It’s a Leap Year!

At this time of year, it always seems like things are moving ever so slowly. Sure, there are a lot of committee meetings, and bills assigned. But there aren’t many decisions being made. The big items we’re watching in February remain election processes, gun safety and education.

For anyone who is deeply interested in Education in Alaska, please listen to the presentation by Dr. Paul E. Peterson, Harvard University who discussed the National Assessment of Educational Process report. This report included information on Alaska Charter School performance. It is an outstanding discussion not only regarding Charter School performance, but also school performance in general. He presented to the House Education Committee on February 7th.

Dr. Peterson also presented to the Senate Education Committee on February 7th. In addition to his presentation, the committee also heard from Norm Wooten, Association of Alaska School Boards on different education models in Alaska, Michael Hanley, Superintendent, Aleutian Region Schools, Todd Hindman, Retired Principal at the Fireweed Academy in Homer, and Scott MacManus, Director of State and Federal Programs, Yukon-Koyukuk School District. Finally, there was a presentation by Dean O’Dell, Director, IDEA homeschool program.

As the discussions continue about school funding and options, it is really helpful to understand the full breadth of educational offerings across Alaska. And, to hear the questions from the legislators to see what they are focused on.

What to Know:  Legislation Tracking

Elections/Campaigns

House Bill 129 – “Voter Registration”, Sponsored by by the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Vance (R-Homer) has passed the House and is now ready to be considered by the Senate. This bill seeks to “clean up” the voter rolls. It shortens the notification timeline for people to respond to the Division of Elections before they are made inactive on the voter rolls. Some of the wording is vague and we are concerned with the impacts. Your comments are important. Let us know what you think!

House Bill 4 – “Repeal Ranked Choice Voting”, As of the first of February, this bill passed House Judiciary and was sent to the House Finance Committee.  The LWV-AK does NOT support this bill.

Senate Bill 177 sponsored by Sen. Hughes (R-Palmer) “Relating to artificial intelligence; requiring disclosure of deepfakes in campaign communications.” There will be a hearing on Feb 01 Thursday 3:30 PM (S)State Affairs at Beltz Room 105 (TSBldg). Based on the testimony at the initial hearing, it is clear that this election cycle will be filled with election misinformation and disinformation. The testifiers all agreed that the legislators must act in some way to try to deter deepfakes in election communications. A very complicated issue, but clear that the LWV is going to have to do a lot of educating voters for this year. 

You can also check out some of the webinars from LWV-Maine (and co-sponsored by us) on artificial intelligence (AI).  Listen at Digital Threats to Democracy at https://www.lwvme.org/digitaldemocracy.  On Tuesday, February 27  at 1:00 pm AKST there is a new webinar: Defending Democracy in the Digital Age. Hosted on Zoom. Register.

Don’t forget to go to – VotingRightsAlaska.org – where you can read additional information and find additional ways to be involved. Please check it out!

Gun Safety

SB 173   “Requiring school districts to grant qualified persons an assigned duty to carry a concealed handgun”…introduced by Sen. Hughes (R-Palmer). This bill has not yet been scheduled for another hearing.

Education

In addition to the committee meetings listed above, we continue to watch to see if the House Rules Committee will again discuss SB140.

One additional House bill to watch is HB 230, “Out of State Teaching Exp. and Salaries” sponsored by Reps. Himshoot, Ortiz, Dibert, Hannan, Fields, and Story. Short and sweet. “An Act repealing the limit on the number of years of out-of-state school experience that may be substituted for in-state experience in teacher salary scales.” This bill eliminates some bureaucracy and allows the hiring managers more latitude in attracting and paying teachers.

Legislation to Watch – Meetings

None of our watchlist bills are due for hearings this week.  Here are a couple of bills that might interest you:

The bill, HB 230, “Out of State Teaching Exp. and Salaries” sponsored by Reps. Himshoot, Ortiz, Dibert, Hannan, Fields, and Story. Short and sweet. “An Act repealing the limit on the number of years of out-of-state school experience that may be substituted for in-state experience in teacher salary scales.” This bill eliminates some bureaucracy and allows the hiring managers more latitude in attracting and paying teachers.

The bill HB 193 Internet for Schools has been scheduled for a meeting.  It may also be heard in the Senate if the House passes it.

Legislative Calendar and Events 

• February 19, 2024 – President’s Day
• April 14, 2024  – 90th day of the session (By law (AS 24.05.150))
• May 15, 2024  – 121st day of the session (Per the Alaska Constitution)

Wrap Up/Links

How are we doing?

The League always needs volunteers!  Writing letters, talking to your legislators, and helping out by giving us your feedback – it doesn’t have to be a total commitment.  

We would LOVE to hear from you.  Please encourage  others to take action by sharing this Legislative Newsletter, Action Alerts, and Calendar Events.  Contact us at alaskalwv@alaskalwv.org, and/or work to get the word out with your local leagues. 

Expanding the League’s impact helps us to Empower Voters and Defend Democracy as a community!  We’ll keep these links accessible here for you.

• Alaska State Legislature website, akleg.gov
• Alaska State’s Gavel to Gavel public affairs TV network, www.ktoo.org/gavel/

You can see your LWV Alaska Board members and Officers and their contact information on the AlaskaLWV.org/Board/ site.

League of Women Voters of Alaska
PO Box 101345
Anchorage, AK 99510-1345

Email us at alaskalwv@alaskalwv.org
Website:  www.alaskalwv.org