<\/a>Mark Sabbatini \/ Juneau Empire \n Juneau state Sen. Jesse Kiehl addresses a town hall audience Wednesday evening at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School as Anita Evans provides a sign language interpretation for the live and online audience. Juneau state Reps. Sarah Hannan, far left, and Andi Story also answered questions from the roughly 25 people attending the meeting.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
“I don’t necessarily expect that dynamic to change, which is unfortunate,” Kiehl said. “Public radio is surviving, but in many parts of the state it’s struggling.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Juneau’s delegation hosted the town hall as part of their preparatory efforts for the Alaska State Legislature session that starts on Tuesday. All introduced prefile bills this week they discussed to some extent, along with other general overviews such as the broad framework of the governor’s proposed state budget.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“The real intent tonight is to hear your priorities and concerns,” Rep. Andi Story said in her introductory remarks.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
A prominent presence for both the in-person and online Facebook audience were two sign language interpreters who alternated duties during the meeting. Hannan said the Juneau delegation is the only one among municipalities providing such interpretations and is an example of constituent input producing results.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“That’s not something we did,” she said. “We had constituents reach out to us.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
A short question about violence prevention efforts from Katie Botz, a local school bus driver and advocate for public safety issues, resulted in responses from all three delegation members that were lengthy and touched on numerous issues they said were intertwined.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
About 80% of people entering the state’s penitentiaries have signs of a diagnosed mental illness and another 10% likely have undiagnosed symptoms, Hannan said, citing official studies. She said while prisons are Alaska’s most costly per-head function, “prison doesn’t tend to make people healthier” for reasons ranging from poor food to disruptive living conditions.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Last year the Legislature was surprised to find out more than half of people in prisons and jails have not been convicted of a crime,” she said. “That’s a very expensive thing to do.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Hannan also noted there were a record number of deaths in Alaska’s prisons in 2022. Concerns have also been raised locally at Lemon Creek Correctional Center due to high inmate transfer rates as the facility undergoes repairs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Kiehl an encouraging development is this week’s appointment by Dunleavy of Jen Winkelman as the new Department of Corrections commissioner-designee, who must be confirmed by the legislature, Kiehl said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“She’s lived in Juneau for a very long time and she has her head screwed on straight, he said. “She understands both the mission of the Department of Corrections is to keep dangerous people behind bars so Alaskans are protected from them and to monitor their reentry into society. I think with her we have a real opportunity to make some progress.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The local lawmakers agreed improving services for the incarcerated, which means increasing funding, is a tough political goal since many residents prefer to see more help for victims and law-abiding people in need of help.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I don’t love the idea of providing extra help to somebody who’s made a victim of somebody in Alaska, but what I really need is for them not to create another victim,” Kiehl said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Among the improvements needed, he said, is more inmate reentry housing. While housing shortages are a critical problem throughout the state, including Juneau, if just-released inmates have no place to stay they will almost certainly resort to more illegal activities, Kiehl said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Story, who emphasized better behavioral health services during a couple portions of the evening, said another difficult political reality is funding for that is competing with many other key needs entering a session where available funds aren’t likely to be abundant.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We have to look at how we’re going to pay for those needs, so a fiscal plan is something everybody has been talking about,” she said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dunleavy’s proposed budget lists a deficit of about $250 million that will have to covered with reserve funds, although the real figure may be double that when additional supplemental spending deemed necessary is added, Kiehl said. He also criticized the governor for promising “full” PFDs that will cost the state about $2.8 billion, while making no increase to education funding and seeking to pay for Alaska Marine Highway operations with federal funds that are intended to upgrade the ferry system instead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t