Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he wanted to make Alaska “the most pro-life state in the entire country” during his annual address to the Legislature on Monday evening, marking the Republican governor’s second term in office.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers the first State of the State speech of his second term in office before a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. Shown behind him are Senate President Gary Stevens, left, and House Speaker Cathy Tilton, right.
An anti-abortion rally held earlier in the day drew a sparse crowd, where Chris Kurka, a former Republican legislator and director of alaska Right to Life, said “it’s a time to seize the day.”advocated for putting forward a constitutional amendment that would ask Alaskans to decide whether abortion-access remains protected. Such a bill has already been introduced by Sen. Shelly Hughes, a Palmer Republican who is in the minority. Dunleavy has not publicly backed Hughes’ bill.
“The devil’s in the details,” said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, adding that he hoped for proposals to deal with K-12 education costs, child care availability, affordable housing and a backlog in federal SNAP benefits.“I think there’s been a real sea change in the governor,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican. “In my estimation, the governor is more comfortable with being governor.
Dunleavy said lawmakers “have an obligation to fight back against this elitist attitude” of turning Alaska into “a billionaires’ playground to set up for glamping for a couple weeks and then take off for Davos in private jets.” The governor’s other proposals included increasing sentencing minimums for drug dealers; increasing postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months; expanding the state defense force; and advancing policies related to food security.Sen.
Dunleavy’s speech came an hour after a few hundred people gathered on the Capitol steps in Juneau to rally for increased K-12 education funding — a topic Dunleavy did not mention in his speech, despite vocal support from some legislators for boosting the formula used to calculate school funding.
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