BERTA'S BRIEFINGS 

Representative Berta Gardner
Serving Geneva Woods, College Village, Green Acres, Tudor, Taku and Campbell Park

Write Me:     716 W. 4th Ave Ste 340
                       Anchorage, AK 99501-2133
Call Me:        1-800-331-4930
E-Mail Me:   Rep_Berta_Gardner@legis.state.ak.us
My Website: http://gardner.akdemocrats.org

Special Session Road Show:
First Stop, Fairbanks

Dear Friends,

Representative Gardner with Ruby Riddle, hostess for the City and Borough of Fairbanks during public testimony.

          Last week, the Legislature completed the Fairbanks portion of our Special Session road show. After three days of gas pipeline presentations two subjects near and dear to Alaskans – workforce development and infrastructure preparation – had the greatest impact on me.

          Workforce – AGIA mandates that the licensee promote Alaskan employment. To take advantage of the opportunity we need to start now in training and educating Alaskans to build and operate this immense project. Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Click Bishop has a four point plan:

• Increase awareness of and access to careers in Natural gas development through a public awareness campaign and “ One stop” information on jobs and training
• Develop comprehensive career and technical education system through increased skill standards and K-12 training.
• Increase registered apprenticeships and On the Job training. This process will require funding for training in operations, technical services, and management.
• Increase recruitment of high school graduates, promoting internship opportunities and training on new technologies.

          Starting now we can increase the number of Alaskans ready and able to take valuable jobs on our gas pipeline.

          Infrastructure –   We have a window of six short construction seasons to inspect, evaluate, plan improvement and implement any necessary repairs or expansions of our highways, roads and bridges.

          Much of our existing infrastructure is deteriorating. With an expected 885 million vehicle trips planned for the construction of the project, goals are to improve efficiency and reduce accidents.

          Questions about the role of the Alaska Railroad and the Port of Anchorage remain unexamined at this time because we do not yet know how materiel will be brought into the state.

I’m Berta and I’m still listening.