News from Hughes » April 12, 2022

Rabbi Greenberg from Anchorage and I chat prior to the start of the floor session on Wednesday. See the next photo and caption to discover why he and his son were visiting Juneau.

Senator Roger Holland (left) and I pose with Rabbi Greenberg form Anchorage (middle) and Rabbi Mendy Greenberg from Palmer (right) on Education and Sharing Day on the Senate Floor on April 6, 2022.

A citation was read across recognizing the work of Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who advocated for a well-rounded education for children to include character-building and moral development.

The little yellow ark I am holding is a coin bank for children and others to learn the importance of generosity and helping others in need. The rabbis were distributing the small arks throughout the Capitol building as a reminder that character traits such as kindness and charity are essential to being productive citizens and having vibrant communities.

Rabbi Greenberg gave the invocation in the Senate, and Rabbi Mendy gave it in the House. The prior week, Rabbi Mendy had given the invocation on the floor of the US Senate!

Discussions following bill hearings (this one in the Butrovich Committee Room ) often lead to clarification about or ideas to improve bills. The conversation here led to the topic of my bill, SB197 Direct Health Care. I pointed out to Health Commissioner Crum and Dr. Zink that their department’s fiscal note to add employee positions for filing additional Medicaid paperwork was in error and was actually the opposite of what would happen if my bill passes.

Most Medicaid patients would likely not choose to sign up and pay out of pocket for direct health care services through a monthly fee arrangement with a provider. But even if they did, these patients would be receiving health care services from the direct health care provider covered by their monthly fee, not by Medicaid.

The department would actually handle less Medicaid paperwork for Medicaid patients who would choose to sign up for a direct health care care agreement with a provider. Yes, the discussions following committee hearings can be important!

Assisting the Chair Senator Wilson as his Vice Chair, I dig for the truth as far as statistics, the root causes, the meaning of language and phrases used in bills, the impact of legislation within the context of existing law, the intended consequences as well as the unintended, and last but not least, the constitutionality of what is under consideration.

It is easy to make assumptions about what a bill might do or not do and refer to generalities that might resonate with the public, but my duty is to find out the real deal. That takes digging and work, and sometimes realizing my initial and rushed assumptions were wrong.

The work detailed above on bills results in one of three discoveries: 1) the bill is in good shape and will be helpful for Alaskans and after maybe minor tweaks, should move out of committee; 2) the bill is not good for Alaskans and would take us in the wrong direction and should not move out of committee; 3) the core concept is good for Alaskans but the bill needs a lot of work to ensure its constitutionality and to avoid ambiguity, infringements on liberties, unnecessary burdens, costs, and/or unintended consequences prior to moving out of committee.

Critical race theory: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Critical Race Theory began as an academic movement dating back to the 1980s which analyzed the intersectionality of race with government, public policy, and the judicial system. The phrase “Critical Race Theory” was coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a professor at UCLA and Columbia Law School. Much of the original movement focused on studying how race and racist sentiments were believed to have impacted law, social structure, and government systems since the dawn of this country. Today, the term critical race theory, or CRT as it is often called, has resurfaced in the political sphere and has, as well, been promoted by the National Education Association for K-12 teachers.

The question being asked today is whether racism is inherent in Americans’ perspectives and in our legal institutions. Some argue that white people are inherently privileged whereas black people and other people of color are inherently oppressed and victimized. Others assert – and I agree – that the concept of either inherent privilege or oppression based on skin tone is no longer dominant in our American culture, that the United States has embraced the tenets Martin Luther King Jr. espoused: as Americans, we value each other, not based on the color of a person’s skin, but on the content of a person’s character.

Historically, racist actors have argued that racial minorities have psychological and behavioral deficiencies as a result of their race and/or that some races are superior to others based on alleged behavioral advantages derived from their race. There is a complete lack of scientifically demonstrable evidence that physical differences directly cause any positive or negative psychological or behavioral tendencies, advantages, or disadvantages. 

For an example,  however, of how racism weaseled its way into policy in the past, government officials in the 1930’s drew zoning lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial demographics of the area’s inhabitants. Subsequently, banks refused to offer mortgages to people of certain races in those areas, including black Americans.

Although some proponents have taken critical race theory to an unacceptable extreme, I believe it is worthwhile to consider and reflect our nation’s past shortcomings. As the historical record reflects, our country has made great strides in correcting racist laws and practices. We must continue this forward progress. While I reject the idea that white people are inherently racist or that all white people are personally responsible for the racist actions of some, I do recognize that we have a responsibility as Americans to uphold the principle well-stated in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

As the debate on the public stage continues, the Alaska State Legislature is considering CRT in relation to Alaska’s public school system. Senate Bill 196 seeks to ensure that educational materials are made publicly accessible on the school’s website. This is an important step in maintaining transparency and informing parents what their students are being taught.

Another issue addressed by Senate Bill 196 is protecting students and teaching staff from being compelled to affirm, adopt, or adhere to beliefs that the United States, the state, or an individual is fundamentally or irredeemably racist by virtue of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin, or that an individual’s moral character is determined by their sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin.

One of the important details to ensure, as this bill moves through the process, is that our schools can continue to teach history and civics and that students can advocate for policy issues of their own choosing. Learning to interact with government officials and to provide input is an important part of becoming an engaged citizen . To this end, I am working with members of the Education Committee and the sponsor on an amendment to the bill that would allow assignments related to political advocacy to continue so long as school officials are not directing or compelling students to affirm, adopt, or adhere to a specific belief or concept.

Senator Mia Costello and I often work together on numerous efforts as Senate colleagues. Occasionally we have such similar ideas on particular bills that one of us puts on the record what the other is thinking!

Rob Wells and Louisa Branchflower with Skeetawk met with me to share their plans for expansion at Hatcher Pass that would eventually result in ski slopes that would rival downhill opportunities in the Alps. The next phase of expansion involves a request for $9 million for the future Quad. You can see a photo of their plan here.

The House passes operating budget:
What they did and what happens next?

This past Saturday (legislative day #83 for those keeping track at home) the Alaska House of Representatives passed the operating budget on a vote of 25 to 14. The Senate Finance Committee will now work on the bill prior to moving the Senate version of the operating budget bill to our floor for a vote.

Once it has passed our body, the Senate will send its version of the operating budget back to the House for a concurrence vote. Typically the House prefers its version and votes to not concur with the Senate version. The bill then goes to a conference committee made up of the two Finance Co-Chairs from each body along with one minority member from each body, for a total of six members. There the differences are negotiated, and a conference committee report is sent back to each body for approval.

So where are we this year and what can we expect will happen this session? It is very obvious that because the House Majority delayed the budget process by more than three weeks, that the Senate will not pass the budget by day #90, the statutory session limit (the constitutional limit is 120 days). I am hopeful that Senate Finance will complete its version this week and that the bill will be on our floor next week.

Ideally, we will have all the budget work finalized and fully passed by day #120. That is my target and what I will push to accomplish. Having said that, and always sticking with my #Telling_it_like_it_is motto, it is no secret that I am one of sixty. My vote has no more weight than any other legislator in the Capitol, but I will do what I can as Senate Majority Leader to move the needle despite the fact that the four co-chairs will have tremendous power and leverage when the operating budget is in the conference committee.

That’s a wrap for now on the process. What about the contents of the operating budget bill itself at this point of time, as it has been passed over from the House?

The House version of the operating budget is $1.6 billion more than the budget the Governor proposed. As discussed previously, the House Majority waited to find out how much additional revenue would be available due to recent higher oil prices. They wasted no time in deciding how they wanted to spend a lot of it…while refusing to use any of it to offset earnings reserve dollars to be spent on government (to allow for a healthier dividend from the earnings reserve).

The Governor’s amended budget request had a total spend of $6.2 Billion in UGF, with a proposed $2600 Permanent Fund Dividend and a $1250 supplemental dividend, both dividends paid by earning reserve dollars. The House passed an operating budget with a total unrestricted general funds (UGF) spend of $7.82 Billion, with a $1250 dividend paid with earning reserve dollars and a $1300 “energy rebate” paid out of general fund dollars. By the way, does socialism stop being socialism if you call it a rebate? We receive rebates from a private business for purchases, but what exactly is the House Majority proposing? What are they rebating?

Here are some other items contained in the House budget:

• $1 Billion to inflation proof the Permanent Fund by transferring that amount from the earnings reserve to the corpus.
• $409 million in oil and gas tax credits (the full amount is $532 million)
• $57 million in one-time funding to K-12 education. There is no guarantee that this money will go into classroom learning and much will likely be used for increased fuel and utility costs statewide. No word on why school districts aren’t utilizing the available federal money for these needs.
• Transfers $2.2 Billion to the Statutory Budget Reserve (SBR). The SBR only requires a simple majority vote for members in order to access it for future spending.
• $2.5 million in pre-K funding.
• $395 deposit to the Higher Education Investment Fund

During this time of economic uncertainty, market instability, and global insecurity, I believe it would have been smarter to pay the full or fair dividend and put as much away in savings as possible instead of finding new ways to spend money. As we in the Senate begin our work, I will keep you up to date on the Senate’s proposed operating budget and what can be expected as we get closer to wrapping up our work here in Juneau.

HERE IS A SUMMARY of the amounts spent on each agency in UGF. One final and important note before wrapping up this article: the House passed an amendment to the operating budget to prohibit state dollars paying for abortions on a vote of 21 to 18.

PUBLIC TESTIMONY OPPORTUNITIES THIS WEEK

Below is a sampling. Click here to see the full list of bills.

Chief of Staff Buddy Whitt hangs out near the Senate Chambers while we are on the floor to ensure the Senate Majority Leader doesn’t miss a beat. I am proud to say that he does a very good job of keeping me in line!

Join Shelley on Facebook Live each week to ask questions and give input.
We typically broadcast Mondays at 6:00 pm, but watch for a notification on Facebook as the day/time is subject to change.

Be sure to “like” the “Senator Shelley Hughes” Facebook page www.facebook.com/AKShelleyHughes
so you’ll get a heads-up each time we air! 

Watch last night’s Facebook Live with these links:
(Due to technical difficulties, the video is broken into two parts)

Part 1

Part 2

HAVE A FEDERAL ISSUE???

Contact Alaska’s US Senators and Congressman

Lisa Murkowski – Senator
Anchorage: 907-271-3735
Mat-Su:       907-376-7665

Dan Sullivan – Senator
Anchorage:  907-271-5915
Mat-Su:  357-9956

Vacant – Representative
Anchorage:  907-271-5978

Best regards,