Tell us what you would like to ask Sen. Gary Stevens
Sen. Gary Stevens
Alaska Legislative Senate President Stevens will be in town Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Captains Coffee Shop, and wants to hear from constituents about what Homer wants to see in future legislation.
Stevens, whose District R seat oversees an area stretching from Homer to Nanwalek and Kodiak Island villages, also is the president of the Alaska Senate. This is an opportunity for Homer constituents to let Stevens know legislative priorities that he might focus on when the Alaska Legislature starts back up in January 2010.
Please leave your questions for Sen. Stevens in the comments section below.
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Posted by Newsroom on Nov 11th, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Posted by Newsroom on Nov 11th, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
8 Responses for “Tell us what you would like to ask Sen. Gary Stevens”
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All of these issues would be great to have Sen. Stevens’ focus. Homer’s population is small, making it less of a priority area than larger towns like the city of Kodiak or Kenai. But joining with the rest of the region, this is a good laundry list for what is needed: tighter laws on fishery bycatch allocations, meaning, don’t let them catch Kings especially; better substance abuse funding for the many mandatory programs or the voluntary ones to help people who do want to help themselves; a community center would sure be nice. It could save Community Schools from being homeless, too.
Is the legislature going to pass Parnell’s plan for free college for A students?
Any chance you all will write legislation to provide health care for all Alaskans so we can opt out of the US government mandated insurance plan?
I think we should build some giant city funded wind mills on the spit or elsewhere to get into the clean energy business. We have a least a day breeze everyday here. Also, develop UAA Kachemak bay campus into a 4 year college, with expanded programs such as fisheries management, and attract students from outside. Homer would be an awesome college town and this would go a long way to help our winter economy.
It would be great to add to the Kachemak Bay Campus’ budget for job-growing academic programs, and to help make sure an integrated campus being planned now would have the basics it needs to go forward. This could help the entire region as Homer is something of a hub for Nanwalek, Port Graham, Anchor Point and even Ninilchik, as well as the Russian villages.
Another important project for Homer that would benefit others in this region is an energy center of some type that would pool all of the expertise we are gathering for generating alternative energies. There is nothing of a kind on the entire Kenai Peninsula, yet this is the place where hydro, tidal, wind and geo thermal is being discussed. The center could be government run initially to coordinate the various small projects and larger leases such as the one signed for the Spurr Mountain geo-thermal project. We need to start somewhere. A center would be a co-ordinating facility so that the many stray projects could be organized, learned from and kept tabs on.
Why are gas prices in Alaska, particularly Homer still so high? Can we take a look at gas gouging without the help of Jay Ramras who stated “We don’t think there’s any illegal activity going on”….Committee Chairman Jay Ramras R-Fairbanks, said the committee’s findings are based on intuition”
http://www.adn.com/news/government/legislature/story/676924.html
A law changing the way that real estate is assessed for purposes of taxation needs to passed. People are being forced from their homes due to tax foreclosures caused by the combined effects of property churning by real estate firms, mortgage and loan manipulation by banks, arbitrary periodic assessments by the borough and cities (which produces income for them) and devaluation of the money due to the inflationary practices of the Federal Reserve banks. These forces result in tax bills that are beyond the means of many long-time home owners to pay – and it keeps getting worse. Legislation allowing assessments/reassesments to be based on the price at the time of sale could be implemented; or something similar to California’s Proposition 13. What’s needed is something to impart stability to a person’s real property tax load, so that their ability to pay can be planned for the future. On the Kenai Peninsula, foreclosures, caused by skyrocketing assessments, are a problem that will assume disastrous proportions very soon if nothing is changed.
I’d like to know what the Alaska Legislature will do if Congress passes this anti-business, unconstitutional, anti-freedom healthcare bill. It is a completely unlawful power grab (see the Constitution). The Alaska Legislature passed the State Sovereignty bill. Was it just empty words, or will they actually stand up to the federal government? If the language of the State Sovereignty bill can be applied to any federal action, this healthcare bill is certainly one.
The federal government may care about nothing except expanding its control and power, but the sentiment here in Alaska still seems to be a love of freedom. Will our legislature place the authority of the Constitution above the current group of politicians in Washington?
Why does the City of Homer refuse to allow new businesses? New businesses could generate jobs & MUCH NEEDED tax-base for city income. It seems they “cry” for income yet refuse to allow new businesses and entrepeneurs to develop businesses.