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Bloody Tuesday: New org. chart leaves Senate conservatives out in cold

Suzanne Downing
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28
Bloody Tuesday: New org. chart leaves Senate conservatives out in cold

The more conservative members of the Senate’s Republican Majority lost some of their influence today, as Senate President Cathy Giessel and her leadership team reorganized the Senate, putting three Democrats into key committees.

The Senate went through a bruising shuffle, with conservatives being punished for either voting against the budget last year, being absent for the budget vote, or voting against overriding some of the governor’s budget vetoes.

The reorganization exercise came to a head after a several-hour negotiation, when at times the conservative Republicans were being dared to walk out of the Republican caucus altogether, or vote for their own “death sentence” on committees. They didn’t however, and won back some of the seats they were on the verge of losing.

In the end, Democrats had gained influence, while five most conservative Republicans lost positions.

The vote for the reorganization, called the “Report on Committees,” passed the Senate 13-7, with all five Democrats voting for it.

But the Republicans fractured on the vote. Less than a majority of Republicans voted for it, while most opposed the punishing of the conservatives; the vote was six Republicans in favor, and seven opposed to the reorganization.

That’s a dangerous signal for the Senate Republicans, to have the Senate Republican Majority surviving what could have been a leadership meltdown; Sen. President Giessel retained her gavel thanks to 100 percent cooperation from Senate Democrats.

Sen. Mike Shower of District E Wasilla was hit especially hard by the reorganization, being removed from five committees and one chairmanship and being added to just one committee.

Later however, at least some Democrats felt they left too much on the table and grumbled into the night about wanting a vote on Wednesday to rescind the action taken today and negotiate a better deal, now that they’ve seen the split in the Republicans.

Here are some of the highlights:

COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS

  • Sen. Mia Costello was removed from the committee. Sen. Mike Shower was named to the committee, while Sen. Peter Micciche named vice chair. Sen. Click Bishop remains chair.

EDUCATION

  • Sen. John Coghill, who is Rules chair, was appointed to the committee. Sen. Shelley Hughes was named vice-chair.

FINANCE

  • Sen. Mike Shower and Peter Micciche were both removed from the Finance Committee. The committee, which started out last year with nine members, is now the traditional seven. Without those two extra Republican seats, there are just four Republicans on the committee, and three Democrats. Republicans Natasha Von Imhof and Bert Stedman, remain co-chairs.

JUDICIARY

  • Sen. Hughes removed as chair. Sen. Coghill, who is Rules Chair, named new chair. Sen. Micciche named vice chair.

LABOR AND COMMERCE

  • Sen. Lora Reinbold was removed from committee. She was the chair. Sen. Click Bishop is the new chair. Sen. Josh Revak was appointed to committee. Sen. Gary Stevens was added as vice chair.

RESOURCES

  • Sen. Micciche is the new chair, (replacing the late Sen. Chris Birch, who was the chair.) Sen Reinbold was removed from the committee.

STATE AFFAIRS

  • Sen. Shower was stripped of his chairmanship. Sen. Revak is added and is the new chair. Kicked off the committee were Sen. Micciche, Sen. Reinbold. Sen. David Wilson was added.

TRANSPORTATION

  • Sen. Shower and Sen. Hughes were kicked off the committee, and Sen Costello was added and is the new chair. Sen. Wilson is vice chair.

JOINT ARMED SERVICES

  • Sen. Shower and Sen. Hughes were removed from the committee. Sen. Josh Revak and Sen. Donny Olson, a Democrat, were appointed, with Revak becoming chair.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT

  • Alternate member Sen. Micciche was removed, while Democrat Sen. Bill Wielechowski was added to the committee.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

  • Sen. Costello was removed, and Democrat Sen. Tom Begich replaced her on the committee.

Elvi Gray-Jackson and the raft of virtue signaling bills

Suzanne Downing
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24
Elvi Gray-Jackson and the raft of virtue signaling bills

Among important bills read across today on the opening day of the Legislature the Senate are a handful of bills offered by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson:

SB 139: Establishing the month of March as Women’s History Month.

SB 140: Establishing the month of September as Hispanic Heritage Month.

SB 141: Establishing the month of October as Filipino American History Month.

SB 147: Establishing the month of June as LGBTQ Pride Month.

SB 148: Establishing May of each year as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Of the 14 pre-filed bills, more than one-third of them were specially designated months offered by Gray-Jackson recognizing one or another group.

Last year, Gray-Jackson sponsored Black History Month legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

Gray-Jackson’s virtue-signaling bills, if they pass both Senate and House, will force Gov. Mike Dunleavy to choose whether to continue making these several special months permanent fixtures in Alaska by signing them into law, or to allow one or more of them to simply go into law without his signature, (or, as some social conservatives would have it, veto the LGBTQ Pride Month legislation.)

LeDoux gets deal from House majority, gets committees

Suzanne Downing
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8
LeDoux gets deal from House majority, gets committees

DEM-LED MAJORITY REFUSES TO SEAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN VET ON ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux has rejoined the Democrat-led House Majority, and was given a seat on the Joint Armed Services Committee and Judiciary Committee. She also was restored “points” allowing her to hire an extra staff.

LeDoux says she did not, in fact, rejoin the majority.

With a 24-member Majority that has seven Republicans in it, that leaves the Minority with 16 members in the Republican-only caucus.

The deal LeDoux made to be allowed to return to the Majority caucus was not made public.

LeDoux left the combined Democrat-Republican caucus last May when it came down to voting for the Permanent Fund dividend, which was cut in half by the majority.

LeDoux was the only member of the House at the time to accept the first version of the budget from the Senate, saying she saw it as her only chance to get on record as voting for the full Permanent Fund dividend. Ultimately, the Senate cut the dividend in half.

LeDoux’s appointment to the Armed Services Committee came over the objection of the 15 members voting members of the minority, (Rep. Mel Gillis was absent).

Rep. Ben Carpenter of Nikiski pointed out on the record that there are six members of the House who are actual veterans, and he recommended that Rep. Sharon Jackson of Eagle River be given that appointment. She is an Army veteran and handled military issues for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan when she was on his staff.

Carpenter’s remarks were backed up by Rep. Laddie Shaw of Anchorage, and Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla. All are veterans. Rep. Tammie Wilson also spoke in favor of putting another veteran on the committee; she is married to a Vietnam veteran.

Only two members — 20 percent — of the Joint Armed Services Committee are veterans.

But Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak objected to the notion that one must be a veteran in order to care about veterans.

“To suggest you need to be a veteran to support veterans is foreign to me. I’m not a veteran, but trust me, I support our veterans wholly,” she said.

Over in the Senate, chaos in the Senate Republican majority consumed much of the day. It appeared that Sen. President Cathy Giessel was preparing to remove Sen. Mike Shower from the joint military committee as punishment for his vote for a full Permanent Fund dividend. Shower is an Air Force fighter pilot veteran.

Comment period extended for National Petroleum Reserve Plan

Suzanne Downing
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1
Comment period extended for National Petroleum Reserve Plan

The Bureau of Land Management has extended the public comment period for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (NPR-A IAP Draft EIS). The new deadline is 10 p.m. (Alaska Standard Time) Feb. 5, extending the previous timeline from 60 days to 75.

The BLM extended the public comment period in response to an abundance of stakeholder requests. In that spirit, the public is encouraged to examine the Draft EIS, including sections pertaining to their interests and share their feedback. Public input could impact the alternative or combinations of alternatives the BLM selects in a Final EIS and the subsequent Record of Decision.

“Public comments are a critical part of our environmental review process,” said BLM State Director, Chad Padgett. “We want to make sure that everyone with an interest in Alaska’s public lands have an opportunity to review our work and share their feedback.”

NPR-A IAP Draft EIS Comments can be submitted in a variety of ways:

Your comments on our environmental reviews matter. To learn more about BLM Alaska planning efforts and how to make comments that make a difference, visit www.blm.gov/alaska/comment123. 

Deadly Wuhan virus shows up in Washington State

Suzanne Downing
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5
Deadly Wuhan virus shows up in Washington State

Update, 2:28 pm: According to the King County Health Department, the person did not have symptoms while at Sea-Tac International Airport, and this makes transmission less likely. CDC is currently evaluating whether there were any exposures of concern. The man sought medical attention soon after experiencing symptoms and followed procedures to prevent exposure to others. He was quickly isolated in accordance with CDC guidance, so the risk of exposure from this case is low.

Original story:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today that the first case of Wuhan coronavirus has been reported in the U.S. and it’s in Washington State.

The man is a resident of Snohomish County, who returned from a trip to the Wuhan region of China last week. His infection was identified on Monday.

The virus was first identified last month in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than 300 people in China. Now identified in six countries, it is responsible for six deaths.

Symptoms include pneumonia-like characteristics, including fever, cough, and chest pains. It is a strain of coronavirus that targets the nose, throat, and sinuses.

The CDC has implemented screening of incoming passengers at the three U.S. airports that receive most of the travelers from Wuhan, China: San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK), and Los Angeles (LAX) airports.

A number of other countries are also actively screening incoming travelers from Wuhan. Exported cases have been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, and Korea.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people such as has been seen with MERS and SARS. Past MERS and SARS outbreaks have been complex, requiring comprehensive public health responses, the CDC wrote.

Many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China have reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. That market was closed down in early January for sanitization.

A growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, suggesting limited person-to-person spread is occurring, according to the CDC.

On Jan. 17, the CDC deemed the risk to U.S. citizens to be low, but four days later announced that the first case had been confirmed stateside.

Breaking: Judge orders ‘stay’ on recall petition until Supremes decide validity

Suzanne Downing
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15
Breaking: Judge orders ‘stay’ on recall petition until Supremes decide validity

Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth today reversed his original ruling from Jan. 10, and now says the Division of Elections shall not issue petition booklets for the Recall Dunleavy Committee by Feb. 10.

And in fact, shall not issue those booklets until the Supreme Court has decided the case.

The Recall Dunleavy Committee is attempting to remove Gov. Mike Dunleavy via a special election. They must collect over 70,000 signatures on an official recall petition, but that momentum is now paused.

“This matter is stayed pending resolution of this case in the Alaska Supreme Court,” Judge Aarseth wrote.

The decision is the first defeat for the Recall Dunleavy Committee since they started their campaign to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy nearly a year ago. It makes it harder for the committee to get the question on a special election ballot.

The request for a stay was thought to be procedural, since the judge had already verbally stated he would not grant a stay. But during court proceedings on Jan. 10, Stand Tall With Mike attorney Brewster Jamieson asked that they be able to request a say in writing, anyway. A written request for a stay would have allowed Jamieson to also appeal that denial to the Supreme Court.

Judge Aarseth begrudgingly allowed them to put the request in writing, even though he had just stated what his ruling was.

Evidently, the legal team for Dunleavy was persuasive in their motion, as Aarseth reversed his ruling today.

Senate Pres. Cathy Giessel gets primary challenger

Suzanne Downing
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38
Senate Pres. Cathy Giessel gets primary challenger

On the first day of the legislative session in Juneau, Senate President Cathy Giessel got a wake-up call back in her South Anchorage district: A challenger had filed a “letter of intent.”

It wasn’t Rep. Lance Pruitt, whom many have said could challenge the senator in the 2020 Republican Primary. Pruitt is the representative for District 27, one of two House seats in District N. Pruitt hasn’t filed for office, an indication that he has not made up his mind if he will challenge Giessel.

It wasn’t Vince Beltrami, the union boss from the AFL-CIO, who challenged her four years ago, running as another of the “undeclared” Democrats, a current fashion among Alaska Democrats trying to win in a red state.

The challenge came from a political unknown — Roger Holland, an employee of the State of Alaska, a Reserve member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and a Republican.

Unlike Giessel, Holland wasn’t raised in Alaska. He is originally from Louisiana, but moved to the state in 2009 with his wife Leslie, and two daughters. He worked as an environmental biologist in Louisiana, and is a measurement scientist for the Alaska Department of Transportation.

Holland, 58, filed a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission to run for office, although he didn’t officially indicate which one — House or Senate. He lives in House District 28, now represented by Rep. Jennifer Johnston. His letter of intent allows him to raise money, and he launched a website, HollandforAlaska.com, but he could run for either seat. He also has a Facebook page.

This morning, he announced on Facebook he will match donations 1:1 through the end of January.

Giessel, as with other sitting legislators, cannot campaign or raise campaign funds while the Legislature is in session.

“I’m running to serve as an honest, sensible, and honorable Republican in the Alaska legislature,” Holland wrote on his campaign website, an introductory statement that is a clear message that defines the differences between his approach and that of the current Senate President.

Giessel has created a seemingly unbreakable alliance with House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Democrat who agreed to become “Undeclared,” so that he could be elected leader of a bipartisan House team led by Democrats. The two have paired up to oppose Gov. Michael Dunleavy on many key issues.

Holland’s statement implies he wouldn’t have made that alliance.

“… if I’m chosen to serve, I won’t be a free agent. I’m running for office on a set of principles, and they aren’t for sale. Yes, compromise in government is key, and I’ll be among the first to the table every time, but we aren’t here to compromise away sound ideas for poor ones.

“Saying yes to temporary political alliances isn’t courageous. Saying no is,” he wrote.

Giessel, who serves as Senate President, will meet with her Republican-led caucus this morning before gaveling in at 1 pm for the first day of legislative business. She is leading a caucus that has some inherent dissension over topics familiar to those following Alaska politics: The size of the state budget and the method for calculating the Permanent Fund dividend.

Plaque unveiled in Capitol honoring women leaders

Suzanne Downing
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3
Plaque unveiled in Capitol honoring women leaders

On the 100th anniversary year of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women’s right to vote, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on the second floor of the Alaska Capitol, honoring the women who have served in leadership positions.

All of the names on the plaque are women who have served in statewide leadership roles, and all but one name are Republicans. That’s a reflection of the state’s history — mostly Republican women have been elected to serve in leadership.

The Republican women on the bronze plaque include Senate President Jan Faiks, House Speaker Ramona Barnes, House Speaker Gail Phillips, Senate President Drue Pearce, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Gov. Sarah Palin, Senate President Lyda Green, and Senate President Cathy Giessel.

Former Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer is the lone Democrat who appears on the plaque.

A small crowd of legislators and staff members filled the hallway to see the unveiling. The project was sponsored and paid for by several individuals from Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.

Senate President Cathy Giessel and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon spoke, as did House Rules Chairman Chuck Kopp, as seen in the video:

New budget director at State: Juneauite Neil Steininger

Suzanne Downing
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5
New budget director at State: Juneauite Neil Steininger

Gov. Mike Dunleavy today named Neil Steininger as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Steininger’s appointment is effective Tuesday, Jan. 21.

A lifelong Alaskan, the 35-year-old Steininger earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Nevada, Reno. Steininger has held various roles at OMB through the past 5 years, serving as Budget Analyst, Chief Budget Analyst, and most recently as the Administrative Services Director for the Department of Education and Early Development.

His state experience includes the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities and the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, he previously worked in the private sector as an analyst.  

Acting Director Amanda Holland will continue with OMB to ensure a smooth transition.

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