Democrats in Washington slipped in an item in their $3 trillion coronavirus bill on Friday that would force states to adopt mail-in elections this fall.

The bill, which now heads to the Senate, has been given no chance of passage, and President Donald Trump has said he would veto it if it reached his desk. But among the 1,400 pages of the bill is the new flavor-of-the-month attempt to

The Pelosi bill would require states to end any requirements they have that voters provide a reason to request an absentee ballot. It mandates states to enact 15 days of early voting, and orders states to mail a ballot to every voter during declared emergencies.

Voters in Alaska do not need to provide an excuse for getting an absentee ballot and they already have 15-day voting prior to Election Day.

But on Friday, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer said the Division of Elections would not be mailing ballots to every voter. Voters can request absentee ballots as usual, and he said the Division of Elections would make a concerted effort to encourage people to request those ballots, which they have been able to do at any time since Jan. 1.

The Democrats’ bill would provide $3.6 billion to expand vote by mail across the country. Also as part of the bill, voters could register to vote on the same day they vote, and states would be prohibited from asking for identification beyond asking for the last four digits of a voter’s Social Security number.

The change would apply to the November General Election and all subsequent federal elections.

Pelosi’s proposal requires all absentee ballots sent out to have prepaid return postage printed on them. The bill prohibits state election offices from “refusing to accept and process an absentee ballot from a qualified individual based on notarization or witness signature, paper type, or envelope type requirements.”

Additionally, the plan would prevent voter identification verification by allowing all voters to self-certify that they are the person who is eligible to vote a given ballot: “An individual may make a sworn written statement attesting to their identity to fulfill the identification requirement.”

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan quietly filed for reelection this week, without fanfare. His registration with the Alaska Division of Elections came Thursday, while he was in Washington, D.C. The deadline for candidates is June 1, but at this point he faces no Republican opponent in what looks like will be a sleepy Aug. 18 primary.

Many voters may have presumed he would run for reelection, and he has a campaign headquarters set up close to the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, but he had not yet made it official with the Division of Elections.

Sullivan has served for six years as a U.S. senator, after replacing former Sen. Mark Begich in 2014 by a slim margin, 48-46 percent, just 6,014 votes. This is his first reelection season.

Sullivan is being challenged by Al Gross, who is registered as undeclared and calls himself an independent, but who is running in the Democrats’ primary, with the Democrats’ endorsement, and who openly communicates that he seeks to “flip the state blue,” and “ditch Mitch” McConnell. The mainstream media has not asked him which party he will caucus with, but he has made it clear in his campaign materials that he is with the Democrats.

It appears that Sullivan is not focused on campaigning as much as his opponent is. Gross is running an aggressive campaign around the state, attempting to connect with thought leaders, and raising funds using the Democrats’ Act Blue software, while Sullivan is still focused on the national and state crisis that has developed this year, in what should be a year of campaigning.

While Gross crisscrosses the state, Sullivan holds a comfortable advantage in his approval rating with voters, with an 12-point advantage among independent voters, and strong approval among conservatives. The polling site fivethirtyeight.org gives Sullivan a 15-point advantage and calls his seat safe for his reelection.

Sullivan serves on several committees that impact Alaska:

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Airland
  • Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
  • Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness
  • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
• Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight
• Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued a clarification today on his requirement that restaurants must collect contact information from all diners on behalf of state health officials.

He said the mandate is now voluntary for patrons.

“We are asking visitors to voluntarily provide contact information in case of COVID-19 exposure. We only need information for one person per household. If we learn you may have been exposed to COVID-19 during your visit, the information will only be shared with public health officials. They will contact you to explain the risk, answer questions and provide resources,” he said in a statement on his official website.

He assured the public that the information will not be used for any other purpose, including sales or marketing. “If this list is not used within 30 days, it will be destroyed,” Inslee said. “This will not be required of anyone.”

Anchorage has a requirement for restaurants that they must collect the contact information from all their diners, something that has been met with resistance by Alaskans who say this is an invasion of their privacy.

The State of Alaska also has such a mandate as part of the govenor’s plan to reopen the state’s economy.

Neither the municipality of Anchorage or the State have put safeguards around the collection of the information.

The Alaska Legislature will reconvene in Juneau on Monday, May 18 at 2 pm. They will take up the CARES Act funding allocation that was approved by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee earlier this week.

The 120th day of the Legislature ends at midnight on May 20. Until then, the session has technically continued, although it has been recessed.

A lawsuit by two Juneau residents has prompted the entire Legislature to meet, further delaying the release of funds to communities and small businesses.

Republicans believe the Democrats are pushing for a Juneau meeting so they can change the terms of various appropriations, and even carve off money intended for small businesses in Alaska. Most small business owners vote Republican, so critics believe that the Democrats would rather see the funds divided between the unemployed in Alaska, rather than the employers. That was a position stated last week by the Democrats in the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee meeting.