The end of the legislative session is less than one week away. The pace has picked up as we work to get bills across the finish line and wrap up end-of-session tasks such as voting on the governor’s appointees and passing the FY26 budgets.
Last week the Alaska Senate passed an austere budget that zeroed out requests from the governor for new spending and makes cuts that will be noticed by Alaskans across the state. Total K-12 education funding will be lower than last year because of declining enrollment. However, the governor has still threatened to partially veto funding. If he does, people on the Kenai Peninsula can expect schools like Sterling Elementary and other programs to close.
The size of the dividend in the Senate budget is $1,000 — reflecting the dismal fiscal climate. The impact of the Willow project’s tax write-offs has cost Alaska more than $500 million this year. New development is excellent, but it is vital that the federal government honor the Alaska Statehood Compact and provide Alaska with its birthright of 90% of the royalties from our oil production on federal land.
As chairman of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, I amended SB 147 last week to ensure that pharmacists cannot prescribe abortion-inducing medication, like mifepristone, under the expanded patient services authority that SB 147 would provide to pharmacists. SB 147 is a common-sense bill that allows pharmacists to prescribe medications for chronic conditions and uncomplicated ailments that don’t need a doctor’s oversight, such as strep throat, pink eye or UTIs. My amendment makes it clear that a pharmacist’s prescription authority does not include prescribing abortion-inducing drugs.
Credit card companies and big banks are becoming increasingly predatory on Alaskans. The latest attack is on your gun rights. The financial services industry is attempting to track firearm sales and retailers separately from other sales as a backdoor way to deny people from being able to purchase guns. Gun sales have already been denied service by financial institutions and credit card companies. That’s why I have co-sponsored and as chairman of the Senate Labor and Commerce committee passed SB 136 “The Firearm Financial Privacy Act” from committee. This bill will make it illegal for big banks and credit card companies to discriminate against firearm retailers or firearm transactions.
Greedy insurance companies should not make Alaskans wait ridiculous amounts of time to receive health care. Senate Bill 133, my bill requiring insurance companies provide swift approvals for medical treatments and prior authorizations for chronic conditions, passed the Senate unanimously this week. The bill, which would help ensure Alaskans don’t have to wait for necessary medical care, has already been scheduled for a hearing in the House Labor and Commerce Committee.
I am honored to be your state senator. I want to hear from you. You’re welcome to call my office at 907-283-7996 or email me at Sen.Jesse.Bjorkman@akleg.gov. I hope you’ll take the time to share your questions and ideas.
