Tag Archive for: alaska

The unchecked leaks: Tax Loopholes, and Sliding Scale Credits

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]If our state were a car (of course, our state would never be a mere car, it would be a badass F-350 Ford truck with an obnoxious decal on the rearview window and a snowmachine in the back), but say it was an automobile of some kind, it would be wise for the operator to take heed of leaking fluid left on the ground in the parking lot – be it oil or be it antifreeze or any other toxic ooze from the underbelly. A sound and sober assessment would lead the driver to fix the leak so the engine did not blow up.  
We need the Alaska State Legislature to do this with the S-Corporation loophole that allows Hilcorp to reap huge profits in Alaska and pay no corporate income tax, taking all of the money back to Texas HQ. At the same time, our education system teeters in a funding crisis. Of even greater fiscal importance, the legislature needs to address the sliding scale tax credit it gives to oil companies that have already deprived the state of Billions in revenue that could have gone toward building up our state.
Alaska seems stuck in a strange acceptance of a condition that is not right or well or normal. We do not need to accept underfunded schools, leaky roofs, potholes up the wazoo, insignificant investments in renewable energy, bridges, ferry vessels, ports, libraries, and museums. We don’t need to be saved by federal investment (though it helps) – we have the tools to fix the problem, and we have the problem right in front of us seemingly every year since the passage of the abysmal SB 21 oil tax policy/blatant give-away/almost criminally insane financial maneuver.
The good news is that there are options for addressing the roughly $600 million budget deficit. Not all of them are politically realistic in the current zeitgeist – say zeroing out the permanent fund dividend or imposing a progressive income tax. Some are realistic, including requiring oil companies incorporated under IRS Code as S-Corporations, to pay state corporate income tax. The Department of Revenue has estimated this would bring an additional $47 to $61 million per year into state coffers. On the other hand, the oil tax credit system deprived the state of an estimated one Billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2022. Modifying the oil tax credit system through simple tweaks could bring in enough revenue to bridge the deficit gap. These changes could solve our deficit promptly instead of imposing a broad-based sales or income tax, which would take a few years to set up before the state would see increased revenue. The simplicity and the immediacy of this fiscal fix makes it essential.
Another reason to take note this year specifically – is that these changes are proposed in a bipartisan piece of legislation sponsored by the powerful Senate Rules Committee, SB 114. Rumor has it that many lawmakers and the Governor are keeping their ears open to the proposal. As the legislative session enters its final stretch, there seems to be some cohesion around the idea that something needs to happen on the fiscal front and that the oil and gas industry needs to be at the table providing solutions and helping with the hard work. SB 114 is a reasonably moderate proposal – it simply would have Hilcorp pay the same tax that the other majors, Exxon and Conoco, are already paying. It would not do away with tax credits. It reduces them and ties them directly to capital investment in Alaska. 
We know from history that nothing is straightforward regarding the oil tax code or any tax code for that matter. It is a cozy nest and a protective bramble for attorneys, accountants, and few others. Please expect that the legislature will be very deliberative when it comes to significant changes, not wanting to upset the status quo or break any eggs in the process. SB 114 might be just the ticket. It makes fiscal sense, gets us out of our deficit problem, and would make a rounding error dent in the profit of our major oil companies.  
Tell your Senator you support this fix, so Alaska can keep on Truckin’.
Vroom, Vroom,The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_button _id=”5″ ][cs_content_seo]Find Your Elected Officials’ Contact Info\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”6″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”7″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”8″ ][cs_element_button _id=”9″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_button _id=”11″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Our Piece of the Pie

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Getting a piece of the pie can be a great motivator for states. The sweet aroma is hard to resist when there is a $27 Billion pie to be allocated to energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, battery storage projects, and more. As the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act programs begin to spread across the nation, we can almost see Biden and his administration smiling at the kitchen window of the White House in the spring sun, wearing flour-dusted aprons.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled guidance on how states and nonprofit groups can apply for $27 billion in funding from a Green Bank that will provide low-cost financing for projects intended to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA expects to award $20 billion in competitive grants to as many as 15 nonprofit groups that will work with local banks and other financial institutions to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families. Another $7 billion will be awarded to states, Tribes, and municipalities to deploy a range of solar energy projects, including residential rooftop solar, community solar, and solar storage.

We are glad, then, that Alaska has chosen to go after new federal clean energy benefits in earnest and not die of deprivation on some hill of partisan spite while other states gobble up the positives. Alaska has, along with every other state in the United States (except the self-sabotaging states of Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kentucky), applied for funding under the EPA’s climate pollution reduction grant program, which will help our state lay the foundation for climate action. The Dunleavy Administration has also reprised a state Green Bank framework in legislation to position Alaska to receive federal start-up funding.

As a refresher, because The Alaska Center and our partners have supported its establishment in Alaska for many years now, a Green Bank is an entity established in state statute – but it can be established as a nonprofit – which facilitates public/private lending partnerships to move large scale clean energy projects forward. Having the support of government capital to take the risk out of private lending arrangements increases the security of large-scale loans and brings traditional financing entities to the table.

Last year, the Dunleavy Administration proposed establishing a Green Bank structure in the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). This put a lot of NGOs and Tribes on edge due to the lack of transparency in the AIDEA board decision-making process and the fact that AIDEA has invested heavily in questionable endeavors – buying up oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after no actual petroleum company found them economic, for instance. This time around, the Dunleavy Administration is proposing the state Green Bank be established in the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), a more trusted entity with a track record of overseeing numerous successful energy efficiency projects such as the Home Energy Efficiency Rebate Program, and the Weatherization Program.

Senate Bill 125 and House Bill 154 to establish a Green Bank for the state of Alaska were introduced on April 5th, and the House version received a hearing this week in the House Energy Committee. These bills do not specifically reference a Green Bank, choosing instead to call it the Alaska Energy Independence Fund, but the functions will be the same. The legislative findings at the beginning of the bill state it simply enough:

“The legislature finds that permitting the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to create a subsidiary to assist in the financing of sustainable energy development serves a public purpose benefiting the people of the state. The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is empowered to act on behalf of the state and its people in serving this public purpose for the benefit of the general public.”
This is a simple but key statement. Sustainable energy development will create jobs, make our communities more efficient, independent, and resilient, and will decrease carbon emissions. If that is not a public purpose benefiting the people, we don’t know what is.
We expect that with the immediacy of EPA funding for states, and the fact that having a Green Bank in place will put Alaska in a competitive position to receive additional grants, the legislature will approve this concept, if not this year than next. There will be arguments about the unacceptable amount of federal spending – arguments that ignore the future cost of federal spending on climate-related disaster relief, arguments that ignore the cost of the Trump tax cuts, and the trillions we spend on other programs like national defense. Overall, though, the benefit of this smart federal spending – and a legal structure that will lead to additional private lending – will win the day. Alaska can and should get a piece of the pie on its plate. We deserve it!

Happy Spring,
The Alaska Center

Wing-and-a-Prayer budgeting for DEC

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_button _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]TAKE ACTION: Tell your senator you oppose 404 Primacy\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_text _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hopes to sell the Alaska State Legislature on a costly program to take over responsibility for federal permitting of wetland development. This comes at a time when the legislature faces a deficit of between $400 and $600 million, depending on the level of funding they arrive at for a boost to our education system. It also comes when the state lacks any credible fiscal plan to bridge the deficit gap aside from drawing down savings accounts.
The program DEC hopes to burden the state with is called “Clean Water Act Section 404 primacy”. The 404 permitting program regulates the dredging and filling of wetlands and waterways for construction projects, including large mining projects, often in sensitive salmon habitat. The federal government handles this responsibility for (almost) all states because the federal government has the resources to do the vast and complicated job. States generally do not have the resources. Alaska definitely does not. Exhibit A) $½ Billion deficit and no fiscal plan. Three states: Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida have assumed 404 permitting primacy, and all of these states are having trouble maintaining them.
Under the Clean Water Act, a state can apply to take over the program if it can demonstrate that the state program is equivalent to the federal program. Already, the lowball cost estimates that DEC has provided make it clear that Alaska intends to take over the program and do the bare minimum to meet the federal requirements. Currently, the federal program requires 49 staff with an annual budget of $7.9 million. DEC has requested $5 million for a program run by 28 staff. The likelihood that an understaffed and underfunded state permitting program will do a lousy job and be hit with lawsuits is absolute. Part of the DEC’s rationale for wanting to assume the program is to “speed up” the permitting process. Remember that these are highly complex permits, often in sensitive salmon wetland habitat, in a state with the most wetland habitat. A state that is drawn together by salmon, if nothing else. The true cost of this program to state coffers has been grossly underestimated.
Lawmakers in the House Finance Committee saw the wisdom of denying the proposed $5 million increment increase to create a new DEC bureaucracy and took it out of the budget, allocating the money to a program that actually has a proven track record: Head Start. The budget then moved to the full House floor and the wild and wooly full House amendment process, where it was added back in through some clever political maneuvering on a vote of 18 against, 22 for. The hypocrisy is rich in lawmakers acceding to the creation of a new bureaucracy with only the vaguest idea about outcomes – especially those who bemoan “outcomes” in education while voting to starve that critical system.
If the idea is that DEC wetland permitting will improve economic outcomes for Alaska, one has to only look to our takeover of federal wastewater permitting. In the decade since we took over the responsibility for wastewater permitting, under the same rationale as today’s push for 404 primacy, our state’s economy has not been bolstered by more lax wastewater permitting. In fact, we have plummeted and are stubbornly at the bottom of most national rating systems as far as economic activity. The argument that assuming wetland permitting will ultimately pay for itself through increased permit issuance and permit fees is also a sham. Since DEC took over the federal wastewater permitting agency, funding has consistently dropped, causing many of its core programs to be severely underfunded. The legislature would do well by revisiting self-serving assumptions made by extractive industry boosters about the connection between permitting and the overall economy. To be open for business, a lot of actual choices will have to be made about broad-based individual taxes, closing corporate tax loopholes, and funding early childhood and social services programs. Creating a new state bureaucracy to craft shoddy development permits that will not protect salmon, will be constantly challenged in court, and will cost Alaskans well over the $5 million a year figure being foisted on the legislature (easily $10 million a year by some estimates) is no way to get there.
The state Senate still has yet to start working on its version of the operating budget. From there, the budget differences will be hashed out by House and Senate conference committees, so there remain plenty of opportunities to call on the legislature to remove the proposed money for DEC wetland permitting primacy. The fact that the House Finance Committee chose Head Start over creating more DEC bureaucracy should give us hope that many lawmakers in the Senate will choose the future instead of the past in their decision-making.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Tell Alaska’s legislators to protect our budget and defend our fisheries\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”9″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”10″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”11″ ][cs_element_button _id=”12″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_button _id=”14″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

The House xerox copies bad voting bills from the Senate super-minority

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A slew of bills pertaining to elections and voting saw airplay this week in the House State Affairs Committee. HB 1 intends to repeal Ranked Choice Voting/Open Primaries (bad), and HB 37 to institute ballot-curing, postage paid by mail envelopes, and a ballot tracking system (good) were heard on Tuesday and held in committee.

The House Judiciary Committee apparently believes that Senator Mike Shower – election denier par excellence, residing in one of the smallest conservative minorities in state history, should emerge from his sleepy senate backwaters to guide the work of a House standing committee. The House Judiciary Committee sponsored in rapid succession HB 129, HB 130, HB 131, and HB 132, which are all identical bills to those that Senator Shower prefiled earlier this session. They have a familiar theme: make it harder and more complicated for Alaskans to vote, elevate the phantasm of widespread voter fraud by toughening penalties for said offense, and give credence to the conspiracy that voting machines and vote tally systems were the cause of Donald Trump’s loss.

There are good faith changes that can be made to help Alaskans ensure that their votes are safe, secure, and counted. Ballot curing, ballot tracking, and a more robustly funded system for by-mail voting are good starting points. There is always room for improvement in our system.

The ever-sprawling, ever-shifting nature of conspiracy thinking makes good faith compromise challenging. Donald Trump tried to overthrow Democracy in America. Likely the majority of these bills would not have been introduced if he had prevailed, which is a tough pill to swallow when discussing compromise on voting reform measures. If a “reform” touted by a Trump supporter is based on empirically and legally wrong information, does it still get to play in the great field of legislative ideas? Apparently it does, considering the bills that House State Affairs is choosing to bring up. Whether it needs to become law is another question.

Ranked Choice Voting and Open Primaries won at the ballot box, decreased the power of political parties, and led to the largest field of mostly moderate freshmen lawmakers we have seen in decades. Those are factual statements. You can voice your support for RCV and against HB 1 here. When the House State Affairs Committee holds hearings on HB 1 to repeal RCV while hearing a slate of other bad voting bills, there is an implicit message that RCV is part of a greater conspiracy that the House Majority is addressing. We refute this idea, strenuously, because it is nonsense. Believe you me, we will fight any repeal attempt of RCV either in the legislature or at the ballot box with all available resources, strategies, tactics, and Alaskans we can muster.

The Senate Bi-Partisan supermajority has widely broadcasted that their agenda will focus toward the middle on education, retirement/employee retention, energy cost, and a few other issues. Only one of Senator Shower’s election bills has had a hearing in the Senate this session (after he consumed almost the entirety of his tenure last year as chair of Senate State Affairs on this type of bill). We don’t anticipate that there will be lots of patience in the Senate this year for the House’s posturing on their voting issues that are so profoundly suffused with the anti-democratic events of the recent past. While we’re hopeful, we encourage you to contact the legislature to let them know what you want to see.

Here’s to hoping,
The Alaska Center

Do Your Damnedest, and Fight

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With Representative David Eastman grabbing headlines as he is prone to through his outrageous, racist, stupid, dull, and performative statements, and with Senator Murkowski offering the sobering reminder that our great state is losing population like a deflating balloon, it is tempting to fall into the trap of the February blahs.

Take heart! The fact that the whole State House unanimously and rapidly condemned Eastman’s latest statements on the deaths of violently abused children is a sign that we have not lost our collective sanity. The fact that Education funding is top of mind with many lawmakers is a sign that we have an eye on the state’s future. The fact that a multipartisan caucus of first-year lawmakers has formed in the House and a mega-gigantic super bipartisan majority has formed in the Senate is important.

We have seen food security, bycatch reduction, and renewable energy become more than just vague talking points on the lips of our politicians over the past few years. We have seen our federal delegation come together to support broad infrastructure legislation. We have a new marine highway vessel in the works. The Pebble Mine has been set back significantly by the Environmental Protection Agency. Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples Day have just been added as Anchorage Municipal holidays. Things are looking up (perhaps we caught the eddy in the metaphorical climate change river rushing towards floods, searing heat waves, drought, pestilence, and swarms of insects).

Now is not the time to give up.

In the immortal lines of poet Robert Service, “You’re sick of the game!” Well, now, that’s a shame. You’re young, and you’re brave, and you’re bright. “You’ve had a raw deal!” I know — but don’t squeal, Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight. It’s the plugging away that will win you the day, So don’t be a piker, old pard! Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit: It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.
We will be back in Juneau next week, meeting with lawmakers on our priority Democracy legislation. The specific bills we are supporting are SB 19 and HB 37, which would require the Alaska Division of Elections would to provide stamped return envelopes for absentee ballots, automatically check voters’ signatures, allow voters to fix their absentee ballot signature if there’s a problem, and create a ballot-tracking system viewable by the public. While the effort to repeal our Ranked Choice Voting/Open Primary law will go nowhere in the legislature (but will be a significant fight as a ballot proposition), bills to protect voters’ rights are in the hopper. These must move forward to ensure that all votes, and all voices, are heard in these critical elections that will help rebuild our state.

We will also circle back with lawmakers on our priority clean energy legislation: extension of the Renewable Energy Fund, creation of a Community Solar law, a Renewable Portfolio Standard, and a Green Bank for Alaska. The passage of these bills will help us create the Alaska we want to see for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you for your support,
The Alaska Center

In the shadow of the clean energy wave

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Since the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last summer, there has been a sense that a great tsunami is brewing, originating in Washington D.C. (at the Department of Treasury, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other solemn bureaucratic bunkers) rumbling and growing and about to sweep across the nation with transformational power.
In the interim between the passage of the act and the process of developing rules and programs to implement the IRA, skeptics have filled the void with dark muttering about the cost (while ignoring the cost of the Trump tax cuts and ignoring the cost of doing nothing on climate change) and the States, Local Governments, Tribes, Utilities, Nonprofits and others who will see the benefit have endured a vague worry that they are not doing enough to prepare, not hiring enough grant writers and researchers and/or creating programs that can receive federal funds.
We know the following is about to roll across the nation: $9 Billion in Home Energy Rebates, $1 Billion in Energy Code Assistance, $14 Billion in Clean Energy Business Loans, $ 9 Billion in Energy Grid upgrades, $1 Billion for Affordable Housing, $7 Billion for Clean Transportation, $277 Billion in Energy Tax Credits, $27 Billion for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, $3 Billion for Environmental Justice Block Grants, $12 Billion for Rural Energy Assistance, $2.6 Billion for Coastal Climate Resilience programs, and $7 Billion for various other clean energy initiatives. Soon programs associated with these pots of money will start to take shape, and that is when we will begin to see the impacts of this most historic investment.
On Feb. 14, the Environmental Protection Agency rolled out its plans for the $27 Billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund with a goal to open up competitive funding rounds this summer for two separate programs – a General and Low Income Assistance competition and a Zero Emissions Technology Fund competition. Also recently, the Department of Energy created the Office of State and Community Energy Programs to implement programs flowing from the IRA and the previous Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Don’t expect to go to sleep in an unjust, carbon-belching world and wake up in an electric futurama where environmental equity is solved. The IRA is going to take time. Probably the benefit of many programs will not be fully realized before the next presidential election. While it is up to the Biden Administration to tell the story of the clean energy, clean transportation, clean jobs, and resilient infrastructure, the environmental justice in the IRA, the transformation spurred by the IRA will well outlast this administration and the subsequent foreseeable administrations.
Some things will be realized sooner than later. The energy tax credits alone, with the provision that nonprofit utilities can receive a direct payment for renewable energy generation – this will completely transform the economics of the construction and operation of grid-scale wind, hydro, and solar in the near term. We also know right now that those paternalistic Boomer tropes about petroleum being the lifeblood of the American economy will soon be shaken, and soon, with the rumblings of the oncoming clean energy tsunami.
You can get involved as soon as next week! On Feb. 22 at 3 PM, the EPA will hold a listening session to hear ideas from community-based organizations and grassroots energy and environmental justice organizations to create an effective and equitable Home Energy Rebate program. >>> Register here
On Feb. 23, 9 AM, the EPA will hold a similar listening session but for equity-focused implementors and advocacy organizations. >>> Register here
Reach out to your lawmaker and Governor Dunleavy and ensure they know that you support their efforts to create programs in Alaska that can utilize the firehose of federal funding.
Take care,
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills To Watch\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Advancing Equity And Justice

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]February is nationally recognized as Black History Month. It was declared a national holiday in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. Since then, the United States has celebrated the achievements of African Americans. While this month is a time to honor and celebrate, it is also a great opportunity to learn and reflect on what we can do to help achieve racial equity.

A 2022 Pew Research Center study found that about 6 million American adults identify as Afro-Latino. That’s 2% of the total adult population of the United States and 12% of the Latino adult population. From music, food, and even language, Central and South America has been heavily influenced by African culture over time, given the history of colonization, which included the slave trade. It is important to see how this affected and continues to affect Hispanic countries and cultures.

One issue that must be considered is the racial inequality it has caused. This is a huge part of history in many parts of the world. One way to help ensure that we are moving in the right direction is by electing people who understand and value the importance of racial equity and justice. It is also important to hold our elected leaders accountable when they cause harm to others, intentionally or not. In addition to electing and holding leaders accountable, you can also advocate for yourself and others; Elizabeth Peratrovich did just that.

Elizabeth Peratrovich was an Alaska Native civil rights activist who helped pass the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. This was the first anti-discrimination bill in the United States. She said: “Asking you to give me the same rights implies that they are yours to give. Instead, I must demand that you stop trying to deny me the rights that all people deserve.” Peratrovich knew that everyone deserved to be treated equally under the law, regardless of who they were or what they looked like. February 16 was declared Elizabeth Peratrovich Day here in Alaska in the late 1980s for her efforts to create a more perfect union. She was a true Alaskan pioneer and leader.

We can all keep up this job of protecting our right to vote in elections. Several bills have been introduced in the Alaska state legislature limiting that right. Our government is supposed to work for everyone, paying attention to the needs and challenges of each and every individual. We all deserve to have a voice in a true participatory democracy. However, substantial systemic barriers remain for many Alaska voters. In the 2022 election, rural and predominantly Native districts saw roughly one in eight ballots rejected by the Division of Elections, with the percentage of uncounted ballots as high as 17% in Bethel. This may be because voters made mistakes on their ballots, such as not including the signature of a witness and they were not allowed to fix it. The result of these errors means the disenfranchisement of voters in Alaska.

We must remove all systemic barriers for Alaskans to vote. One way to do this is to protect ranked voting in Alaska, which gives voters more agency in their elections and encourages a more diverse set of candidates to run. Passage of Senate Bill 19 would greatly benefit voters by requiring the Division of Elections to pay for return postage on absentee ballots, allow ballot healing for signature issues, and create a tracking system of tickets. This bill would also create a robust process for voters to “curate” their mail-in ballots. Voters could correct any errors on their ballot, such as forgetting to include a witness signature on absentee ballots. Keeping elections accessible to voters is the foundation for creating a fairer and more equitable future. This month, think about a topic that interests you and try to find a way to make a difference.

As we celebrate the work of Black, Afro-Latino, and Indigenous leaders in the fight for equity and equality, we also have an opportunity to be more proactive in ensuring that democracy itself can be a more accessible and equitable process for all Alaskans. We can be the tools for change, for racial justice, and for climate justice.

​For more information on voting and democracy issues, go to https://akcentereducationfund.org/democracy/ to get involved!

Jasmine Carter is the daughter of Mexican and Costa Rican immigrants, born and raised here in Alaska.
She is the South-Central Civic Engagement Organizer at The Alaska Center Education Fund.

Originally published on February 16, 2023 by Sol de Medianoche.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

The Good The Bad And The Attack On Democracy

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Several bills have been filed in the AK Legislature this year pertaining to voting rights and elections, and we are geared up to support the good ones and fight the bad ones.

There is a Republican partisan movement afoot to rescind the popular Ranked Choice Voting/Open Primary law passed by a majority of Alaskan Citizens just two years ago – we are going to fight these bills tooth and nail because they seek to constrict the will of the people. We are supporting bills that expand the ability of Alaskans to choose the politicians that best represent their values.

Laws around voting seem simple enough but never are. Voting is about human agency, and voter suppression is about control. We don’t have to look too far down the blood-stained history of our nation to understand this – from the Women’s Suffrage Movement to the Voting Rights Act. At The Alaska Center, we stand firmly in support of increased voting rights. Period.

House Bill 1, House Bill 4, and Senate Bill 2 want to repeal our Ranked Choice/Open Primary law. We oppose these bills and will be actively working to stop them. Why? Because the people of Alaska spoke in the 2020 election and said they wanted a voting system where party control is not paramount. Political parties, corporations, and the wealthy should not run our Democracy. The people should run it, and the people wanted Ranked Choice Voting so they could have a broader suite of candidates to choose from.

House Bill 37 and Senate Bill 19 seek to empower Alaskan voters. These bills provide that the state will pay for the postage to return a by-mail ballot. These bills provide that if you make a mistake on a by-mail ballot, the State of Alaska will give you a chance to fix the mistake and have your vote count. These bills would ensure you can track your by-mail ballot through an online portal. These bills are the result of a compromise between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in the previous legislative session, and we will be working to make sure they pass.

Alaskans deserve to know that their vote has been counted. If the “Big Lie” about stolen elections espoused by our former president did anything useful, it made Americans acutely concerned about their ballots being received and counted. While we vehemently oppose the violent and racist intent behind the Big Lie, we support measures that increase voter confidence, such as a ballot-tracking website. We support efforts that increase penalties for voter and election worker intimidation. We must be vigilant for attacks on Democracy.
We will be celebrating the life and legacy of Elizabeth Peratrovich on February 16th. Due to the advocacy of Elizabeth Peratovich, the territorial legislature codified civil rights for Indigenous Alaskans. We must carry on her work. Fighting to increase voting rights for all Alaskans is one way to do this.

In solidarity,
The Alaska Center

Climate activists hold rally near the Capitol

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Climate activists from around Alaska held a rally near the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in support of legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.
“What we do today right here, how our voices rise up from Áak’w Kwáan land all the way up through this building will only affect us, it will affect all our generations,” said Paulette Moreno, Tlingit climate activist and member of the Indigenous Navigation Council. “It is important that our voice be heard.”
Around 30 people attended the snowy rally at the Dimond Courthouse Plaza holding signs and planting them in a pile of snow that gathered around the William Henry Seward statue.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Climate activists hold a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.

The group included multiple leaders of climate activist organizations from across the state and legislators including Democrats Rep. Sara Hannan of Juneau, Rep. CJ McCormick of Bethel, and Rep. Donna Mears of Anchorage and independent Rep. Alyse Galvin of Anchorage.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Independent Rep. Alyse Galvin of Anchorage speaks to a crowd of climate activists who held a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.

The handful of speakers from groups a part of Alaska Climate Alliance including the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, 350Juneau, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition and the Alaska Center advocated for action on four legislative priorities which included establishing a Green Bank within the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, enacting a Renewable Portfolio Standard, passing Community Solar legislation and renewing and strengthening the Renewable Energy Fund.
“We need our senators and representatives to wake up to the enormity of the climate crisis,” said Elaine Shroeder, co-chair of 350Juneau, in an interview with the Empire.
Hannan, Mears and Galvin each gave a short speech to the crowd and said it can be hard to change certain legislators’ minds when it comes to the need for climate action, and said changes come at the ballot box.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Rep. Sara Hannan of Juneau speaks to a crowd of climate activists who held a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.

“With 17 new members in the House, our age going down, we were very successful in replacing some old staunchly oil advocates with some young renewable advocates and in two years we have the opportunity to change more seats and we have to continue to do it,” Hannan said.
Hannan said she wanted to see other Alaska communities — large and small — find similar success in renewable energy as Juneau has been able to. She also pointed to heat pumps as an energy efficient alternative to furnaces that has been largely adopted in Juneau and said she wants to see more communities in Alaska transition to the alternative heating mode.
In an interview with the Empire after the event, Hannan said she is supportive of renewing the Renewable Energy Fund but said it was too early in the budgeting process to say how much more she’d like to see be included with the renewal.
“If we don’t extend it, it evaporates,” she said.
In response to a rally participant suggesting adding $100 million, Hannan noted to the Empire that the state’s budget for the fiscal year 2024 is expected to spend at a deficit. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024 includes a projected $250 million deficit that will need to be covered with the state’s roughly $2 billion in reserve funds, but legislative finance leaders say the actual deficit is may be $400 million to $500 million.
Hannan said she thinks a key solution to increasing renewable energy across Alaska is the use of run-of-river hydroelectricity, systems that use natural water flow to generate electricity, which is an energy system Juneau has been benefiting from and pioneered since early hydropower development. Hannan said she is interested in projects bringing opportunities to expand run-of-river hydroelectricity into small and rural communities in Alaska.

Originally published on February 3, 2023 by the Juneau Empire.\n\nClarise Larson / Juneau Empire Climate activists hold a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Independent Rep. Alyse Galvin of Anchorage speaks to a crowd of climate activists who held a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Rep. Sara Hannan of Juneau speaks to a crowd of climate activists who held a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability.[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Don’t let the sun go down on the Renewable Energy Fund

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The Renewable Energy Fund (REF), when passed by the AK Legislature in 2008, was one of those rare Kumbaya policies that was approved by a unanimous vote. This was at a time when the Legislature was showered by a windfall of revenue from skyrocketing oil prices (combined with a new progressive tax structure) while outside the shower curtain, constituents were holding pitchforks and shouting, beset by the highest cost gasoline in the whole United States of America. The REF intended to fund renewable energy projects to help lower the cost of living in Alaska. The fund would be capitalized annually for a five-year period to the tune of $50 million per year.

Since its inception, the REF has proven to be an effective and important tool to get funding out on the street toward renewable energy projects. Check out the deets in this handy Quick Facts[!] sheet. The process behind project selection is insulated from political interference by the Renewable Energy Fund Advisory Committee, a body established by the REF legislation to review proposals and make recommendations to the Alaska Energy Authority, which reviews, approves, and passes the approved project along to the Legislature for approval. This helps assure the project benefits are spread out to communities statewide.

When the Legislature passed the REF, it was for a five-year period with a “sunset” at the end. Sunsets are applied to most boards and commissions in Alaska. The reason for a sunset is to provide an incentive for the Legislature to take action within a specific time frame if they want the entity to continue. If an extension is not granted before a sunset date, whether intentionally or not, the Legislature causes the entity to go away. It can be revived from oblivion in a subsequent legislative session though creating a program is often more challenging than simply extending a termination date. In 2012 a vote was taken to extend the sunset to 2023. And here we are, looking on as the sun falls on the silhouettes of future wind energy generators across the state.

Thankfully, lawmakers still largely approve of the REF. That is why a bill was filed last year to extend the sunset (it ran out of time before the end of the Legislature), and another bill has already been filed this year. SB 33 extends the REF to 2033. Sponsored by Anchorage Senator James Kaufman, it was introduced in January and referred to the Senate Resources and Senate Finance committees. We support this bill and encourage our readers to send a quick note to Senator Kaufman supporting the REF.  On that note, The Alaska Center and our partners in The Alaska Climate Alliance were in Juneau this week meeting with the new legislature, with REF extension as one of the top clean energy priorities.

If the bill does not move forward, all is not lost. There are shenanigans the Legislature can pull – such as attaching the sunset extension to another piece of legislation pertaining to renewable energy. In the past, sunsets have been amended into other legislation containing sunset extensions for unrelated programs. There are lots of avenues to keep the REF going. Considering the influx of federal funding with an emphasis on a clean energy transition, it would be both practical and wise for the Legislature to renew the REF.

Hopefully, the new Majority in the House will play along, and not spend their entire tenure in control tilting at windmills like the proposed repeal of ranked-choice voting.

Here’s to hope!