Latest news with #CorinneSmith
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Alaska senators have a chance to protect Medicaid and safeguard vital services for Alaska's youth
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan gives an annual address to the Alaska State Legislature on Mar 20, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) After Alaska's U.S. Rep. Nick Begich cast a vote to advance a budget reconciliation package that would be catastrophic for Alaska, we are counting on our senators to step up. With a narrow balance of power in the U.S. Senate, if U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has the courage to work with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, he can help stop this unprecedented attack on health care and core Medicaid services. President Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to cancel Alaskans' Medicaid health coverage to finance tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and those elitists will succeed if our senators don't fight back. Alaska has one of, if not the highest rates of suicide, child abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault in the nation. Many of the victims utilize services that are funded by Medicaid. This may include individualized therapy and family therapy, intensive behavioral support in community and school settings, case management that secures outside resources for families in need such as food stamps, housing, therapeutic foster care placements, and reunification with families or adoption. Without access to these services, Alaska's suicide rates could climb, crime rates could increase, and more children could enter foster care without the supportive treatment they need to navigate their trauma. As a frontline mental and behavioral health worker, I worry for the youth I serve and how lack of available services and strained capacity will impact their growth. I worry that in the future, I may see youth that I have served living on the streets, turn to drugs to cope, or succumb to suicide. This month, Anchorage lost the Crisis Recovery Center that provided emergency care to teens experiencing mental health crises. Can we really afford to lose anything more? Our senators have the chance to ensure the youth of Alaska have a safe and stable future. Based on public statements, U.S. Republican Senators Murkowski, Lisa Collins of Maine, and Josh Hawley of Missouri all oppose cuts to Medicaid. Sullivan could be a deciding vote. Will he vote in lockstep to give Outside billionaires a tax cut financed by stealing Alaskans' health coverage, or will he stand up for his adopted state? The stakes could not be higher.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska state budget and other bills head to Gov. Mike Dunleavy
The Alaska State Capitol is seen on the last week of the 2025 session on May 19, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) The three pieces of legislation that make up Alaska's annual state budget are on Gov. Mike Dunleavy's desk. According to legislative records, the state's operating, capital and mental health budgets were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday, giving the governor until June 19 to veto the bills or sign them into law. The governor has the ability to use a line item veto to reduce or eliminate specific items within the budget, and Dunleavy has previously indicated that he may reduce funding for public schools below the amount prescribed by a formula in state law. State legislators voted to raise that formula in the session's last days, overriding Dunleavy's decision to veto the bill containing a $700 increase to the base student allocation, the core of the state's school funding formula. If Dunleavy reduces education funding below what's called for by the formula, it would be unprecedented and akin to former Gov. Bill Walker's decision in 2016 to veto part of the Permanent Fund dividend: Since the education funding formula was created, every governor has followed the law. Two policy bills also were transmitted to the governor on Tuesday. The first, House Bill 75, cleans up some state laws pertaining to the Permanent Fund dividend and was uncontroversial in the House and Senate. The second, Senate Bill 183, would require the executive branch to deliver reports in the form requested by the Alaska Legislature's auditor. Under the Alaska Constitution, the Alaska Legislature has audit authority over the executive branch, but since 2019, lawmakers have been unable to analyze the performance of the section of the Alaska Department of Revenue that audits tax settlements with large oil companies. Lawmakers say the Department of Revenue has switched policies and no longer provides a report that once allowed them to examine the section's work. Members of the department testified that they have turned over raw data, but the legislative auditor testified that her department lacks the information and capability to turn that data into actionable information on the state's oil revenue. The bill was transmitted to the governor's office with a letter from the Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, asking Dunleavy not to veto it. 'This letter accompanies the bill not as a routine legislative communication, but as a reflection of the extraordinary nature of the circumstances we face,' it read. 'The ongoing obstructions by the DOR must not be allowed to become a precedent for future administrations. We must reinforce, not erode, the norms of oversight and accountability that are vital to Alaska's republican form of government.' If Dunleavy does veto a bill, the Alaska Legislature is not expected to consider an override until January, when lawmakers reconvene in regular session.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Film spotlights infant learning program successes in Mat-Su — and potential cost of underfunding it
Melissa Lewis holds her three-month-old baby Twila at a screening and event in support of Alaska infant learning programs at the Gold Town Theater in Juneau on Apr 29, 2025. She said while her baby is not showing signs of delays or needing intervention services, they attended the event to support the cause and more state funding and support for early childhood programs. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) It was a pediatrician that first referred Laura Perez, now a mother of four, to an infant learning program in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for her first son, who at almost 2 years old was showing some signs of developmental delays. 'It was more subtle with my oldest, but as it turned out, he was autistic, but he's smart as a whip,' she said. Not only was Perez able to receive support from a developmental specialist for him, but also to enroll his next three siblings at earlier ages, in the following years. 'They caught some of the social, emotional issues my oldest was having, and they caught some physical issues that with my second child, he's got wonky ankles, which was, causing him to be a lot more clumsy. And … you know, I'm not a medical person,' she said. 'It's done so much good. It helped catch so much more, so much faster, and the faster you can intervene, the better the outcomes are.' Infant learning programs provide early intervention services for families and children, from infancy to age 3, who are experiencing developmental delays. Interventions can include play and movement therapies, as well as language stimulation techniques, for children. In addition, parents can receive education and training on child development. An estimated 1,800 Alaskan families are served each year by 17 infant learning programs across the state, funded by the state of Alaska and federal Medicaid, at no cost to families. Perez and her family received support with speech, physical and occupational therapies. She said her second child is now an active prekindergartner at Big Lake Elementary. 'He's doing math! He's throwing multiplication at us,' she said, laughing. 'I'm like, you just turned 5, sir.' Perez joined a group of advocates in Juneau to meet with legislators and attend the debut of a new short film that shows a week in the life of the staff at the Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults Inc. infant learning program. The April 29 screening drew a large crowd to the Gold Town Theater, including over a dozen lawmakers from Anchorage and the Mat-Su regions. Advocates are urging legislators to pass Senate Bill 178, to expand eligibility, and increase state general funds for these programs. Yulia Smith, a developmental specialist with the Mat-Su Valley infant learning program, and subject of the short film about the program, is seen in a playroom with a young participant (Photo courtesy of Joshua Albeza Branstetter) The film — made by filmmaker Joshua Albeza Branstetter — follows Yulia Smith, a developmental specialist making house calls in Mat-Su, sitting on floors with toddlers, and talking with mothers rocking infants. She discusses successes of early interventions, and ongoing challenges for the infant learning program. 'Really, the beauty of this work is we get to influence the life of a child in the very first few years of their life,' Smith said. 'There's so much we can do with early intervention to influence that further life of a child. … And it all starts from when you're born, really.' Smith herself became a developmental specialist after receiving services from the Mat-Su program for her son, who was later diagnosed with autism. She wanted to become one of the specialists and supporters for families like hers. 'Because I had never known what autism was until then. And I was growing through quite a grieving process, in terms of what does that mean for my son and my family,' she said. 'Now looking back, I needed her as much as my son needed her. And I wanted to do that for other families.' Under current state law, infants and toddlers must show a 50% delay to be eligible for infant learning programs. Smith describes how that forces the Mat-Su program to turn families away, telling them to come back in six months for reevaluation, sensitive weeks and months in a child's brain development. Under the new proposed legislation, eligibility would be changed to a 25% delay, so that more children and families would be eligible for these types of interventions. Laura Norton-Cruz is a social worker and executive producer of the film, which was funded by the Mat-Su Health Foundation. She said expanding eligibility would open services to families. It would also reinstate eligibility for babies born prematurely or with low birth weight, after the state changed the guidance to remove them last year. 'I witnessed that when we were filming. They went and visited a child in foster care who had been exposed to alcohol prenatally,' Norton-Cruz said, and he did not meet the 50% delay eligibility requirement at 1 year old. 'So he had to be un-enrolled from the services, despite the services having made a really significant difference in his first 12 months, because he had been enrolled out of the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). So they helped him, and then they had to let him go. And a lot of those families who get un-enrolled come back, and they come back with more significant delays.' The film also shows staff grappling with heavy case loads, back-to-back home visits, and discussion of the growing demand from families, as the Mat-Su has the fastest growing population in the state. Advocates and families are urging lawmakers to increase state funding for infant learning programs, which is funded through the Alaska Department of Health at $7.4 million in state funding last year. 'It hasn't been increased in 11 years,' Norton-Cruz said. 'So the amount that the state provides has stayed the same, while costs have gone up. … In rural regions, airplane costs have gone up. Health insurance costs have gotten up. And the funding has remained flat.' This year, the Alaska House added $5.7 million to early intervention and infant learning programs, but that addition was deleted by the Senate Finance Committee in its version of the operating budget. Committee leaders have said they are aiming to constrain spending in preparation for several financial challenges they expect the state to face over the next year. Norton-Cruz said an increase to infant learning programs would be an essential investment that legislators should fight for this year on a final budget vote. 'If they continue to flat fund, it is a divestment, right, especially as federal funds disappear,' she said. '(It) is a divestment from children. And if you divest from children, things will get worse. Children will have worse outcomes in childhood, in adolescence and in adulthood, and that will be expensive … quality of life gets worse,' she added. She said these interventions also help reduce the costs and children's need for services later in life, including hospitalizations and special education services in school. In the final weeks of the legislative session, advocates are hoping to gather support for SB 178 to expand eligibility for children, which is currently being heard in the Senate Health and Social Services Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
May Day Alaska: Rallies support workers and protest Trump, threats to democracy
A crowd of an estimated 400 people gathered for a May Day protest in Juneau at the Alaska State Capitol on May 1, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) Alaskans rallied in communities statewide for May Day, in support of workers and protesting the Trump administration's policies as anti-democratic, and condemning federal firings and threatened cuts to vital programs and social services. May Day is recognized by many countries and organizations as International Workers Day, and hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. and the world took to the streets to protest, with many condemning the Trump administration, the administration's aggressive rhetoric toward other countries, fears of global economic turmoil, and hostility toward immigrants' rights. In Alaska, protests took place in at least 21 communities according to reports on social media, on Thursday and others planned through the weekend, from the Arctic region to Southeast Alaska. Organizers in several communities spoke with the Alaska Beacon after rallies wrapped up on Thursday, and expressed hope in the unified protest effort and great concern for the impacts of firing federal workers and threatened cuts to essential services, like health care. In Petersburg, an estimated 75 people rallied downtown around noon, according to Chelsea Tremblay, one of the organizers with the community group, Petersburg Friends and Neighbors. She said speakers focused on the importance of workers rights, and demonstrators called on Alaska's congressional delegation to do more, 'to stand up for our communities and to keep the separation of powers strong,' she said. 'By fighting for the funds that have been allocated to come to our communities, and to stop the loss of jobs.' Tremblay said Petersburg has been impacted by the federal firings and budget cuts to the U.S. Forest Service in the Tongass National Forest, Head Start, and the end of federal telework options, as well as particular concern around further cuts to the National Weather Service. 'That's a safety issue, right? Or potential funds being withheld from public broadcasting that have already been dedicated, but that's how people stay connected with the community when they're out on the boats,' she said. She said the group also raised funds for local homelessness services. 'We're stronger together,' she added. 'So it feels good to be in solidarity with so many other communities.' In the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, an estimated 200 people gathered for a rally in Wasilla, said organizer Dave Musgrave, with the activist group Mat-Su United for Progress. 'This was really to lift up unions, and show that we are standing with working families,' he said. There were speeches, a hot dog roast and a live band that played union songs. 'And then people stood along Parks Highway with their signs protesting various things from the (Trump) administration. I'd say the overwhelming concern was the threat to democracy, and our Constitution.' Musgrave said Mat-Su residents are deeply concerned about federal cuts, particularly any proposed cuts to health care through Medicaid, as about one-third of all Alaska residents rely on the program. 'That includes pregnant women, that includes single adults, it includes kids,' through the related Denali KidCare program, he said. 'And the fallout is going to be for all Alaskans, because it's not just those on Medicaid. This will cripple our health care system, including hospitals, medical clinics – our whole medical infrastructure is under threat right now.' On the Kenai Peninsula in Soldotna, organizer Michele Vasquez with the activist group Many Voices said residents are also extremely concerned about job cuts and threats to health care, including for those whose jobs don't provide them with insurance. 'The folks in between. They work. They work one, two, three jobs, but they're still working, and they're still on Medicaid,' she said. 'So the impacts to Alaska overall could be very, very devastating.' She said the region is feeling the impacts of job losses, and threatened cuts to services like libraries and public radio sow more uncertainty. 'There have been a lot of devastating losses of jobs, and any loss of jobs in Alaska is detrimental.' The May Day rally drew an estimated 140 people in Soldotna Creek Park, she said, 'in support of workers, union and nonunion.' She said speakers highlighted the importance of supporting disability rights, reproductive health care, and uniting together to push back against the Trump administration. The crowd also raised funds and gathered donations for the local food bank. Vasquez said some Republicans and Trump voters have joined their protest events over the last month. 'Surprisingly,' she said, 'It was just shocking to me that they were willing to admit it. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I think it depends on who they are, what their status is,' she said. 'Mainly, I've talked to seniors who are of all political stripes, who are terrified of losing Medicare, of losing their Social Security or their veterans benefits. My husband and I fall into that category, so I can clearly understand why everyone would be fearful,' she said, adding her husband is a retired veteran and disabled. 'All across political spectrums, we're all a little scared,' Vasquez said. 'Because they're worried, you know? We're worried about what happens to our house if we can't make the mortgage payments? What if we can't buy food? It's just, it's kind of a commonality.' In Talkeetna, organizer Sandra Loomis said a group of 54 people rallied for May Day, and to protest the Trump agenda. 'We marched down Main Street and got a nice picture right there on the river, where you can see Denali behind and did a nice chant, '8647,'' she said, referring to the anti-Trump chant to '86,' or reject, the 47th president. 'People are fed up and just tired of this, all this open corruption from the White House,' Loomis said. 'And taking away all our services, taking away our libraries, taking away research, taking away our rights, taking away economic equity. People are fed up and tired of it. It's way, way, way beyond the pale, and too far, and the blatant disregard of the Constitution and the Supreme Court orders.' Loomis said Talkeetna residents are also concerned around the federal firings, cuts to programs like Medicaid and the recent cut to Americorps. She expressed outrage and frustration at the Trump administration threatening the press, law firms and universities. Of special concern was Trump's recent refusal to acknowledge that an image of alleged gang tattoos on a man deported to El Salvador was Photoshopped, 'blatantly lying to everyone, right to our faces and like, we know they're lying!' She said the actions go against the core values and principles that the country was founded on. 'My family, multiple generations of my family, have fought for the freedoms that we've enjoyed,' she said. 'One of the things that has made America such an amazing place to live — it's because we have diversity. It's because we accept all religions and respect each other.' In Juneau, roughly 400 people gathered in front of the Alaska State Capitol, despite the rain, for speeches, calls to protect workers, unions and essential social services, and a performance by the Dance Group. 'Get up! Get down. Juneau is a union town!' the crowd chanted, before marching to Marine Park by the cruise ship dock. They also collected donations for the Southeast Alaska Food Bank. Organizers said residents are continuing to make regular calls and emails to the state's congressional delegation, particularly U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who they said has been responsive to their concerns. Different groups nationally have said the next national day of action is a People's Parade planned for June 14, Flag Day. Juneau residents rally at the Alaska State Capitol for May Day on May 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Skip Gray) Residents rally for May Day in Nome on May 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Hannah Anderson) A crowd of an estimated 400 people gathered for a May Day protest in Juneau at the Alaska State Capitol on May 1, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) A protester holds a sign at the Juneau May Day rally on May 1, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) A protester holds a sign to support fired federal workers at a May Day protest in Juneau on May 1, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) A truck carries the U.S. and Canadian flags in a show of solidarity during a May Day protest in Soldotna on May 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Michele Vasquez) Protesters wave signs at a May Day rally in Wasilla on May 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Connie Harris with Mat-Su United for Progress) Protesters rally for May Day in Wasilla on May 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy of Connie Harris with Mat-Su United for Progress) Protesters hold a rally on the Park Strip in Anchorage on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon) Protesters hold signs at a May Day rally in Juneau on May 1, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Undermining well-funded public education undermines Alaska
The final vote tally for members of the House and Senate totaled 33-27, to sustain Gov. Dunleavy's veto of House Bill 69, to increase school funding, on April 22, 2024 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) On April 22, 2025, the Alaska Legislature had the opportunity and responsibility to secure stable and meaningful investment in our children's education. With the override vote on House Bill 69, lawmakers were given a chance to rise above political posturing and provide the first real increase to the base student allocation, or BSA, in nearly a decade. They failed. Seven no votes. That's all it took to deny our public schools the $1,000 per-student increase so many have been fighting for, not for political gain, but for survival. Our students, educators and families are not abstract line items in a budget. We are not 'special interests.' We are the very people who hold up the future of this state. And yet, 27 elected officials chose to turn their backs on us. Their 'No' votes were loud and clear: They do not believe our children, especially those in underfunded, rural, and urban schools deserve a fully resourced, safe, and equitable education. They chose the governor's austerity politics over our students' needs. They chose silence in classrooms over music. Larger class sizes over individualized attention. Closures over community. Let's be honest: This was never just about numbers. This was about priorities. Those who voted against the override would like us to believe Alaska can't afford to fund its public education system. But for the last seven years, they found money for everything but schools for tax credits, bloated bureaucracies, private interests and the Permanent Fund Dividend, which somehow remains sacred while our kids go without updated textbooks, working heat or school counselors. Meanwhile, school districts across the state now brace for catastrophic consequences. Layoffs. School closures. Slashed programs. And most devastatingly, students losing opportunities they may never get back. As a mother of five, a teacher, and the Alaska education chair for the NAACP Tri State Area Conference, I am furious. But I am not surprised. We've seen this coming. We've been warning them. We've testified, rallied and begged. This veto was a betrayal. The failure to override it was a choice. Let me be clear: This is not over. And to be clear this doesn't just impact students and teachers. It affects all of us. When schools suffer, communities suffer. When education is unstable, workforce readiness declines, mental health needs go unmet, and family stress skyrockets. Local businesses lose future workers. Property values drop. Crime and disengagement increase. These outcomes do not stay confined to the walls of a school they ripple through every neighborhood, every economy, every generation. Well-funded public education is a public good. It is the bedrock of a strong democracy, a healthy economy, and a just society. Undermining it undermines us all. To those who stood with us the 33 House and Senate members who voted to override we see you. We thank you. And to the others: we'll be seeing you, too. Because this is not just about a failed vote. It's about a fight for the soul of public education in Alaska and we are not backing down. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
