(281) stories found containing 'dan ortiz'
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Alaska fishing industry needs help from federal and state governments
The fishing industry has been a significant economic driver in the Southeast region for many years, and its importance has only grown over the past two decades. As a public official for the past decade, I have been working hard to support the industr...
By Legislature falls short in override of governor's school funding veto
Alaska lawmakers fell one vote short Monday in an attempt to override the governor’s veto of a comprehensive school funding bill, which included a permanent increase in the state funding formula for K-12 education and which could have provided an add...
Governor vetoed school funding bill despite wide support
On March 14, Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed Senate Bill 140, which would have provided the largest increase in the base student allocation state funding formula for public schools since its inception. This legislation aimed to boost the base rate by $680...
Rep. Ortiz commits to supporting extension of senior citizen benefits
As your representative in the Alaska Legislature, I have been and will continue to support legislation that advocates for our growing senior citizen population. That’s why I am proud to cosponsor House Bill 242 which, if passed, will extend the A...
State employee drops candidacy for Southeast seat in Legislature
Robb Arnold has withdrawn his candidacy to represent Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla in the state House. Arnold wrote in a statement to the Ketchikan Daily News on Thursday, Feb. 1, that he had ended his campaign. Under state law, Arnold could...
Governor wants to take over appointment of entire ferry system advisory board
Unless the Legislature decides otherwise by mid-March, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will take over appointment of the entire nine-member Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board. State law reserves four of the seats for appointment by legislative leaders, but...
Legislature fails to restore vetoed school funding
The Alaska Legislature failed on Jan. 18 to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $87 million in one-time additional state funding for the 2024-2025 school year. The vote was 33-26 and did not fall along party or political caucus lines. Forty-five v... Full story
Dividend, school funding will again dominate legislative session
State lawmakers went back to work this week in Juneau, with two familiar topics likely to dominate the budget-writing work. “The real question is what are we going to do for the Permanent Fund dividend … and what are we going to do for edu...
Alaskans have more needs than just the dividend
The 2024 Alaska legislative session started Tuesday, Jan. 16. My main committee assignment will be to serve for the eighth year on the House Finance Committee, which is responsible for moving the operating and capital budgets to the full House for...
Challengers file to run against Rep. Ortiz for state House
The primary election for the Alaska House of Representatives is more than nine months away and already five-term incumbent Rep. Dan Ortiz has at least two challengers for the District 1 seat that represents Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla. Robb...
Governor's budget includes no increase in school funding
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said education is among his top priorities in the coming fiscal year but did not include an increase to the state’s per-student funding formula, known as the base student allocation, in his proposed budget. The budget includes abou...
Veterans deserve more supportive mental health care
At the 11th hour on the 11th day on November 1918, the guns fell silent in Europe, marking the end of the Great War, later to become known as World War I. Congress in 1954 passed a bill, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, that made Nov. 11 a...
Resuming regular state ferry service to Rupert a priority
On Friday, Sept. 15, I and other stakeholders and community leaders participated in a ferry system focus group workshop for the southern Southeast service area. As state ferry service is one of the very essential elements of Southeast culture and...
Report shows area economy is improving, but still work to do to boost Southeast
I had the opportunity last week to attend my 10th Southeast Conference, hosted this year by Sitka. Attending the conference has always been a very efficient and effective way for me to communicate with a large cross-section of business and...
Legislators say higher oil revenues will enable more spending on public needs
With high oil prices driving up state revenues, Southeast legislators say to expect a larger capital budget next year for public works projects, more money for deferred maintenance and another attempt to boost state funding for public schools....
Borough assembly votes against funding for children's services caseworker
At its July 25 meeting, the borough assembly decided not to contribute $25,000 to keep a state Office of Children’s Services caseworker in town. The current in-town caseworker is moving off the island, explained Borough Manager Jeff Good, so the p...
Rep. Ortiz wants to hear public's opinions on vetoes
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last month announced his vetoes for the budget passed by the Legislature. After lawmakers had reached a bipartisan compromise, I was ultimately pleased with the final budget numbers that we passed. Therefore, I and a significant...
State ferry system says it is unable to provide hiring numbers
The Alaska Marine Highway System, which five months ago embarked on improving its hiring process to address chronic crew shortages, is unable to say how many new employees it has hired since then. The push started after a consultant’s report in J...
Legislators disappointed but not surprised at governor's education funding veto
Southeast legislators said they were disappointed that Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed half of the one-time increase in state money for K-12 public schools, but will try again next year to address education funding needs. “We heard from school districts a...
Hopefully, there's a way to keep children's services job in town
It took the community several years of pushing, pleading and politics before it succeeded in convincing the state to restore the Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in town. The job had been eliminated more than a dozen years earlier b...
Most survey respondents favor scaling back PFD to help pay for public services
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete my 2023 Legislative Budget Survey. It was a straightforward questionnaire: Do you support decreasing the Permanent Fund dividend to balance the state budget? If yes, by how much? If no, what cuts...
Borough contributes $1.6 million to schools, same as this year
The end of federal pandemic assistance and years of flat state funding have hurt the school district’s ability to cover its costs. The borough assembly has stepped up for the second year in a row to help close the budget gap. At its meeting April 2...
House, Senate versions of state budget match on school funding increase
The Alaska Senate rolled out its latest version of the operating budget on April 26, with a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend, a $175 million one-time boost for public schools and a $90 million surplus to cover contingencies or if oil prices drop. The...
Legislators say not enough time left in session for a sales tax
Almost two weeks after Gov. Mike Dunleavy told lawmakers he would propose a new sales tax, legislators have yet to see the governor’s bill — and are still far from reaching agreement on the state’s fiscal future. Lawmakers broadly agree on the need...
Governor tells legislators he will introduce state sales tax
Gov. Mike Dunleavy told legislators in a pair of closed-door meetings last week that he will introduce a state sales tax as a component of a budget-balancing, long-term fiscal plan. But with just three weeks left in the legislative session, with no...
