U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills that have passed the House & Senate and become Law U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills Introduced (Over 5,000 in the House and over 3,000 in the Senate) Ketchikan: Public Meetings Ketchikan: Upcoming Events Ketchikan: Announcements Ketchikan: Classifieds CLASSIFIEDS Publish Your Ad Click Here Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Weather Ketchikan's Forecast Nov. Daily Records 2019 Oct. Daily Records 2019 Ketchikan Sept 2019 Data Ketchikan Aug. 2019 Data Ketchikan July 2019 Data Ketchikan June 2019 Data Ketchikan May 2019 Data Ketchikan April 2019 Data Ketchikan March 2019 Data Ketchikan Feb. 2019 Data Ketchikan Jan. 2019 Data Nat Weather Service KTN Ketchikan Tides & Currents Sunrise - Sunset Ketchikan Search the News Ketchikan Alaska

Alaska: Alaska Priorities in Year-End Budget Bills Signed by President Trump Include Support for Critical Programs and Tax Relief By MARY KAUFFMAN - President Donald Trump recently signed year-end budget packages to fund the federal government for the upcoming fiscal year.The Alaska Delegation had a significant role in crafting the final product, which includes a number of funding programs and initiatives important to Alaska.  ( Full Statement from President Trump Regarding Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations Legislation )

In addition, the bill packages include provisions that will help keep the cost of healthcare down by preventing burdensome taxes. The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) “Cadillac tax” will be permanently repealed. This tax on high-cost insurance plans would have hit Alaska harder than anywhere else in the nation, because healthcare is more expensive in rural, low population states. Also permanently repealed are the excise tax on health insurance providers and the ACA-mandated tax on medical devices including pacemakers, artificial joints, defibrillators, and other items.

“This funding package is the culmination of months of hard work and thoughtful consideration by members - a true bipartisan compromise. We avoided a government shutdown and fund important initiatives and programs,” said U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

In a prepared statement U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said after voting on Dec. 19, to fund the federral government though the end of the fiscal year September 30, 2020, “While I continue to believe that the process by which we fund the government is fundamentally flawed and must be reformed, these bills include significant wins for Alaskans. At long last, we were able to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s so-called Cadillac Tax. This tax, up to 40 percent on health insurance plans, threatened the vast majority of plans offered in Alaska - including union plans and plans offered to state workers - and had the potential to collapse the entire health insurance market in Alaska had it been fully implemented. We were also able to do away with the ‘Kiddie Tax,’ which, among others things, targeted young Alaskans receiving their PFDs, and we were able to provide tax relief for those impacted by the 2018 Southcentral earthquake. I also fought hard to make sure this bill funded the Secure Rural Schools Program. Further, we made continued progress on substantial Alaska military investments, including over $50 million of Coast Guard infrastructure investments to be ready to take new ships arriving in Kodiak and Southeast. I’ve continued to press for these investments as chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, and also as Chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Security. I applaud Senator Murkowski for her diligent work on the Senate Appropriations Committee and Congressman Young for securing these provisions in the House.”

Murkowski said, “The priorities in this bill will develop much-needed infrastructure and create greater economic opportunities, lower energy costs, help communities facing coastal erosion, and prioritize our national defense. I’m particularly proud of the provisions I secured that support Alaska’s fisheries, promote America’s growing role as an Arctic Nation, and help to protect our people, water, and lands. I’m proud we continue to make progress towards a fleet of icebreakers, by providing funding for long-lead materials for a second heavy polar security cutter. The permanent repeal of Affordable Care Act health related taxes will give lasting relief, ensuring Alaskans don’t see steeper insurance premiums.”

Alaska Congressman Don Young(R-AK)  released the following statement following a House vote on two appropriations packages on December 17, 2019. “I am grateful to negotiators in both parties in the House and Senate for agreeing on the appropriations packages passed out of the House today. I am pleased to see that these final appropriations bills provide crucial funding for our military, and repeal harmful taxes that drive up the cost of health care and hurt middle-class families. I am also proud to have helped secure a 2-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools Program that many Alaskan communities rely on to fund schools and infrastructure. The appropriations package also contained important wins for our rural hospitals and village clinics, in addition to providing critical funding to help combat hunger and expand access to proper nutrition in our communities. I have been a strong advocate for combating domestic violence and child abuse, particularly in rural areas, and I am pleased to see resources made available to combat violence against women and bring perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. This was a well-rounded bill that delivers many important results for Alaskans, and I look forward to President Trump signing these packages into law.”(The President signed Dec. 20, 2019)

(Note: Numbers are nationwide program funding levels. Numbers for Alaska are noted.)

Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food & Drug Administration:

In the funding bill signed by President Trump, Senator Murkowski secured a provision which requires any food produce entering the U.S. market containing Genetically Engineered salmon to be clearly labeled “genetically engineered”.

The legislation includes $5 million for a program previously created by Senator Murkowski, the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program, to help support Alaskans’ ability to grow their own food. The funding package works to ensure low-income families, women, and children have greater food security by including, $67.88 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and $526.3 million for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). 

The legislation includes a range of priorities to help address some of rural Alaska’s unique challenges, including support for rural water and waste program loans to further develop rural areas, to help offset the high costs of energy in remote communities, and to help develop essential community infrastructure in rural Alaska and Native villages to help meet basic quality of life needs. 

Commerce, Justice, Science:

Senator Murkowski also helped secure increased funding to $502.5 million for Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution programs, including support for research relating to the incidence of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and violence against Indian women in remote communities underserved by law enforcement resources. Language is included directing the Department to improve coordination, including data sharing, training and technical assistance, and other relevant resources to better address and prevent violent crime in Indian Country. The bill also includes a five percent set-aside from Victims of Crime Act Fund for Tribes to address services for victims of domestic and sexual violence, as well as $235 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, an initiative to increase the number of police officers and ensure they are properly trained. The bill provides $125 million for implementation of the STOP School Violence Act, legislation that Senator Murkowski cosponsored, which helps ensure lifesaving resources are available to states and schools to stop violence before it happens. - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

Fish Factor: Open for Business in 2020 By LAINE WELCH - Alaska’s seafood industry will be “open for business” starting January 1 when some of the biggest fisheries get underway long before the start of the first salmon runs in mid-May. 

Cod will begin it all in the Bering Sea, which has a 305.5 million pound catch quota, down about a million pounds from 2019. Less than 6 million pounds of codfish will come out of the Gulf.

A 400,000 Tanner crab fishery at Kodiak starting on January 15 will be helpful to a town whose economic bottom line will be badly battered by the Gulf cod crash. 

But it will be the opening of Alaska pollock on January 20 that will keep Kodiak’s processing workforce on the job, along with many other Gulf and Bering Sea communities. 

The Gulf of Alaska pollock catch took a slide to about 250 million pounds, a drop of more than 57 million pounds from 2019. Conversely, the Bering Sea will produce over three billion pounds of Alaska pollock this year, a 2% increase. 

Mid-January is also around the time when Bering Sea crabbers will get serious about pulling up snow crab. That quota is nearly 34 million pounds, a 24 percent increase from last season.

Southeast Alaska crabbers will drop pots for golden king crab and Tanner crab on February 17. In recent years, those harvests have been in the 76,000 and one million pound range, respectively.

Halibut fisheries will open to more than 2,000 Alaska longliners in March. Catches will be announced by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in early February. 

Also coming in the spring – roe herring fisheries with some jaw dropping harvests. At Sitka Sound, a catch quota of 25,824 tons is double the 2019 limit when the fishery was called off for the first time in decades due to the small size of the fish. Managers predict heftier herring next spring, saying the forecasted 2020 age-4 herring population is “extremely high.” 

“The 2020 forecast is larger than the estimated 2019 mature biomass of 130,738 tons and is greater than any forecast previously estimated for Sitka Sound herring,” said a release by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. 

At Alaska’s biggest roe herring fishery at Togiak in Bristol Bay, a whopping 38,749 ton harvest is forecasted. 

 Up next for the state Board of Fisheries is Kodiak, where it will meet January 11-14.  The seven member board sets the rules for subsistence, commercial, sport, and personal use fisheries and takes up issues by region every three years.  Thirty-six Kodiak proposals are on the docket.  - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

Alaska: Oversight Committee Appointed by Governor for BP-Hilcorp Transaction Edited by MARY KAUFFMAN – Yesterday, Governor Mike Dunleavy established the Governor’s Oversight Committee on the BP-Hilcorp Transaction. The purpose is to make sure the State of Alaska and its people are represented as this transaction moves forward. The Committee will provide the Governor with oversight and updates on the transfer as it moves ahead in the new year.

“This transaction represents a new era for Alaska’s North Slope, so it’s important that we fully understand the benefits and any potential impacts on Alaskans and the state’s most important industry in terms of revenue and jobs,” said Governor Dunleavy. “Oversight, review and approval of the transaction are the state’s responsibility and we will ensure it is done to the highest possible standards.” 

After 50+ years of successful operations in Alaska, BP announced the sale of their North Slope oil and gas production assets to Hilcorp on August 27, 2019. Following the announcement, state agencies began the statutorily required process of reviewing the BP-Hilcopy transaction, drawing significant interest from members of the public and the Legislature.

Unlike the BP-ARCO merger that closed in 2000 and was subject to oversight from the Securities and Exchange Commission, this transaction has been reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission and no antitrust or anticompetitive issues were identified according to a memorandum from the Governor dated December 17, 2019. As a result, the transaction review and approval is unequivocaly the State's responsibility.

Understanding the review is underway, effective immediately Governor Dunleavy established the Governor's Oversight Committee on the BP-Hilcorp Transaction to ensure the transaction receives a fair and thorough vetting, and to inform the governor's office and the public of the transaction proceedings. - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

Alaska: 2019 Alaska oil & gas lease sale delivers positive results - Oil and gas exploration companies offered $7.8 million for the rights to search for oil on 154,610 acres of state land on Alaska’s North Slope and Beaufort Sea, according to results from the 2019 oil and gas lease sale conducted earlier this month by the Alaska Division of Oil & Gas.

The state received 56 bids on 56 North Slope tracts totaling 108,320 acres.  With the highest bid of $276.95 per acre, these lease sales will bring up to $6.6 million in cash bonus bids.  The state also received 13 bids on 13 tracts in the Beaufort Sea area, totaling 46,290 acres.  With the highest bid of $31.13 per acre, these lease sales will bring in up to $1.2 million in cash bonus bids.

While the results of the auction and bid totals are subject to final adjudication as division staff verify details, the number of bids and the amount bid per acre validate Alaska’s continuing status as an attractive target for oil exploration and production, said Tom Stokes, division director.

Many of the bids came from exploration interests that already hold significant lease acreage in Alaska, and appear to represent efforts to consolidate opportunities near existing leases into larger contiguous areas.  Stokes said that signals bidders’ confidence in their Alaska investment and exploration strategies.

Currently, 1,750 leases authorize exploration, development, and production in the North Slope, Beaufort Sea, and North Slope Foothills, encompassing 3.5 million acres of state lands, he noted.  Today’s lease sale results complement ongoing work in Alaska’s Arctic oil fields.

“Current plans of development indicate up to 10 wells will be drilled this winter to confirm the size and reach of oil fields,” Stokes said.  “And we’re getting quite a bit of inquiry about permits for 3-D seismic work that could direct future exploratory work.  It’s all very positive for the State of Alaska.” - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

“It will be a tremendous benefit to our communities to have access to the national crime information databases and share criminal and civil information,” shared President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson. “Having real-time access to criminal justice information not only improves the health, welfare and safety of our citizens and communities, it strengthens our governance and the work of our Tribal Court.”
 
As a participating tribe, Tlingit & Haida will receive training, as well as software and a biometric/biographic kiosk workstation to process finger and palm prints and query fingerprint-based transactions via the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services Next Generation Identification System.
 
“TAP recognizes the government-to-government relationship between the United States and tribes and the importance of having direct access to life-saving databases as a tool to ensure those working with our vulnerable populations are qualified to do so,” shared Tlingit & Haida’s Tribal Court Chief Justice Michelle Demmert. 
 
Among many other important functions, Tlingit & Haida will soon have the ability to document tribal court dispositions such as protective orders in domestic violence cases; prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun; register and track sex offenders; run background checks on potential employees, tenants of Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority, and volunteers and foster care applicants who may have contact with or control over tribal children; and locate absent parents to enforce child support orders. - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

Ketchikan: Ketchikan Community Foundation Accepting 2020 Grant Applications - The Ketchikan Community Foundation (KCF), an Affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF), will be accepting online applications for its 2020 grant awards program from January 1 through February 6, 2020. KCF has chosen three community funding categories that rotate each year, and organizations serving Youth in the community is the category for 2020.

This will be the fifth year that KCF has awarded grants to local nonprofits. The Foundation has now distributed about $90,000 in nonprofit funding in the community.

Past grant examples range from funding for batting helmet and safety gear for the youth softball league, to avalanche search and rescue training for the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad. Other grant funding provided new freezers to aid food storage for First City Homeless Services, a hydroponics garden at the Ketchikan Pioneers Home, bereavement training for Ketchikan Volunteer Hospice, the children’s community garden at the library, tournament travel and uniforms for Special Olympics, and many more. - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

MICHAEL REAGAN: Mother Pelosi's Impeachment Games - Did anyone else not watch the Democrat presidential debate on TV the week before Christmas?

I thought so.

After three months of watching Saint Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats stage their solemn impeachment circus, I decided to skip the latest “historic” debate.

I figure I had suffered enough.

I desperately needed some laughs, so on Thursday I began what I hope will be a week of binging on Christmas movies like “Elf.”

Only seven Democrats – a couple of socialists, a couple of zillionaires, a couple of moderates and small-town mayor from Indiana – qualified for this week’s primary debate in L.A.

Did moderate old Joe Biden have a “commanding performance” that quelled what the New York Times’ pre-debate piece called “the quiet rumblings” about his “abilities and long-term strength”?

Did the leftwing oldsters Liz and Bernie beat up moderate young Mayor Pete for being insufficiently socialist or a member of the donor class?

Did entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire Tom Steyer, Sen. Amy Klobuchar or anyone else say anything new, interesting, bold or politically unpredictable?

Based on previous debates, I doubt all of the above.

I bet the seven Democrats on stage gave the same false promises and same canned answers to the same softball questions we’ve heard a hundred times before.

Meanwhile, in Washington, where the Democrats’ two weak and fuzzy articles of impeachment are supposed to travel from the House to the Senate for a trial, Mother Pelosi is playing games as usual. - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

DICK POLMAN: A Fresh Gesture of Concern From the Fellowship of the Furrowed Brow - Oh swell. The Republican Senate’s so-called “moderates,” who combine big talk with little action and fuse noble rhetoric with hapless inertia, appear to be readying themselves for another year of deeming certain Trump desecrations as “unhelpful” or “unwise.”

One member of this club – which I call the Fellowship of the Furrowed Brow – spoke up earlier this week. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she’s “disturbed” that Mitch McConnell is colluding backstage with the legal team of defendant Donald Trump in advance of his Impeachment trial in the Senate.

Mainstream media outlets think this is big news. According to the New York Times, it’s “a potentially significant crack in Republican unity.” We’ll see. To me, it sounds like the Furrowed Brow Fellowship’s standard sponginess, the kind we’ve been getting for the past three years from Murkowski and Republican Senate colleagues like Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Rob Portman, and Lamar Alexander.

First they mouth honeyed words, then (far more often than not) they vote with Trump and abet his abuses.

It’s nice that Murkowski is “disturbed” that McConnell has “confused” the trial process. But it would truly serve the public interest if she and her furrowed-brow brethren denounced McConnell’s goal of granting Trump a speedy exoneration. Under Senate rules, 51 senators (all 47 caucusing Democrats and a mere 4 Republicans) can set the terms of that trial.

That’s what conservative Trump critics would love to see. Bill Kristol, the longtime conservative commentator and activist, co-writing with a University of Texas academic in a right-leaning online magazine, deftly frames the issue:

“If a bipartisan group of public-spirited constitutionalists on both sides of the aisle come together, they can tell McConnell that he will only get 51 votes…if he works with them to fashion a fair process that allows for crucial documents to be compelled to be produced, and a reasonable number of witnesses to be called….The only way to get to that outcome is if some Senate Republicans refuse to lower themselves to be the mere agents of an unprincipled and partisan leader and instead rise to the demands of principle and statesmanship.” - More...
Saturday PM - December 28, 2019

Political Cartoon: Democrats peek at 2020
By Bruce Plante ©2019, Tulsa World
Distributed to paid subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.