Tying off the winter session of the 33rd Alaska State Legislature as well as his time with The Alaska Center, Louie says “Be excellent to each other.”
Hot Takes In A Cold Place: The Legislative Session Rides Off
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who advocated on bills and budget items this past legislative session.
Entering the Rapids
The 32nd Alaska State Legislature is careening toward its grand finale. We all must remain vigilant. Obstacles approach fast.
Take Action in Support of Tribal Recognition
It is time to voice support for this act. Let your legislator know that you support the swift passage of the Tribal Recognition Bill.
Leg With Louie: Summer Homework 2021
This letter will be shorter than usual. I am busy getting intimate with the boat engine and hydraulic system, with typical pre-season nerves and an ear for rumors of the impending Salmon run. The news here comes in snippets and is often less real and immediate than the rust frozen bolt that stands between me and a functioning boat (there …
Leg with Louie: Where are the missing AEA projects?
Action on the state budget is happening quietly, if at all, with the thorny issue of the Permanent Fund Dividend once again asserting its ability to cause rational minds to diverge sharply. It is a fascinating debate. Likely much less fascinating if you are one of the state workers already getting emails that you will be laid off if the …
Leg with Louie: Partisan fighting at the risk of our rights – May 28
It is hard to focus on the lonely hours of Special Session in the AK State Legislature when out in America, the rules are actively being bent toward extreme minority rule in perpetuity based on a lie. At the same time, those who could do something about it are bound by a web of institutional processes from reacting. The new …
Leg With Louie: Who Benefits? – May 21
Conference committees established under Legislative Uniform Rule 42 are as natural to the legislative process as cottonwood buds are to spring. The state’s operating budget always goes to the conference committee, marking the closure of the regular session. These six-member (three-House, three-Senate) committees settle disagreements between bodies on big-ticket bills. The members seated on the committee generally are not there …
Leg with Louie: Bring Back the Legislative Softball League – May 14
Let’s drop the pretense that the state legislature will ever get business done in 90 days. The idea was questionable to begin with. Concocted by business-owner legislators who wanted the legislature to run with more efficiency so they could dispatch with budgets and get back home to their burger joints, hotels, fishing operations etc. An admirable goal in the abstract, …
Leg With Louie: “to hell with politics, just do what’s right for Alaska” – May 7
There are two resolutions under consideration in the legislature as the House and Senate wend their way toward what will be a messy and confused terminus of the regular session. The likely special session will focus on the Permanent Fund Dividend and federal American Rescue Plan funds. The resolutions are SJR 13 and HJR 19. Both are designed to clarify …