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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature makes progress on aid package for ailing seafood industry
Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward's harbor on June 22, 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) To help pull the struggling Alaska seafood industry out of its tailspin, state lawmakers passed some bills aimed at lightening the financial load on harvesters and advanced others that are intended to help businesses and fishery-dependent municipalities. The bills stemmed from recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska's Seafood Industry, which was created by lawmakers last year and which completed its work with a report at the start of this year's session. Lawmakers passed two task force-related bills, giving unanimous or near-unanimous support. One of them, House Bill 116, allows Alaska fishing organizations to establish their own insurance cooperatives. The other bill, Senate Bill 156, shores up the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank with a long-term loan from the state to keep the cooperative organization in business. The bills pose little to no costs to the state, according to legislative analysis. And they are only incremental steps toward addressing the big problems facing a major Alaska industry. Multiple and often interrelated forces have dragged down nearly all sectors of the seafood industry: low fish prices resulting from glutted world markets, high operating costs, financial turmoil among processing companies, labor shortages and numerous stock collapses or poor returns tied to a variety of environmental conditions, including climate change. While Alaska produces about 60% of the nation's seafood, that volume is overwhelmed by international supplies and global economic forces, limiting lawmakers' options to respond effectively, said Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau. 'Our role is not as big as we imagine. That means the Legislature has only so many tools,' said Kiehl, who served on the task force. 'But you see us, I think, turning the knobs.' Beyond the bills passed this year, other bills resulting from the task force recommendations have advanced far enough to be approaching full floor votes; the Legislature works in two-year cycles, and bills introduced this year carry over to next year. Those remaining seafood task force bills carry price tags for the state, however. They will get some extra scrutiny next year, given the state's dire fiscal condition created by reduced investment earnings and lower oil revenues, task force members said. 'We are in new and unusual times where, you know, we have to look at every issue and try to decide if it's worth the additional cost,' said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, who served as the task force's chair. One bill, Senate Bill 135, would increase local governments' share of seafood taxes that are currently split with the state government. Currently, fishery business and seafood tax revenues are split evenly between the state and local governments; the bill would allow the local governments up to 75% of those revenues. Some fishing communities endured steep losses from the industry's woes. The island community of St. Paul, for example, saw a drop of nearly 90% of its tax revenue in 2024 after key crab harvests were canceled, according to legislative information. To Stevens, the sacrifice of state revenue through a smaller cut of fish taxes seems justified. Local governments' troubles are likely to continue, he said. 'I think that it'll be even more apparent that we need to give those fellows a break,' he said. Another important bill that resulted from the task force's report would broaden the state tax credit granted to companies that invest in equipment to create new seafood products, adding value to the fish they process. The two versions of the measure, Senate Bill 130 and House Bill 129, both had been sent to their respective bodies' finance committees prior to last week's adjournment of the session. The annual cost to the state would range from $930,000 to $4.2 million a year, depending on different scenarios, according to the state Department of Revenue's analysis of the Senate version. That might be seen as considerable, Stevens conceded. 'But I think it's a fair cost,' he said. It could improve the fortunes of the processing sector and potentially result in more revenues ultimately to the state, he said. Kiehl has high hopes for the bill. It will encourage the development of high-end products, key to the industry's recovery, he said. 'As much as our seafood as we can put into a premium space, that will help,' he said. Differentiating Alaska salmon, for example, as a premium product is critical when competition comes from huge amounts of cheap Russian salmon harvested by fish traps rather than by small family businesses, he said. At the same time, there are opportunities for Alaska fish oil and fish meal to be molded into new products like nutritional supplements, Kiehl said. Those opportunities could be explored by companies investing in equipment to add value to the raw fish they process, he said. The budget that lawmakers passed also reflects task force recommendations for boosted state marketing efforts. The budget includes a $10 million allocation for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the state agency that promotes Alaska fish products domestically and internationally. Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a similar amount from last year's budget but has expressed support for the ASMI funding this year. An estimated 70 percent of Alaska's fish is sold outside of the United States, according to ASMI. To Kiehl, that shows the importance of the organization's international marketing. 'I don't see a point in the next several decades when Americans buy all of our fish,' he said. 'Americans aren't eating salmon roe or herring roe. Americans don't eat sea cucumbers.' Not in the budget, however, is any significant increase for Alaska Department of Fish and Game fishery research, Stevens said. That may be possible in the future if the state manages to bring in more revenue through tools like changes in oil taxes, he said. More ominously, the Trump administration has slashed positions and fisheries research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with potentially dramatic impacts to Alaska. 'That's really shocking,' Stevens said. 'I am really concerned when the federal government talks about cutting science and research and all the things that they do right now to protect our fisheries.' The state cannot replicate that work by NOAA and its National Marine Fisheries Service, he said. 'The assumption that some people make, 'Oh, the feds can't do it, the state will,' However, we don't have the money to do all these things,' he said. Beyond fisheries, Stevens worries about deep cuts to federal social programs like Medicaid. 'It's going to be an enormous problem, maybe $1 billion, that the feds walk away from. We can't fill that gap.' Other fishery-related bills in addition to those recommended by the task force are also pending. One of them, House Bill 125, would reconfigure the state Board of Fisheries by designating two seats each to the commercial, sport and subsistence sectors, with the seventh seat to represent the science community. Sponsored by Rep. Nellie Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, the passed the House on May 17 by a relatively close 22-17 vote. It now moves to the Senate. A bill introduced by Dunleavy would expand ASMI's authority, allowing it to market mariculture products. The idea has received a mixed response from the mariculture industry; some kelp harvesters are receptive, but many key shellfish growers oppose it. The Senate version of the measure, Senate Bill 131, had reached that body's finance committee by early May. The bodies' finance committees are usually the last stops for bills before they put up for floor votes. The House version, House Bill 135, had not seen action since March.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate President Gary Stevens to retire; House Rep. Louise Stutes announces run for seat
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, prepares to open the Alaska Senate's floor session on Friday, May 2, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) After 22 years in the Alaska Senate, Senate President Gary Stevens is retiring. Stevens' decision has been discussed in the Alaska Capitol for more than a year, but on Tuesday, it became official as Kodiak Republican Rep. Louise Stutes became the first person to announce that she will run for Stevens' seat. 'I certainly will endorse Louise any way I can to help her out,' Stevens said on Wednesday. 'She should be a really fine senator. She's had a lot of experience in the House, and I think she'd do a great job, and I'd be glad to help her out in any way I can.' Stutes filed a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission shortly after the Alaska Legislature adjourned its regular session for the year. Legislators are forbidden from campaigning during the session, and the day after the first year of the legislative session typically marks the informal opening of the candidate filing period. Campaigning typically doesn't begin in earnest until after the second year of the legislative session. Stutes' early start may be a foreshadowing of things to come in the district: Stevens has represented the area covering Kodiak and the southern Kenai Peninsula since being appointed to the seat in 2003, making next year's election a generational shift for the district. Stutes said on Wednesday that fundraising doesn't come naturally to her, 'so I thought that I'd better get a jump start on it. You can't get a jump start on it until you file your letter.' Stutes said she doesn't know whether there will be many candidates in the race. Each of Alaska's Senate districts includes two House districts. Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, represents the other half of Stevens' district and hasn't filed a letter of intent for next year's elections. She did not return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday afternoon. Stutes noted that her husband, commercial fisherman Stormy Stutes, grew up in Anchor Point, and they still have family members who live in Vance's district, so she has connections to that part of Alaska. This isn't the first time that Stevens has said he will retire, but it's certain this time. 'I'm 83 now. I'll be 85 when I retire, and I think that's just enough,' he said by phone. 'I have other plans, things I want to do. I wrote a play about Ted Stevens that was successful in Anchorage; I want to do another one. I'm a bit of a painter, and I want to go on and do painting and writing and concentrate on those things, as well as spend time with my grandkids.' Stutes said she's been interested in running to replace Stevens since that first abortive retirement. 'I'm really lucky. Gary and I get along really well. … He's been wonderful to work with. I'll really miss him, of course, because we have such a great working relationship,' she said. Voters elected Stutes to replace longtime Kodiak lawmaker Alan Austerman in 2014 and reelected her five times since then. She has governed as a moderate Republican, frequently joining the House's predominantly Democratic coalition and once served a term as speaker of the House. 'I'm like every legislator. I really feel like I'm helping my district and Alaskans. Right or wrong, I feel like I've been able to make a difference with the Marine Highway System. I believe I've been able to help bring fisheries to the forefront,' Stutes said. 'When I first got elected years ago, I told Stormy that the one thing I want to do is take fisheries from the back burner and put them on the front burner. And I think that I've been somewhat successful in moving it forward.' The Alaska Senate is currently controlled by a 14-person bipartisan coalition that includes nine Democrats and five Republicans. Three of those Republicans are up for reelection next year, and all are in potential swing districts. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said they will run for office again. Stevens is the third. Among the coalition's Democrats, Sens. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, and Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, both confirmed that they will run for reelection. Sens. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, and Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, have not yet filed letters of intent. Hoffman has been in the Legislature since 1987 and in the Senate since 1991, making him the longest-serving legislator in state history. Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, said on Wednesday that he hasn't yet decided whether he will run for reelection. Sens. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, and Rob Myers, R-North Pole, also face reelection next year. Neither returned a text message seeking comment on Wednesday. Among incumbent members of the state House, Reps. Maxine Dibert, D-Anchorage, Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage, and Donna Mears, D-Anchorage, have all filed letters of intent for reelection. Former Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage, announced that he will again seek to challenge Rep. David Nelson, R-Anchorage, in 2026. Nelson had been elected in 2020, lost to Groh in 2022 and defeated Groh in Wednesday afternoon, Groh was the only nonincumbent to file with the Public Offices Commission. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alaska House votes down symbolic antiabortion budget language, passes amendment against trans care
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee, in charge of the operating budget, listens to debate Monday, April 14, 2025, on the operating budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) For the first time in more than 25 years, the Alaska House of Representatives has voted against budget language that seeks to limit Medicaid coverage for abortions. On Monday, the House failed by a single vote to approve a budget amendment that would forbid the state from spending money on abortions unless they are deemed a 'mandatory service' under Medicaid. The amendment received 20 votes, all from Republicans; 21 votes were needed to approve the amendment, which has been a feature of the state budget since at least 2001. Hours later, the House approved a different amendment that seeks to adopt a similar approach with regard to gender dysphoria and care for transgender Alaskans. That amendment passed 21-19 on a strict party-line vote, as both Republican members of the House's coalition majority joined members of the minority Republican caucus to pass it. Both actions are not final — they would have to be mirrored by the state Senate — but nonetheless have significant symbolic value. The Alaska House of Representatives has repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to restrict abortion access since the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the privacy clause of the state constitution protects abortion rights. Each year, under an amendment to the state budget, state lawmakers have attempted to restrict abortion under Medicaid by limiting coverage to only what's deemed medically necessary. Introducing the abortion amendment was Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Kodiak. 'The courts have weighed in on this issue, and it is the value and the principle of Alaskans that we preserve life,' she said. 'The executive branch has provided support for this, the Legislature has provided support for this. So this is simply restoring the language that we have previously had,' Vance said. The budget language has had limited practical effect because doctors need only fill out a form to demonstrate that a procedure is medically necessary, and an attempt to define what's medically necessary was struck down in court. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that using different definitions for abortion and for other cases violated the right to equal protection of the laws under the Alaska Constitution. Nevertheless, the amendment has turned into an annual statement of intent. In 2019, the state Senate initially failed to adopt the amendment, though the final budget included language from the House. Until this year, the House had never failed to adopt the amendment. This year's amendment came down to Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, who initially voted in favor of the amendment but changed her mind before voting closed. 'I'm just trying to do the right thing, and putting it in the budget is the wrong thing,' Stutes said afterward. 'Aside from the fact that I believe the state doesn't belong between a woman and her doctor — and our state constitution protects that — I think the intent language, if it were enforced, it's unconstitutional. So it's kind of meaningless to put it in the budget.' Hours later, Stutes and Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, the majority leader, joined 19 members of the House's Republican minority to add similar language regarding gender dysphoria to the state budget. If adopted by the Senate and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, it's unclear what effect the amendment would have. Although a 2021 lawsuit resulted in a federal ruling that requires Alaska's Medicaid program to cover gender-affirming care, the Alaska Supreme Court has not considered the issue, and the case law around the topic is not established as well as it is for abortion, experts said. 'We're grateful that for the first time in recent memory, the House did not insert the harmful and performative amendment aimed at stripping patients with low incomes access to coverage for abortion. Unfortunately, the same body adopted an equally harmful and performative amendment attacking gender affirming health care,' said Rose O'Hara-Jolley, Alaska State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. 'We urge the body not to adopt either amendment in its final version — we're relying on them to stand with all Alaskans, regardless of their income or gender identity.' Debate continued Tuesday on more amendments to the House's version of the state operating budget.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Visitors to Alaska State Capitol will be screened under newly awarded contract
The front of the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau is seen on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Visitors to the state Capitol in Juneau will have to go through a metal detector under a policy adopted on Monday. The Capitol visitor screening policy was approved in a 9-4 vote by the Legislative Council, a body made up of members from both the House and Senate that sets the rules for the Capitol complex. Lawmakers did not publicly discuss or debate the policy change. Before the vote, they met in a session closed to the public for more than an hour and a half for a security briefing and to discuss the policy proposal. The council declined to require that people in the building have ID badges, which was part of the original proposal. Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak and the council's vice chair, supported the change. He described his reasoning in a Senate majority caucus news conference on Tuesday. 'The idea, really, is … to make sure people aren't entering with weapons — with guns, with knives and that sort of thing,' he said. 'You know, some folks have said, 'Well, let's wait until there's an incident, where someone gets hurt, and then we will install it.' I think that's not wise at all.' Stevens cited a comment by Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, that hundreds of people undergo screenings at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention with little wait time. Stevens also noted that metal detectors are used in the Dimond Courthouse across the street from the Capitol. 'You have them [at] every airport you enter into, so it's not as if people are unaware of how they work,' he said. People who already have an electronic keycard to enter the building will not be affected by the policy. Stevens said the security staff who will operate the metal detectors say 20 seconds is the most time it would take to move through the devices. Stevens said several times recently, people who work in the Capitol have told him they had concern or fear regarding visitors who don't have a reason to be in the building. Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau and the council chair, also voted for the change. She wrote in a newsletter to constituents on Tuesday that no legislators were happy to make the change, but waiting for a tragedy to occur was unacceptable. 'Legislative Council did not arrive at this decision lightly. For decades, we in Alaska have taken pride in the citizenry's open access to the Legislature,' Hannon wrote. 'However, and very unfortunately, in recent years our country has changed in ways that have led to increased risk of violence in our public institutions. The tragic, unchecked level of shootings in U.S. schools is in itself horrifying. The January 6th, 2020, attack on the nation's Capitol is another dispiriting example.' Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, opposed the change. He is not currently on the council but served as its vice chair last year and said the idea has been under discussion for at least four years. He said Capitol security staff had brought up how only a few state capitols do not require screening. He said the staff's job is to keep the building secure, and they were doing their job by bringing the screening idea to legislators. McCabe said the discussions prompted him and other Matanuska-Susitna Borough legislators to ask constituents about the idea while they were campaigning. 'They're already very angry that the Capitol is still down here in Juneau, where they can't come visit and they can't really get to us, so they just saw closing the Capitol with magnetometers and badges … they saw that as just another step in isolating legislators from the public,' McCabe said. 'And they believe, as do I frankly, that the Capitol building is the people's building.' McCabe predicted that the next step would be to require badges. 'I just feel we should leave it open. We have a really able security team and, frankly, Alaskans are just not that militant, that they would storm the Capitol or come into the Capitol and create an issue,' he said. The council members who voted for the policy change were chair Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau; Stevens; House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham; Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage; Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage; Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage; Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage; Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka; and Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak. Voting against requiring the screenings were Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks; Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau; Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage; and Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole. The council also voted 8-5 to award a contract for up to $35,000 to University Protection Service LP to provide the screening services. The only difference in the council members' votes was that of Stedman, who voted against the contract. He said he generally opposed adding the metal detectors, noting that visitors already have to make an effort to go to Juneau. But he said he decided to vote for the policy after the council made it less onerous by removing the ID badge requirement. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska legislators look to savings account for deficit fix
The snow-covered statue of WIlliam Henry Seward stands Monday, March 17, 2025, in front of the Alaska Capitol. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Members of the Alaska Legislature said this week that they're likely to use the state's Constitutional Budget Reserve to fix a roughly $173 million budget deficit for the 12 months that end June 30. Lawmakers are confronting another, larger deficit as they craft the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but it remains possible that some tax increases — on oil, business income and online sales — could offset the need to spend from savings for that year. When it comes to the current fiscal year, things are more certain. Passing new taxes and implementing them would take time, and the state's budget needs to be balanced by June 30. While members of the Senate's bipartisan coalition majority previously rejected the idea of spending from savings, they admitted this week that there is no other option. 'Times change, things change, and sometimes you have to eat crow up here,' said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, during a news conference with reporters. Spending from the state's $2.8 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve will require the approval of three-quarters of the state Senate, plus three-quarters of the state House. Reaching those thresholds will require the support of the Republican minority caucuses in both the Senate and the House. It isn't clear what political horse-trading — if any — will be required to get the needed Republican support. About half of the deficit in this year's budget is attributable to lower-than-expected oil revenue. The other half is due to budget changes proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, whom the Republican minority caucuses generally support. Among the budget additions: $10 million for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, millions for wildfire firefighting, and $2.7 million to cover missed payments by the state to employees' retirement accounts. As of Wednesday afternoon, members of the House Finance Committee were debating the use of the budget reserve for the upcoming fiscal year as well as the current one, but those debates had yet to reach a resolution. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
