Legislative Wrap-up – 2024 

We started out the year with a hope for election process improvements, increased education spending, and campaign finance reforms. Throughout the session, we watched to see whether there would be some level of gun safety legislation, required civics education, protections against AI interference in elections, and support for teacher pensions. These were and are some of our key league focus areas.

Did the 33rd Legislature come thru on our priorities? Not much. Read on for the details. Bottom line is that this upcoming election cycle is going to be more important than ever. This means we all need to be as involved as possible to ensure free and fair elections, and to make sure the candidates understand our priorities. Voter education is critical.

One way the LWV of Alaska is supporting voter education is that the Board has voted to use  Vote 411 for Alaska.  Vote 411 (vote411.org) is sponsored by the League of Women Voters Education Fund. Although the service isn’t free, the Board felt that it was a worthwhile expenditure to help our voters. This site has the information voters need to participate in every election and is used across the US. This year, we have a team of Alaska volunteers helping to get Alaska’s information into the site. We hope to  encourage candidates to share their positions so all voters can make informed choices. 

As always, we’d love your involvement. Contact your local LWV (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, or Kenai) – or contact us at the State organization and offer to volunteer. And, as always, we all welcome your feedback! Help us focus on what is most important to you.

A special thanks to those who have submitted comments and suggestions this year. It was really appreciated – Judith Mitchell, editor.

Election-related bills:

Summary:  No election related bills passed this session. There were a number of bills initially submitted that we were tracking.  These included:

HB 4 Repeal Ranked Choice Voting 
HB 37 Elections, Voting Ballots  
HB 246 Voter Preregistration for Minors 
HB 274 Screening/Reading Intervention K-3
HB 358 Prohibit AI-Altered Representations/SB 177 Deepfakes
HB 129 Voter Registration
SB 17 Campaign Contributions

HB 129 – Voter registration came the closest to passing. It was passed in the House, amended in the Senate and then the House refused to hear it at the last minute. 

Education related bills:

Summary:  The Senate passed SB 140 Internet for Schools. The House added language to increase the BSA to $680. This was passed, then veto’d by the Governor. When it went back to the Legislature, there were not enough votes to override the veto. 

As a result, the Legislature included a one-time $680 allocation for schools in the budget. The Governor could still line item veto this, but hopefully won’t. Given the court case on the ‘homeschooling’ funding, the Legislature did pass language to ensure that homeschooling families could still access funds, but within the Constitutional guidelines and with oversight from the school districts.

Legislation that passed (noted below) included Internet for Schools, Correspondence Study Programs, Out of State Teaching Experience/Salaries, and Overdose Drugs in Schools. There were a number of other bills initially submitted that we were tracking, but never made it through.

SB 29 Civics Education made it to the House, but they moved it to the bottom of the calendar and it was never voted on by the House. SB 88 Defined Benefit System for teachers was also never moved forward in the House. The Legislature did pass a Resolution asking the US Congress to repeal the Windfall provision and allow teachers and other state employees to have access to Social Security. Not sure if it has a chance to pass in the US Congress.

Bills originally submitted and passed:

HB 202 (originally Overdose Drugs in Schools) Amended to include Correspondence school changes – passed and awaiting governor signature.
SB 266 Correspondence Study Program / HB 400  Correspondence Study Programs – rolled into HB 202 on 5/15/24 (primarily House version)
HB 193 – Internet for Schools – passed and governor signed.
HB 230 Out of State Teaching Exp-Salaries -passed and awaiting governor signature.
SB 140 Internet for Schools – changed in the House to add increase to the BSA; passed both houses, was veto’d by the Governor; then legislators failed to override the veto. Changes rolled into HB 193 and passed.

Bills originally submitted but not passed (among others):

SB 29 Civics Education
HB 65 Increase Base Student Allocation 
SB 88 Defined Benefit Retirement System
HB 106  / SB 97 Teacher Recruitment
HB 392 Education Funding 
SB99 Financial Literacy Program in Schools

Gun Safety related bills:

Summary:  The bill to authorize handguns in schools did not pass. The League opposed this bill. The other three bills were supported by many, but only SB 229- the Gun Violence Protective Orders bill had a hearing. This is a list of the bills we were tracking but none passed:

SB 173 Authorize Handguns School Employees/Volunteers
SB 229 Gun Violence Protective Orders / HB 162
HB 164 Misconduct Involving Weapons

Legislative Calendar and Events

  • January 2025 – the 34th Legislature convenes

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.

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