The U.S. Department of Labor awarded up to $4.5 million in disaster funding to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development for temporary jobs to assist with cleanup, repair and reconstruction of public structures and facilities damaged by the Nov. 30 earthquake in Southcentral Alaska.
Disaster Dislocated Worker funds are discretionary grants the U.S. Secretary of Labor awards under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
The money will provide temporary jobs in cleanup, recovery and humanitarian efforts. Additionally, funds may be used to provide training and support services to workers who lost their jobs due to the disaster.
“It is critical that we focus on rebuilding our public infrastructure,” said Labor Commissioner Dr. Tamika Ledbetter. “This funding supports our commitment to invest in employment opportunities for rebuilding our public facilities, roads and schools, and provides opportunities for workers to gain transferrable skills, making it possible to move into permanent, self-sustaining employment. These efforts support our community as they recover and become even better prepared for the future.”
The department will coordinate grant funds with local staffing agencies and contractors to employ temporary workers for cleanup and repair at public and private nonprofit facilities. Due to extreme temperatures in winter, cleanup and restoration will likely be significantly higher in the spring and summer as weather permits.
If you have lost a job due to the earthquake, contact the Midtown Job Center at (907) 269-4759 or the Mat-Su Job Center at (907) 352-2500.
The job centers provide diverse assistance including enhanced career services, support services, work-based learning opportunities, training that leads to industry recognized credentials and direct employment referrals.
(1.5-minute read) THE BIG COUNT WILL ADD JOBS TO ALASKA’S GIG ECONOMY
The U.S. Constitution requires a counting of the population every 10 years to realign congressional representation. The next federal decennial Census will be taken in 2020, and it starts a year from this week in Toksook Bay.
Past communities that opened the national Census season were Noorvik in 2010 and Unalakleet in 2000 and 1990.
If you’re looking for a job, there will be a lot of these census gigs, and some of those are work-from-home jobs, while others are in the field. Some can last for several weeks, plus weeks of training.
Jobs include field representatives, who go from door to door with tablets, and at-home field representatives, who conduct census calls while in their sweat pants at the kitchen table.
Some of these jobs in Alaska will start later this year, after fishing season, due to training. But because of the federal government’s partial shutdown, those interested might have to wait a few days for the Los Angeles office to get up and running.
The census not only determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress, it’s used to redraw district boundaries.
With Alaska’s high unemployment of 7.1 percent, the work is welcome by hundreds of families and individual Alaskans. Most of the urban areas are counted by phone, but in rural areas, it is difficult to get an accurate count because people come and go in villages, so often local field staff is employed.
BETHEL DEADLINE
The U.S. Census has a job in Bethel for a partnership specialist (tribal.) Posted last week, the closing date is Jan. 30. The salary range is $45,900 to $105,847 per year.
The Bethel area encompasses Toksook, one of three villages located on Nelson Island, 115 miles northwest of Bethel, an area inhabited by Yup’ik Eskimos for thousands of years. The City of Toksook was incorporated in 1972.
In 2010, the Toksook census showed 590 residents. Today, about 638 residents are estimated to live there.
Sen. Dan Sullivan said he will refuse his paycheck during the partial government shutdown.
“Many Alaskans have asked me if I will be receiving a paycheck during the partial federal government shutdown,” he said in a statement Friday. “My answer is that I will not. I have instructed the Secretary of the U.S. Senate to withhold my pay until other federal workers get paid. I know this situation is tough for federal workers and their families and I’m hoping that a solution is reached soon.”
In the meantime, he said, Congress had passed a bill to ensure federal workers receive their paychecks retroactively. Sullivan said he supported the bill and will keep working with federal agencies to try to minimize the impact of the shutdown on Alaskans.
Alaska is the state with the highest percentage of federal workforce that has been impacted by the shutdown. Many agencies are open and functioning due to appropriations, but some, like the Department of Interior, are in shutdown status.
A handful of other members of Congress have said they will donate their salaries or have them withheld, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Max Rose, D-NY, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Haw., Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
The partial government shutdown is now the longest one in U.S. history.
(1.5-minute read) 2,386 PEOPLE LEFT ANCHORAGE LAST YEAR
For the second year in a row, Alaska’ population has slumped. Some 1,608 people left the state in 2018, according to new numbers from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
But the trend is flattening. The previous year, 7,577 Alaskans packed up and hit the road for somewhere else.
Anchorage lost the most, with a drop of 2,386 city residents. The previous year, 4,821 people had parted ways with the state’s biggest (and only) metropolis.
According to Anchorage School District charts, the Anchorage schools lost 1,556 students between the fall of 2016 and the fall of 2018.
Some of the people exiting Anchorage moved to the Mat-Su Borough, the only area of the state experiencing noticeable growth, adding nearly 2,000 residents in 2017 and 2018 combined.
As of July, 2018, Alaska’s total population was 736,239, down from the peak of 739,676 in 2016.
Net migration— people moving in minus people moving out of state — accounted for a loss of 7,577 people between 2017 and 2018, while natural increase, or births minus deaths, added 5,969 people. All six regions of the state showed net migration losses.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough grew, gaining 1,355 people.
But Yakutat lost the most people proportionally, at 3.7 percent last year and 2.8 percent the year before. Lake and Peninsula Borough’s population shrunk 3.6 percent and Prince of Wales Island’s population dropped 2.4 percent.
Alaska’s under-18 and 18-to-64-year-old populations each declined 0.9 percent, but the 65-and-older cohort grew more than 5 percent.
The Kusilvak Census Area (formerly known as Wade Hampton Census Area) median age was 24.1. Haines Borough’s median age was the state’s older at nearly 49.
(2-minute read) DUNLEAVY TO NAME NEW JUDGE FOR UTQIAGVIK
Barrow Superior Court Judge Angela Greene didn’t stand for retention last year. It has been a harsh two years for her health-wise, and now she will be leaving the bench altogether.
Greene appeared to have suffered a mini stroke while she was presiding over a case in Kotzebue in September, 2016, just two years into her time as a judge. Presiding Judge Paul Roetman took her to the hospital, and she eventually ended up at the Cleveland Clinic in October of 2016.
The event was serious enough that the Alaska Judicial Conduct Commission investigated whether she was able to continue as a judge. But after receiving a letter from her physicians that was not conclusive, the commission didn’t pursue calling for her retirement.
But then, after returning to work, the judge was hit by a large water delivery truck in Utqiagvik (also known as Barrow) in December of 2017. She was rendered unconscious, and ended up with lingering cognitive difficulties.
Chief Justice Stowers asked the judicial conduct commission to determine if Greene could continue as a judge, and the commission found that she “suffers from a disability that seriously interferes with the performance of judicial duties and that is or may become permanent.”
Judge Greene did not oppose the findings, but the recommendation from the commission needed to go to the Alaska Supreme Court for an actual decision. The Supreme Court specifically noted that her retirement was not due to judicial misconduct.
Greene had replaced Judge Michael Jeffrey, who retired in 2014. She was appointed by Gov. Sean Parnell, after working as the supervising public defender for the Alaska Public Defender Agency for Nome and Kotzebue. She had also worked as a public defender in Bethel and Barrow and was a volunteer with the Lion’s Club in Bethel, Arctic Outreach Programs with the U.S. Coast Guard, and local food bank programs. She had been on archaeological digs all over the world.
Greene received a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and a juris doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She spend years in Bush Alaska as a public defender, traveling from Savoonga to Kaktovik and numerous other communities.
Greene will leave office on Feb. 4, 2019, having served four years and one month of service as a judge.
The Alaska Judicial Council opened the position in October. The council will recommend two or three names to the governor.
Currently, David L. Roghair, Dianne Thoben, and Nelson Traverso are the applicants who will be interviewed for the sole superior court position in Utqiagvik.
That court last year had 343 cases filed, including 88 felony cases, 63 child-in-need-of-aid cases, 25 delinquency cases, 37 domestic relations cases, 79 general civil cases and 51 probate matters. The Utqiagvik judge hears both criminal and civil matters and earns $239,724 a year.
Roghair is a magistrate judge in Utqiagvik, Thoben is an public defender in Palmer, and Traverso is in private practice in Fairbanks.
The government relations director at the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation has been released by the corporation.
Former North Pole legislator Gene Therriault had been hired by former AGDC President Keith Meyer, who was fired on Thursday.
AGDC hired Therriault to assist in government relations under a shared services agreement with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, where Therriault worked on the Interior Energy Project, which is now under local control in Fairbanks.
The primary contract with Therriault was through AGDC. With that ended, it appears that his AIDEA contract also ends.
Therriault was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1992 at the age of 32. He served in the House for 17 years and was co-chair of the House Finance Committee for two terms and was Senate President for one term.
Therriault was briefly a senior policy advisor on in-state energy in the governor’s office under Gov. Sean Parnell.
Janet Reiser also was released from running the Alaska Energy Authority. Reiser is the former chair of the board of Chugach Electric Association, Inc.
On Wednesday, Al Fogle was added to the AEA board of directors to a term that expires in June of 2020. Fogle ran for House Seat 26 unsuccessfully and was recently hired as the Vice President of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce.
Also new to the board were these appointments:
Julie Sande of Ketchikan, owner of Marble Construction, White Rock Development, White Rock Holdings, Hump Island Oyster Co., and Marble Seafoods.
Bill Kendig, who is a real estate professional, with 20 years on the Knik-Fairview Community Council and three years on the Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission. He is on the the Board of Directors for Matanuska Electric Association.
Julie Anderson, the commissioner of the Department of Commerce.
The AEA board is the same board that oversees the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
(2-minute read) FEDERAL PROGRAMS WOULD SIMPLY CONTINUE
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski together with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), John Barrasso (R-WY), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced legislation – the End Government Shutdowns Act – that would permanently prevent the federal government from shutting down.
The measure will create an automatic continuing resolution for any regular appropriations bill or existing CR, keeping the federal government open when budget negotiations falter before key spending deadlines.
“The ripple effect of a government shutdown has consequences for all Alaskans– most directly on the thousands of federal employees and tens of thousands more that rely on our federal agencies,” said Murkowski.
“This legislation permanently ends government shutdowns with a commonsense solution to avoid a funding lapse, ensuring the jobs and livelihoods of federal workers and contractors are not held hostage during political disputes,” she said. “For the sake of our federal employees, their families, and our nation, I’m proud to support the End Government Shutdowns Act.”
The End Government Shutdowns Act would set up an automatic continuing resolution for any regular appropriations bill that has not been completed by the October 1 deadline.
After the first 120 days, the continuing resolution funding would be reduced by one percent and would be reduced by one percent again every 90 days thereafter until Congress does its job and completes the annual appropriations process.
The legislation mirrors one that Sen. Portman has introduced in every Congress since he was first elected to the United States Senate in 2010.
DEEP STATE — ENDING THE CONGRESS’ POWER OF APPROPRIATION
The major constitutional role of the U.S. Congress is appropriations — to pass budget bills and finally a budget.
With a government simply continuing to operate under a continuing resolution after continuing resolution, government would become simply a perpetual machine that operates outside of the authority of the appropriators.
Would it be the ultimate Deep State? Critics say it could be creating that very thing that many Republicans are concerned about — the varied elements of government that are effectively able to rule the United States without the consent of the governed as exercised through the formal political process that starts with elections and results in appropriations.
Remarks from Sen. Lisa Murkowski on the Senate floor regarding border security and partial government shutdown:
Recent news articles and opinion pieces suggest the new Alaska-class ferries are useless unless $30 million more is spent adding crew quarters – a modification that could have been made during construction.
Even a cursory review of the Department of Transportation Project Design Concept Report would tell you this isn’t true.
In fact, there’s no legitimate reason the vessels cannot be used as intended – as day boats without crew quarters.
Win Gruening
Contrary to media reports, Alaska-class ferries were designed to be used as day boats whether the Juneau Access road was built or not. Planners were required to justify the use of Alaska-class ferries under a variety of alternative scenarios in Lynn Canal and Prince William Sound that are not much different than we face today.
The Alaska Marine Highway System commissioned several studies in 2013 re-validating the day boat design concept. As documented in the Department of Transportation’s Design Concept Report, Alaska-class ferries allow more efficient operation using 12-hour day boats on shorter routes between coastal communities.
As a result, former Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell directed AMHS to build two Alaska-class ferries vessels – constructed in the Ketchikan Shipyard at a cost of under $60 million each. This cost was dramatically lower than the $160 million cost of one larger ship with crew quarters considered previously.
Change is always difficult and forces resistant to change within our ferry system are deeply imbedded in state government, as well as with union leaders and rank-and-file employees.
But AMHS has finally reached a tipping point. After decades of ignoring common sense transportation planning, Alaskans are saddled with a system rife with inefficiency, runaway operating costs, maintenance issues with aging vessels, and state subsidies that are unsustainable.
AMHS’s annual general fund subsidy has grown from $50 million in 1990 to almost $90 million in FY2017. Even this number is misleading since regular annual overhaul costs are not included. 2017 overhaul costs of $12.5 million brings AMHS’s annual operating subsidy to over $100 million.
Despite fare increases, AMHS revenues barely cover 30% of system operating costs. Budgetary pressures have led to vessel layups, increasingly unaffordable vehicle fares, and service cutbacks.
Accordingly, AMHS has planned to retire several vessels including the “fast ferry” Fairweather. Existing conventional vessels can require two crews of up to 44 crewmembers to operate them (half resting in crew quarters with the other half on duty). This allows the vessel to extend its operating day beyond the 12-hour limitation mandated when only one crew is aboard.
While this allows more flexibility in ferry scheduling – especially on round trips exceeding 12 hours, the costs associated with operating vessels with extra crews and rest quarters are astronomical.
Crew quarters trigger additional requirements like galleys, shower and laundry facilities, and the list goes on – exponentially increasing the size of the crew and required support services. And these costs will never go away. Instead, they will just perpetuate AMHS’s spiraling financial burden.
Contrast that situation with the new Alaska-class ferries (two vessels for one-third the total cost to build one Columbia-style mainliner). Crew requirements are reduced to 14 on each vessel – dramatically increasing efficiency and lowering operating costs. Adding crew quarters now would negate most of these advantages.
What proponents of adding crew quarters won’t recognize is while some service frequency may necessarily be reduced, the Alaska-class ferries can be used on longer runs per the Department of Transportation’s published Concept Report by overnighting the vessel in a destination port similar to airline operations today.
Indeed, the long-term solution is to build more Alaska-class ferries – not make existing ones more inefficient and unaffordable. Why spend $30 million adding crew quarters when for less money, we could build a ferry terminal at Cascade Point – cutting roundtrip sailing times in Lynn Canal by half.
Some minor vessel modifications, such as adding a forward starboard loading door, would allow wider use of current ferry docks and mitigates the need to make major changes to existing ferry terminals.
With lower oil prices and reduced state revenues, AMHS cannot afford to ignore the significant cost savings realized in building and operating more efficient vessels.
The consternation we see from the “don’t want to change” advocates isn’t because of a “wrong decision”, it’s because Governor Parnell made the right decision.
Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
Although Republicans have a slim majority now, and a better chance of maintaining it than Democrats do in the Alaska House of Representatives, the Legislative Affairs Agency views it as unorganized. Without a group being in control, members cannot hire staff, the agency says.
Those planning to work for the House of Representatives will be out on a limb if they travel to Juneau only to find that they can’t work for perhaps days, can’t get paid, and have to set up a household in one of Alaska’s most expensive communities, where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,215 a month. Each House member is assigned staff based on which group is in control — Republicans or Democrats.
It’s causing more than a few former staffers to rethink their winter plans. Some highly qualified legislative aides have already drifted off to more certain employment in the Senate or in the Dunleavy Administration.
But as they say in football, there’s lots of game left.
Behind the scenes, negotiations continue to determine who will control the Speaker’s gavel. The Republicans say Dave Talerico of Healy is the House Speaker, and they have the votes to prove it. Democrats have made no such claim over the gavel, at least publicly.
The Republican majority became imperiled when Rep. Gary Knopp of Kenai decided to go solo and be a caucus of one. He changed his mind about being part of the Republican-led caucus, and says that Republican-led majority cannot be achieved. Wasilla Rep. David Eastman has also kept on the sidelines in a game of chicken with fellow Republicans.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The lieutenant governor has the power to swear in members and preside while they vote on chamber leadership. He would gavel in the House and then work to get a majority vote for a Speaker Pro Tem.
Without a firm Speaker in place, it’s not possible to assign committees, and also impossible to assign legislative staff, because HR doesn’t know how many staff members each representative is entitled to have.
Legislative Affairs Agency Human Resources Manager Skiff Lobaugh issued a memo this week explaining the problem. He wrote that session staff for the House is not currently authorized beginning Jan. 16, 2019, and that last year’s Speaker Bryce Edgmon has temporarily approved using interim funding for approved staff until Jan. 15, the day session technically starts as legislators are sworn in.
After that, there’s no funding for staff. Uniform rules governing the Legislature allow the Legislative Council to hire administrative staff to assist Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer if he has to convene the House until a Speaker ProTem is appointed, a process that could take hours or days.
“These staff have historically been defined as the Chief Clerk’s Office and the Floor Staff. Historically the Executive Director of the Legislative Affairs Agency, has approved retention of staff for the Chief Clerk’s office and the Floor Staff,” Lobaugh wrote.
Lobaugh explained that since session employees must be approved by the Rules Committee of each body, only a House Rules chair can authorize the staff to work for House members. Therefore, he’s advising that all House staff should not work past Jan. 15, due to liability and other issues. Health insurance benefits, depending on employee, will be affected, but any employee that has worked this month should be covered through the end of the month.
