Posts Tagged ‘Alaska’
Rainy Day Funds tough to use in some states
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:37 Written by rslcpol Friday, 11 March 2011 01:05
From NewsTribune.com:
While budget deficits threaten to cripple government services across the country, a handful of states with billions of dollars socked away in “rainy day” funds for troubled financial times are discovering they can’t use that money to offset their cuts.
Amid the worst financial crisis facing states in decades, stringent rules governing the use of reserve funds have tied the hands of lawmakers in nearly a dozen states even as they consider raising taxes, slashing health and social services and shuttering education programs.
About three-fourths of states have used rainy day funds in the past three years to alleviate budget cuts, but some have had difficulty accessing the money or have shied away from doing so. They would have to repay it quickly or were worried it would hurt their bond ratings.
Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Neveda, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Alaska Republican Wins GOP Lt. Governor Nomination
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:25 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:08
From JuneauEmpire.com:
– Mead Treadwell has won the Republican nomination for Alaska lieutenant governor in his first campaign for elected office.
With 49 percent of Alaska’s 438 precincts reporting, the Anchorage resident has collected more than 53 percent of the GOP vote in Tuesday’s primary election.
His main GOP rival, state Rep. Jay Ramras of Fairbanks, followed with slightly more than 31 percent of the early vote.
Treadwill will join Gov. Sean Parnell in the Nov. 2 general election against the Democrats. Diane E. Benson of Chugiak has won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. At the top of the ticket with be either Ethan Berkowitz or Hollis French
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
Lt. Governor Nominees Picked in Alaska
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:26 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 25 August 2010 11:03
From adn.com:
Mead Treadwell won the Republicans race for Alaska lieutenant governor Tuesday and will run on the November ballot paired with Gov. Sean Parnell.
In the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, Diane Benson easily bested two opponents to win. She’ll run on a ticket with the apparent Democratic nominee for governor, Ethan Berkowitz.
Also running in November will be Libertarian Jeffrey D. Brown of Anchorage, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.
The Republican race was the highest profile of the three.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
Lieutenant Governor Candidates Meet in Alaska
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:45 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 10 June 2010 01:23
From JuneauEmpire.com:
Though many Alaskans may not know the duties of the lieutenant governor, the importance of the post was reinforced last summer when Gov. Sarah Palin resigned and then-Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell replaced her.
Three Republicans seeking to fill Parnell’s old post met Tuesday in Fairbanks. Eddie Burke, Jay Ramras and Mead Treadwell highlighted differences in personalities, backgrounds and visions during the hour-long forum.
Burke, a former radio host, presented conservative positions on firearms and abortion and criticized the $8 billion state budget approved by Ramras and other state lawmakers.
Ramras said the lieutenant governor’s office represents an underused bully pulpit in a state thirsty for new investment. Treadwell, meanwhile, said state officials must focus on refilling the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the construction of a natural gas pipeline.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
Alaska: New Poll Numbers for Gov., Lt. Gov. Race
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:01 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 25 May 2010 01:29
From the Juneau Empire:
Governor, Republican Primary
Sean Parnell 57
Ralph Samuels 9
Bill Walker 7
Other 1
Undecided 26
Governor, Democratic Primary
Ethan Berkowitz 48
Hollis French 17
Bob Poe 8
Other 4
Undecided 24
Lieutenant Governor, Republican Primary
Jay Ramras 16
Eddie Burke 10
Mead Treadwell 8
Other 1
Undecided 66
Lieutenant Governor, Democratic Primary
Diane Benson 45
Denise Michels 5
Other 3
Undecided 47
Source: Strategies 360, DRM Market Research
Note: 375 likely primary voters, margin of error +/- 5 percent.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Blog | No Comments
Alaska AG Convenes ‘Pro-bono’ summit
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:12 Written by rslcpol Monday, 17 May 2010 12:41
From JuneauEmpire.com:
Attorney General Dan Sullivan is asking lawyers to donate their time to provide legal assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Sullivan is planning a “pro bono summit” this month in Anchorage.
In a letter being sent to attorneys to gauge interest, Sullivan said one of the best ways to reduce the violence is to ensure victims have legal representation. Many don’t, he said. And the victims’ group Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault last year was unable to find pro bono attorneys for nearly 100 victims seeking legal aid, Sullivan said.
Christine Pate, supervising attorney for the network’s pro bono program, said that number doesn’t include victims who withdrew their applications. Of more than 300 applications, she said, about 130 were served last year.
A Department of Law spokesman said about 100 letters have been sent to attorneys so far.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
Alaska: Meet the Three Republicans Running for Lt. Governor
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:13 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 13 May 2010 02:07
From Anchorage Press:
The lieutenant governor’s position in Alaska doesn’t carry a lot of responsibility. He or she runs the division of elections, administers the citizens’ initiative process, commissions notaries public, protects the state seal, and distributes the constitution. And that’s about it.
But the lieutenant governor also can unexpectedly become governor, as current Governor Sean Parnell and Keith Miller long before him (who succeeded Governor Wally Hickel when President Nixon appointed Hickel Secretary of the Interior) can attest. (In Miller’s time, the position was called secretary of state; it was changed to lieutenant governor in 1970)
As Steve Haycox, a professor of history at UAA, writes in an email, “the lite-guv is essentially a political position, i.e., most of the people holding it are angling for statewide visibility to help position themselves for a larger run at governor.”
But so far in Alaska’s history as a state, that’s only worked out for Parnell and Miller, when their predecessors left the governorship. At least one went on to serve in lower offices: H.A. “Red” Boucher, lieutenant governor under Governor Bill Egan, afterward served in the Alaska House of Representatives, and later the Anchorage Assembly.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
Alaska Will Join Health Care lawsuit
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:39 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 21 April 2010 10:03
From miamiherald:
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Tuesday the state will join 20 others led mostly by Republican governors in suing to overturn the health care overhaul bill signed into law last month by President Barack Obama.
Calling it an “unprecedented exercise of congressional power,” Parnell said Alaska would follow the other states in challenging the constitutionality of the mandate that people buy health care insurance or pay a fine.
“For the first time we now have a federal government dictating our economic activity,” Parnell said. “Alaska will use the courts to fight this federal encroachment on our citizens.”
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
Alaska: Appointed Lt. Governor Won’t Seek Post
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:57 Written by rslcpol Monday, 5 April 2010 01:52
From JuneauBlogger.com:
Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell announced Friday he will not seek election to the position he was appointed to last summer.
Campbell, 58, had been head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs when he was chosen by former Gov. Sarah Palin. He was replacing then-Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who replaced Palin a month earlier.
Campbell said that means he’ll be withdrawing from the Aug. 24 Republican Primary.
Tags: Alaska | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments