Andrew Kitchenman

Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold has been banned from the Capitol other than the Senate gallery during sessions, until she complies with COVID-19 safety rules. 

Reinbold hasn’t followed requirements to wear a face mask and to undergo the COVID-19 rapid tests and temperature screenings required of everyone entering the Capitol. 

The Senate voted 18-1 on Wednesday to allow leaders to enforce the rules. Shortly after the vote, Reinbold attempted to hold a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which she chairs. But Senate President Peter Micciche informed her that the meeting was cancelled due to unsafe conditions. 

Micciche said after the vote that senators were concerned about the safety of both legislators and the people who work in the Capitol. He said some staff members have family members with compromised immune systems. 

“We are going to have people follow the rules and we are going to keep people safe,” said Micciche, a Soldotna Republican. 

He also said it’s important to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak from shutting down legislative work during the session.

Reinbold has not followed the face mask requirement throughout the session, instead wearing a transparent face shield that doesn’t comply with legislative rules. She said she has submitted negative PCR test results to leaders. 

But she hasn’t undergone the antigen tests every four or five days or the daily skin temperature screenings that are required of everyone entering the Capitol, according to Senate Rules Committee Chair Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican.

Reinbold declined a request for an interview. On Facebook, she said the rules were being applied arbitrarily. She also wrote: “My actions are to protect my constitutional rights, including civil liberties and those who I represent, even under immense pressure and public scrutiny.”

Micciche said Reinbold will be provided with office space outside of the Capitol building until she complies with the rules. And she’ll be able to participate in committee meetings remotely. But while she’ll be able to participate in floor sessions and vote from one of the Senate galleries, she won’t be allowed on the floor. 

“Our hope is that our colleague will realize how serious the impacts have been of COVID in the building, and to simply help us by following the rules like every other individual has,,” Micciche said. “So we hope that this is very temporary.”

He said Reinbold remains Judiciary Committee chair and a member of the Senate majority. 

Micciche and Stevens said COVID-19 cases in the Capitol over the past two weeks — which include one person currently hospitalized — led to the action to enforce the rules. At the peak on March 4, six people were isolating after testing positive, and 21 more were in quarantine because they were close contacts of someone who was positive. Currently, five people are isolating or quarantining, including the person who is hospitalized, Micciche said. 

Stevens chaired the Legislative Council when it passed the COVID-19 safety rules. 

“It truly could have been much worse if we hadn’t had those rules in place,” he said. “Nobody can tell you how bad it would have been in this building if we had not asked everyone to wear a mask.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote a letter to Reinbold in February saying that she was spreading misinformation about the response to COVID-19 and that his administration wouldn’t cooperate with her. 

The issue had been bubbling up over the week. On Monday, Reinbold left a Senate subcommittee meeting after chair Sen. Natasha von Imhof notified her she was required to wear a mask. On Tuesday, Reinbold was escorted by Capitol security out of a House Health and Social Services Committee meeting because she wouldn’t wear a mask. 

Wasilla Republican Sen. Mike Shower was the only senator to vote against allowing Senate leaders to enforce the rules. Reinbold was absent. She left the floor before the session started after being told to follow the rules. 

 

Updated Post – 9:00 p.m.

Alaska will become the first state in the country to open COVID-19 vaccinations to anyone 16 and older, officials announced Tuesday, capping a swift rollout of the shots that’s seen a boost from tens of thousands of extra doses shipped to and administered by tribal health care providers.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the expanded eligibility in a prepared statement Tuesday afternoon.

“Alaska has led in many, many categories in dealing with this virus,” Dunleavy said during a press briefing following the announcement. “This is an opportunity for Alaska to lead again.”

Health officials in previous days had hinted that they might take such a step, suggesting that vaccine hesitancy and confusion about previously broadened eligibility guidelines were leaving appointments unfilled across the state.

Alaska’s state-sponsored distribution effort has seen a major boost from its tribal health care partners, which have been allotted separate shipments of vaccine through a unique partnership with the federal government — aimed at recognizing both tribes’ sovereign status and COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Alaska Native people.

“I think it’s a combination of the fact that we’re going to get more vaccines, that we have, I think, a number of effective systems in place: Indian Health Service, Alaska Native health services; our municipality partners; our business partners; the state system itself. I think it all works pretty well together,” Dunleavy said.

Up until last week, the state limited vaccinations to front-line health care workers, teachers, and people aged 50 and older who worked in certain front-line essential positions or suffered from certain pre-existing health conditions.

But last week, buoyed by a major boost in the number of shots being shipped to the state, officials announced that vaccinations would open to a far broader group: all essential workers, anyone 55 and over and anyone with a health condition that could put them at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

Dunleavy described his recent experience of becoming with sick with COVID-19 as an “inconvenience.” He urged those considering whether to be vaccinated to consider the effect on their families if they become ill. While he repeatedly said he respects those who don’t want to be vaccinated, he says he will get the vaccine.

“I’m doing that because I don’t want to be a burden on the hospital system. I don’t want to be a burden on my family. I don’t want to be taken out of operation for a while,” he said.

He says that if Alaska reaches herd immunity, it will help Alaskans’ lives and the economy.

“We’re hoping that we can get the cruise ships back here, the tourism industry back here,” he said. “We’re hoping that we can get Alaskans out working together and building Alaska this summer, mixing and mingling.”

Vaccine appointments will be open to anyone 16 and over, although 16- and 17-year-olds will only be eligible for the vaccine manufactured by drug company Pfizer, as the two other vaccines on the market are only authorized for people 18 and older.

Alaska Chief Medical Officer Doctor Anne Zink talked about how Alaska can protect its youngest residents. She said adults need to do their part by getting their shots.

“Kids are part of our herd and kids can’t be vaccinated as of right now,” she said. “And as a result, we need a lot more adults to make the decision to be adults and to do what they can to be able to vaccinate and to protect our kids in general.”

She also said people being vaccinated is the fastest way to open up the economy and communities.

“This is our shot to end this pandemic,” she said.

She said it looks like the state and Indian Health Service allocations of vaccines will be well over 100,000 in the next month. That number doesn’t include the amounts received by federally qualified health centers and some pharmacies, as well as the military and Veterans Administration.

Alaska has provided the most COVID-19 shots per resident of any state. And it has the highest share of its population that’s fully vaccinated — 23.6% of residents have received one shot and 16.4% are fully vaccinated.

But there is a long way to go before Alaska reaches the roughly 75% to 85% of the population with immunity that scientists estimate will prevent the spread of the disease.

Dunleavy says he hopes people will look back at Alaskans’ response to the pandemic as positive. He imagined a possible future narrative:

“Alaska, a lonely outpost, way in the northwest part of North America, which it is pretty easy for Washington, D.C., and other places to forget — we rolled up our sleeves, we worked together. We put aside politics. We put aside a whole host of things that we often times squabble about,” he said.

But he added that while the expanded eligibility could give the state a boost toward that goal, the response is not over.

This story was updated to include comments from Gov. Dunleavy and Dr. Anne Zink from the Tuesday evening press briefing. Alaska Public Media reporter Nat Herz contributed to this story.

Original post — 4:00 p.m.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy will be holding a press conference from Juneau at 5 p.m. He will be joined by Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, and public health director Heidi Hedberg.

The administration will be giving an update on COVID-19 in Alaska.

Alaska has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, and the state’s vaccination allotment is expected to nearly double later this month.

Last week, the state expanded vaccine eligibility to all Alaskans age 55 and older, essential workers and other groups. But many appointments remain unfilled.

You can stream the governor’s press conference here or on Gov. Dunleavy’s Facebook page.

Members of the Alaska House of Representatives on Friday condemned sexist remarks made by Rep. Zack Fields in late February. 

Fields, an Anchorage Democrat, made the remarks when wishing Anchorage Republican Rep. Sara Rasmussen a happy birthday. He read from what he said was a message from a constituent in her district saying that she could wear a short skirt and stop traffic in Anchorage. 

Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance asked for the House to send a unified message that the comments “brought discredit upon the House of Representatives and that no member should be objectivized on the House floor and that such comments should never again be uttered on the House floor by any member.”

Vance said the motion wasn’t about punishing Fields, but about setting a precedent that respect should be paramount.

“My goal is to increase respect and trust in the Legislature among every member,” she said.

Fields had apologized to Rasmussen in the days following his comments. On Friday, he apologized to the House. 

“My comments contributed to an environment in which women are objectified, blamed and policed — an environment in which their knowledge and contributions are not allowed to stand on their own,” he said. “I’m deeply sorry for this.”

Rasmussen asked members whether they’re doing all that they can to bring respect to the Legislature. 

“My biggest takeaway so far is that we need to use this as a moment of growth and learning, so we as a society can do better in the future, and not have to endure some of these things that we’re talking about today,” she said.

The motion was adopted without objection. Two members had excused absences: Anchorage Republican Rep. Mike Cronk and Fairbanks Republican Rep. Steve Thompson.  

Alaska legislators, their staff and others who work in the Capitol will be able to get COVID-19 vaccinations starting on Friday. 

The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is offering the shots to the 450 people who work in the Capitol.

That’s according to Jessica Geary, the executive director of the Legislative Affairs Agency.  Public access to the building has been restricted this legislative session, and those who work in the building have their temperatures checked daily and are tested for the coronavirus every four or five days. 

Capitol workers are considered eligible because they are essential workers who work in a congregate setting. 

The Legislative Affairs Agency has been working with Juneau’s government to identify vaccines for those who work in the Capitol complex, Geary said. 

House members expressed concern that Gov. Mike Dunleavy has not proposed plans to balance the state’s budget in the long run. 

Members of the House Finance Committee raised these concerns with Revenue Commissioner Lucinda Mahoney during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Dillingham independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon said he’s uneasy about spending from Alaska Permanent Fund’s earnings beyond what’s planned. 

“I think you sit as the revenue commissioner in a very untenable position, given the fact that there is no plan before the Legislature and, in my estimation, I don’t think there’s a plan in the administration to bridge the fiscal gap,” he said.

Dunleavy has proposed spending more than $3.2 billion beyond what was planned from permanent fund earnings. This money would pay for state services, permanent fund dividends based on the formula in a 1982 state law, and an additional dividend payment beyond what was paid last year. 

The governor has said any new broad-based tax or change to the formula to set PFDs must go to a vote of the people. Committee members told Mahoney that that will take too much time. 

She said the state would draw more from permanent fund earnings until spending and revenue were in balance. 

“I recognize that the timeline doesn’t work,” she said. “However, the governor is not supportive of any new tax without the vote of the people. ”

The Legislature’s nonpartisan budget experts have said that without changes, the state government could spend down the roughly $15 billion earnings reserve in the same way it reduced the state’s other savings accounts from more than $16 billion in 2013 to less than $1 billion today. 

Fairbanks Republican Rep. Steve Thompson said he expects voters would reject both new taxes and lower dividends. 

Thompson asked Mahoney: “If we have no taxes for revenue and more money coming out to pay a larger dividend, does that sound like a disaster?” 

She replied: “I think it sounds like it’s a situation where we all need to educate Alaskans in regard to our fiscal condition.”

Mahoney noted that the Department of Revenue estimated last year how much different taxes would raise. 

The Legislature plans to hold a joint session to vote on whether to confirm Mahoney and the governor’s other appointees later in the legislative session. 

 

Former Alaska House Speaker Mike Bradner died Saturday of complications from a COVID-19 infection. He was 83. 

Bradner was a Democrat who represented a Fairbanks area House district for 10 years in the state Legislature. He served as speaker in 1975 and 1976 when the Alaska Permanent Fund was established. 

His brother Tim Bradner said he helped smooth the path for the Legislature to pass the amendment that started the fund. 

“Mike was very proud of that, and the fact that he helped it, but didn’t really want to take a lot of credit for it,” Tim Bradner said. “He wanted others to take the credit.”

Mike Bradner first came to Alaska to work as a deckhand on Yukon River freight boats. Later, he worked as a journalist, starting at the Fairbanks Daily News Miner. He then became interested in politics and was elected to the House in 1966.

Beginning with his time working on the Yukon, Bradner maintained a longtime interest in rural Alaska. He worked as a state coordinator for the federal War on Poverty programs, according to his brother Tim. 

“So that took him all over the state, working with local communities, you know, particularly rural communities,” Tim Bradner said of his brother. “So out of that [he had] a deep interest in rural affairs, and particularly education. That was one of the things he was known for, was his strong interest in public education.” 

After serving as speaker, Mike Bradner returned to journalism. He started a subscription newsletter, the Alaska Legislative Digest. He also interviewed legislators and state leaders for the KTOO 360TV show Capitol Views.