Judiciary Committee wants to control campaign spending
from KTUU Channel 2: The state Senate Judiciary Committee is trying to control spending this campaign season. “We’ve got to fall back and write a bill and get something on the books before this legislature gavels out in 75 days and so we’ve got to get busy,” said Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage. Read more →
Do corporations now have more free speech rights than people?
from The Fairbanks News-Miner: Parts of Alaska campaign finance law will have to be rewritten to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that says corporations are people too, when it comes to campaign spending. Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat and the committee chairman, said the committee will work on a bill to update state law. Read more →
Senator hosts hearings on Supreme Court campaign finance ruling
from the Fairbanks News-Miner: State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Hollis French will schedule committee hearings next month to investigate the ramifications to Alaska of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on corporate campaign contributions, calling it a “horribly misguided” ruling that creates unease at the “power we’re ceding to corporations, foreign and domestic, into Alaska’s public affairs.” Read more →
Alaska Politicians Assessing Fallout from Campaign Decision
from APRN: Alaskans are trying to understand the full effects of Thursday’s US Supreme Court decision that will allow corporations to become more involved in political campaigns. Senate Judiciary Chairman Hollis French announced on the senate floor Friday that he will initiate hearings on the decision and called the ruling “disastrous for the future of democracy.” Read more →
Governor targets oil taxes, federal ‘war’
from the Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who also is running for governor, said the state is at a crossroads with high energy costs and he didn’t see the needed urgency in Parnell’s speech. He said he found the governor “almost dismissive” of efforts to build a smaller in-state natural gas pipeline to bring North Slope gas to the Railbelt, which many legislators see as a backup if the pipeline to the Lower 48 doesn’t come through. Read more →
Package of anti-crime bills greets lawmakers in Juneau
from the Anchorage Daily News: As lawmakers returned to Juneau for today’s start of the legislative session, the Parnell administration announced a package of anti-crime bills to support the governor’s 10-year plan to fight domestic violence and sexual assault. Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage and the chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, said by phone from Juneau that he’s a big supporter of the new crime lab and promised to give all the governor’s bills a fair hearing. Read more →
Lawmakers reconsider oil taxes issue
from the Anchorage Daily News: Lawmakers making their way to Juneau for Tuesday’s start of the 2010 legislative session expect a bruising fight over whether to roll back Alaska’s oil taxes. Read more →
Anchorage Elected Officials Gather To Support Hollis French for Governor
from Hollis French for Governor Campaign: Elected officials from around Alaska have come out to support Hollis French in his run for Governor of Alaska. Today, 10 gathered in Anchorage to publicly talk about the reasons he has earned their trust. Present at the event were members of the State Senate (Sens. Johnny Ellis, Bettye Davis, Bill Wielechowski), State House (Reps. Lindsey Holmes, Mike Doogan, Harry Crawford, and Les Gara) and Anchorage Assembly (Elvi Gray-Jackson, Matt Claman and Harriet Drummond). Other notable public officials who support the campaign include Sen. Albert Kookesh (D-Angoon), Sen. Joe Thomas (D-Fairbanks), and Anchorage Reps. Bob Buch, Chris Tuck, Berta Gardner and Pete Peterson. Read more →
A constitutional dividend?
from The Anchorage PRESS: If oil and gas revenues decline as expected in the next few years, state government will have to look elsewhere to fund itself; using income from the Permanent Fund is one idea that’s been discussed, as well as a state income tax. French and Crawford want to take the Permanent Fund dividends out of that discussion. Read more →
Lawmakers hope to write PFD into Alaska’s Constitution
From KTUU Channel 2: “The dividend has been such a part of the Alaskan way of life for so long, a lot of citizens believe that it is protected but it’s not,” French said. Read more →
