The Alaska State Legislature convenes January 19 in Juneau.
Not everyone was on board with the new mitigation policies, some of which include the requirement to wear face coverings and barring the press from entering the chambers or galleries. Sen. Peter Micciche spoke to KSRM on the updated policies and says he’s struggling with them, “They are stricter than any other sector being public or private, whether they are critical infrastructure sectors or not. This job would be easy if it wasn’t for interacting with the public, and I think the new rules unfairly exclude the public and the press from the process. We need to get organized as a Senate and House, which gives us standing and we need to get together and reevaluate those rules. I’m in favor of keeping people safe, but the current rules that are in place for the legislature are over the top and not offering any additional protection there. It’s just complicating the process.”
The COVID-19 Mitigation Policy specifically states that a member who refuses to have their temperatures taken or answer the health screening questions will not be allowed to enter the State Capitol.
Micciche specified the policies that have everyone talking, “Some of the things that kind of bother me about what was chosen is that nothing has been set up for the public. Aside from the testing before, testing after, quarantining, they are missing a place for people that had COVID-19 to avoid testing. I can tell you that I’m going to come back and visit with my constituents as I do every year. If you were to observe the rules that they have in place right now, it makes it really unworkable to do that. We’re going to keep the public in mind, make them a priority, making sure they can reach their legislators in person if they choose. I’d like to set up a separate process for that. The press must have availability. They are the eyes and ears of the public. What’s important is that last year’s leadership, a majority of them don’t have to live under these rules, and they don’t make the rules for next year’s legislature. We’re going to ensure that the public has access. Remember, the public are our employers. I have 36,000 of them and I want them to have full access to the legislature if they choose to participate.”
The question of leadership in the Senate is up in the air. Micciche says, “We’re working on organizing. Our group is still together. Obviously we have a diverse group that’s 13 Republicans that don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, but we’re still talking. I think things are going well. We’re taking it slow to make sure that we get it right and I hope to hear news that the Senate has, in fact, organized with the majority that represents the 13 Republicans. The reason that I don’t have anything personal against Democrats, but that’s a 2-to-1 margin and that’s why there’s a majority and minority system. So, I hope to hear good news that we’ve organized as Republicans and that we’re holding it together and reaching out to the other side to see how we can get the problems of Alaska solved in a way that’s best for Alaskans in 2021.”
Click here to read the entire enforcement policy.
