Alaska Center for Public Policy

Rachel Carson Celebration

In celebration of the ecologist’s life and work Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) invites you to this event, in commemoration of the birthday and life of Rachel Carson, scientist and author of Silent Spring.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7-9pm

WHERE: Wilda Marston Theater, Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 3600
Denali Street, Anchorage Read the rest of this entry »

New Report Released on US Transportation System

ANCHORAGE CITIZENS COALITION, ALASKA CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY, AND THE BICYCLE COMMUTERS OF ANCHORAGE SUPPORT BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSPORTATION REFORM

Road map for transformational change will enhance Alaska’s economic future

Anchorage - Today, as Congress prepares to rewrite the federal transportation law, Alaskan organizations join Transportation for America to release a detailed plan to recreate the nation’s transportation program in order to build a smart, safe and clean transportation system that provides real choices to all Americans. Read the rest of this entry »

Bioneers Co-Founders Coming To Anchorage

BIO-NEERS CO-FOUNDERS KENNY AUSUBEL & NINA SIMONS
ARE COMING TO ANCHORAGE!

Public talk by Kenny & Nina, followed by Q & A / Conversation

WHEN: Sunday, May 24th, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: UAA Arts Bldg, Room 150

Bioneers is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. Founded in 1990, Bioneers promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities. Read the rest of this entry »

End of Capitalism? Probably Not, Just Dented…

Economic Crisis Seminar & Update
An event sponsored by the Business Administration Department, APU

The faculty of Alaska Pacific University will hold this free public event on APU campus Carr Gottstein Building Room 102 on May 9, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Attendees will receive a Certificate of Attendance. Limited seating.  For RSVP and questions call Tania Marsh at 564-8234.

Program details

10:00 a.m.      Credit Crisis and the Economy: Presenters:  Lehman & Wladkowski
11: 00 a.m.     Panel: Is capitalism in crisis? Discussants: Faller, Lane, Lehman, Rawson, Thiru, Stewart (Moderator)
12:15 p.m.      Working Lunch: Breakout sessions
1:30 p.m.       Report back & closure: what next? Audience input (Moderator: Stewart)
2:00 p.m.       End

Presenters: Read the rest of this entry »

Wall Street, Washington, and the Broken Economy

On March 4, 2009, Wall Street Watch released a damning report about the cause of the current economic meltdown, “Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America.” This report “has one overriding message: financial deregulation led directly to the financial meltdown.”

Part I of the report documents a dozen specific deregulatory steps (including failures to regulate and failures to enforce existing regulations) that enabled Wall Street to crash the financial system:

1. In 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which had prohibited the merger of commercial banking and investment banking.
2. Regulatory rules permitted off-balance sheet accounting — tricks that enabled banks to hide their liabilities.
3. The Clinton administration blocked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from regulating financial derivatives — which became the basis for massive speculation.
4. Congress in 2000 prohibited regulation of financial derivatives when it passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.
5. The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2004 adopted a voluntary regulation scheme for investment banks that enabled them to incur much higher levels of debt.
6. Rules adopted by global regulators at the behest of the financial industry would enable commercial banks to determine their own capital reserve requirements, based on their internal “risk-assessment models.”
7. Federal regulators refused to block widespread predatory lending practices earlier in this decade, failing to either issue appropriate regulations or even enforce existing ones.
8. Federal bank regulators claimed the power to supersede state consumer protection laws that could have diminished predatory lending and other abusive practices.
9. Federal rules prevent victims of abusive loans from suing firms that bought their loans from the banks that issued the original loan.
10. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expanded beyond their traditional scope of business and entered the subprime market, ultimately costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Blog: Sam Rhodes

Juneau, Alaska–In efforts to make our voices heard by Alaska legislators on the Employee Free Choice Act and public employee pension reform, 130 ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 members converged on the capital for an educational conference highlighted by lobbying and an exciting rally. The event took place over two days, February 18th and 19th.

Prior to meeting legislators in person to lobby, Local 52 members received in-depth information on the voting records and tendencies of legislators whose votes we need for passage of the proposed measures under consideration.

Next, our members met with their legislators in personal one-on-one meetings to add their personal touches to the context of the Employee Free Choice Act and Alaska legislation in the forms of HB 30 and SB 54. The latter measures seek to return public employees to a defined benefit [retirement plan] from the present defined contribution (401k). The defined benefit was erased and replaced with the defined contribution by the Alaska Legislature in 1995 as a cost-saving mechanism, resulting in minuscule savings since its enactment.

The event included an all-union rally on the capitol steps where over 350 Alaska unionists turned out to remind the Alaska legislature that if talking fails to get our voices heard, we don’t mind yelling a little. Read the rest of this entry »

Alaska Needs New Law for COBRA benefits in the Recovery Act

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama last week, allows involuntarily unemployed workers to continue their employer-based coverage by paying 35% of premiums, while the federal government pays a 65% subsidy. Unemployed workers can get this assistance for up to 9 months if they lost their jobs between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. In order to get full federal help for unemployed workers in paying for health insurance premiums, Alaska will have to write a new state law immediately.

Unemployed workers who lost jobs in firms of 20 or more will get this help in all states, because they are eligible for COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) benefits under federal law. However, in order for workers in firms with fewer than 20 workers to get this help, the state must have a “state continuation coverage law” known as a “mini-COBRA law” in place. Alaska is one of only 10 states that doesn’t have that kind of a law.

Model bill language is available from the National Association for Insurance Commissioners.  Minnesota state law is one example of the “mini-COBRA law” Alaska must write to help unemployed workers continue their employer-based coverage.

For more information about the COBRA subsidies in the Recovery Act, use the following link to view a Families USA report: http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/unemployed-uninsured/protecting-unemployed-workers.pdf. Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Some information in this post has been excerpted from a Families USA correspondence.

Alaskan Families Benefit from Stimulus Bill

President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill into law today. The Alaska Center for Public Policy (ACPP) is pleased to present findings on how the federal economic stimulus package will bolster low- and moderate-income families in Alaska. Recently, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report detailing these projections. The report indicates that Alaskan families will receive funds for the following programs:

• $220 million temporary increase in the federal share of Medicaid expenses (known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage or FMAP)
• $113.7 million “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund” to avert budget cuts—one block grant for education ($93 million), and one flexible block grant for basic state services ($20.7 million)
• $79.3 million toward education
• $14,898 increase in unemployment insurance
• $4.36 million toward child care
• $9 million for training and employment services
• $36 million increase in the Food Stamp (or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance) Program
• $1.9 million toward the Emergency Shelter Grant Program
• $1,000 federal income tax credit per child
• $400 federal income tax credit per worker

Read the rest of this entry »