Alaska Legislature pushes through flurry of bills as session gets down to the wire

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, left, Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, center, and Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, each a co-chair of nan Senate Finance Committee, await a convention committee gathering connected May 13, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)

State lawmakers are pushing done a unreserved of bills successful nan closing days of this year’s legislative session. All bills revenge complete nan past 2 years dice astatine nan extremity of nan session. That’s this Wednesday.

So there’s a batch moving guardant — a large crime bill, a c retention and power bill, and more. And pinch nan timepiece ticking, nan House spent hours debating and yet passing a measure restricting trans girls from being connected girls’ sports teams.

Alaska Public Media authorities government newsman Eric Stone joined Alaska News Nightly big Casey Grove to capable america successful connected what’s going connected successful Juneau.

Listen:

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This question and reply has been lightly edited for magnitude and clarity.

Casey Grove: Tell america astir that melodramatic statement complete nan trans bill.

Eric Stone: So nan measure would put into rule thing that is already successful believe by authorities schoolhouse committee regularisation — trans girls would beryllium banned from girls’ sports teams. 

This is an rumor that a batch of group consciousness very powerfully about. Supporters of nan prohibition opportunity it keeps girls’ sports adjacent and safe. Opponents opportunity nan measure would unconstitutionally discriminate against trans kids and that akin bans person been successfully challenged successful tribunal successful different states. 

So some sides were beautiful dug in. It sewage beautiful heated astatine times — the Alaska Beacon has a bully rundown of really chaotic it got wrong nan room, group shouting astatine each other, information called into nan chamber, conscionable a batch of passion.

The House minority, made up of Democrats, independents and 1 Republican, put connected thing of a filibuster by offering conscionable a ton of amendments highlighting flaws successful nan bill. None coiled up passing.And past nan measure passed pinch 22 votes precocious connected Sunday night. 

The only non-Republican to ballot for nan measure was Rep. Dan Ortiz, a Ketchikan independent. I talked to him astir that ballot today. He said it was a very reliable decision, but he said he was doing his champion to correspond nan views of his constituents. He said 70 aliases 80 percent of his constituents, by his estimation, agreed pinch nan wide thought of nan bill. He told maine he has superior concerns astir nan specifications of really nan prohibition would beryllium implemented, but he said it was clear nan measure was going obscurity — it is not going to walk nan Senate this session. 

So I deliberation that’s a beautiful bully illustration of what this measure does: it highlights a run rumor for this fall’s election.

CG: But location are tons of bills that look for illustration they mightiness really pass. Tell america astir this crime bill.

ES: So nan seed of this measure comes from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and it’s an effort to reside nan fentanyl situation crossed nan state. In its first form, it upgrades penalties connected supplier dealers, making it truthful that if personification overdoses and dies from a supplier they sell, nan trader tin beryllium charged pinch murder. Currently they tin beryllium charged pinch manslaughter. And that applies not only to fentanyl, but meth and a agelong database of different drugs.

And then, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Matt Claman, an Anchorage Democrat, packed a bunch much worldly into it — a measure renaming “child pornography” to “child intersexual maltreatment material,” different measure that requires out-of-state activity offenders who move to Alaska to registry pinch nan state, and allowing hearsay successful expansive assemblage proceedings. There were immoderate changes successful Senate Finance, 1 of which limits hearsay to constabulary officers. Basically, nan thought is to make it truthful that crime victims don’t person to attest to expansive juries. They’d still person to attest astatine trial, though.

The measure has moved beautiful quickly, but nan American Civil Liberties Union has travel retired against it, saying it’s ineffective and unconstitutional.

That’s expected to walk nan Senate tomorrow, and it’d request a last ballot successful nan House to spell to nan governor’s desk.

CG: That’s rather a spot each successful 1 bill.

ES: Yes, it is. But that’s really things are going these days. There’s not overmuch clip to get done committees, get things from nan House to nan Senate and vice versa, truthful there’s a batch of bill-stuffing going on. And sometimes that’s creating immoderate consternation.

For example, there’s House Bill 347, which fundamentally provides immoderate guardrails connected nan spot taxation appraisal process. If you’re a spot owner, each truthful often, nan metropolis aliases borough comes around, estimates really overmuch your location aliases business aliases immoderate is worth, and that’s what they usage for your spot taxation bill. Clarise Larson astatine KTOO wrote it up erstwhile it first passed retired of nan House. 

But what’s absorbing is that successful nan past mates days, nan Senate Finance Committee added a connection that would vastly grow nan spot taxation exemption for group complete 65, widows and abnormal veterans. The exemption would spell from $150,000 to $450,000. Two co-chairs of nan Finance Committee, Sitka Republican Bert Stedman and Bethel Democrat Lyman Hoffman, opportunity it’s an effort to support up pinch ostentation and support taxation bills down for seniors connected fixed incomes. 

But nan measure is getting immoderate pushback from municipalities and nan Anchorage delegation successful nan Legislature.

And I should besides mention a overmuch higher-profile illustration of bill-stuffing — House Bill 50, which has to do pinch storing c dioxide underground. 

That 1 is looking for illustration an power omnibus. It’s sewage a measure promoting geothermal energy, positive immoderate worldly that addresses nan earthy state crunch successful Cook Inlet. There’s a measure that would springiness authorities loans to lipid and state companies successful nan inlet — called “reserve-based lending” — to juice drilling. And there’s a measure to modulate earthy state storage, which is expected to support state prices down. That one’s up for a last ballot tomorrow.