{"id":43490,"date":"2019-02-19T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/capitol-live-murkowski-to-talk-community-importance-in-address-to-legislature\/"},"modified":"2019-02-19T15:02:04","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T00:02:04","slug":"capitol-live-murkowski-to-talk-community-importance-in-address-to-legislature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/capitol-live-murkowski-to-talk-community-importance-in-address-to-legislature\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol Live: House committee assignments released"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

2:25 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, has been assigned to the special committee on Arctic Policy, Economic Development and Tourism, or AET committee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The House is expected to meet at 3 p.m. to make these committee assignments official.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Kevin Baird <\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

2:15 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The House Committee on Committees just adopted its list of committee assignments.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Rep. Andi Story, a freshman Democrat from Juneau will be co-chairing the House Education Committee with Rep. Harriet Drummond, D-Anchorage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

A few of the other leadership assignments include:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

• House Rules chair is Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and Rules Vice Chair, Rep. Jennifer Johnston, R-Anchorage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

• Judiciary Chair, Rep. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, and Judiciary Vice Chair, Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Kevin Baird<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

1:45 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen says when staff are cut at the university enrollment follows. He says this is not good for the state as a whole.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Kevin Baird<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

1:15 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen says “people vote with their feet” and Alaska could see students and university faculty leave the state if the $155 million budget cut, as proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is passed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“People vote with their feet,” Johnsen said.<\/p>\n

\"Capitol<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t

Johnsen said the University of Alaska Fairbanks is the world’s No. 1 Arctic research university and every dollar put into research at UAF provides a $6 return to the economy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He said there is no question Alaska would lose top researchers if these cuts are made because states like Oregon and Washington are investing in research.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I’m not here to negotiate,” Johnsen said. Johnsen said he is here to advocate for the Board of Regents’ budget requests.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Kevin Baird<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

1 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The Senate Finance Committee is about to dive into a presentation from the University of Alaska called “University of Alaska FY20 Budget Impacts.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

UA President Jim Johnsen had a press availability conference schedule this morning, but it was canceled.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Kevin Baird<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

12:15 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Murkowski is speaking to reporters. One of the questions from the press is whether or not she supports a resolution disapproving of President Donald Trump calling for an emergency at the border. Her main objection with it is that Congress is supposed to appropriate money, and this order will take money from projects that were previously appropriated.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I don’t like this,” Murkowski said. “I think it takes us down a road, with a precedent, that if it’s allowed that we may come to regret. I’ll just remind my colleagues that in the previous administration we raised a lot of commotion over areas and initiatives that we felt the executive had overreached. Whether it’s a Democratic President or a Republican President I think we need to respect these separation of powers.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

She has concerns that some of the money Trump wants to divert to border security will come from military construction projects in Alaska.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“What we gave the President in this omnibus bill is significant in terms of resourcing for the men and women, for the humanitarian aid, and also for 55 miles of new wall,” she said. “The President has gotten as much what this administration can afford.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Mollie Barnes<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Noon<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

That will wrap this up. Murkowski’s address and question-and-answer session lasts just under an hour.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Alex McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

11:59 a.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Sen. Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, asks about keeping elections safe from hacks. Murkowski says hacks into recent U.S. elections keep her up at night.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“This is not some casual interference or somebody who happens to be poking around and get lucky,” Murkowski says. “It’s targeted.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

She says this fits into the broader issue of cybersecurity and that the country is not doing enough quick enough.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

— Alex McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

11:52 a.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Check out a copy of Murkowski’s full speech, embedded below. This is how it was written, not necessarily delivered, so there might have been a few changes in the wording as she delivered it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

<\/div>\n