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Rep. Fields’ sexist joke about Rep. Sara Rasmussen

Suzanne Downing
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Rep. Fields’ sexist joke about Rep. Sara Rasmussen

In one of the more awkward moments in the Alaska State House this week, Rep. Zack Fields of Anchorage said into the record that the short skirt of Rep. Sara Rasmussen was causing a traffic hazard in her district. He therefore would be sending her a pair of sweatpants for her birthday, so she won’t be causing accidents in the future, he explained.

His remark came immediately after Rasmussen announced that she and Rep. Ivy Spohnholz were forming the “women’s caucus” in the House.

Rasmussen had made a speech about the contributions of women and their role as decision makers, and how proud she was to model leadership for both her daughter and her son.

The irony was not lost on other women in the House. After all, Rasmussen’s co-founder of the women’s caucus, Rep. Spohnholz, is remembered for her unfounded accusations against retired Judge Karl Johnstone, who had been appointed to the Board of Fisheries by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

“Imagine if a Republican male had made that joke,” remarked one shocked member of the House Republican minority. “They’d have ‘Johnstone’d him.”

Without evidence, Spohnholz had in 2019 said Johnstone had made some sort of sexist remarks to anonymous women in years’ past, but Spohnholz never provided any proof. She and Fields used the “me too” accusation to sandbag Johnstone’s nomination.

“Zack called me and apologized for his statements on the floor. He did not mean any disrespect. I’ve accepted his apology and hope to move on from it,” Rasmussen said.

Fields has a history of attacking conservative women, such as Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka, during her confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Administration. He also attacked former Commissioner Amanda Price because she had not completed college. But today, he was smitten with the undeniably lovely Rasmussen, who he and other Democrats are trying to court into their caucus.

Below the video of Rasmussen’s speech and Fields’ sexist joke (minute 3:15 in the video) is the link to the full tale of what happened to Johnstone at the hands of Rep. Spohnholz in 2019, in his own words.

Johnstone: What Spohnholz did to me, she can do to anyone

Breaking: Gov. Dunleavy tests positive, but symptoms mild

Suzanne Downing
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22
Breaking: Gov. Dunleavy tests positive, but symptoms mild

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tested positive for Covid-19, in test results released on Wednesday. He is currently at home with mild symptoms.

On Sunday morning, the governor was called and said he had been identified as having been in close contact to someone who tested positive for Covid-19. He was feeling well and tested negative for Covid on Sunday morning but immediately quarantined to reduce his possible exposure to others. He had been feeling well until Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, he tested again, and this time tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The governor is known to have attended the Alaska Outdoor Council banquet on Saturday night. It is not thought that he got the virus at the banquet, however.

Because the governor has been in quarantine during his infectious period, there are no known close contacts at this time. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink and the Governor’s attending physician are monitoring him.

Dunleavy joins about 55,736 Alaskans who are known to have tested positive for the virus during the past year. Many others have probably had the virus but were asymptomatic and did not get diagnosed.

Other governors who have tested positive for Covid include Nevada’s Gov. Steve Sisolak, Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis, Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine, Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolfe, South Carolina’s Gov. Henry McMaster, Wyoming’s Gov. Mark Gordon, Missouri’s Gov. Mike Parsons, Virginia’s Gov. Ralph Northam, and Oklahoma’s Gov. Kevin Stitt.

First bill passes Senate, and it’s Sen. Wilson’s Naloxone legislation

Suzanne Downing
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23
First bill passes Senate, and it’s Sen. Wilson’s Naloxone legislation

The Alaska Senate today unanimously passed a bill extending access to Naloxone, a life-saving drug that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses. It was the first bill to pass either house in the Legislature during the 32nd Legislature.

Senate Bill 70, sponsored by Sen. David Wilson of Wasilla, allows the chief medical officer of the Department of Health and Social Services to continue issuing a statewide standing order for the prescription of naloxone.

Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink currently has this authority, but without this legislation, her authority would sunset on June 30, 2021. By removing the sunset date, local and regional overdose response programs, first responders, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and the public will continue to have the ability to directly distribute and access the lifesaving drug.

“This legislation benefits Alaska by saving lives,” said Wilson, chairman of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee. “This translates to a direct costs savings to emergency services. It gives people who may overdose a greater chance of living and gives them an opportunity to get into treatment. It also goes without saying that this legislation benefits the many friends and family members of people who would die of an overdose without this lifesaving medication.” 

Some 309 Alaskan lives were saved by naxalone since the Project Hope initiative started in 2017.

The medication is paid for entirely with federal funds and the drug is not a controlled substance, and has no risk of abuse or addiction.

SB 70 passed the Senate by a vote of 18-0, and is now on its way to the Alaska House of Representatives for consideration.

Ben Stevens heads to ConocoPhillips, as Randy Ruaro steps up to acting chief of staff for governor

Suzanne Downing
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18
Ben Stevens heads to ConocoPhillips, as Randy Ruaro steps up to acting chief of staff for governor

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is announcing that Chief of Staff Ben Stevens will be leaving the administration to become the new vice president of external affairs and transportation at ConocoPhillips Alaska. Mr. Stevens last day in the governor’s office will be announced soon.

“I want to thank Ben for his hard work and service to the State of Alaska the past two years. His knowledge and political acumen have been an asset to the administration and I wish him the very best in his new role at ConocoPhillips Alaska,” Dunleavy said.

The governor appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Randy Ruaro to serve acting chief of staff until a permanent replacement is named. Tyson Gallagher, formerly with GCI and previously with the Parnell Administration in OMB, was named deputy chief of staff.

Ruaro, originally from Ketchikan, lives in Juneau and has served as chief of staff for Sen. Bert Stedman in recent years before joining the governor’s team as deputy chief of staff.

The current vice president of external affairs for ConocoPhillips, Scott Jepsen, is retiring.

RNC forms election integrity committee to push for more secure elections

Suzanne Downing
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26
RNC forms election integrity committee to push for more secure elections

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced today the formation of the new Committee on Election Integrity, which will focus on election transparency and ensuring voters have confidence in future election processes. 
 
“Election integrity is one of the most critical issues we face as a Party and as a country. What we saw this past election – states undoing important safeguards, bypassing the proper legislative processes, and changing election laws in the eleventh hour – was deeply troubling and brought chaos and uncertainty to our sacred democratic processes. As RNC Chair, I will not sit idly by and the Party will respond. The RNC will play a crucial role in restoring confidence in our elections, promoting election integrity, and recommending best practices to ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent,” McDaniel said in a statement.

The Committee on Election Integrity will be chaired by Florida Republican Party Chairman Joe Gruters, with Ashley MacLeay, National Committeewoman from the District of Columbia, serving as Co-Chair. The full members include:

  • Jonelle Fulmer, State Chairman, AR
  • Lori Klein Corbin, National Committeewoman, AZ
  • Jane Brady, State Chairman, DE
  • Kathleen King, National Committeewoman, FL
  • Jason Thompson, National Committeeman, GA
  • Mike Kuckelman, State Chairman, KS
  • Mark Kahrs, National Committeeman, KS
  • KC Crosbie, National Committeewoman, KY
  • Lenar Whitney, National Committeewoman, LA
  • Josh Tardy, National Committeeman, ME
  • Nicolee Ambrose, National Committeewoman, MD
  • Barb Sutter, National Committeewoman, MN
  • Art Wittich, National Committeeman, MT
  • Debra Lamm, National Committeewoman, MT
  • Chris Ager, National Committeeman, NH
  • Tina Dziuk, National Committeewoman, NM
  • Lori Hinz, National Committeewoman, ND
  • Steve Curry, National Committeeman, OK
  • Andy Reilly, National Committeeman, PA
  • Drew McKissick, State Chairman, SC
  • Tom Schreibel, National Committeeman , WI
  • Frank Eathorne, State Chairman, WY

 This past cycle, the RNC ran its most comprehensive legal strategy to date, spending more than $30 million on election protection efforts in battleground states across the country.

The Committee on Election Integrity will continue the work of fighting Democrats’ attempts to change election laws, as they did with dark money in Alaska in 2020.  The committee will work closely with state parties and other stakeholders in elections across the country on voting policies and best practices, such as ensuring poll watchers are allowed to properly observe counting processes, and meaningful voter ID laws are codified.
 

Census data won’t arrive until September 30, and could foul up redistricting

Suzanne Downing
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3
Census data won’t arrive until September 30, and could foul up redistricting

The Census Bureau says the timeline for releasing the redistricting data to the states is now Sept. 30. That’s months later than the April 30 final deadline.

Usually, the data comes by February after the prior census has closed. A delay of this sort has major ramifications for elections in 2022.

The data the states await are the actual locations of respondents to the 2020 Census, including the demographic information down to the various block or “tract.” The data tells how many humans live in an area, their demographic information, such as race, ethnicity, age, and more. States use that information to redraw their political boundaries every 10 years in a process called “reapportionment” or “redistricting.”

Redrawing political boundaries is a political process fraught with partisan peril and lawsuits, but must be done in time for the 2022 midterm elections.

Some states have constitutionally mandated deadlines for completing their redistricting work. Alaska is one of those: The redistricting board must complete its draft map of the new districts in Alaska within 30 days, then hold hearings, and issue the final plan no later than 90 days after receiving the data from the federal Census Bureau.

At this point, it puts Alaska’s final map publication into the end of December of this year.

After the redistricting board issues the final map, the lawsuits generally begin from left-leaning groups that want a map that favors their political party. This lawsuit pattern holds true in Alaska and nearly all other states where Republicans are in the majority.

The other complicating factor is that candidates who want to run for office in next year’s legislative races can file for office as early as May of this year. Candidates in some districts that are certainly subject to changing boundaries, (for instance in Southeast Alaska or the Mat-Su Valley,) could find they are in a different district than the one they originally filed for, pitting themself against a candidate they did not intend to challenge.

“We are acutely aware of the difficulties that this delayed delivery of the redistricting data will cause some states. Some states have statutory or even state constitutional deadlines and processes that they will have to address due to this delay,” the U.S. Census Bureau noted.

The lawsuit phase of redistricting is always the wild card. The state court has always thrown out Alaska’s first attempt at a district in the past, making the board redraw the map with what are usually items that bring more voters to Democrat candidates.

The redistricting board is led by Chairman John Binkley, with Budd Simpson, Melanie Bahnke, Nicole Borromeo, and Bethany Marcum as board members. The board hired Peter Torkelson as executive director and TJ Presley as deputy director.

Mat-Su throws name in hat for Arctic Winter Games

Suzanne Downing
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8
Mat-Su throws name in hat for Arctic Winter Games

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has entered a bid to be the host community for the 2024 Arctic Winter Games.

The Arctic Winter Games is a circumpolar sport competition for northern and Arctic athletes, celebrating sports, social exchange, and cultures. The Games provide an opportunity for athletes to compete in friendly competition while sharing cultural values from northern regions around the world.

The application was emailed last week and typically it takes about three weeks for completion of the review process before a decision is made, according to the borough’s website.

The 2020 Arctic Winter Games would have been held March 15-21 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and would have been the 50th anniversary games, but the event was cancelled due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The next Arctic Winter Games are scheduled for next March in Wood Buffalo, located in far northeast Alberta, population 71,000.

Alaska has hosted the games six times; Fairbanks was the most recent host city, bringing the games to the Interior in 2014.

Tavoliero: One vote wonders

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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14
Tavoliero: One vote wonders

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO

One vote.

What difference can one vote make?

I’m not a history buff, as some of you are, so I am sure there are other stunning examples in the history of the world where one vote made all the difference.

One example was Andrew Johnson’s impeachment conviction.  He was not convicted because the Senate was one vote shy of the two-thirds necessary. 

Another was in 1876.  It was one vote that ultimately made Rutherford B. Hayes the 19th president of the United States.

In recent history, the effects of one vote are even more breathtaking.  

In 1973, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act passed the US Senate by one vote.

Can any Alaskan imagine if it didn’t?

Do remember you the 60th vote (one vote in the United States Senate by an Alaskan) in the beginning of the 2010s?  That’s how we got The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank).

Don’t forget that in 2017 one vote in the United States Senate by an Alaskan prevented the repeal of Obamacare.

One vote!

Then there was that one vote on Feb. 11, 2021 in the Alaska Legislature.

What could that one vote do in Alaska?

  1. Because of one vote, for the third session in a row the Alaska House of Representatives with a majority of Republicans is controlled by the Alaska Democrat Party.
  • Because of one vote, a Republican-controlled Alaska state senate and Republican Governor agenda may never be realized.
  • Because of one vote, special interests may have open access to the State of Alaska treasury.
  • Because of one vote, the 32nd Session House Finance Committee has an “R” and a “D” sharing the chair, an “N/A” as the vice chair and then the makeup of the committee is 6 “R”‘s, 3 “D”‘s, 1 “I” and an “N/A”.  If you believe the “R”’s control the House Finance Committee, I have a bridge for you to buy. Keep in mind, the House Speaker is an “R” who has voted with the “D”’s since her election and the Committee on Committee’s membership is 3 “D”‘s and 4 “R”‘s, but one of those “R”’s is the House Speaker. Like the previously controlled sessions, Alaskans may see changes in not just the House Finance Committee membership but others as well if the Alaska Democrat Party does not get its way.
  • Because of one vote, special interests stopped Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration three constitutional amendments – the basis for a permanent fiscal plan. The three measures included: 1) protect the PFD; 2) enact a spending limit and savings rule; 3) require a vote of the people for any new tax or tax increase. 
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue to use public funds to murder the unborn.  Alaska spent public money to kill 570 unborn out of the 1,270 unborn who were killed in 2019.
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue one of the lowest performance examples and one of the one of the highest cost examples of public education in the nation.  
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue to have one of the lowest public college performances along with one of the highest costs.  
  • Because of one vote, the outcome of the post education may result in lower lifestyle expectations and loss of income and more debt for Alaska’s future, especially if employment opportunities are relegated to the largest employer in the state, government, and not the private sector.
  • Because of one vote, the Janus and Espinoza decisions addressing government unions and public education funding may not be implemented across Alaska.  
  • Because of one vote, the Alaska House of Representatives may continue to make health care and education the largest components in the operating budget, thus making government the largest component in Alaska’s economy. 
  • Because of one vote, post Covid-19 expectations to the current public education shutdown may yield the highest debt to income ratio disparities ever seen in Alaska with no remediation planned.  Alaska’s future work force may see the lowest earnings projections against the highest cost of living in the history of the state.
  • Because of one vote, without the Alaska legislature prescribing judicial jurisdiction limitations, post Covid-19 litigation liabilities may abound as the number one source of personal injury and business liability litigation in the state.
  • Because of one vote, government spending (redistribution of wealth) and regulation as the main source of employment for the construction industry as well as all support industries may continue as the predicate for economic development in Alaska and not the private sector. 
  • Because of one vote, government may continue as the largest employer in the state, nullifying community and economic development opportunities for the private sector.
  • Because of one vote, the institution of an income tax or sales tax or both may continue to be the current legislative dialog and intent with no accompanying accountability for a bloated budget.
  • Because of one vote, eligible Alaskans may not receive the full overdue balances of their 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 PFD’s. 
  • Because of one vote, the PFD may end.
  • Because of one vote, the Permanent Fund may be raided.
  • Because of one vote, ______________________.

Because of one vote.

Michael Tavoliero is a realtor at Core Real Estate Group in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chairs Eaglexit.

Dunleavy to appeal case of bloggers vs. governor

Suzanne Downing
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24
Dunleavy to appeal case of bloggers vs. governor

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has notified the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that he will appeal the decision of a federal judge who said Dunleavy must put specific political writers on his press notification list and notify them of any opportunity he has for group meetings with the media.

The case pits the First Amendment rights of the governor against the news-gathering rights of independent media, such as those who run blogs. In this instance, it’s a media and entertainment limited liability corporation owned by Jeff Landfield, Cale Green, Paxson Woelber and Allison Hovanec. No one outside the corporation knows who funds the operation, but that may become discoverable if the lawsuit proceeds and the governor’s attorney convinces a court that the group is not actually independent media.

That case may put the group’s side work in peril. Green is the campaign manager for Bill Evans for Mayor, and Paxson Woelber does design work for many political clients, including having been the designer for the Dunleavy for Governor campaign in 2018, when he created a series of iconic signs and logos for the governor. Landfield also takes money to run campaigns, as recently as the last election cycle, and occasionally runs for office himself, most recently during the last election cycle. The issue of them being political entities, now trying to appear as independent media, becomes relevant for discovery.

Like the Alaska Landmine, The Midnight Sun AK blog is run by a registered lobbyist and Democrat campaign strategist and manager — Jim Lottsfeldt of Lottsfeldt Strategies. Other political blogs in Alaska are also run by partisan interests. Must Read Alaska is a conservative blog whose owner does not run campaigns on the side.

Judge Josh Kindred, a President Trump appointee who serves on the United States District Court, ordered the governor to include the Alaska Landmine LLC in press briefing notices and in press conferences. The State may view this as an infringement on the political free speech of the governor, by forcing him to give audience to anyone who starts a publication of any weight.

“The balance of equities tips in Plaintiffs’ favor as the requested relief—to add Mr. Landfield’s email address to a media distribution notification list that he has been on before—is not onerous, and, without this email notification, Plaintiffs may not learn of scheduled press conferences in time to participate. The Court finds generally that allowing Plaintiffs to attend press conferences so that they can report to the public is in the public interest,” Kindred wrote.

“Therefore, it is ORDERED that Defendants include Plaintiffs on the email distribution list of members of the “traditional media” in the sense that phrase is used by Defendants, when Defendants invite journalists to gubernatorial press conferences and other press events.”

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