The Anchorage Police Department is celebrating Pride Month, and in a social media post has referred residents to a local nonprofit associated with the gender transition movement.
Identity Inc. engages in helping youth make the “transition” from one gender identity to another.
In material published on its own website, the gender identity group says that although hormone treatments are “off label” for gender transition purposes, they have been used safely for years, a claim that is disputed by some who have gone through the treatments and suffered long-term consequences.
Identity Inc has published consent forms on its website to assist pre-teens in their gender identity change, starting with hormone treatments. The consent form presents itself as an authoritative document that has several places for youth and guardians to sign.
The Anchorage Police Department joins other law enforcement arms, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations, in making June a month that focuses on gender, rather than public safety.
In a significant development, the Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced that a nationwide settlement has been reached with Indivior Inc., the maker of Suboxone, a widely used medication for treating opioid addiction.
The settlement, amounting to $102.5 million, involves 42 states, and Alaska’s share will be approximately $1,065,000.
The legal action against Indivior Inc. was initiated in 2016 when the states collectively filed a complaint alleging that the pharmaceutical company had engaged in illegal practices to manipulate the market for Suboxone.
The complaint claimed Indivior had sought to eliminate competition from Suboxone tablets in favor of the film version, thereby attempting to secure a monopoly in the opioid addiction treatment market. The trial for this case had been scheduled for September 2023.
Attorney General Taylor said, “This has been a long case. It shows that the state Attorneys General are united and committed to making sure that there are consequences for drug companies, and other companies, that try to game the system at the expense of consumers.”
The agreement, subject to approval by the court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, obligates Indivior Inc. to make a combined payment of $102.5 million to the participating states. Additionally, the company is required to adhere to specific injunctive terms that include the disclosure of all citizen petitions submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the introduction of new products, and any changes in corporate control. These measures aim to ensure that Indivior refrains from engaging in similar misconduct as alleged in the initial complaint.
Joining forces with Alaska in the settlement are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
By ERICK CORDERO GIORGANA, BETHANY MARCUM, AND CARMELA WARFIELD
The first regular session of the 33rd legislature adjourned on May 17, with a one-day special session on May 18.
Thirty-one bills were passed by both bodies, and as of this writing, one was vetoed and three were signed into law.
The first expedited the appropriation of state and federal funds to address backlogs in public assistance processing, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
The second bill allows for the development of carbon offset projects and carbon management initiatives on state lands, and is intended to create new private sector jobs and new revenue sources for the state.
The thirdrepeals future sunset dates for the Renewable Energy Fund, a grant program established by the legislature in 2008 to support the development of renewable energy projects in Alaska.
As for the remaining 27 bills passed in 2023, readers should remember that the governor maintains veto authority and nothing is final until signed (or passed without signature) into law.
The total number of bills passed during this first year of the two-year legislature is comparable to numbers passed in the first year of other recent legislatures.
Legislators made positive progress towards increasing opportunities for economic prosperity in our great state by passing a billthat repealed the requirement that applicants for an Alaska Commercial Driver’s License to hold a regular Alaska driver’s license for at least one year before they can begin the process of obtaining a CDL. Given that comprehensive, federal-required safety and training standards are in place for obtaining a CDL, this bill removed a redundant barrier to workforce development.
On the health care front, there was progress but no resolution on direct health care, an important free market reform. The Senate passed a rather distorted version of a direct health care bill but the House did not vote on it. The other significant health care policy, certificate of need repeal, didn’t make notable headway.
Over 20 bills related to taxation were introduced, mostly to create new or increase current taxes. Alaskans will be relieved to know that none passed – yet. But all are still in play for a potential special session and for when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2024.
An outstanding bright spot was the passage of a billthat prevents state and municipal governments from closing gun stores and shooting ranges during disaster emergency declarations while other retailers remained open. This would be enforced statewide and give Alaskans peace of mind that they can defend themselves and provide for their families and communities, especially during unprecedented times of emergency.
Alaska Policy Forum was discouraged to see the outcome of the special session vote on the most important task of the legislature, the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. The legislature irresponsibly authorized spending of $8.06 billion in state funds, which is almost 10% more than last year’s state-funds budget, and 4.5% more than our Responsible Alaska Budgetrecommendation.
Part of that appropriation includes the largest ever one-time increase in education funding—a blank check of new money for school districts which are still sitting on millions of dollars in federal Covid-related funding, and which have no accountability in place for Alaska’s last-in-the-nation academic outcomes.
Even so, this was preferable to a billaimed at increasing the annual base student allocation. Although amendments to the bill were offered to direct the increased education funding to teachers and classroom instruction, and to improved student outcomes, these amendments were not adopted.
We have written extensively on the critical need to improve student learning outcomes statewide. We strongly encourage legislators who want funding increases to include policies that give teachers the support they need to implement improvements and early literacy laws effectively, and to require improved learning outcomes for Alaska’s children.
There is some good fiscal news: the budget won’t be hit this year with hundreds of millions of dollars more in defined benefits pension costs—those bills received an immense amount of attention but none passed—yet.
Election policy is certainly in the news, but not so much in Juneau. With over 30 election-related bills filed, including three which would repeal ranked-choice voting, it was expected there would be hearty consideration. Unfortunately, there was very little activity on these bills.
While introducing and passing legislation is not necessarily an indication of a policymaker’s effectiveness, we thought it would be interesting to look at the data.
Overall in 2023, 361 bills were introduced; individual legislators introduced 265, while committees introduced 96. A total of 31 bills passed both chambers. Many of the committee bills that passed were requested by the governor (Note: our analysis reflects only actual bills, not resolutions).
Number of Bills Passed by Individual Legislators
Number of Bills Passed by Committees
Here are a few data highlights:
Legislators who introduced 10 or more bills:
Representative George Rauscher (R): 14
Senator Cathy Giessel (R): 11
Representative Andy Josephson (D): 10
Senator Scott Kawasaki (D): 10
Representative Stanley Wright (R): 10
Legislators with the most bills passed:
Representative Mike Cronk (R): 2
Representative Justin Ruffridge (R): 2
Legislators who did not introduce bills:
Senator Bert Stedman (R)
Representative Josiah Patkotak (I)
Freshmen introduced 30% of all bills
Following is a breakdown of how many bills were introduced by individual legislators within their respective chambers.
There is a great deal of work to be done before the legislature gavels in next January for the second session. Alaska Policy Forum is working every day to make the case for fiscal restraint and freedom with policymakers, and supporting it with top level research, policy papers, testimony and educational events, to execute our mission: to empower and educate Alaskans and policymakers by promoting policies that grow freedom for all.
Erick Cordero Giorgana, Bethany Marcum and Carmela Warfield are with Alaska Policy Forum,established in 2009.
While the recently completed legislative session was at times messy, the final outcome was a good one: a balanced budget, a reasonable and affordable dividend, badly needed additional funding for education and child care, and a decent capital budget.
A special session shouldn’t have been necessary, but at least it was only one day instead of 30 days.
Next year’s operating budget is based on a price of $73/bbl oil by the Department of Revenue in its Spring Forecast. We all know that the price will likely be higher or lower than that estimate, but the Legislature was wise in not dipping into its $2.3 billion budget reserve as the use of those savings may be necessary if the price of oil drops below the forecast.
It is also important to note that the legislature chose not to raise or implement new taxes to support the budget. That demonstrates that we don’t need new or higher taxes if we continue to use discipline in our overall spending, which includes the dividend.
Implementing a statewide sales tax hurts everyone, most particularly low income and rural Alaskans, and would be a significant drag on the state’s recovering economy.
I believe most Alaskans reject the notion of an income tax simply to provide a higher taxable dividend.
Increasing oil and gas taxes is counterproductive as they will reduce our future income by discouraging new oil production even while we have major untapped deposits.
The key to future fiscal planning is to simply continue what the legislature just did – produce a balanced budget with reasonable state services and an affordable dividend without using excess Permanent funds or our savings accounts. If we stick to that formula, we are not likely to need new taxes at least in the near term. It is also the key to allowing our anemic state economy to recover and hopefully prosper in the future.
Harry McDonald is the former owner and CEO of Carlile Transportation Systems and retired from Saltchuk Resources in 2018.
The U.S. Senate passed the debt limit bill in a 63-36 vote late Thursday night. It has already passed the House and will now be sent to the president’s desk for a signature.
Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against the bill on final passage, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of it.
In all, 17 of the 49 Senate Republicans voted in favor of passage, including Senators John Boozman, AR; Shelley Capito, WV; Susan Collins, ME; John Cornyn, TX; Kevin Cramer, ND; Joni Ernst, IA; Chuck Grassley, IA; John Hoeven, ND; Mitch McConnell, KY; Jery Moran, KS; Markwayne Mullin, OK; Lisa Murkowski, AK; Mitt Romney, UT; Mike Rounds, SD; John Thune, SD; Thim Tillis, NC; and Todd Young, IN.
Sullivan said the cuts to defense spending, which occur due to inflation, is happening a one of the most dangerous times for U.S. national security in decades.
“I applaud Speaker McCarthy for his hard work in getting President Biden to negotiate a debt ceiling agreement that averts a default, reduces wasteful spending, and authorizes critically-needed permitting reforms—all of which I support. However, I could not vote for an agreement that fails one of the most critical duties of the United States Senate: adequately funding our military service members to provide for the security and defense of our nation,” Sullivan said. “This agreement inflicts significant inflation-adjusted cuts to our military, shrinking the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. This bill also will take the U.S. defense budget below three percent of GDP—a level we’ve seen just once in the past eighty years, during the peace dividend era of the late 1990s.
“We are not in a ‘peace dividend’ era today. Far from it. America’s military leaders all agree we are in the midst of one of the most dangerous periods for U.S. national security since World War II. This rushed budget simply does not meet the reality and the threats of this moment. I was disappointed that the vast majority of my Democratic colleagues voted against my amendment, which received bipartisan majority support and would have rectified some of these significant defense budget shortfalls,” he said.
During consideration of the Fiscal Responsibility Act this evening, Sen. Sullivan offered an amendment to rescind more than $70 billion in previous Internal Revenue Service (IRS) appropriations in order to fund the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Fiscal Year 2024 unfunded priorities and to fund a five percent increase to the FY 2025 budget beyond the new FY 2024 defense budget topline. All Republican senators voting supported the Sullivan amendment, but it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold for adoption.
Earlier this week, Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska voted in favor of the bill when it was in front of the House.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act suspends the nation’s debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, after the November, 2024 election, when all House members, the president, and 33 of the 100 members of the Senate are up for reelection.
An amendment to claw back unspent and unneeded Covid-19 funds failed, with Sen. Murkowski joining the Democrats to vote against it, while Sen. Sullivan voted in favor of it.
Sullivan offered an amendment to take money from the Internal Revenue Service, which was for more IRS agents, and put the money into the Department of Defense. That amendment failed, with all 49 Republicans voting in favor of it.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski offered a statement:
“I voted for the Fiscal Responsibility Act because it is the only way to avoid a default on the national debt just four days from now. While both the bill itself and the process that led to it were far from perfect, it will avert an economic disaster, protect the full faith and credit of the United States, and slightly improve our nation’s fiscal trajectory.
“While the Fiscal Responsibility Act fully funds veterans programs in Fiscal Year 2024, I do not believe it adequately supports the defense budget. After speaking with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, however, I believe there will be sufficient support to pass a supplemental later this year that better addresses our security needs, including continued support for Ukraine.
“I also see this measure as a series of first steps, not final agreements. It leaves us with more work to do to address our debt, reduce the spiraling costs associated with it, and begin to improve the federal permitting process. Beyond the incremental progress the Fiscal Responsibility Act makes, I hope it will build trust and create space for further bipartisan agreement in these critical areas.”
The bill is not an actual appropriations bill, but it raises the level the Department of Treasury can borrow to until after the next presidential election. It caps non-defense spending for a year, expands some work requirements for welfare, and has other provisions.
ConocoPhillips Alaska announced Thursday that the company will develop the Nuna project from the 3T drill site in the Kuparuk River Unit.
ConocoPhillips acquired the Nuna acreage in 2019 from Caelus, which had constructed the gravel road and pad for drill site 3T.
Project construction activities will begin this year and continue in 2024, with pipeline and on-pad construction. Drilling is anticipated to begin in late 2024 with first oil anticipated by early 2025, with an expected peak oil rate of 20,000 barrels of oil per day.
“The additional drilling opportunities we’ve identified at Nuna are a positive development that should increase oil production at Kuparuk,” said Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska. “Our investment in this project was approved due to Alaska’s stable fiscal regime which is clearly working to promote new and ongoing investment.”
ConocoPhillips Alaska will continue to invest about $1 billion a year to grow its Alaska legacy business with projects such as Nuna.
The Nuna project will add 29 development wells, on-pad infrastructure and pipelines that tie back to existing Kuparuk River Unit processing facilities. Drill site 3T will be the 49th drill site developed within the Kuparuk River Unit.
Nana is east of the Colville River and about five miles southwest of the Oooguruk field.
The prospect was announced as a discovery in 2012. To put in perspective the size of the project, the recently approved Willow Project is expected to produce in excess of 160,000 BOPD at peak.
Photo credit: ConocoPhillips’ Kuparuk field camp, ConocoPhillips.
Editor’s note: This story did not meet our standards for accuracy and although parts of the story are correct, much of it was based on an inaccurate reading of public filings. Thus, I’ve taken the story down. Thank you for being a reader and thank you to those who pointed out the error. – Suzanne Downing
President Joe Biden, at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs, Colo., tripped and fell to the stage today, where he had to be lifted to his feet by three Air Force officials nearby.
Biden has had other trips, at times on the stairs up to Air Force One, and once when he tipped over on his bike, but none has been as public or as spectacular as this one.
The president shook it off, pointed at a black sandbag on the stage that had been in his way, and stayed through the end of the graduation ceremony.
Biden is 80 years old and would be 82 at the start of his second term in January of 2025. In 2020, he set a record for the oldest person to ever be sworn in as president.
In 2020, when Donald Trump was running for his second term, the mainstream media wrote extensively with great speculation about the 74-year-old president’s careful gait as he descended a ramp from an aircraft, and the New York Times wrote with glee that he had difficulty lifting a glass of water to his mouth during a speech at West Point.
But for Biden’s fall today, the New York Times played down the incident. The newspaper quoted White House Communications Director Ben LaBold saying, “He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.”
In fact, Biden had shaken the hand of a graduate, who then walked off the stage, and moments later Biden simply tripped on a sandbag near his feet as he was preparing to walk away.
BREAKING: Biden takes a big fall on stage just now at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation pic.twitter.com/GxkMbpyoNo
Last summer, the leftists in Anchorage called the mayor’s sanctioned homeless camp at Centennial Campground a “humanitarian crisis.” This year, the leftists on the Anchorage Assembly want to create several of them — one in every neighborhood in Alaska’s largest city.
The sanctioned camp plan is the subject of an Anchorage Assembly work session on Friday, held at City Hall, 632 W. Sixth Ave. There are two meetings listed on the calendar having to do with the homeless plans: the first starting at 10:50 am in Room 155, and the second at 1 pm. on the 8th floor in the mayor’s conference room.
Also, three Assembly-hosted town halls to present the the “Clean Slate Strategy” to house homeless will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Monday.
The Clean Slate Strategy is the process the leftist Assembly approved in March to come to a decision on a new permanent year-round low-barrier shelter this year.
This, after the Assembly refused to erect a navigation center that it approved and that would have been available before winter set in last fall. The Assembly majority did not want to allow Mayor Dave Bronson to have a win on the homeless issue, and thus, the homeless spent the winter in the Sullivan Arena.
“I invite all members of our community to come to these town halls and let your voice be heard,” said Felix Rivera, District 4 Assembly Member and Chair of the Assembly’s Housing and Homelessness Committee. “These town halls will kick off the next phase of the Clean Slate Strategy where we will be talking about shelter, criteria for shelter, and what shelter should look like in the Municipality of Anchorage.”
The town halls are:
Friday, June 2 5:30-8:30 pm Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street Wilda Marston Theatre
District 1, North Anchorage | Vacant Land that was formerly Viking Drive from Reeve Blvd. to Commercial Dr. Total capacity: 50 to 75 individuals Start date: May 31, 2023 Closure date: August 1, 2023 Structure: Tents Population: Single adults Model: Low barrier
District 3, West Anchorage | Clitheroe Center Total capacity: 30 to 40 individuals Start date: May 31, 2023 Closure date: September 1, 2024 Structure: Cars and tents Population: Single adults Model: Dry, i.e. non-substance use
District 4, Midtown | 40th and Denali, i.e. National Archives site Total capacity: 50 to 75 individuals Start date: June 19, 2023 Closure date: September 1, 2024 Structure: Tents; transition to Pallet Shelters and tiny homes Population: Single adults Model: Low barrier
District 5, East Anchorage | Centennial Park Campground Total capacity: 50 to 75 individuals Start date: May 31, 2023 Closure date: September 4, 2023 Structure: Tents limited only to established campsites Population: Single adults Model: Low barrier with structured supports; transition to an intentional camp
District 6, South Anchorage | 1805 Academy Drive Total capacity: 20 to 40 individuals Start date: May 31, 2023 Closure date: Year-round operation until such time as the building can no longer be occupied Structure: ASD relocatable buildings and rooms in the building Population: Current population staying at the Sullivan Arena Model: Low barrier with structured supports
On Tuesday, Assemblyman Randy Sulte, Assemblyman Kevin Cross and Mayor Dave Bronson have a resolution on the regular Assembly meeting agenda to commit $7 million to build a shelter and navigation center near the intersection of Tudor and Elmore Roads.
It’s a scaled back version of Mayor Bronson’s navigation center plan, which the Assembly refuses to pay for. Roger Hickel Contracting is now suing the city to get paid for the work he did on the building site.
The Sulte-Cross-Bronson resolution will be the subject of a public hearing and vote at the Assembly’s June 6 meeting:
