Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has asked the Legislature to suspend the State motor fuel taxes until next June, in an amendment to House Bill 104.
“With rising inflation eroding the financial bedrock of Alaskan homes and businesses, something must be done to alleviate the economic hardship facing our state,” wrote Dunleavy in his letter to the House.
Under State statute, a tax of .08 cents a gallon is levied on all motor fuel sold or transferred within the state, and smaller taxes are levied on fuel for aviation and watercraft.
Oil prices have skyrocketed since Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine began more than two weeks ago and have destabilized global energy markets, which in turn have increased oil tax revenues for the State.
“The misery wrought from these worldwide events is, indirectly, propelling the revenues to Alaska’s State government,” Dunleavy wrote. “Oil prices are at record levels, and, unlike the high oil price environment of 2007-2014, this climb is occurring with concurrent increases in all costs of living. The transfer of wealth from Alaskans to the State Treasury must have some equitability restored to it.”
“This amendment would immediately suspend the collection of tax on motor and marine fuels, aviation gas, and aviation jet fuel until June 30, 2023. This action, if approved by the Legislature, would bring direct tax relief at the gas pump for Alaskan families and businesses and help contain the costs of goods shipped within the state,” he wrote.
Some of the proceeds from the fuel tax are for State Dept. of Transportation expenditures or matches for federal highway funds for maintenance of highways, construction of highways and ferries.
Last year, the Alaska House Transportation Committee state voted to double the 8-cent fuel tax to 16 cents, and to also increase the .95-cent surcharge that is added to the tax.
We all as parents share a common, yet strikingly dominant and emotional, sentiment. It is one of our most true imperatives. Through the centuries of civilization, every parent’s goal was a singular commitment to ensure their children had better opportunities for their future than they had. When this happened, what resulted was not just a better life, but a better society.
In 1931, Albert Jay Nock, “The Theory of Education in the United States,” in his lectures to University of Virginia students, stated, “This sentiment, I say, served as a quickening spirit, not an enlightening spirit. Its ministrations moved us to the construction, by no means deliberate but quite at haphazard, of an educational theory which may be decomposed into three basic ideas or principles. The first idea was that of equality; the second, that of democracy; and the third idea was that the one great assurance of good public order and honest government lay in a literate citizenry.”
Nock continued, “I need not remind you of Mr. Jefferson’s passionate faith in this third idea, and his insistence upon it in season and out of season. It was in his day a speculative idea, which commanded quite wide consent among thoughtful persons, but which the subsequent test of practice has rather tended to explode. These three ideas are the fundamental ones in our theory of education today, precisely as they were in Mr. Jefferson’s time. They remain unmodified, and even, as I said, unexamined; they are taken as axiomatic, and all the mechanism of our system, the whole of our pedagogical practice from the primary school to the university, is built upon them.”
What happened to Thomas Jefferson’s American theory of education that produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries some of our greatest minds?
Nock saw in 1931 that socialism happened.
In the new decades of the 20th Century, socialism became the government manipulated arbitrary division and redistribution of the nation’s wealth and industry among the American people through tax doctrine. This tax doctrine (income and property) transformed our population’s behavioral fabric by slow marination. It did not offer option, opt-out nor constraint. Over time, this further instilled ignorance and misinformation regarding our constitutional republic. It produced an overwhelming popular misunderstanding resulting in self-interested government largess, especially in government education.
The examination of the first principle, equality, in our government educational system metamorphized from the founder of the University of Virginia’s espousal of performance basis to an artificial mechanism where every student gets a trophy.
What of the second principle, democracy? Our education system is intended to be democratic. The definition of democracy was transformed.
As with the current corruption of the philosophically sound doctrine of equality, Nock saw the transformation of the definition of democracy as “something even stranger and more interesting, a perversion upon a perversion.”
Today, the public policy of regulating and influencing behavior is critical for governments. Instead of the bottom-up goal of our constitutional republic starting with individual rights through a local government process leading to better freedoms, government has invented top-down restraints on every facet of the public’s lives. Governments employ several tools such as legislation, sanctions, regulations, taxes, and subsidies to change and modify public behavior.
Government policy should mean actual resource allocation presented by projects and programs designed to respond to actual problems and challenges requiring government action for their solution, instead of the knee jerk reactions to projected and unproven problems and challenges we see our government, local, state, and federal, acting with blind imminence and our captive participation.
The birth of our nation was founded upon the right of individual self-expression in politics. At the core of this 18th Century political theory was that those who vote, rule. The vote was considered the best appliance to actualize this right of individual self-expression. Through voting, democracy becomes the outcome of counting ballots. This democratically determines power and control over the political apparatus. Democracy was intended political status.
However, we live in a constitutional republic. Over time and the confusion of terms, our behavior changed to accepting that fact that everybody voted democratically, hence we live in a democracy.
Moreover, because of this confusion of terms, today’s democracy has shifted from purely political convention to a collective controlling economics. Our current perception of democracy demonstrates how the management and administration of government properties affects public behavior.
It is not the democracy of political outcome. Like the common areas of a condominium and the cost to operate them, this became the purpose of today’s democracy. A bond issue to build a new government school or a candidate for government office to better control ideological intent are regarded as our obligation, instead of our nation’s original focus of lesser government and our obligation to preserve that limited government for our future generations. The democracy of economics is now the goal of the outcome of counting ballots, not the democracy of politics. With a perversion of the Golden Rule, those, who have the gold, rule.
The opposite of republicanism is monarchy, but monarchy is not the opposite of democracy. The opposite of democracy is absolutism, in other words, tyranny. Tyranny can control a republican regime just like any other. Because everybody voted, our constitutional republic is now termed a democracy. We see this as normalcy. The evidence of this confusion is a modern-day social predicate.
Thus, democracy is not a matter of an extension of the ballot. It is not a matter of the individual citizen’s right of self-expression in politics. It is no longer the political philosophy of the eighteenth century regarded nor intended.
Today’s democracy is not political status. It is the economic adjusting of government property by dissolving the distribution of ownership funneled into a collective political class, the elected and the non-elected bureaucracy, using tax and regulatory restraints on the country’s voters. This collective political class is obliged through the fundamentals of the new definition of democracy not to bear the responsibility nor accountability of ownership, only to produce outrage and crises for the purposes of maintaining the power center of government. Socialism avoids individual responsibility and accountability, which are the foundation of liberty, and promotes the increases and controls using top-down government economic policy.
If elected government leaders cannot be responsible and accountable for their actions over and above the election process and the policies created, then they avoid any consequence for results. With time their lack of results is forgotten, leading to a general disorientation and planned confusion.
Crises-induce resentment and outrage as well as fear and discontent. Today’s democracy is transformative by intent to include resentment and outrage. Yesterday’s democracy is neither remembered nor practiced. Those who dedicated their lives to figuring out the human quagmire of civilized designs are now forgotten or ignored.
The result at present and as Nock notes in 1931, “As the popular idea of equality postulates that in the realm of the spirit everybody is able to enjoy everything that anybody can enjoy, so the popular idea of democracy postulates that there shall be nothing worth enjoying for anybody to enjoy that everybody may not enjoy; and a contrary view is at once exposed to all the evils of a dogged, unintelligent, invincibly suspicious resentment.”
When looking at our own state constitution, how would the Alaska constitutional delegates have reacted to the founder of American education theory?
Michael Tavoliero is a realtor in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and past chair of Eaglexit.Part III of this series will be posted shortly.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Friday that halts imports of Russian seafood, vodka, and non-industrial-use diamonds. The White House statement says this will include more than $1 billion in revenues to Russian entities.
Biden’s order also stops U.S. exports of luxury items to anyone in Russia. Other leaders from G7 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union will also announce similar actions, the White House said.
“These actions will collectively ramp up pressure on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and build on the unprecedented package of economic sanctions and export controls the United States and over 30 countries have already imposed on Russia. Today, the ruble is trading at its weakest level ever and is worth less than a penny; the Russian stock market is closed for the longest time in history; the Russian government’s credit rating has been downgraded to ‘junk’ status, and we’re seeing a mass exodus from Russia by the private sector – the result of our historic, multilateral coordination and commitment to ensure that Putin’s war of choice is a strategic failure. Russia has now become a global economic and financial pariah,” Biden’s statement said.
Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has been pressuring the White House over the course of three administrations — Obama, Trump, and Biden — to enact such a ban on Russian seafood imports.
“Although this unfair and non-reciprocal seafood trade relationship between the United States and the Russian Federation has been harming our fishermen for far too long, I appreciate that the Biden administration has recognized the need to rectify it, and support the thousands of hard-working fishermen across the country and in Alaska,” Sullivan said. “Just in the past few weeks, I’ve had detailed discussions with President Biden’s National Security Advisor and U.S. Trade Representative on this important topic—including just yesterday.”
According to the White House, the sanctions include:
Revoking Russia’s Most-Favored Nation Status. President Biden will work closely with Congress to deny Russia the benefits of its WTO membership and ensure that Russian imports do not receive most favored nation treatment in our economy. The United States Congress has demonstrated bipartisan leadership to revoke Permanent Normal Trade Relations for Russia, and President Biden looks forward to signing a bill into law. Together with similar actions by the G7, following our respective national processes, this collective action by more than half of the global economy will deliver another serious economic blow to Russia.
Denying Borrowing Privileges at Multilateral Financial Institutions. The G7 Leaders will agree to ensure Russia cannot obtain financing from the leading multilateral financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Russia cannot grossly violate international law and expect to benefit from being part of the international economic order.
Full blocking Sanctions on Additional Russian Elites and their Family Members. This includes Yuri Kovalchuk, executives of banks we have sanctioned, and Duma members who sponsored legislation to recognize the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic.” This action will follow up on multiple efforts, along with those of our allies and partners, to target Russian elites and their family members who are profiting from this war of choice, and cuts them off from the U.S. financial system, freezes any assets they hold in the United States and blocks their travel to the United States. We will work through the international task force announced on February 26 to pursue the ill-gotten gains of these elites.
Banning Export of Luxury Goods to Russia. President Biden will sign an Executive Order (E.O) that will end the exportation of luxury items to any person located in the Russian Federation. This will ensure that U.S. persons are not providing luxury items, such as high end-watches, luxury vehicles, high-end apparel, high-end alcohol, jewelry, and other goods frequently purchased by Russian elites. The U.S. export value of the products covered by today’s luxury goods restrictions is nearly $550 million per year. The elites who sustain Putin’s war machine should no longer be able to reap the gains of this system and squander the resources of the Russian people.
Banning U.S. Import of Goods from Several Signature Sectors of Russia’s Economy. President Biden’s E.O. will also prohibit the import of goods from several signature sectors of Russia’s economy – including seafood, spirits/vodka, and non-industrial diamonds. This will deny Russia more than $1 billion in export revenues and ensure U.S. citizens are not underwriting Putin’s war. The United States retains the authority to impose additional import bans as appropriate.
New guidance by the Department of Treasury to Thwart Sanctions Evasion, including through Virtual Currency. The Department of the Treasury, through new guidance, will continue to make clear that Treasury’s expansive actions against Russia require all U.S. persons to comply with sanctions regulations regardless of whether a transaction is denominated in traditional fiat currency or virtual currency. Treasury is closely monitoring any efforts to circumvent or violate Russia-related sanctions, including through the use of virtual currency, and is committed to using its broad enforcement authorities to act against violations and to promote compliance.
Creating the Authority to Ban New Investment in Any Sector of the Russian Federation Economy. President Biden has already banned new U.S. investments in the Russian energy sector. This E.O. will establish the legal authority for future investment restrictions in any sector of the Russian economy, as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, by a United States person.
On Feb. 21, Biden issued an earlier executive order with numerous economic sanctions against Russia, which has since stepped up its attacks on Ukraine. That prior order is at this link.
Photo: On June 16, 2021, President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva to discuss pressing issues including strategic stability and arms control, ransomware attacks, human rights, and Ukraine. Photo by Russian government.
Hours after the U.S. House passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill, the U.S. Senate also passed the bill. But at 2,700 pages, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said it was too long of a bill, with less than a day for senators to review, and he voted no. Sullivan is known for carefully reading bills that he votes on.
“There’s a lot in this bill that I support and have been strongly advocating for, including items I authored, like the Choose Respect Act and a section to implement the electronic delivery of protective orders, both contained in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) title of the bill. This bill also contains some important Alaska priorities and infrastructure projects that I strongly support. The bill’s robust funding for our military and national defense is an important achievement—something I advocated for strongly—particularly when compared to the president’s budget request that cut defense spending. I have also consistently supported increased lethal and humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian people. In fact, I am an original cosponsor of a standalone bill to provide this critically-needed support for Ukraine,” Sullivan said.
“However, this is a more than $1.5 trillion dollar bill, negotiated and agreed to only by House and Senate leadership, and their staff. It is 2,700 pages long, with thousands more pages in supporting documentation, and senators were provided a little over one day to review and analyze it. Therefore, I could not support such a bill on which my staff and I were unable to do our appropriate and necessary due diligence. We need to fix our broken budget process that does not serve our military, government or the American people well.”
Sullivan departed ways with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted in favor of the package, and Congressman Don Young, who was one of 29 Republicans in the House who voted in favor of the spending package.
There is a common refrain on the left that is based on the idea of empathy.
Some on the right like to poke fun at leftists by calling them “bleeding hearts” or “snowflakes.” But there is something about empathy that makes us human. Empathy is one of the great appeals of the messaging from the left. Most people want to think of themselves as loving, compassionate, and full of empathy.
Homelessness is a key issue where this dynamic plays out. You see the man on the street and your heart goes out to him. You feel better about yourself if you give him some cash you have on hand, whether or not such an act would really lead to a great outcome for that individual.
Research has shown that empathy is good in reasonable doses, but unbridled human empathy causes us to lose our grip on rational thought.
In one study, people were presented fictional stories with real faces attached. The most empathetic members of the study group placed themselves in their shoes and, consequently, were willing to do almost anything within their power to alleviate the pain of the person with which they identified.
Participants were moved so much by the story that they voted to move the fictionally unwell patient up in line to get medical treatment, regardless of others who may have been even more needy or deserving and waiting in line for that same treatment. The study also showed that those who showed high empathy were also more likely to hurt others if it meant helping the one for whom they felt empathy.
TV shows play to our sense of empathy as we watch the stories of unknown performers getting catapulted into stardom. We care enthusiastically for their success because we’ve invested ten minutes watching their story. When we put ourselves in the place of others, that emotion can get us to do amazing and seemingly selfless things, whether rational or not.
Identity politics plays upon our thirst for empathy. If we can identify a people group: a minority, misunderstood, or underprivileged group as deserving of empathy, we can get people bend over backwards to do whatever we suggest that they do for that people group. This can be used for good purposes like charity fundraising, but it can also be used to manipulate people into a mindset of toxic tribalism— elevating one particular people group at the expense of all others.
The homeless are an example of one people group that often get lumped together. But in reality, people experiencing homeless are not one single monolith of people with one single story. Each homeless person has a story— a reason for being without a home. In fact, a person can identify as homeless one day and not the next day. Some are peaceful, some are violent. Some are healthy— others have mental illness or participate in substance abuse.
Playing identity politics may be effective at winning elections, but it’s lousy for actually solving complex problems. Identity politics trigger our baser emotion of empathy, which makes us feel good about what we’re doing, but little more. If we’re not careful, it can enable and perpetuate the same problem we are trying to solve.
Instead of merely ramping up our empathy with identity politics, we need to shift our mindsets to compassion. If empathy is a magnifying glass, compassion sees with a wide angle lens. A compassionate stance sees the need of different individuals, but is also able to hold those needs in tension with the needs of others. A compassionate person can look at a person experiencing pain and feel for them, but also remain cognizant of the problems that might have caused that pain. A compassionate person is able to discern whether an individual needs a hand up or some tough love.
When we look through an “empathy-only” lens, we tend to want to solve an immediate felt need without addressing the underlying issues. A true solution-oriented person will not be satisfied with mere empathy. They will only be satisfied when true progress is made toward enduring solutions—solutions that work not only for one people group, but for all the people in the community.
If you live in east Anchorage and want a strong voice of reason who will see our city’s issues from a lens of thoughtful compassion, join me in voting for Stephanie Taylor for Assembly District 5! A quote from Stephanie’s website says this, “By responding with both compassion and accountability, we can reduce crime and homelessness.” Stephanie Taylor is not just talk— she is the real change we so desperately need for our city.
Leigh Sloan is campaign director for Stephanie Taylor for Assembly, District 5.
Alaska Congressman Don Young voted in support of the FY 2022 Appropriations Omnibus on Wednesday night, legislation that funds the federal government until Sept. 30. The bill passed with the support of 29 Republicans who voted in favor of it. The bill now moves to the Senate stripped of the Covid-19 response funds that were holding up passage in the House.
The bill includes $13.6 billion in emergency funding to support Ukraine in the country’s defense against Russia President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The bill reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act and implements a new provision based on Congressman Young’s successful tribal justice demonstration program. Congressman Young successfully secured numerous earmarks for Alaska.
Young released the following statement:
“One of Congress’ most fundamental constitutional duties is to appropriate money to keep the government open. Last night, I voted in support of the FY 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Act. Very frankly, this legislation was a long time coming. We are now over five months into Fiscal Year 2022. Because the House Democrat majority lacks strong, decisive leadership, we have been funding our federal obligations through a patchwork of band-aid fixes and continuing resolutions. We cannot continue kicking the can down the road. I have worked hard to break through the partisanship and set us on a path of longer-term stability. I am pleased that the omnibus we passed last night will keep our government open, do right by the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, help our allies in Ukraine, reauthorize VAWA, and support vital projects across the great State of Alaska. Additionally, the omnibus provides the appropriations necessary to support the essential operations of the United States Coast Guard and fully funds the historic investments created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Finally, I am proud to have secured ten earmarks for specific projects in Alaska. These earmarks provide support for initiatives relating to the Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Lowell Creek Flood Diversion project, the Kodiak fire station, Covenant House’s Bridge to Success Program, and more. For too long, my colleagues and I have been unable to directly request funding for specific projects in our districts. Here is the truth: the decade-long ban on ‘earmarks’ served only to shift Congress’ rightful power to appropriate money to the Executive Branch while denying needed funds to local organizations. While earmarks have returned on a limited basis, I will continue to advocate for the full restoration of the Article I powers of Congress. This omnibus funds the government until September 30th, and it is crucially important that Congress steps up to govern on behalf of our constituents. Ahead of the next fiscal year, I will continue working hard to prevent government shutdowns and pass all individual appropriations bills through regular order. We owe it to the American people to provide fiscal certainty and get our nation on sound economic footing,” Young said.
Young’s office offered the highlights of the bill of interest to Alaska:
Community Project Funding Requests (Earmarks) Secured by Congressman Young:
· The Tongass Sewer Force Main Rehabilitation Phase II – Jefferson St to Pump Station 4: $1,250,000
· Lowell Creek Tunnel Flood Diversion, Army Corps of Engineers: $3,000,000
· Covenant House Bridge to Success Program: $500,000
· Village Within a City, North Pacific Rim Housing Authority and Chugach Heritage Foundation: $3,000,000
· Kiana Fire Emergency Response and Equipment Building: $3,350,000
· City of Kodiak’s Fire Station: $7,000,000
· University of Alaska Fairbanks – Kuskokwim Health Sciences Facility Health Facilities Construction and Equipment: $2,000,000
· Aleutians East Borough, Cold Bay Clinic Replacement Project: $2,000,000
· Salmon and People: Engaging Diverse Communities in Stewardship of Wild Salmon in Cook Inlet: $750,000
Denali Commission:
The bill provides $15.1 million for the Denali Commission. When combined with the $75 million secured for the Denali Commission in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the total funding level for FY 2022 is $80.1 million.
Stevens Center:
$10 Million for the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.
Alaska Native Provisions Secured by Congressman Young:
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Education Funding
The omnibus includes $38 million for the Alaska Native Education Equity program, which is a $1.5 million increase from FY 2021.
The omnibus includes $21.3 million for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, $2.3 million more than FY 2021.
Native Housing Programs
$1 billion for Native housing programs, an increase of $177 million from FY 2021, including:
$772 million for the Native American Housing Block Grant.
$150 million for the competitive Native American Housing Block Grant program.
$3 million for the Indian Housing Loan Guarantee program, an increase of $1 million from FY 2021.
Tribal Colleges and Universities Provisions
Under the Higher Education Act, $44 million for Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, $6 million more than FY 2021.
Under the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
$5.5 million to Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, a $1 million increase from FY 2021.
$4 million to Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions.
$3.5 million for the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program.
$21.5 million for the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA):
The bill includes $476.5 million, an increase of $78.7 million from FY 2021.
The bill also includes language for Alaskan Records. NARA is expected to complete the required consultations and report to Congress with 90 days of enactment.
The omnibus features language regarding the Sand Point NARA facility. NARA is directed to complete its digitization initiative and to post content currently stored at Sand Point online in an easy-to-find navigable and searchable platform, starting with the records identified as priorities in earlier consultations with Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal Organizations.
Fisheries:
• $187.5 million for fisheries data collections, surveys, and assessments, $13.8 million increase from FY 2021.
• $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
• $63.1 million for salmon management activities, $3.5 million increase from FY 2021.
• $142.8 million for marine mammals, sea turtles, and other species, $14.9 million increase from FY 2021.
United States Coast Guard Provisions:
$11.5 billion for the Coast Guard, $515.0 million above the FY 2021.
$2.0 billion for significant new investments in the Coast Guard’s air and marine fleet, and facilities, including:
Fast Response Cutters – $150 million
MH-60 helicopters – $200 million
Polar Security Cutter – $80 million
National Defense Provisions:
The omnibus provides a 2.7% military pay raise.
$50,000,000 is included to enhance Arctic Communications.
Congressman Young pushed for and secured an additional $3,000,000 invested for suicide prevention with a focus on rural, remote, and isolated locations.
Language advancing the creation of an Ambassador‐at‐Large for the Arctic Region or a U.S. Coordinator for the Arctic Region was included in the final bill.
Congressman Young advocated for and secured $90 million for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP).
Alaska Water Infrastructure:
$39 million for grants to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs of rural Alaska Native Villages.
$800,000 earmark for the City and Borough of Juneau for Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements.
$26.2 million to the Bureau of Land Management for Alaska conveyance.
$22 million for Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance.
Ports and Harbors:
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) Grants (formerly TIGER & BUILD Grants) – the bill provides $775 million for the program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $1.5 billion for the RAISE program for a total of $2.275 billion for FY 2022.
Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) – the bill provides $234 million for port infrastructure project. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $450 million for the PIPD program, for a record total of $684 million for FY 2022.
Nationally Significant Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA)Grants – the bill provides $1 billion for large infrastructure projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $3.2 billion in advanced appropriations for the program, resulting in a total of $1.64 billion for FY 2022.
Aviation:
Essential Air Service – the bill provides $350 million for the program which is a $208 million increase over the FY 2021.
Alaskan Aviation Safety – the bill provides $11.2 million for the FAA to assume ownership of Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) within the FAA Alaska region.
Housing:
$3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants.
$177 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.
$20 million for the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program.
The Transportation Security Administration has extended its mask mandate on buses, trains, planes, in airports and other public transportation areas until April 18.
But that’s not the end of the mandate. The extension is to give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to revise a policy for when the mask rule can be lifted.
The masking requirement on public transportation has been extended twice before, with the first expiration date in May of 2021. The most recent extension was due to end next Friday.
Last week, the Biden Administration said that wearing masks indoors is no longer recommended for most areas and for most people, after the number of Covid-19 cases has dropped after a surge of cases in January.
The Department of Labor’s monthly report shows that wages in Alaska grew by 11 percent since 2010. The majority of boroughs and census areas still have below-average wages.
Nearly all parts of the state saw some wage growth, but rates varied from a 48 percent increase in the Aleutians East Borough to a slight loss for the Lake and Peninsula Borough.
“If we exclude 2020 from the calculation, the increase through 2019 was just 3 percent. Although it might seem counterintuitive for a year of massive job loss, the pandemic boosted the average wage notably between 2019 and 2020 because of the types of jobs Alaska lost and the way the average annual wage is calculated,” the report says.
This is because the type of jobs lost were in the private sector during the pandemic, while government workers suffered no losses.
“Most jobs lost to COVID-19 were lower-wage, part-time positions in the service industries, pushing up the average wage for the remaining jobs,” the report explains. “For example, the average wage for the leisure and hospitality sector in 2020 was $25,164. These are mainly lower-paying, part-time jobs in entertainment, hotels, bars, and restaurants.”
Anyone could conclude that even though we have full employment today, and tourism is expected to crank up full bore and our commodities like oil, lead, gold and silver are up in price, if we don’t have private sector employers moving here, building new plants, etc. we do not have a relatively strong economy.
A bill that would remove the requirement for marriage witnesses moves to the Alaska House of Representative floor for a vote on Friday. HB 62 would eliminate the current requirement for two witnesses to sign a marriage certificate.
At present, couples must assent to the marriage in the presence of each other, the person solemnizing the marriage, and two additional witnesses. All five present parties must sign the marriage certificates. House Bill 62 would eliminate the requirements of any additional witnesses at the marriage solemnization and the signatures of these witnesses on marriage certificates. The bill is an effort to help support Alaska’s destination wedding industry.
According to the bill sponsor, Rep. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, Alaska is one of 20 states that require two wedding witnesses. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia do not require wedding witnesses.
View the laws in all states regarding marriage witness requirements at this link.
Claman argues that witnesses played a more critical role in past centuries when record keeping was less automated. Witnesses could be contacted to verify the wedding had taken place in the event that records were damaged or missing.
“Today, however, the role of a wedding witness is ceremonial. In Alaska, while the person solemnizing the marriage must meet certain criteria, no form of witness verification (proof of identification, language comprehension, address validation, etc.) is required. HB 62 would allow Alaska to compete with states like Hawaii and Florida, which require no wedding witnesses and lead the nation in destination weddings.”
In Alaska, witnesses are required for other legal activities, such as voting an absentee ballot.
Destination weddings are a growing business in Alaska, especially as couples opt for small, intimate ceremonies rather than large ones due to risks associated with Covid-19, Claman said. The requirement of two wedding witnesses makes Alaska a less attractive location for many who travel from farther away or who do not want the financial burden of a larger wedding, he said.
Destination weddings bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue to Alaska in the form of roughly 500 destination weddings a year, Claman said. “This revenue figure doesn’t consider the fact that more than 90% of the out-of-state couples who come to Alaska to get married stay for days and weeks to explore our great state. The resulting benefit to Alaska’s tourism industry is substantial,” he said. Claman filed the bill last year and it has taken one year to get it to the floor for a vote, where it faced several amendments on Wednesday.
If the bill passes on Friday it will be sent to the Senate for consideration.
