered an amendment to ensure enough prosecutors for cases related to sexual assault, missing and murdered indigenous persons, and child and sex trafficking; we offered an amendment to ensure the Department of Law had sufficient funds to fight the onslaught of President Biden’s unrelenting executive orders inhibiting Alaska’s ability to responsibly develop our resources; we offered a prolife amendment to prohibit taxpayer dollars paying for abortion like the federal Hyde Amendment; we offered amendments to reduce the budget by the amount in vacant-position-slush funds; we offered amendments to provide funds for the Sunset Commission contingent on the related bill passing and for a 50/50 PFD as first steps to establish a fiscal plan.

The Senate Majority voted the amendments down as was to be expected. Many of the items we proposed were conference-able items. Our floor debates were helping lay the groundwork for the House’s better version of certain items.

The conference committee is expected to be appointed today by the Senate President and Speaker. Normally, each body appoints two majority members and one minority member. Because the Senate is a super majority, however, it will appoint three members, likely the three co-chairs of Finance: Senators Stedman, Hoffman, and Olson. The House likely will appoint Rep. DeLena Johnson, the operating co-chair. Rep. Foster, another Finance co-chair, who is pro-pfd has indicated he does not want to serve on it. Rep. Edgmon, the third co-chair leans anti-pfd but the House Majority may not support his appointment to the conference committee. The Speaker will select a House Minority member as the third House member on the conference committee. The target date for the completion of the conference committee report is Sunday May 12. The constitutional limit for the regular session is May 15.

Oh Capital, I Long to See You!

Meanwhile last week, the House laid its version of the capital budget thus far on the Finance Committee table. This is the first year in several that the House has had input in their Finance Committee as the Senate has been holding onto it and then stuffing it into the operating budget to send it back to the House for a concurrent vote. Although these are NOT final numbers and things could be amended out or amended in, here are some items for Mat-Su in the version of the capital budget (SB 187) as of this morning that I typed up for you. Again, realize this list is not finalized.

$2.8M Alaska Addiction Rehabilitation Services Expansion Project (out at Pt. MacKenzie)

$300K Hatcher Alpine Xperience Snowmaking Infrastructure

$1.5M Palmer Food Bank New Facility Construction

$7.2M Palmer Courthouse

$1.9M Mat-Su College Mechanical, Electrical, and Interior Systems

$2M MSB City Water Connect

$2.5M MSB Floor & Erosion Mitigation

$2.5M MSB Enhance Fisheries

$750K MSB Road Improvement Upgrades

$700K MSB Willow Fire/EMS Station

$750K Wasilla Water and Wastewater System Upgrades

$16.7M Big Lake Road Rehabilitation

$727K Bogard Rd N Earl Dr to Engstrom

$1.9M Glenn Hwy Mile 49 Safety & Capacity

$818K Hemmer Rd Extension

$2.5M Hermon Rd Extension

$359K Inner/Outer Springer Lp Pathway

$260K Palmer-Fishhook Pathway Trunk to Edgerton

$1.2M Seldon Beverly Lakes to Pittman

$45K Trunk Rd (Nelson) Rehabilitation and Bridge Replacement

$50M Wasilla to Fishhook Main St Rehabilitation

$20M West Susitna Access Rd

Energy Sparks Lighting up the Capital

Members of the House Special Committee on Energy and the House and Senate Resources and Finance Committees are working feverishly to crank out energy solutions, and although I cannot report specifics yet, and what efforts will be combined into which bills in the end, I will do my best to cover the four overarching areas. In simple terms, they are the following:

1) Gas drilling

2) Gas storage

3) Electric power transmission organization and pricing

4) Electric power transmission infrastructure

Gas Dilemma

From Fairbanks to Kenai, the area along the road system (which includes Mat-Su and Anchorage) that we call the “Railbelt”, requires 70 billion cubic feet of gas per year to provide power generation and heat our homes. By 2027, we will fall short of that amount. We either have to drill it or import it. If we can get our ducks in a row so companies will find it economically feasible to start drilling soon enough, Alaskans by far prefer gas independence. Relying on a foreign supplier should be the stopgap, not our go-to.

Two Approaches to Drilling More Gas in Cook Inlet

Current proposals to incentivize drilling center around 1) royalty reductions (the state takes less in royalties) and 2) easier access to capital for companies.

The governor’s two bills, SB 194 and HB 276, propose to reduce the royalty take from the typical 12.5% to 5% in order to increase a company’s rate of return. Rep. Rauscher’s HB 223 reduces the royalty to 0% for qualified gas and cuts the royalty for qualified oil by half. The faster a company can recoup its investment, the more interested the company will be in drilling.

Rep. Mckay’s House Resources bill, HB 388, takes the second approach. It would establish a system for reserve-based lending specific to Cook Inlet without risk to the state. AIDEA would be tasked to analyze the economics of projects and oil and gas companies could access loans using petroleum reserves as collateral. Considering the massive Cosmopolitan Unti, this might help a company such as BlueCrest Energy that has been strapped for capital.

It’s heartening to know that studies show we still have 19 trillion cubic feet in Cook Inlet. Tapping this resource will bide us some time as we look to a more robust energy portfolio that doesn’t require state subsidy band-aids every 10-year increment. Speaking of ten year-increments, it is expected that Cook Inlet will carry us for about a decade if we get these projects going and should provide about $135 million in revenue to the State if we’re successful.

Fill ‘er Up: Gas Storage

The Resources Committee’s bill HB 394 (passed the House last week) and Senator Giessel’s SB 220 pertain to affordable gas storage. In the warmer part of the year, we don’t need as much gas as we do in the cold, dark months. An extended deep freeze can be truly problematic if we haven’t stored up extra gas over the warm months. This approach extends the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s (RCA’s) authority over new gas storage systems to help ensure the rates are reasonable and justified. The RCA currently oversees CINGSA located on the Kenai Peninsula (Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska) so this is not new territory or unknown authority for the RCA. This effort would encourage storage capacity expansion as reasonable pricing would ensure reliable customers.

HB 50 is the governor’s carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) bill. The bill has been amended to include a number of provisions related to the gas dilemma. On Friday, Sen. Wielechowski also amended it in Senate Resources to solely target and tax Hilcorp as an S-Corp. Hilcorp has been a reliable Cook Inlet gas supplier. It is unclear whether the House will support this change when the bill returns for a concurrence vote or whether the governor will choose to veto the bill due to this new provision.

Electric Pancakes are Not Tasty or Affordable

SB 217 and HB 307 by the governor would end the currently segmented management of the Railbelt transmission system by creating one organization to provide an integrated approach. This would solve the “wheeling rates” problem so that the charges would no longer be compounded as energy moves across the transmission system from one region to another, from one segment to another segment. This compounding is also called “pancaking.” A unified system will reduce costs for energy shippers which in turn will reduce costs for energy consumers.

Get a GRIP

The capital budget currently includes matching money to access a portion of the US Department of Energy funds available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership, or a GRIP grant of $206 million over 5 years. These combined funds would be used for building a power cable under Cook Inlet as well as some battery storage. This added infrastructure would provide needed redundancy to help prevent the power outages we too often experience in bad weather (think high winds) situations.

Upcoming Attractions

Hope you join us this evening as we broadcast live from the Capitol, Room 7. If Rep. George Rauscher is able to stop by, we’ll discuss the front and center issue of ENERGY and the related bills that are moving toward the finish line. Monday evenings at 6pm during the session, we come to you via Facebook Live to discuss the hot issues and overview the upcoming bill hearings and public testimony opportunities. Your comments and questions are always part of the conversation, so hop on my page and engage!

Until We Meet Again

My responsibility to you is always front and center, whether I am on the Senate floor, drafting policy, in a meeting, out and about in our community, or communicating with you. I will strive to be available in multiple ways to hear from you and what concerns you most. I am on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at AKShelleyHughes (links at bottom of email). You can also email me at Sen.Shelley.Hughes@akleg.com or call my office (907)465-3743 (Session) or (907)376-3725 (Interim) to get in touch.

As I state on my Facebook Senator page, mention in live broadcasts, and tell many of you in one-on-one conversations, with the volume of contacts I receive daily (multiple hundreds), my staff and I work hard to read and listen to everything so I can understand what you, our district, and the rest of the state is thinking. If you would like to ensure you receive my feedback on your issue and ideas, please call my office to set up a phone call with me or come by one of my constituent meetings so we can connect in-person. Hearing your input continues to be a top priority to me!

Working on your behalf,

It's a First in Alaska and It's Needed: Artificial Intelligence Bill

Introducing SB 177: AI, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, Deepfakes

A Call for Responsibility: Rejecting SB88 and Prioritizing No-Risk Solutions

Where have all the fiscal conservatives gone?

SB 173 Safe Schools Act Will Deter Active Shooters Taking Lives

When seconds matter for students

Evil Lurks – Trafficking Is Occurring in Alaska

We must pass HB 68 - doing what I can to get the bill moving in the Senate.

Food Security Focus Continues In 2024

Supporting the agriculture industry, promoting locally products, and increasing food security.

Click the image for more information

Senator Hughes is frequently in the news and mention of the projects from our office also show up from time to time. She is typically on the radio once per week or more on a variety of shows. Below are some links to recent news items.

Alaska Beacon

Senators Hughes, Shower, and Myers all stood strong as the Senate Minority to bring a more balanced and fiscally responsible operating budget. Here Hughes is offering a final amendment before the budget vote.

National Day of Prayer was observed in the court across the street from the Capitol building. Legislators, staffers, and Juneau residents came together to pray for the city, state, and nation.

Senator Hughes moved to discharge SB173 Safe Schools Act from the Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, there were not enough votes on the floor in support. Prior to the vote, she stated, "It would be a dreadful shame, an inexcusable mistake to wait until after a tragedy occurs, until children and school staff have died, before we address this issue.

"The State of Alaska will not have an unbiased judiciary until the Governor has the authority to select from a list independent of the judicial council slate. Since that’s unlikely, bouncing Zeman would be a step in the right direction."

"Your claim that the judge's ruling applies to the Alaska Performance Scholarship program and Headstart is a fear-mongering false claim. Zeman's ruling applied solely to the unconstitutional statute that was passed in 2014."

"Alaska (and other states) need to refuse to comply and direct schools to ignore this unsafe stupidity" [Title IX changes]

"I am a former homeschool mom and now a grandmother of 4 homeschooled children. My children are intelligent productive members of society, as will be their children. The opportunities provided them due to homeschool programs like IDEA have greatly contributed to their education."

"As far as I can see, there is no ambiguity in the wording of “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or private educational institution.” Throwing more state money at the problem isn’t a good idea since that is still paying from public funds."

"I [also] strongly believe in our country and our state constitution’s separation of church and state. No public funds should EVER be used to attend private or religious schools or their classes. What has been happening with public funds is illegal and unconstitutional."

"Alaska has financially supported correspondence programs since 1939 – that’s 20 years before statehood! The ruling made by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman was a bridge too far."

"With how rapidly this "AI" and all associated is moving, I feel it imperative to get something in the works. I also wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your efforts to keep people informed."

"As a side note, although I am not a direct constituent of yours, Sen. Hughes, my Great Uncle Fr. Merrill Sulzman, would have been - he was the founding priest of St. Michael's Catholic Parish in Palmer...so that's a tiny bit of insight into my initial fan-girling of Palmer, in general."

O P P O R T U N I T I E S   F O R   Y O U   T O   W E I G H   I N   T H I S   W E E K

If you’d like to provide public testimony for any bill, enter the bill number (for example "HB 22") into the search bar here to learn the date and time. Scroll down toward the bottom of this newsletter or view the highlighted bill images to find the public testimony call-in phone numbers.

The following "News from Hughes Alerts" are highlighted bills for this week but please note that this is not an exhaustive list. 

🖱️ Click on the image to view the referenced bill.

Click the button below to see all public testimony opportunities occurring within the next seven days.

The 📣 indicates that the topic is slated to be accepting public testimony at its hearing.

TUESDAY, MAY 7, 11:00am

JOINT SESSION

Consideration of Governor’s Appointees:

See image for list of boards and committees

Check out articles from our senators as we post them, take surveys, and more by clicking the picture above.

Then check out and follow our social media platforms

for even more up-to-the-minute info!

FACEBOOK | X (TWITTER) | INSTAGRAM

Visit the new central hub to access all things Hughes. See articles, past newsletters, links to legislative activity, and other information.

Senate Assignments:

• Senate Minority, Ranking Member
• Alaska Food Strategy Task Force, Chair
• Food and Farm Caucus, Co-Chair
• Special Committee on World Trade
• Victims’ Advocate Selection Committee
• Law Finance Subcommittee

Other Appointments and Assignments:

• NCSL Law and Public Safety Committee, Vice Chair
• State Agricultural and Rural Leaders, National Board Member
• Article V Phoenix Correspondence Commission, National Commissioner
• NCSL AI & Cybersecurity Task Force
• CSG-West Canada Relations
• CSG Interbranch Committee

Click the bill code in green to see more details and follow the individual bill's progress online.

Health Insurance Info; Incentives /Agreements

The bill includes the Alaska Health Care Consumers Right to Shop Act as well as authorizes Direct Primary Care Agreements in order to nudge down the cost of healthcare in Alaska by introducing competition and free market principles.

Alaska Sunset Commission

SB 9 establishes the Alaska Sunset Commission, an independent entity charged with meticulously reviewing each state agency to make recommendations to legislature to improve the efficacy of, or disband, that agency. The agency auto-sunsets if legislature doesn't take up recommendations in bill form. S State Affairs heard SB 9 March 2023. H Ways & Means Committee filed companion HB 190, moved the bill out February 14, and H State Affairs heard it March 12 and 19. The House Finance Committee is hearing HB 190 today at 9am.

Constitutional Amendment: Abortion/Funding

This proposed constitutional amendment will prevent judges from ruling that statutes which protect babies in the womb are unconstitutional. A hearing request was submitted March 2023 to Senate Judiciary Chair Matt Claman.

School/University Employee Health Insurance

SB 110 gives districts the option to participate in the state employee health plan, AlaskaCare. If passed, Senate Bill 110 could ease the financial burden of school districts and give the State of Alaska more leverage to negotiate with healthcare providers, improving services, and leaving more funds for classroom use. Senate Education hearings held April 2023. This bill would free up millions for districts. Unfortunately the Education Chair has chosen to not advance the bill. NEA has not supported the legislation. The companion bill in the House (HB 21) awaits a hearing in the House Finance Committee.

Rejecting Commission's Recommendation to Raise Salaries

SB 111 rejects the recent recommendation in the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission report to raise legislators' salaries by 67%. It rejects the salary increases and provides a vehicle for changes to the compensation commission process. Hearing request submitted to Senate Finance March 2023.

Extending Alaska Senior Benefits

This bill would extend senior benefits in Alaska for one decade to June 30, 2034 to prevent the program from expiring. Our office has submitted hearing request to Sen. Olson, Senate Finance Co-Chair. A similar bill, SB 170 passed the Senate that removes the sunset date of June 20, 2024.

Safe Schools Act

We must not wait until an active shooter tragedy occurs in one of our schools to start the policy discussion on how to protect lives. This bill requires districts to assign one or more highly trained, stable and responsible individuals to conceal-carry on school grounds and coordinate with local law enforcement. Every second makes a difference. An on-site immediate response will save lives. Second hearing held March 1 by Senate Labor & Commerce. Public testimony held. Amendment adopted for state to reimburse districts for training costs. Bill moved to the next committee, Senate Judiciary. A hearing has been requested but the Chair has indicated he had no plans to move the bill. The Senate voted 7 to 12 to not discharge the bill from committee this past week.

Artificial Intelligence

This bill works to protect individuals from potential harm due to use of artificial intelligence by state entities, regulates personal data storage and collection, and use of deepfakes in political media. First hearing was in front of Senate State Affairs February 1st with quite a line-up of expert testimonies. Another hearing occurred April 4th, adopting a committee substitute with brief opportunity for amendment. Bill was passed out of committee April 23 with an updated committee substitute and is now headed to Senate Judiciary. We have filed for a hearing.

For Information on bills I'm co-sponsoring

For information on all bills filed during this session

Keep up with updates, notices, news, and photos throughout the week and live broadcasts every Monday evening at 6pm

Join Shelley on Facebook Live each week to ask questions and give input.

We typically broadcast Mondays at 6:00 pm, but watch for a notification on Facebook as the day/time is subject to change.

Be sure to "like" the "Senator Shelley Hughes" Facebook page www.facebook.com/AKShelleyHughes

so you'll get a heads-up each time we air! 

WATCH OUR MOST RECENT BROADCAST BELOW

& THEN JOIN US LIVE TONIGHT AT 6PM!

Alaska State Legislature web site is the place to track bills, locate and contact your legislators, and access committee information. Questions? Try the help wizard or call 1-800-478-4648.

SMS Bill Tracking! Once you know what bill(s) you want to monitor, here’s a convenient way to track what’s happening. Text any bill number (ex: SB1) to 559-245-2529 to enroll in text alerts for that particular piece of legislation. You’ll receive an enrollment confirmation as well as instructions on how to unsubscribe.

How to Get in Touch with Shelley! Give our office a call at 907-465-3743 or 800-565-3743 or send an email to Sen.Shelley.Hughes@akleg.gov. If you need assistance, want a response, or need other follow-up, please call rather than email.

Anneliese Roberts

Chief of Staff

Anneliese.Roberts@akleg.gov

907-465-5025

Stephen Knouse

Legislative Aide

Stephen.Knouse@akleg.gov

907-465-3743

Lisa Murkowski - Senator

Anchorage: 907-271-3735

Mat-Su: 907-376-7665

Dan Sullivan - Senator

Anchorage: 907-271-5915

Mat-Su: 907-357-9956

Mary Peltola - Representative

Anchorage: 907-921-6675

You can watch senate floor sessions, typically Mondays and Wednesdays at 11:00 am and Fridays at 10:30 am online or on your local 360North television channel.

Best regards,

Follow and connect via social media platforms, web, and e-mail.

Copyright ©2024 Office of Senator Shelley Hughes, All rights reserved.