Pre-filed bills released and there are big ones: Repealing Ballot Measure 2, gold and silver as legal tender, and more

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The first release of bills is now available for the public to see in advance of the Legislature, which convenes next week in Juneau. The list includes all manner of legislation, from making gold and silver coins acceptable as legal tender in Alaska, to prohibiting discrimination against Israel in state contracts, to making gay marriage legally recognized through a constitutional amendment, and moving the legislative session to the road system.

Two bills in the House would repeal 2020’s Ballot Measure 2, which dismantled the normal primary voting in Alaska and enacted ranked choice voting in the general election, leading to the lowest voter turnout in decades in Alaska. Reps. George Rauscher of Sutton and Sarah Vance of Homer offered similar bills, here and here. Sen. Mike Shower introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

Democrat Rep. Andy Josephson has a joint resolution, HJR 1, proposing voters be given the chance to repeal Article I, sec. 25, of the Alaska Constitution. Section 25 was added by voters in 1998 and says that same-sex marriages are not recognized by the State.

Sen. David Wilson has filed SB 8, a bill to remove the “certificate of need” clause from law, which inhibits competition in health care in Alaska. Certificates of need prevent hospitals and clinics from providing care.

SB 19 by Sen. Scott Kawasaki of Fairbanks would move Alaska to a mail-in election system. Kawasaki has another bill, SB 17, that would limit campaign contributions to certain political entities to $700 a year.

SJR 1 by Sen. Bill Wielechowski would ask voters if they want to put the Permanent Fund dividend in the Alaska Constitution under one of the Constitution’s guaranteed rights.

SJR 2 by Sen. Shelley Hughes would ask voters to make it clear that they don’t want the state paying for abortions: “To protect human life, nothing in this constitution may be construed to secure or protect a right to an abortion or require the State to fund an abortion.”

Check back at Must Read Alaska for stories about these bills and others in coming days.

Other bills filed:

HB 1REPEAL BALLOT MEASURE 2 VOTING CHGSREPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER
HB 2CONTRACTS: PROHIBIT ISRAEL DISCRIMINATIONREPRESENTATIVE VANCE
HB 3GOLD AND SILVER SPECIE AS LEGAL TENDERREPRESENTATIVE MCCABE
HB 4ELECTIONS: REPEAL BALLOT MEASURE 2REPRESENTATIVE VANCE
HB 5HOLD LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS IN ANCHORAGEREPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER
HB 6PUBLIC SCHOOLS; OPIOID AWARENESS PROGRAMREPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER
HB 7OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGSREPRESENTATIVE HANNAN
HB 8ELECTRIC-ASSISTED BICYCLESREPRESENTATIVE CARRICK
HB 9ADD FACULTY MEMBER UNIV BOARD OF REGENTSREPRESENTATIVE CARRICK
HB 10UNIVERSITY: TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS COSTREPRESENTATIVE CARRICK
HB 11CRIME: ASSAULT IN THE PRESENCE OF A CHILDREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 12MUNICIPAL REGULATION OF TRAPPINGREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 13APPLICABILITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 14AGGRAVATING FACTORS AT SENTENCINGREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 15PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING PROGRAMREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 16MEDICAID OPTIONAL SVCS & COST CONTAINMENTREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 17CONTRACEPTIVES COVERAGE:INSURE;MED ASSISTREPRESENTATIVE CARRICK
HB 18FISHERY DEVELOPMENT ASSOC.; ASSESSMENTSREPRESENTATIVE STUTES
HB 19REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTIONREPRESENTATIVE STUTES
HB 20CONFLICT OF INTEREST: BD FISHERIES/GAMEREPRESENTATIVE STUTES
HB 21SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURREPRESENTATIVE VANCE
HB 22PEACE OFFICER/FIREFIGHTER RETIRE BENEFITSREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HB 23FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTHREPRESENTATIVE MINA
HB 24GOV APPOINT BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF AK BARREPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER
HB 25PFD ELIGIBILITY UNIFORMED SERVICESREPRESENTATIVE STORY
HB 26COUNCIL FOR ALASKA NATIVE LANGUAGESREPRESENTATIVE STORY
HB 27DESIGNATE SEX FOR SCHOOL-SPONSORED SPORTSREPRESENTATIVE MCKAY
HB 28ACCESS TO MARIJUANA CONVICTION RECORDSREPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT
HB 29INSURANCE DISCRIMINATIONREPRESENTATIVE MCCABE
HB 30OBSERVE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ALL YEARREPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ
HB 31AK PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP; ELIGIBILITYREPRESENTATIVE STORY
HB 32OIL & GAS WORKING GROUP; APPEALSREPRESENTATIVE MCKAY
HB 33OIL SPILLS/POLLUTION:PENALTIES;PREVENTIONREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
HJR 1CONST. AM: REPEAL MARRIAGE SECTIONREPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON
SB 1ELECTIONS: BALLOT, VOTING, SECURITYSENATOR SHOWER
SB 2REPEAL BALLOT MEASURE 2 VOTING CHGSSENATOR SHOWER
SB 3HEALTH INS. INFO.; INCENTIVES/AGREEMENTSSENATOR HUGHES
SB 4LEGISLATIVE ETHICS: BINDING VOTESSENATOR SHOWER
SB 5VOTER REGISTRATIONSENATOR SHOWER
SB 6VOTING MACHINES AND VOTE TALLY SYSTEMSSENATOR SHOWER
SB 7ELECTION INTERFERENCE, FRAUD, MISCONDUCTSENATOR SHOWER
SB 8REPEAL CERTIFICATE OF NEED PROGRAMSENATOR WILSON
SB 9ALASKA SUNSET COMMISSIONSENATOR HUGHES
SB 10HUNTING/TRAPPING/FISHING: DISABLED VETSSENATOR KIEHL
SB 11TEACHERS & PUB EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT PLANSSENATOR KIEHL
SB 12ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAMSENATOR KIEHL
SB 13UNIVERSITY: TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS COSTSENATOR MYERS
SB 14RIP FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES/TEACHERSSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 15PERSONAL USE FISHING PRIORITYSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 16AK COMMUNITY HEALTH AIDE APPRECIATION DAYSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 17CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONSSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 18ALLOW ELECTRONIC DRIVERS’ LICENSES AND IDSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 19ELECTIONS; BALLOTSSENATOR KAWASAKI
SB 20APPROPRIATION LIMIT; GOV BUDGETSENATOR KAUFMAN
SB 21STRATEGIC PLANS FOR STATE AGENCIESSENATOR KAUFMAN
SB 22PROCLAIM JUNETEENTH DAY A HOLIDAYSENATOR GRAY-JACKSON
SB 23LAW ENFORCEMENT: REGISTRY; USE OF FORCESENATOR GRAY-JACKSON BY REQUEST
SB 24PUBLIC SCHOOLS: MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATIONSENATOR GRAY-JACKSON
SB 25REPEALING FUNDS, ACCOUNTS, AND PROGRAMSSENATOR KAUFMAN
SB 26LICENSE PLATES: FALLEN PEACE OFFICERSSENATOR KAUFMAN
SB 27CONTRACEPTIVES COVERAGE:INSURE;MED ASSISTSENATOR CLAMAN
SB 28WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIVE ORDERSSENATOR CLAMAN
SB 29CIVICS EDUCATION; EST AK CVCS ED COMMSENATOR STEVENS
SB 30FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTHSENATOR GRAY-JACKSON
SJR 1CONST AM: GUARANTEE PERM FUND DIVIDENDSENATOR WIELECHOWSKI
SJR 2CONST. AM: ABORTION/FUNDINGSENATOR HUGHES
SJR 3CONST. AM: APPROP LIMITSENATOR MYERS
SJR 4CONST. AM: APPROP LIMITSENATOR KAUFMAN

23 COMMENTS

  1. Repeal the unconstitutional Ballot Measure 2: absolutely yes!
    .
    Make gold and silver legal tender in Alaska: a wise move, in preparation for the inevitable collapse of the US dollar, and of fiat currency more generally.
    .
    Scott Kawasaki’s state-wide mail-in voting bill: To the round file ASAP! (along with anything else ever proposed by this duplicitous radical leftist).

  2. SB19 is every democrats dream.. Not surprised a democrat would put that forward. One day the voters in Squarebanks will realize Kawasaki is a idiot..

  3. Why do the Democrats put up with Wielechowski, the PFD’s biggest supporter?
    Doesn’t he realize that Dems need that money to go to our public “servants” first & foremost, to buy votes in ANC, FBX & JUNO from our public union members?

  4. Gold is good, Mccabe is ahead of the bitcoin curve!!! The pyramids did not have cryptocurrency in them and all through time people lean back on gold and silver to have the true currency in their hand and not scattered through digital worlds? One good Solar flare and you will be back to the real currency in a hurry, A lot of banks and countries have been buying up gold in the last year and it’s gonna go up as well as silver too???⏳

  5. We don’t need most of these new rules as we have enough rules from our government already. We need honest people making sound choices for Alaskans to live free and prosper. No more lying and theft of our rights PFD and personal information would be a start.

  6. There is both good and bad in this line up. In my book, repealing Ballot Measure 2 is a priority! Measure 2 is what illegally placed the communist Murkowski, back in office. It is unconstitutional and steals the will of the people. Gay marriage is already legal and recognized, placing it in the Constitution will endanger faith-based organizations that oppose Gay Marriage. They will use it like a legal bludgeoning tool to go after opposition. State funds should never be used to snuff out the life of a future Alaskan. Blanket mail-in voting is unconstitutional and will allow rampant fraud. Very dangerous! Allowing the use of Gold and Silver as legal tender is a smart move because the backed by nothing Petro-dollar is on its death bed.

  7. No mail in only voting. Too much fraud and Juneau already has the secret building for vote tabulation which should be shut down for transparency sake.

  8. Eliminating rank choice voting and stopping any attempts at going ‘all mail in’ for voting MUST be top priorities. If we cannot have secure elections, nothing else matters.

  9. When are they gonna do what they really wanna do? Pass an amendment making elections a thing of the past.

    Just mirror our alleged judicial system and pick the people they want in the legislature themselves. No need to bother with silly things like elections.

  10. I ‘second’ the comments of Quickster, Jefferson, and Zack, above. Let’s add: suspend the voting franchise for five years for anyone convicted of misdemeanor DUI, domestic violence, shoplifting, and perhaps some other misdemeanor crimes. Burglary, vehicle theft, simple felony assaults (including DUI hit-and-run and/or injury), PFD fraud, etc – ten years. Felony assault with a deadly weapon and murder, lifetime. Voting is a right that must be carefully reserved to citizens who obey the laws.

  11. Muni regulation of Trapping? Like the Board of Game isn’t sensitive to communities across the State already?
    Who wastes time on stupid stuff like this? Pick up the F & G Regulations and discover that communities across the State have protections put in place within their jurisdiction.
    Just Wait until some Beavers move in and begin axing Mom’s Pie Cherry Trees, or that darned Martin kills the Neighbors Chickens , who you gonna call? Joe Josephson? Good Luck with that.

    • Robert, I was really surprised to see a marten, bold as can be and in broad daylight, at the bottom of my driveway out in Peters Creek last year. I had no idea that they were living this close to Los Anchorage!

Comments are closed.