Peggy’s Corner of the House

Hello and welcome to Peggy’s Corner of the House. I’m excited to be back in Juneau representing District 2 in the State House. I’m sad, though, that this will be my last year representing Sitka, Petersburg, Pelican, Elfin Cove, Port Alexander, Kupreanof and Baranof Warm Springs because of redistricting. This is the second year of the 27th legislative session, and we’ll be working hard to gain approval of all the good legislation that was introduced last year.

This is my second year serving as House Majority Whip. It is one of seven House leadership positions. I will be working closely with other House leadership members, the Senate leadership and the Governor to make our session a productive one. Leadership works very hard to keep the lines of communication open between the senate, house and the governor.

I’m looking forward to another exciting year with a dynamic, capable staff, with three returning people and another new intern. Rebecca Rooney, from Wrangell, is my Chief of Staff, and has been with me for seven years. Becky is very familiar with all the issues that have been before the legislature in the past several years, and really helps me advance the issues that are important to District 2. She is the Committee aide for the Transportation Committee and handles Wrangell constituent issues as well.

Pam Duvall, from Petersburg, is the person you will speak with first when you call or visit our office. In addition to keeping my schedule and appointments, she follows Fisheries related issues and handles Petersburg constituent issues. This is her third year on staff.

Sheila Finkenbinder, a Sitka resident, is now in her second year with my office. She follows Resource related issues, carries some of my legislation, is responsible for a lot of our office communications, and handles constituent issues for Sitka.

I’m very pleased to have Arthur Martin as an Intern this year. I am honored to have an intern from the University, for he is one of only ten. Arthur is a student at UAF, majoring in Political Science and Russian. He will be following State Affairs, Education and Energy related issues. Arthur is from Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island—we’re all happy to have his help already.

I definitely hit the ground running this year, with one of my bills having been passed out of State Affairs committee already. My goal is to have the remaining seven bills and one resolution that I introduced last year passed and signed into law by the end of the session. My top priority is to reestablish a dedicated Transportation Fund within the constitution. This fund will ensure that transportation revenues are spent on transportation infrastructure projects. Projects like the ferry system, state and municipal roads, harbors, and airports. I will also be supporting the governor’s position on bringing jobs and revenue to the state by encouraging oil and gas exploration and production through adoption of an equitable tax structure.

Again this year, in addition to hearing from me in Peggy’s Corner of the House, you can find more information about what’s going on up here in Juneau on my blog, at http://www.peggywilson.com. I also recently updated my social media accounts. If you would like to be the first to know what’s going on, you can follow me on Facebook and you can also find me on Twitter at reppeggywilson.

That’s all for now from Peggy’s Corner of the House. I’ll talk to you next week.