SB 72: DISCRIMINATION: GENDER ID.;SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Sponsor: Senator Gardner "An Act adding to the powers and duties of the State Commission for Human Rights; and relating to and prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression." There are no current hearings scheduled. The bill was referred to HSS, JUD, and FIN and currently [more...]
HB 44 (Ethics), HB 25 (insurance coverage for contraceptives, HB 115 (budget fix with income tax, PF restructuring)--No further hearings scheduled as of yet. HB 31, sexual assault kit handling & database, has been advanced to House Finance. Two bills that concern money for school funding might be of interest and worth watching, particularly if nothing [more...]
Below is the Juneau Voter for the upcoming Annual meeting which will be held March 25, 2017 in the Assembly Chambers. In this edition of the Juneau Voter, there is the Nominating Committee slate of candidates for the 2017-2018 Board of Directors. Members will be asked to vote on these candidates on the 25th. Also in this Voter, [more...]
NOTE: AN EMAIL NEEDS TO BE ONLY 2-3 SENTENCES LONG (UNLESS YOU HAVE MORE TO SAY). BUT THOSE 2-3 SENTENCES ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR A BILL OR CERTAIN ASPECTS OF A BILL. SO LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD! Great Alaska Schools Rejuvenation Meeting - Saturday, March 11 10:00-11:30 Mendenhall Valley Library Conference Room. Great Alaska Schools was [more...]
To all LWV of Alaska members - please make your voices heard. 1. HB 25--Support emails are needed for HB 25--INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CONTRACEPTIVES. Sponsor Representative Claman, Representative Spohnholz. The text of the bill can be found here: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/30/Bills/HB0025A.PDF. HB 25 is a mirror bill to one submitted last session by Senator Gardner. It will provide [more...]
Archive Editions of Capitol Currents for 2017 Capitol Currents is a weekly update of happenings at the Alaska State Legislature during session. Each week, this article will be updated with the latest edition for you to read and download. There is a lot of great information in these editions, everything from the list of [more...]
A. BUDGET: Probably the biggest issue facing the Legislature is the state financial crisis. The HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE has submitted a bill calling for an income tax and a refiguring of the Permanent Fund which would save the dividend and allow for budget spending of some of the earnings while placing some of those earning [more...]
Changing the use of the Electoral Vote (EV) in order to give a more representative nod to the total popular vote (PV) would not be easy. Awarding electoral votes (EV’s) based on a proportion of the popular vote (PV) in each state is a possibility for a more accurate representation. There are two methods by [more...]
Author: Barbara Belknap There is a lot of angst out there over the election. My Facebook page is overflowing with comments, suggestions, and the sharing of emotions from American women. There is commiseration from my friends in the United Kingdom, and I even got a note from Africa. As a political junky, I am having [more...]
Barbara Belknap, Author The Women’s March was today. It was a success beyond what anyone expected, and will go down in history as a watershed event in the history of women’s rights. Millions of women answered the call to speak out, to shout out, and to fill the streets of the world. Pat Watt was [more...]
On January 13 I decided to reroute my ticket on a previously planned trip to New Orleans and the East Coast so that I could participate in the Women's March on Washington on January 21. It was almost a spur of the moment thing - but on reflection I realized that over the past several [more...]
This post is the second in a series designed to give readers tools to begin becoming effective advocates for policy direction at the local, federal, and state level. This post focuses on the federal level. Generally, the process boils down to a few stages. However, the details of each process at the local, state, and federal level are quite different. [more...]
This post is the first in a series designed to give readers a few tools to begin becoming effective advocates for policy direction at the local, federal, and state level. This post focuses on the state level. Generally, the process boils down to a few stages. However, the details of each process at the local, state, and federal level [more...]
In the blog Popular Vote 1, three questions were proposed, and the attempt to answer those questions can be found in the following blog. ONE: Why do we have the Electoral College rather than a popular vote determining the winners of the Presidential elections? The writers of the Constitution struggled with the problem of electing [more...]
The recent election has raised the issue of transparency in government to a high priority. What is government transparency – and why does it matter? Transparency measures the amount of openness, accountability, and integrity of a government entity. Without transparency, corruption can easily, and usually will, flourish. “Governments exist to serve the people. Information on [more...]
