After the intellectual, moral, racial, political, and physical trauma of 2020, this year is starting to look OK, like a new day and not a false dawn. The monumental federal investments proposed by the Biden-Harris Administration in Pittsburgh on Wednesday are smart and just and envision a modern America we might be OK sending our kids off into. The Thrive …
Leg With Louie: Another Plea from Alaska – March 26
HJR 12 passed its final committee hurdle in the legislature this week and will head to the Senate floor next. HJR 12 is essentially a very long and rather pitiful letter from Alaska to Washington D.C. which bears no legal weight yet has a stunningly long title: Urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to …
LGBTQ State and Local Groups Praise the Introduction of the Equality Act and Call for Its Immediate Passage
We, the undersigned, a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) state and local organizations, make the following statement in response to the introduction of the Equality Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Equality Act is a significant step forward for the LGBTQ community, and we are committed to mobilizing our communities to urge Congress to …
BLOG 02/19/21: Leg with Louie: Ways and Means to an Uncertain End
The Alaska State House has organized with coastal and rural interests maintaining positions of leadership. Speaker Louise Stutes offers a calm presence at the dais, flanked by superb and imperturbable Chief Clerk and Sergeant At Arms staff. You get the sense that this former Kodiak Island bar owner will take in stride any legislator’s outbursts and all heated floor debate …
Leg With Louie: Senate State Affairs is off and running
SB 39, the radical voter suppression bill, was heard on Thursday in Senate State Affairs. The hearing was a platform for Senator Mike Shower to air out the evidence-poor argument that our current voting system is wide open and vulnerable to an apocalypse of cumulative human error. Shower’s solution to these baseless claims: a tightened and costly voting system that …
Leg With louie: Organized
The State Senate has managed to solve the Rubik’s Cube of legislative organizing with an all-Republican face but for the inclusion of one rural Dem, Senator Lyman Hoffman. There are mysteries at the heart of this combination: promises and deals made. We know that behind it all, someone gave up something to get something. Legislators like Senator Mike Shower, who …
Leg With Louie: The Starting Gate
The 2021 Legislative Session starts today, with COVID precautions in place. It will be a different year (whatever that means anymore). For one thing, the introduction of visitors from around the state in the gallery to the ovation of House or Senate members – one of the great, humanizing formalities of legislative floor sessions, will be missing this year. Also, …
Alaskans Volunteer to Ensure Democracy is Working
For the last several weeks, a coalition of Alaskan organizations successfully organized statewide Election Protection programs to support generating historic voter turnout in our communities. This investment by the Alaska Civic Engagement State (AKCES) Table made Alaska the 40th state in the country to affiliate with the Election Protection Coalition – a national, nonpartisan coalition working to advance and protect …
Alaska’s latest election lawsuit would give absentee voters a chance to fix mail-in ballot errors
A lawsuit is seeking to give absentee voters in Alaska a chance to fix mail-in ballot errors that would prevent their votes from being counted. The lawsuit was filed last week by the Alaska Center Education Fund, Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Sitka resident Floyd Tomkins. While voters are able to fix ballot mistakes in some municipal elections, Alaska …
Group of Alaskans call out EPA clean car rollbacks
A group of Alaskans, including elected officials and local advocates, are calling for a return to previous federal Environmental Protection Agency clean car standards. The EPA rolled back the standards for lowering the fuel efficiency and emissions standards for new vehicles in March. The rollback still increases the stringency of corporate average fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions standards by …