In what is likely the last report from the capital this session, Dist. P Sen. Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) spoke with KBBI’s Jay Barrett and updates us on the emergency bills that have passed, as well as developments halting evictions and repossessions during the coronavirus emergency. Stevens said the Legislature has fulfilled its constitutional duties and has gone into recess. If they’re not called back, the session will be adjourned after 121 days have passed since it opened in January.
"Well, we did come to a conclusion here Sunday; we wrapped things up and we passed the 2021 budget. And then also two very important bills: House Bill 205 and Senate Bill 241. That really gives the state the tools to respond to this Covid-19 pandemic we're facing. And both those came through pretty quickly.
"So House Bill 205 totals just under $5 billion, $4.7 billion. And it's the operating expenses of the state. We kept that fairly flat from last year. And so also provides $120 million for a capital budget. Just things are absolutely necessary in terms of roads and bridges, and those sorts of things. But then the big thing, of course, was that it added $88 million in emergency funding for this Covid-19 crisis.
"And so then to go into the details of that $88 million, as $75 million goes to the Department of Health for emergency medical trauma systems, $5 million goes to disaster relief fund in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, another $5 million for the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, mainly to deal with homelessness issues. And so, in total, we appropriated over $100 million to the governor.
"And as you know, the governor has, as all governors do, have enormous responsibilities and have the responsibility of leading the charge on responding to this disease. And so the governor has the right, through this bill now to to receive federal funding in opening the federal receipt authority and, and also protects Alaskans in several ways; $14 million for village public safety $21 million for senior benefits, and then $8 million for Pioneer Homes, and then $151 million for state troopers. At the same time, we were able to get the votes to pass Senate Bill 241. And that sort of goes -- they go hand in glove together. Senate Bill 241 extends the governor's emergency control to November 15. Initially he had 30 days now we've extended it to November 15. It gives $10 million in disaster relief funds for costs that arrived there. We make sure that Ann Zinke, our chief medical officer has the authority to issue standing orders and we also gave Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer the authority to go to a vote by mail system in 2020.
"I know we're gonna have trouble getting poll watchers, poll workers, these people are going to be very careful about being around other folks during an election. So I'm not sure we can do the poll type of elections we've had in the past. So this would allow us to do a vote by mail. (I'm) a little concerned that we're not entirely ready for that. But I think we'll ramp up very, very quickly and, and if needed, hopefully the lieutenant governor will move ahead with that. That means that we could have a vote by mail for any special election, like the recall governor would be a special election, like the primary election in August, and the general election in November.
"Something else we need to be aware of is that we have put a pause on tenant evictions and trying to make sure that people who can't pay their bills because they've been affected by this Covid-19, maybe they're out of work have lost their job. Particularly if you think about the people who work in restaurants, work in bars. And so we want to make sure that they were not evicted. Now that got to realize that doesn't really let them off the hook, they still have to pay that eventually. But it does give them time to not pay it when they're under stressful conditions. That includes not only rentals, but loans on cars and trucks and boats and that sort of thing. So it puts a pause on that.
"It also guarantees that nurses and doctors, medical folks who are affected by Covid-19 will still receive help. And so we're trying to work with that, to make sure that you get workers compensation that'll be, that'll be covered as well. And another issue is that we dealt with the professional licensing. As you know, it's it takes a long time to get a professional license in Alaska for a doctor or nurse and we'll agree, agree we've reduced that during this crisis so that Outside the doctors and nurses that come to Alaska will be able to have licensing elsewhere in other states or other countries they can practice temporarily here and they can not only practice in person but also on telehealth as well.
"And then we also decided that people who are Alaskans that are helping others by manufacturing masks and that sort of thing are protected from liability.
