Day 74: The kids are still alright

With testimony 10:1 opposed to the governor's "parents' rights" bill, Alaskans made themselves heard.

Happy Friday, Alaska! It’s Day 74 of the legislative session and Trans Day of Visibility.

In this edition: Despite what seemed like an attempt to stack testimony in favor of the governor’s “parents’ rights” legislation, the House Finance Committee heard nearly five hours of near-unanimous opposition to House Bill 105. The testimony represented a broad swath of the Alaskans, who raised concerns about its impact on the school environment, on the singling out of LGBTQ+ students and on programs attempting to curb sexual abuse of children. Also, the budget advances to the floor; two first-year representatives saw their first bills pass in style today; the reading list and weekend watching.

Current mood: 🥲

Programming note: After some particularly rough typos in yesterday’s edition. I’m giving Grammarly a go… which may or may not have had more than 30 suggested fixes.

The kids are still alright

If conservative Reps. Jamie Allard and Tom McKay were hoping for a groundswell of support for the governor’s “parents’ rights” bill, then Thursday night’s nearly five-hour-long public testimony session had to be a big disappointment. I’ve seen different final tallies, but they all agree more than 100 people opposed the legislation and just a few more than a dozen testified in support. The Republican representatives’ plan to front-load testimony with supporters who could be there in person—a significant complaint of theirs when after they heard a wave of support for increasing school funding—didn’t work out either, as the meeting room was packed with a diverse group of Alaskans all opposed to the legislation.

In fact, it took nearly 90 minutes for the committee to hear its first comment supporting the legislation that would dictate who can use which bathrooms, how teachers talk about sex or gender (if ever), and how students are allowed to identify. It would also put teachers in an impossible position of being forced to relay to parents any and all information a student might confide in them, potentially outing students and putting them at risk. All while inviting parents to sue schools and districts.

The committee heard from a broad range of people, including students, parents, teachers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, allies and people who just don’t think policing children to this extent is a worthwhile use of the state’s time and resources.

“I just think it’s really wrong because everyone should have the right of who they are,” said one young girl. “It doesn’t matter what private part they have; it’s who they are from the heart. That’s who they are, and they should be supported for who they are.”

Several teachers opposed the legislation, like Juneau teacher Meagan Hinton who said it’s creating an issue where there isn’t one.

“At the school, it is not an issue; you are making it an issue,” she told the committee. “The governor is making it an issue. Kids have enough to figure out on their own; they don’t need other people telling them what they’re doing is wrong when what they’re doing is expressing themselves as an individual.”

“I would ask you guys to respect the rights of those people that are just looking for common decency,” said another teacher David Brighton.

Others shared their accounts of growing up being abused, not having the language or knowledge to express what was happening and only learning much later in life that what had happened to them was abuse. They were particularly critical of how the governor’s legislation would reclassify the teen dating violence awareness program, Bree’s Law, and the sexual abuse awareness program, Erin’s Law, would be reclassified as sex education. That’d mean both programs would become opt-in and, critically, that Erin’s Law—which teaches children age-appropriate information to prevent and identify sexual abuse—would be barred from being introduced to young children.

“It lets rapists be rapists,” one testifier said.

The parents of Bree Moore, whose murder led to the creation of the teen dating violence awareness program, called in to oppose the measure. Cindy and Butch Moore both said the legislation would undermine the goal of the programs.

“I can’t imagine why anybody would not want their children to learn about healthy relationships or learn how to protect themselves against sexual assault and abuse. I’m extremely confused,” Cindy Moore said, asking they remove the sections reclassifying the two programs. She also went on to say she understood the motivation behind the rest of the bill but that it needed better balance. “I believe in parental rights, but I also believe in the rights of our youth, and I feel like we can’t give parents 100% of the rights and give our youth 0% of the rights. I think there’s a balance there.”

The comments supporting the legislation were riddled with the same kind of fear tactics and otherization that have primarily fueled the right-wing culture war. They’re not worth repeating.

The budget advances

The House Finance Committee wrapped up its budget work on Thursday afternoon, approving one final amendment that would tap the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve to cover the roughly $410 million deficit (a move that will eventually require a three-quarter vote) that prompted a final round of debate over the state of the state’s budget and the ongoing lack of a fiscal plan. Finance Committee co-Chair Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, said the vote should be seen as a last resort and hoped that legislators could make progress on more meaningful changes to the state’s financial picture before the end of the legislative session.

“A CBR draw is only a band-aid and one we need to stop reapplying. Our constituents deserve certainty in the PFD, essential services they rely on, a strong capital budget as well as the preservation of our savings,” she said. “The only way to achieve that is a complete fiscal plan. That means continued downward pressure on the government—spending—new revenue sources, and major structural reform. This committee has done its best with the budget we were given.”

The members of the Minority Coalition spared us of the budget theatrics of the past and didn’t spend a ton of time holding it up with several rounds of objections. Instead, members pointed out that for all the Majority’s talk of wanting to work for a fiscal plan, the old House Majority Coalition did pass one back at the tail end of Gov. Bill Walker’s term (the POMV draw, a reworked PFD formula and an income tax).

“I’ve been there and am still here,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, of the politically challenging votes on a fiscal plan. He expressed interest in continuing to work on the fiscal plan but noted the Republican-led Majority needs to take some leadership on the issue.

Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, offered similar advice to his Republicans committee members. Had the committee scaled back the size of the dividend, he noted, there wouldn’t be the need to draw out of the state’s dwindling savings.

“There’s never gonna be a good time—there’s not going to be a good time to make the tough decisions,” he said. “We could have made the tough decisions on the amendment (for a smaller PFD), and we didn’t.”

What’s next

The budget will hit the floor on Monday, where they intend to begin the lengthy process of floor amendments that can and will be offered by any legislator.

What’s going to be interesting is to see what the chamber’s far-right members—including, but not limited to, Rep. David Eastman—may have in store. Interestingly, They don’t have much representation on the House Finance Committee, which is filled by more moderate (in relative terms) Republicans, who believe in things like paying people more to do challenging jobs and inflation.

Congratulations to

• Freshman Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, whose HB 23 passed the House unanimously today. The legislation establishes October as Filipino American History Month, and Rep. Mina was wearing lumpia earrings to celebrate.

• And freshman Rep. CJ McCormick, D-Bethel, whose HB 78 establishes Sept. 10 as community health aide day.

• And especially to Heather and Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, for welcoming their first child this week.

Reading list

• Sign destruction seems to have become a mainstay of Anchorage politics, with vandals targeting pretty much everyone except right-wing candidates. Curious! From the Alaska Current: Anchorage Moderate and Progressive Candidates See Increase in Sign Vandalism Leading up to Tuesday’s Election

• The governor today signed the supplemental budget to make more money available to address the state’s food stamp backlog. There are serious doubts that it’ll get the job done. From KTOO: State’s fix for Alaska’s food stamp backlog misses the mark, insiders say

• The House is set to take up legislation blocking pay raises for themselves, but it’s not likely to gain traction in the Senate, which has stood by an eyebrow-raising process. From the Alaska Beacon: Alaska House prepares to block legislative pay increase, but top senators say they’re uninterested

• How much will the 2% sales tax proposed by Rep. Ben Carpenter cost the average Alaskan family? At the bill’s first hearing, the Republican conceded that he didn’t know. From the Alaska Beacon: State sales tax, envisioned as part of long-term plan, gets first hearing in Alaska Capitol

• Here’s the least-surprising response from the Alaska delegation to Trump’s indictment. From the ADN: Alaska Sen. Sullivan criticizes Trump indictment; Murkowski takes measured tone

Weekend watching

It’s Wrestlemania weekend, baby! Time to trot out one of my favorite explainers of the weird, weird world that is professional sports entertainment.

Have a nice weekend, y’all.