Friends and Neighbors,

The 2011 Legislative Session is rapidly coming to a close and I will soon be coming home. Marilyn and I, along with our dog “Lily”, will take the ride home to Fairbanks. Right now we are under what is called the “24 hour rule”. That means the three day public notice isn’t in effect. If you are following specific legislation take notice that it can be heard at any time.

As committee meetings and floor sessions start to go longer into the evening please understand that you may experience a delay in me responding to correspondence. Please feel free to call my office at 456-8172 for immediate assistance.

Energy Relief Plans for the Interior

The high cost of energy in the Interior is hurting everyone. Families, small businesses and municipalities alike are struggling to heat their buildings and homes.

In the Senate, Senator Paskvan has sponsored SB 99 “Heating Fuel Energy Relief” which would provide a price cap for heating fuel. Many individuals have written me in support of this and with possible amendments to include gasoline.

The Interior needs energy relief now. A lot of time was spent this year on the Governor’s tax bill and not enough on short term solutions. With seven days left the push is on to make sure that Interior projects that will put people to work and projects that will provide stable energy relief are realized.

Legislation Update

This week two pieces of legislation from my office were heard in committees. HB 113 “Stampede State Recreation Area” was heard in House Resources and held until a later date.

HB 93 “School Gardens” had a hearing in House Finance this Saturday. This bill is an expansion of the great work on school gardens currently being done in Fairbanks with Calypso Farms.

I appreciate everyone who worked on these pieces of legislation. As this is the first year of the 27th Legislature, legislation has the opportunity to be heard again next session so these bills will have a head start come next January.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to call my office and share your ideas.