With the second regular session of the 34th Alaska Legislature just kicking off, it’s a good time to check in with members of Juneau’s delegation to talk priorities and plans for the session. Rep. Sara Hannan (D-Juneau) spoke with KTOO’s Mike Lane last week just before the session started.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Mike Lane: How you are feeling about going into the second regular session of the 34th Alaska legislature?
Rep. Hannan: Well, you know, I came out of a education background, so I always like to say the start of session feels like returning to school and, you know, seeing friends you haven’t seen for a while. It’s always a good pace, of course. As a junior representative, this is my year-round office. I’m in the Capitol Building 12 months a year. But it gets kind of quiet in the fall, you know. The summer, we have all those summer visitors, but the pace has picked up. The building’s alive with new people, bright eyes, all the college interns who are, you know, here to to change the world in 120 days. And that’s always really good energy.
Mike Lane: Is there anything that you are particularly looking forward to for this session? And is there anything that you’re not looking forward to for this session?
Rep. Hannan: Well, we have got to address our big fiscal issues in this state and we have got to figure out a path to pay for the things we need. Things haven’t gotten cheaper and our disasters have continued to grow in cost and scope, and keeping the lights on will be a struggle, but we have got to keep the state functional and the roads plowed and the ferries running and schools operational and public safety people eligible to respond and get people working in Alaska, keep people working in Alaska. So there are a lot of tough political discussions to have, and it’s the second half of a two-year session, so it makes it a challenge to get complex policy addressed, and then it’s a big political election year. You know, as a member of the House, every two years is an election year, but this is one of those where it’s gubernatorial and, you know, a high profile U.S. Senate seat, as well as every member of the House of Representatives.
Mike Lane: When it comes to the budget, where do you believe cuts are necessary?
Rep. Hannan: I don’t see a lot of areas for cuts. We have squeezed and cut the budget for over a decade, and so when we start talking about cuts, we are talking about basic services not being able to be delivered that people have an expectation of. You know, we can’t put more equipment on the road to keep our roads plowed without paying workers to drive them. And we compete with private sector. You know, operators and engineers, they can go to the private sector and make more money, and in variety of places, we can’t keep up with the services we need, so I don’t see a lot of places to cut.
Mike Lane: And what does a successful session look like for you?
Rep. Hannan: Well, when it comes to personal legislation, you always want to see improvements on that. If I could get House Bill 242 passed, that would be good. I see this as a bill with very little policy dispute because it’s very narrow in scope. We’re modernizing the sexual assault consent in this from knowing to unknowing being irrelevant. I think that in the 21st century, we understand the dynamics about how people respond in sexual assault cases and make it prosecutable, because it’s pretty horrific that medical providers could assault someone and not be prosecuted. I have a couple pieces of personal legislation that I think we can get passed. Tax on vape tobacco – that’s a bill I’ve been sponsoring since I first got in, but the Senate version of it is sponsored by Senate President Gary Stevens; that’s Senate Bill 24. It’s all the way over in House Finance. I believe that we are positioned to get that because, right now, vaped nicotine in Alaska is not taxed by the state. Our tax state statutes on tobacco specified type, so cigars, cigarettes, chew, snuff, et cetera, and the last time we amended that statute, vaping wasn’t a thing, so it’s not listed. Then there’s a little bill of just sort of local interest on charitable gaming, a snow classic, that we’ve gotten out of the house and is in the senate. We have charitable gaming in Alaska, classics being, you know, the Nenana Ice Classic is the one that people most know about. A fiscal plan would be helpful; that would be that would be a real success. But that’s pretty optimistic for 120 days.
