Lawmakers pass low number of bills

While the Alaska Legislature continues to work in special session this week on the state budget and deciding the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, lawmakers managed to pass 34 bills before the regular session ended last week — among the lowest number since statehood.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy will have at least until sometime next month to decide whether to sign or veto the bills, depending on when the Legislature sends the documents to the governor’s office.

Among the bills approved by lawmakers:

A measure sponsored by Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan will increase the land within Funter Bay State Marine Park near Juneau to include a cemetery holding the graves of 30 to 40 Aleuts who died there during World War II. The measure would prevent the land from being sold or developed. The federal government forcibly moved Indigenous residents of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea to Southeast in 1942, holding them in inadequate housing. Many died and are buried at the site at the northern end of Admiralty Island.

Juneau Rep. Andi Story’s bill is intended to simplify the Department of Natural Resources’ lease renewal process for aquatic farms that raise oysters, other shellfish and kelp. The bill makes the aquatic farm lease renewal process consistent with other lease renewals at the department, cutting the time in half to 90 days, Story said.

Legislation sponsored by Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl will reduce the time a property owner has to wait before taking possession of a vehicle abandoned on the property. Current law makes a property owner wait six months; the bill would shorten that to 30 days. The Alaska Municipal League supported the bill, noting: “Abandoned vehicles plague local governments.”