Print article JUNEAU The Alaska Legislature has approved a plan to retroactively extend Alaska’s COVID-19 emergency declaration through the end of the year and keep the state eligible for millions of dollars in federal aid. Senators voted 14-6 on Wednesday to approve a modified version of a bill that passed the House in March. Around 8:30 p.m., the House voted 25-15 to agree with the Senate changes and send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Jeff Turner, a spokesman for the governor, said Dunleavy will review the bill Thursday. Alaska’s COVID-19 emergency declaration expired in February, but legislators and the governor need to have some kind of disaster declaration in place by Friday to keep Alaska eligible for $8 million in extra monthly food assistance benefits paid to low-income Alaskans.
Print article JUNEAU Five people have tested positive for COVID-19 within the Alaska Capitol since Wednesday and 20 have been quarantined, but Alaska lawmakers on Monday said they intend for the Legislature to continue its work on schedule. Tok Republican Rep. Mike Cronk tested positive last week, and two of Cronk’s aides tested positive on Sunday. Two additional positive cases have also been reported, one identified Monday morning and another over the weekend, according to Jessica Geary, executive director of the Legislative Affairs Agency, the nonpartisan organization that operates the Capitol complex on behalf of the Legislature. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy also tested positive on Wednesday.
Print article JUNEAU A Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from Anchorage has created a breakaway minority caucus of her own, she said Tuesday. Rep. Sara Rasmussen, who represents Anchorage’s Sand Lake neighborhood, said she will serve in the House as an independent Republican without ties to either the 21-member coalition House majority or the 18-member House Republican minority. It’s an approach last taken by Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, in the prior Legislature. In the Alaska Legislature, minority groups receive committee seats based on their size. By shrinking from a 19-member minority to an 18-member one, the Republican minority loses one seat on the House Finance Committee, which drafts the state budget.
Anchorage House election decided by 11 votes heads to Alaska Supreme Court
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Print article Anchorage Superior Court Judge Josie Garton said Tuesday that she found no flaws with the way the Alaska Division of Elections counted votes in the close legislative race between incumbent state Rep. Lance Pruitt, R-Anchorage and Democratic challenger Liz Snyder. In a separate order, she also concluded that Pruitt’s attorneys failed to demonstrate that a late polling place change altered the result of the election. Snyder defeated Pruitt by 11 votes in the final, recounted result, but Pruitt launched a pair of legal challenges that dispute both the final vote count and the way the election was conducted. In both cases, Garton confirmed Snyder’s victory.