Arctic Council Chairmanship Passes to United States: don't be April fooled by the State Department over the Arctic.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: FROM THE EDITOR

Before this month is over this year's session of the Alaska State Legislature will be over.

Ten days into March I'm wondering how much our elected officials can possibly accomplish by April 19--so little has been done so far. All the bills are still "in committee," and nobody is cutting $4 billion off the budget or finding a new way to generate $4 billion in revenues--not that anyone can figure that out.

At ABM, we don't generally cover crime, religion, or politics. At least we do not take sides in politics, so I am not going to endorse anything, rather just point out some things in this year's state legislative session I noticed that seem likely to pass. Or at least seem like they could without too much trouble because they are short and to the point and appear to be nonpartisan.

SENATE BILL NO. 16--sweet sixteen--pretty short and sweet as bills go and, at only five pages long, you wouldn't think it would take too awfully long to get it on the floor for a vote. It is A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED "An Act declaring the Arctic policy of the state."

Then there is HOUSE BILL NO. 1--It, too, is A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED "An Act declaring the Arctic policy of the state." I do declare: HB1 is SB16 all over again. Deja vu.

Also, I see SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16, a companion piece, is shorter at four pages and could be more of a shoe-in because it's a joint resolution and has a message for Congress. Take a look and decide for yourself...