Monthly Archives: January 2013

Senator Mark Begich went out of his way yesterday to tell the world that he won’t support a reborn ban on assault weapons.  Good story on it here.

But he left a lot of stuff on the table while promoting a mental health program that hasn’t been explained yet. Continue reading →

The Senate is wasting no time in getting to work this year.  The first committee meetings have been scheduled – and they’re dealing with what might become subjects that last the entire year.   Here’s the week’s schedule. Continue reading →

I just ran across the first listing of offices and phone numbers you will need for the incoming legislature.

Click to access whoswho.pdf

A final version will come out in a couple of weeks maybe.  It will show staff and will update any committee changes.   This gets you started.  Please bother these people — they really love it.

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Yesterday’s speech giving the closest thing yet to a preview of  the administration’s most recent thinking on oil taxes is online at the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce website.  Deputy Revenue Commissioner Bruce Tangeman begins about fifteen minutes into the meeting.  What’s there is the game changer referred to in the previous post. Continue reading →

From an interesting piece in this morning’s News-Miner, it looks like the Parnell Administration is ready to offer some meaningful changes to the oil tax plan that was left on the table at the end of last year’s session. Continue reading →

Legislative conservatives have complained for several years that they could get none of their more-extreme bills through the Bi-partisan Senate, and they eventually gave no more than lip service to those measures by which the right-wing is measured.

This year, with Republicans running the Senate,  the brakes are off and the lawmaking machine is on its way. Continue reading →