On Monday, the Alaska Legislature released the first round of pre-file bills for the session that begins on January 17th. Representative Kevin McCabe and Senator Mike Shower, whose districts include the Northern Susitna Valley.
Representative McCabe has submitted two bills in advance of the legislative session. House Bill 3 deals with the establishment of gold and silver coins and bars as legal tender within the State of Alaska. House Bill 29 would prevent insurance providers from altering their services to an individual based on political affiliation or status as an elected official.
Senator Shower has pre-filed six bills, most of which pertain to elections. Senate Bill 1 would establish new requirements for the Division of Elections focused on areas including ballot chain-of-custody, ballot watermarks, connecting voting machines to the internet, and forensic audits of election equipment. Senate Bill 6 would also add restrictions to the Division of Elections regarding what vote tallying software may be used.Senate Bill 2 would make multiple changes to state law regarding elections, including reversing portions of the open primary and ranked-choice-voting initiative approved by Alaska voters in 2020. Senate Bill 5 would add a provision allowing the Division of Elections to request address confirmation of a registered voter if the Division receives information that the voter no longer lives in the state.
Senate Bill 4 is the only bill submitted by Senator Shower thus far that does not deal with elections. That bill would eliminate binding caucuses in the legislature. A binding caucus occurs when legislators agree to vote in a particular way on certain measures as part of their membership.
A second round of pre-filed bills is expected to be released on Friday.
