Page 1631 – Must Read Alaska

Senate Democrats stage walk out rather than vote on spending cap

Politics

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March 24, 2018

Senate Democrats stage walk out rather than vote on spending cap

Senate Democrats tried to weaken a key spending cap bill that was up for a vote on Friday, and when that didn’t work, they resorted to the old Abbie Hoffman tactic: They walked out.

After an hour and 15 minutes and 12 opposing amendments, many of which were ruled “not germane” by Senate President Pete Kelly, Democrats had had enough.

Democrat minority leader Berta Gardner threw down the gauntlet and headed for the door after saying, “Just because the chair says something is so, and the caucus members are obligated to follow their leader, does not make it so, and Mr. Chair, we protest those rulings about things not being germane,” she said.

She then picked up her notebook and headed for the door, followed by Sens. Tom Begich, Bill Wielechowski, Dennis Egan, and Donny Olson.

By staging a walk out, the Democrats avoided putting themselves on the record in a vote against a spending cap.

*Democrats Sens. Berta Gardner, Tom Begich, Bill Wielechowski, and Denis Egan head for the door of the Senate in protest of a spending cap bill.*

The walk out can be seen at the 1:16 mark on this video from 360 North.

Senate Democrats quickly issued a press release explaining their frustration and brought up old grievances about other measures they have offered that gained no traction in the Republican-led body.

SB 196 was sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee. It caps unrestricted general fund spending at $4.1 billion.

“Alaska must control its spending in order to refill our savings accounts and sustain constitutionally required programs Alaskans rely on in their everyday lives,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche of Soldotna in a statement. “Senate Bill 196 will help constrain the growth of government, so in the future we don’t find ourselves in the same difficult fiscal situation we face today.”

The spending limit is a priority for the Senate Majority but must pass the Democrat-led majority in the House.

Last year, the Senate passed a spending cap that also put protections in place for the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Account. That was rejected by the Democrat-led House. This year, the spending cap is going over to the House as a standalone bill to simplify negotiations, the Senate said in a press release.

“Had we had an effective spending cap in place during the fiscal years of 2006 through 2014, we would have about $15 billion in our Constitutional Budget Reserve right now,” said Sen. Natasha von Imhof of Anchorage. “A spending cap could give the Legislature the discipline it needs to keep state spending at a reasonable level from one year to the next.”

The Constitutional Budget Reserve is now $2.58 billion, likely not enough to patch the gap between spending and revenues this year.

To promote transparency, SB 196 requires the governor to submit a report with the budget, comparing the governor’s spending proposal with the spending limit. The spending limit adjusts over time to reflect changes in inflation.

“SB 196 plants a seed for a future tree of fiscal sustainability for Alaskans. Had the Legislature passed this bill 15 years ago, we would have billions more in savings, new taxes would not be a primary objective for the current House Majority, and it’s unlikely the governor would have cut Permanent Fund dividends.” – Sen. Peter Micciche

The limit does not apply to appropriations to the Alaska Permanent Fund, payments for Permanent Fund dividends, required spending for state debt obligations, capital projects, or to meet a state of disaster declared by the governor as prescribed by law. The bill also has a three year “look back” provision to evaluate how the limit is working.

SB 196 passed the Senate by a vote of 13-0 after the Democrats went AWOL.

Bridge video viewers blast governor

The Social

Suzanne Downing

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March 23, 2018

12

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz were featured in a Facebook interview by KTUU TV that was at once awkward and off-putting, with the audio having a three-second delay with the video.

The two incumbent politicians stood in their requisite hardhats and orange vests at the site of the Artillery Road Bridge in Eagle River on the Glenn Highway, which was struck by a commercial truck on Wednesday and rendered unsafe. That crash led to horrific traffic backups on Thursday and the shut down of Chugiak and Eagle River High Schools on Friday.

State workers living in the Mat-Su Valley were advised to stay home Friday after the commute on Thursday, when an injury accident on the Glenn could not be reached by ambulance due to the gridlock, requiring the victim to be airlifted by helicopter to a hospital. Both sides of the highway — north and southbound — were closed due to that incident.

In all, the bridge accident has highlighted the need for better access between Anchorage and the ever-growing Mat-Su Valley. We should say it highlighted it for many residents, but not for the governor.

When questioned about whether the bridge disaster demonstrated the need for the Knik Arm Crossing, which the governor vetoed in 2016, Walker brushed off the question, citing a need for a full fiscal plan, and better plans for future disasters. When asked where the funds would come from to repair the bridge, he replied that he did not know.

Viewers of the video were unsatisfied with the governor’s performance, and to a lesser extent the mayor of Anchorage, who had a minor speaking role. By Friday evening, more than 430 people had left comments on the Facebook page, and only a handful of them were charitable.

Take a look at the video that drew such an epic social media response:

Or view it here on Facebook and read the comments viewers provided (you’ll need a Facebook account to do so).

https://www.facebook.com/Ch2KTUU/videos/10155187507391666/

Alaska projects, priorities in omnibus spending bill

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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March 23, 2018

9

Alaska projects, priorities in omnibus spending bill

NEW JAY HAMMOND WILDERNESS AREA

From the office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski comes this summary of Alaska-specific items in the Interior Department portion of the omnibus spending bill that passed and was signed by President Donald Trump today:

Alaska Provisions in the Interior Bill Contained in the FY2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act

PRIORITIZING OUR LAND

Legacy Wells: Provides an additional $10 million for the BLM to clean up exploration wells drilled at the direction of the federal government in NPR-A between 1944 and 1982. While Senator Murkowski secured significant funding to clean up these abandoned wells through the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, 26 wells still require remediation. Murkowski’s bill provides enough funding to complete remediation of 9 of the remaining wells, and compels BLM to craft a long-term strategy to finally complete this effort.

ANCSA Contaminated Lands: Directs BLM to coordinate with all responsible federal agencies to implement a long-term solution to clean up contaminated Alaska Native lands as quickly as possible.

Tribal General Assistance Program: Maintains funding for the Tribal General Assistance program. In FY 2016, Senator Murkowski included language to authorize the backhaul program to operate though FY 2020. This year’s bill includes language to make the backhaul program permanent.

Transboundary Water Quality: Allocates $120 thousand for transboundary river stream gages, including for Unuk River, and directs the USGS to enter into a formal partnership with local tribes and other agencies to help develop a water quality strategy for transboundary rivers.

National Park Service: Includes a historic $180 million increase for National Park Service construction and deferred maintenance, the largest percentage increase ever in an annual appropriations bill.

HONORING AND CARING FOR VETERANS

Healing Arts Program: Supports the efforts of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to expand the Healing Arts Program, developed by the NEA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to help our nation’s wounded and injured service members and their families in their transition into civilian life.

Jay S. Hammond Wilderness: The bill designates 2.6 million acres of National Wilderness Preservation land located within the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve as the “Jay S. Hammond Wilderness.” The land will be named after former Governor Jay Hammond, a decorated World War II Marine Corps fighter pilot.

INVESTING IN COMMUNITIES

Payment in Lieu of Taxes: Fully funds the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program at $530 million, to provide monetary compensation to local governments throughout Alaska that contain federal lands that are not subject to state or local taxation. The revenue helps local governments provide vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations.

Secure Rural Schools: Reauthorizes the Secure Rural Schools program for two years to help provide funds for school and local budgets across Alaska.

EPA Targeted Airshed Grants: Provides increased funding at $40 million to ensure that cities like Fairbanks are eligible for grants to support wood stove change-outs in order to help reduce air pollution.

Tongass National Forest Management: Directs the Forest Service to gather sufficient data about the timing and availability of young-growth timber before developing a plan revision or new amendment to the Tongass Land Use Plan.

SAFE DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

State Water Revolving Funds: Provides $2.86 billion, increased funding to help facilitate clean, safe drinking water in local communities. Funds can be used to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure challenges, including addressing problems posed by lead.

Alaska Native Villages Water Program: Provides $20 million for the construction of new drinking water and wastewater systems, or the improvement of existing systems in rural Alaskan communities.

Assistance to Small and Disadvantaged Communities Water Program: Includes $20 million for a new grant program to help bring basic water and sewer to communities in need.

Lead in Drinking Water: Funds two new programs by providing $20 million to help reduce lead in schools and child care facilities and $10 million to help communities reduce lead in other water systems.

BOOSTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Arctic Priorities: Supports the Arctic Council and directs federal agencies to focus on economic opportunities in the region, as well as science and subsistence issues.

Energy and Minerals: Provides $4.7 million for USGS to conduct studies that would significantly expand the public’s knowledge of the minerals resource potential in Alaska and provide state-of-the-art data for current and future use.

Forest Service Recreation: Provides $257.8 million for the Forest Service’s recreation programs to issue additional special use permits, helping to expand recreation-based businesses in the Chugach and Tongass National Forests in Alaska. Also funds Forest Service recreation assets like cabins, trails, and campgrounds.

Alaska Red Cedar and Economic Timber Sales: Continues current law that requires that timber sales in Alaska be economic, and requires that Alaska and West Coast sawmills be given the first right to process the timber, in order to keep these jobs in the U.S.

Forest Inventory Analysis: Increases funding to $77 million to partner with states to inventory forests across the nation. Includes significant expansion for interior Alaska.

FIGHTING FEDERAL OVERREACH

Lead Bullets and Fishing Tackle: Continues to prohibit the EPA from regulating lead content of ammunition and fishing tackle.

Kagalaska and Chirikof: Prohibits the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from using funds to conduct a costly caribou hunt on Kagalaska Island in the Aleutian Chain. The legislation also prohibits costly and impractical efforts to remove cattle from the remote Chirikof Island.

Small, Remote Incinerators: Provides an exemption for small, remote incinerators in Alaska to help manage waste in remote areas of Alaska.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Village Built Clinics: Maintains $11 million for Village-Built Clinics, a program unique to Alaska that supports 150 healthcare clinics in rural areas which often serve as the only health facility in the respective region.

Contract Support Costs: Funds contract support costs at $959.57 million for operational and overhead costs in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, to ensure tribes have the necessary resources they need to deliver programs and services. This is especially important to Alaska because all healthcare for Alaska Natives is directly provided by tribal organizations. The account is continued as an indefinite appropriation so that if estimates made by the respective agencies are too low, funds are available to pay these costs without taking funds from other programs which reduce their capacity.

Zero Suicide Initiative: Provides $3.6 million for an IHS program aimed at preventing suicide by providing tools and support for organizations with patients receiving care. The initiative’s premise is that suicide deaths for people receiving care are entirely preventable.

Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative: Includes $4 million for an IHS initiative that promotes culturally appropriate prevention and treatment approaches to domestic and sexual violence from a community-driven context. This includes funding projects that provide victim advocacy, intervention, case coordination, policy development, community response teams, sexual assault examiner programs, and community and school education programs. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, Chugachmiut, Copper River Native Association, Kodiak Area Native Association, Maniilaq Association, Norton Sound Health Corporation, Southcentral Foundation, and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium all receive funds through this initiative to continue efforts in addressing domestic violence and sexual assault in their communities.

Alcohol and Substance Abuse: Increases funding to $227.7 million for IHS alcohol and substance abuse prevention programs to focus on tribal youth and the incorporation of more holistic healthcare models. Programs within tribal communities to combat alcohol and substance abuse include inpatient and outpatient treatment, and rehabilitation services in both urban and rural settings.

Behavioral Health Integration: Provides $21.4 million to support IHS programs to address issues such as mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and behavior-related diseases among American Indians and Alaska Natives, ensuring a comprehensive system of preventative care to encourage community support and strong collaborative relationships with other agencies.

Small Ambulatory Clinics: Increases funding to $15 million to provide additional resources to make infrastructure improvements across the nation for providing healthcare delivery to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

SAFETY

Tribal Court Funding (PL280): Increases Tribal Court funding to Public Law 280 states to $13 million, such as Alaska, in order to help develop tribal court systems for communities.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): New this year, provides an additional $2 million for training and specific VAWA tribal court needs.

Tiwahe Initiative: Provides $15 million for this program to help communities design a comprehensive approach for the delivery of social services and justice programs. The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) is a Tiwahe Initiative pilot site. The bill also sets aside $200 thousand under the initiative for women’s and children’s shelters.

3D Alaska Mapping: Maintains $7.7 million for Alaska mapping initiatives that will help gather data to improve maps, enhancing safety for activities such as aviation. Currently much of the terrain data in Alaska is more than 50 years old and hand-sketched from photos shot from World War II reconnaissance craft.

USGS Earthquake and Volcano Hazards: Includes $45 million to bring Alaska volcano equipment into compliance and provides funds for the purchase of earthquake sensors to incorporate for use in Alaska.

Amendments continue; state rights nixed by liberal majority

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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March 23, 2018

3

Amendments continue; state rights nixed by liberal majority

AMENDMENT #73 DIES ON CAUCUS LINES

The Alaska House of Representatives heard and rejected dozens of amendments over the past three days, adding some $211,000 for rural emergency response, but rejecting $28 million in cuts that the conservative minority offered.

Amendment 73 went down, like so many offered by conservatives. It related to a well-known public lands access case brought by John Sturgeon against the National Park Service for denying him access to a navigable waterway so he could get to his moose hunting grounds.

[Read: John Sturgeon, hunger, likely heading back to Supreme Court]

Rep. George Rauscher, a member of the conservative minority from District 9, offered an amendment that would have had the State cover up to $500,000 of legal costs for Alaskan John Sturgeon, if he decides to take his case back to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rauscher’s amendment didn’t increase the budget, but would have moved funds from a contingency fund to the Department of Commerce. As Sturgeon’s legal fees came in, he could apply to the State for reimbursement.

The state has an interest in this case because it affects all Alaskans’ right to access public lands.

Rauscher noted that Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth wrote in her amicus brief filed in this case, “Alaska has a direct and profound interest in maintaining its authority to keep its waterways open as Congress intended … If left uncorrected this decision has broad ramification that extend well beyond its blow to Alaska’s sovereignty.

“It (the Ninth Circuit decision) ignores the needs and realities of rural Alaskans who face unparalleled changes in accessing the transportation thoroughfares they rely upon to provide for their families. Alaska has compelling in interest in preserving its sovereign right to responsibly manage its lands and waters and protecting its citizens ability to use the states’s waterways.

Rep. Paul Seaton, a Homer Republican who joined the liberal majority, rose to argue against it. He said that Rauscher was asking the State to pay private lawyers for something that was a “private benefit” to one Alaskan. Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat, said it was like giving money to one person.

But Reps. Mark Neuman, Tammie Wilson, Dan Saddler and David Eastman said that this is a state sovereignty case.

“The battle is not for him,” said Rep. Wilson. “It’s for all Alaskans.”

A day earlier Seaton had gotten his amendment passed for the same amount, adding $500,000 to a strained state budget to pay for a study of the importance of Vitamin D in the diets of Alaskans.

[Read: House minority challenges paying for Vitamin D study]

In October, Gov. Bill Walker said he would do everything in the state’s power “to protect Alaska State rights.”

‘Fair Anchorage’ weaponized top cop in bathroom fight

Suzanne Downing

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March 22, 2018

14

‘Fair Anchorage’ weaponized top cop in bathroom fight

AND CHIEF JUSTIN DOLL ISN’T HAPPY ABOUT IT

The group advocating a no vote on Proposition 1 used the image of Anchorage’s top police officer in a campaign to sway voters this month to vote against the safe bathrooms ballot question during the municipal mail-in election, which began about March 15.

On the Mike Porcaro Show yesterday on KENI (650 AM), Police Chief Justin Doll said he had not given permission for the group to use his name, image, or endorsement in its position on Prop. 1, and he was none too happy about being blindsided by them.

Fair Anchorage is an independent expenditure group founded primarily by the Alaska branch of the ACLU. Ship Creek Group, the campaign company founded by the governor’s campaign manager John Henry Heckendorn, is doing much of its campaign work. It has acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars from Outside to push voters into opposing a measure that would keep public bathrooms separated by gender.

The ACLU is fighting for open bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms so that people who are uncomfortable using one gender’s bathroom can use the other.

The chief said the group had apologized to him and agreed to pull back any of its social media and other propaganda, but the postcards have already been received by all Anchorage voters.

*Police Chief Justin Doll was featured on both sides of the mailer sent to all Anchorage voters. He did not give his permission to Fair Anchorage for this message, he told Mike Porcaro on Wednesday.*

Porcaro asked Doll if he felt the police force had been weaponized by the “vote no” side. Yes, Doll said, adding that police stay out of weighing in on political questions.

Jim Minnery, whose group Alaska Family Council is heading up the “Yes on One” campaign, issued a statement saying that Fair Anchorage was not playing fair with their campaign to sway voters toward the open-bathroom policy in Anchorage

“Bottom line – how many voters who have already turned in their ballots were misled by this completely inaccurate representation?” the group asked on Facebook.

The Mike Porcaro Show podcast can be found at this link.

Porcaro said that an apology from the group is owed to the entire public, but in mail-in elections, most ballots that will be voted are likely already in the mail. If voters felt swayed by Doll’s apparent endorsement, it’s too late. The election ends on April 3.

Sturgeon case now tangled in state’s rights and Native rights

The 907

Suzanne Downing

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March 22, 2018

1

Sturgeon case now tangled in state’s rights and Native rights

WALKER WADES IN TO CHANGE ANILCA

The Walker Administration has joined the Alaska Federation of Natives to advocate for amendments to historic Alaska land claims laws that would weaken state sovereignty, according to the Alaska Outdoor Council, which is opposing the move.

On Monday, AOC Executive Director Rod Arno urged Sen. Lisa Murkowski to reject that effort.

In a letter to Alaska’s senior senator, the outdoors group said that Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth is seeking to usurp the State of Alaska’s authority over fish and game management and allocation.

Arno advised Murkowski not to insert the governor’s requested amendments into the omnibus spending bill now being considered by the Senate.

The proposed changes by the Walker Administration through his attorney are facing a Friday deadline.

The case is complex, and a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision makes it more so. To resolve it, Murkowski has been asked by Lindemuth, as well as AFN President Julie Kitka, and the attorney for hunter John Sturgeon, to amend the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act, known as ANILCA.

Sturgeon and the Alaska Outdoor Council have been on the same side of Sturgeon’s case for years, since he was stopped by the National Park Service from navigating the Nation’s River to reach his hunting spot.

Sturgeon has been fighting since then against federal overreach in a case that has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, only to be partially bounced back to the Ninth Circuit Court, where he was again denied the right to use an hovercraft on the river system. The argument is over whether the state or federal government controls activity on the water inside the National Park Service’s boundaries.

[Read: John Sturgeon, hunter, likely heading back to Supreme Court]

According to the Outdoor Council, the proposed amendment (attached) if passed into statute would:

Satisfy Sturgeon’s claim against the federal government by clarifying state management of navigable waters regardless of whether those waters were inside the National Park Service exterior boundary.

Allow Alaska native regional and village corporations more control over development on 18 million acres of lands acquired in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement (ANCSA) that are within the boundaries of federal Conservation System Units (CSU) created by ANILCA.

Give the State of Alaska nothing, but strip away state management and allocation of fish and game on around 63 percent of the state, not counting all waters. By proposing that subsistence management regulations created by the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture be written into federal statute, the State of Alaska capitulates to federal management on over half of the state’s land and the majority of it waters. The FSB allocates fish and game only to rural residents of Alaska, not to all of Alaska’s population as our state constitution requires.

“Getting standing to challenge these regulations in federal court has been exceedingly difficult,” Arno said. “Challenging statute law adopted by the U.S. Congress, confirming that the Dept. of the Interior will remain the managers of fish and game, would be virtually impossible. Seems an issue of such great importance should have some public debate prior to being submitted as a rider on an appropriations bill.”

Evidently that is not how the governor sees it, because in October he said he would do everything in his power to protect state’s rights.

WORDING OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ANILCA

The cause for AOC’s concern comes from a Feb. 26 letter that the governor sent to Murkowski, asking for changes in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, ANILCA.

The attached wording that would change ANILCA is copied below:

ANILCA 103(c)

Existing Law

(c) Only those lands within the boundaries of any conservation system unit which are public lands (as such term is defined in this Act) shall be deemed to be included as a portion of such unit. No lands which, before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, are conveyed to the State, to any Native Corporation, or to any private party shall be subject to the regulations applicable solely to public lands within such units. If the State, a Native Corporation, or other owner desires to convey any such lands, the Secretary may acquire such lands in accordance with applicable law (including this Act), and any such lands shall become part of the unit, and be administered accordingly.

Amendment

(c) Only those lands within the boundaries of any conservation system unit which are public lands (as such term is defined in this Act) shall be deemed to be included as a portion of such unit. Except as provided in this section, the Secretary’s regulations adopted to administer public lands shall not apply to lands, including submerged lands, owned by the State, any Native Corporation, or any private party, or to navigable waters flowing over such lands. No lands which, before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, are conveyed to the State, to any Native Corporation, or to any private party shall be subject to the regulations applicable solely to public lands within such units. If the State, a Native Corporation, or other owner desires to convey any such lands, the Secretary may acquire such lands in accordance with applicable law (including this Act), and any such lands shall become part of the unit, and be administered accordingly. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the Secretary’s authority under Title VIII to protect and provide the opportunity for continued subsistence uses, and to implement the subsistence priority, in the waters identified in 50 C.F.R. § 100.3 (2018), which authority is hereby reconfirmed.

[Read another report on this at CraigMedred.news]

Vitamin D: House minority challenges $500K study

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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March 22, 2018

14

Vitamin D: House minority challenges $500K study

LIBERAL MAJORITY WINS ANOTHER ROUND

During the House floor discussion and debate over the operating budget on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Charisse Millett of Anchorage rose to challenge Finance Co-Chair Rep. Paul Seaton’s $500,000 item in the budget to fund a study on the benefits of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a pet concern for the Homer representative, who is a commercial fisherman. He addresses it often in his newsletters to constituents, has produced booklets for both senior citizens and children on the topic, and has a page devoted to it on his official web site.

Seaton was one of three Republicans who broke with the Republican-led majority to stage a coup in 2017 with Democrats, and in exchange became the co-chair of Finance, in charge of producing the operating budget. Now is his chance to get that Vitamin D project he has long desired.

But Millett wasn’t going to let it go in without a fight.

“While I know that the maker of this section of the bill is a very big fan of Vitamin D, as we all are on the floor, since we’ve been taking it … since he’s been giving of us bottles of it…” Millett began.

She argued the money could be better spent battling the opioid crisis in Alaska, or reducing domestic violence, especially at a time when the State has little money to spare and while Democrats and the governor are talking about an income tax.

“A quick look through the internet, I think my staff came up with over 50 studies that have been done in other circumpolar countries on the value of Vitamin D,” she said. “This rises to the level of ‘I don’t think so,’ for me personally.”

Millett added that it was something that the private sector could fund. Others in the conservative minority rose to say that the federal government has not only the resources but the responsibility for public health studies of this type.

The New York Times has written about the Vitamin D craze. It seems that people are popping the pills in the belief that Vitamin D will “cure what ails you.”

According to the Times:

Millions of people are popping supplements in the belief that vitamin D can help turn back depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, even heart disease or cancer. In fact, there has never been widely accepted evidence that vitamin D is helpful in preventing or treating any of those conditions.

But so firm is this belief that vitamin D has become popular even among people with no particular medical complaints or disease risks. And they are being tested for vitamin D “deficiency” in ever greater numbers.

The number of blood tests for vitamin D levels among Medicarebeneficiaries, mostly people 65 and older, increased 83-fold from 2000 to 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among patients with commercial insurance, testing rates rose 2.5-fold from 2009 to 2014.

Labs performing these tests are reporting perfectly normal levels of vitamin D — 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood — as “insufficient.” As a consequence, millions of healthy people think they have a deficiency, and some are taking supplemental doses so high they can be dangerous, causing poor appetite, nausea and vomiting.

Vitamin D overdoses also can lead to weakness, frequent urination and kidney problems.

“A lot of clinicians are acting like there is a pandemic” of vitamin D deficiency, said Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, a preventive medicine researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who helped write an Institute of Medicine report on vitamin D. – New York Times.

“That gives them justification to screen everyone and get everyone well above what the Institute of Medicine recommends.”

*Rep. Paul Seaton holds forth on his $500,000 Vitamin D study, which Republicans sought to remove from the operating budget.*

REP. SADDLER GIVES SEATON A D IN SCIENCE

But Rep. Seaton is a fan of D and defended his line item, citing studies that show how Alaskans don’t get enough Vitamin D, and that there has been a rise in diseases, the cost of health care, and that he believes that to be a result of the lack of Vitamin D in the diets of Alaskans.

For 10 minutes he speculated that the increase in autism was possibly linked to the lack of the vitamin, and that Alaska’s high cost of health care may be linked to the lack of Vitamin D.

His remarks defending the $500,000 project included anecdotal stories about children with rickets, autism, and the benefits of a traditional subsistence diet.

Rep. Dan Saddler took the bait: In remarks informed by his personal experience of being a parent with a child with autism, he said, “We’re being offered what I believe is the cruel fiction that more Vitamin D might prevent autism.”

Debating the science of Vitamin D on the House floor is inappropriate, Saddler added, and before throwing a rhetorical elbow at Finance Chair Seaton, saying that while he had many duties, being chief science researcher was not one of them.

Saddler’s remarks drew a gentle rebuke from House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, who implied he was getting too personal.

Rep. Chris Birch also spoke to strip the D study from the budget: “We don’t need a $500,000 science project to tell us we live in a northern latitude, and that Vitamin D is not aplenty when there’s no sun exposure. I think that’s common knowledge. It’s certainly one of the reasons why I take a multi-vitamin every morning.”

In the end, after 45 minutes of debate, a $500,000 item to study Vitamin D was left in the budget in a vote that was nearly along party lines, with only Reps. Jason Grenn and Sam Kito splitting from the Democrat-led majority and siding with Republicans to trim the sails of Seaton’s obsession with cholecalciferol, Vitamin D.

Groups forming to back candidates, causes

Suzanne Downing

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March 22, 2018

2

Groups forming to back candidates, causes

A host of new campaign influence groups have formed in recent weeks to push the candidates and causes they care about. Those organized and funded efforts attempting to sway voters must register with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, and their communications are highly regulated by APOC, (a cause of concern to strict constitutionalists who believe in First Amendment protections of political speech.)

Two of the recent groups are focused on supporting law and order: Stop Alaska Crime and Repeal SB 91.

Group registrations since March 1 add to several others already formed since the first of the year. They’re listed with their name and the wording of how they describe their intent and activities:

ABC Alaska PAC – ABC believes that companies should reward employees based on performance and encourage them to reach their highest level of achievement, and that contracts be awarded based on safety, quality and cost effectiveness – regardless of labor affiliation.

Alaska Federation of Republican Women – Engaged in Anchorage Municipal races and state General Election.

Alaska Free Market Coalition – To promote candidates who are fiscally conservative, pro-business, and supportive of free market economic principles.

Alaska Ironworkers Political Action Committee – Increase employment of Union Ironworkers in the state of Alaska.

Alaska Libertarian Party – The ALP is a political party dedicated to legal and peaceful reduction in the size and power of government.

Alaskans for Kevin Meyer – Assist in providing the State of Alaska with a qualified Lt. Governor.

Alaskans for Scott Hawkins – To independently support the candidacy of Scott Hawkins in the 2018 Republican Primary for Governor of Alaska. (Started by a group based in Ketchikan.)

Alaska’s Southcentral Federated Republican Women – Educate, inform and support the electorate.

Anchorage Education Association Public Affairs Committee on Education – To promote public education.

Alaska Women for Political Action – Electing progressive women candidates to political office and educating women on issues important to them.

Fair Anchorage No on Prop 1 – To oppose any effort to repeal or weaken Anchorage’s nondiscrimination ordinance. We know Anchorage is a welcoming place to live, work, and play, and that discrimination isn’t an Anchorage value: that’s why we need to keep Anchorage fair.

House District 24 Democrats – Southwest Anchorage – Subdivision of AK Democratic Party for HD 24, promoting Democratic ideas and principles in southwest Anchorage.

Kodiak Democratic Party – Elect Democrats / Independents.

Mat Su Democrats – A unified group of Democrats of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and those who reside in precincts of any district which has any portion of its boundaries within the Borough. A subdivision of the Alaska Democratic Party and listed as such in its Party Plan of Organization.

Midnight Sun Republican Women’s Club – To support the Republican Party’s ideas and to encourage women in politics.

Patriots Party of Alaska – Political group whose purpose is to field, and run/endorse candidates for public office in elections at all levels of government as allowed by law.

Public Employees Local 71 Supporting League – Union candidate and supporting fund.

Repeal SB 91 – To oppose political candidates who do not support the repeal of SB 91 crime bill. (Formed by Deb Brollini.)

Stand for Alaska – Protecting salmon, jobs, and communities. (Formed earlier, needed to change the type of group it is due to the ballot proposition that has since been approved that it will be opposing.)

Stop Alaska Crime – Bring people together to fight for stricter penalties for crime. Work together to improve safety in communities.(Formed by Vicki Wallner, who runs a popular Facebook Page, Stop Valley Thieves, and a new associated Facebook page Stop Alaska Crime.)

Tongass Democrats – Precinct level branch of Alaska Democratic Party. Fundraise locally for Democratic candidates and causes.

Yes for Salmon – To promote the passage of a ballot measure to update salmon habitat regulations. (Was earlier formed as “Stand for Salmon,” changed the group name and the type of group it is due to the ballot proposition that has been approved that it will be supporting.)

DUNLEAVY FOR ALASKANS CLOSES IN ON $400,000

In February, a group of Alaskans formed a Dunleavy for Alaska committee, headed by Terre Gales, a former candidate for Anchorage Assembly. The APOC reports show it has more than $400,000 in contributions.

The group, independent and prohibited from coordinating with the Alaskans for Dunleavy campaign, has additional pledges and the cash in the door already includes a $5,000 check from a Wasilla individual to a $100,000 contribution from Mike Dunleavy’s brother.

WHERE’S WALKER’S POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE?

An outside group is said to be forming to support the candidacy of Gov. Bill Walker, with a hefty serving of public employee labor union support. But although the rumors of its imminent creation surfaced weeks ago, it has still not shown up on the APOC reports, leading some political wags to wonder if there’s trouble in the kingdom.

Donors may be hesitant until they see more polling results, as the ones completed to date show Walker in deep trouble with the electorate over key issues involving spending, the Permanent Fund, and quality of life.

There are several Democrat-affiliated groups that will support his candidacy in one way or another if Democrat Mark Begich does not jump in to knock Walker out of the running.

A recent survey by the Alaska Chamber of 809 likely voters statewide showed that the public still favors spending cuts rather than instituting an income tax — 72 percent supporting cuts to 26 percent opposing cuts.

The poll result confirms earlier polls and no doubt this is the same headwinds the Walker camp is encountering — if it is polling. Walker has proposed nearly a dozen new taxes and has said he cannot reduce state government further because it’s now cut to the bone.

An example of the public opinion that may be holding off the creation of the political action committee for Gov. Walker:

Kito to call it quits

Politics

Suzanne Downing

-

March 20, 2018

5

APPOINTED BY PARNELL in 2014, HE WAS A RELIABLE DEMOCRAT VOTE

Rep. Sam Kito III, who represents the most liberal district in Alaska — House District 33 — will not run for reelection, he told the Juneau Empire today.

District 33 calculates as a hard left neighborhood. In 2014’s primary election, it voted to repeal SB 21 by 78 percent of voters. SB 21 which was an oil tax reform measure that passed the House and Senate. Later in November of 2014, Mark Begich won 66 percent of the vote over challenger Dan Sullivan, who beat Begich statewide for his Senate seat.

And for governor that year, House District 33 went heavily for Bill Walker, enough to pull him over the finish line statewide, with 5,837 votes for Walker/Mallott to 2,857 for Parnell/Sullivan.

Kito was appointed by Parnell in February of 2014 after the departure of Rep. Beth Kerttula, who left for a fellowship and later to work in the Obama Administration on oceans issues. Assemblyman Jessie Kiehl and Catherine Reardon had also been recommended by local Tongass Democrats for the job.

Later that year, Kito won handily for reelection over Republican Peter Dukowitz.

The district breaks down into precincts covering other parts of northern Southeast Alaska:

33-500 Douglas
33-505 Gustavus
33-510 Juneau No. 1
33-515 Juneau No. 2
33-520 Juneau No. 3
33-525 Lemon Creek
33-530 North Douglas
33-540 Skagway
33-545 Haines No. 1
33-550 Haines No. 2
33-555 Klukwan

Kito has been publicly signaling that he doesn’t plan to run again, making it clear that a reduction in per diem for Juneau lawmakers would cause him to go in the hole financially. He makes $50,400 as a legislator and last year was paid $32,400 in per diem.

The State Officers Compensation Commission recommended eliminating per diem payments to lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Legislature’s meeting location.

Legislators allowed the 60 days to pass during the current session when they would have had to reject that recommendation. During that time, Kito spoke during committee meetings and on radio shows about how that would impact him, as a single father trying to put a student through college. He has grown increasingly irascible and is sporting a long beard, unlike his previous clean-shaven appearance.

[Read: Kito says if per diem cut, he’ll likely not run]

Already Sara Hannan, a Democrat and retired school teacher, and Chris Dimond, an unaffiliated resident of Douglas Island who runs the local carpenters union, have filed to run for Kito’s seat, and there will likely be others who will file for the seat.

This year, Juneau will also lose its senator, Dennis Egan, who has said he is not running for reelection.

Juneau’s Rep. Justin Parish, who represents District 34 (Mendenhall Valley north) faces a serious campaign season against longtime police officer Jerry Nankervis, who has filed for that seat.

In short, Juneau and communities to the north could have a brand new team representing them next January, at the same time they are welcoming the next resident of the Governor’s House on Calhoun Avenue.

Senate Democrats stage walk out rather than vote on spending cap

Alaska projects, priorities in omnibus spending bill

Amendments continue; state rights nixed by liberal majority

‘Fair Anchorage’ weaponized top cop in bathroom fight

Sturgeon case now tangled in state’s rights and Native rights

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Kito to call it quits

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