{"id":17574,"date":"2017-02-08T00:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T08:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/amendments-temporarily-slow-death-benefits-bill\/"},"modified":"2017-02-08T00:12:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T08:12:00","slug":"amendments-temporarily-slow-death-benefits-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/amendments-temporarily-slow-death-benefits-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Amendments temporarily slow death benefits bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

A measure to grant benefits to the families of firefighters and police killed in the line of duty continued its slow advance through the Legislature on Tuesday as the House Finance Committee considered more than a dozen amendments to the proposal.<\/p>\n

House Bill 23, suggested by Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, is scheduled to reappear in the committee at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Despite widespread support in the Legislature, HB 23 and its predecessors have endured a slog. Last year, there was a widespread consensus that the Legislature should grant health insurance to the spouses and children of slain firefighters and <\/a>police<\/a>, but the measure failed to pass before the Legislature adjourned its regular session. Conflicts arose over who should be eligible and who should pay for those benefits. Gov. Bill Walker revived the bill during a summer special session, but it again failed to gain <\/a>traction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year, lawmakers in the House majority and House minority sponsored identical versions of the bill, and the majority bill is progressing. The Senate has its own version as well.<\/p>\n

If approved Wednesday in committee, HB 23 could be read onto the House floor as early as Friday and could reach a floor vote early next week.<\/p>\n

Petersburg land selections advance<\/strong><\/p>\n

While HB 23 lingered in House Finance, parallel measures giving the Petersburg Borough 14,666 acres of state land advanced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In separate actions, the Community and Regional Affairs Committee approved House Bill 85 and the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill 28.<\/p>\n

Both bills, identical in content, give a gift to the borough from the state. Newly created boroughs are entitled to a grant of state land as a startup measure. SB 28, sponsored by Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, will advance to the Senate floor for a vote. HB 85, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, will head to the House Finance Committee for consideration.<\/p>\n

Other action<\/strong><\/p>\n

In other business Tuesday:<\/p>\n