Articles & Op-eds
Fairbanks Daily News Miner: Senate approves CARES Act ‘2.0’ to make up for losses in original bill
by Erin McGroarty
The U.S. Senate earlier this week unanimously passed a $484 billion COVID-19 relief bill, legislation members of Congress are calling "the CARES Act 2.0." The bill includes additional funding for many of the same areas addressed in the first version of the act and holds few new provisions, Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski explained to reporters Wednesday. "We recognize that when we passed the first supplemental, when we passed the Families First bill and when we passed the CARES Act, we k… Continue Reading
04.23.20
Anchorage Daily News: OPINION: Attacks on Native corporations over CARES Act are unfair
by Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young
During the last global pandemic, the 1918 Spanish flu, more people died per capita in Alaska than almost anywhere else in the world. Native elders still tell of entire villages getting wiped out. Our state has to use every tool available to respond to this pandemic because the barriers to providing care and preventing outbreaks are daunting. Alaska is larger than 177 nations. If it were a country, it would be in the top 20 by landmass. There are more than 200 remote, predominately Native, comm… Continue Reading
04.23.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Senate approves CARES Act ‘2.0’ to make up for losses in original bill
by Erin McGroarty
The U.S. Senate earlier this week unanimously passed a $484 billion COVID-19 relief bill, legislation members of Congress are calling "the CARES Act 2.0." The bill includes additional funding for many of the same areas addressed in the first version of the act and holds few new provisions, Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski explained to reporters Wednesday. "We recognize that when we passed the first supplemental, when we passed the Families First bill and when we passed the CARES Act, we k… Continue Reading
04.22.20
Anchorage Daily News: New $484 billion coronavirus relief bill will bring more loan funds to Alaska
by Alex DeMarban
The $484 billion COVID-19 aid package awaiting passage in Congress will provide a much-needed boost to programs designed to help Alaska and U.S. businesses, the state's congressional delegation said Wednesday. The bill includes $310 billion to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program and another $60 billion to shore up the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and grant program. The loan programs were funded in the massive $2.2 trillion COVID relief package passed last month, but ran out of money las… Continue Reading
04.21.20
KINY: Murkowski, Sullivan applaud COVID-19 funding package
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan are applauding unanimous Senate passage of a coronavirus relief package. The package totals $484 billion, which provides additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, COVID-19 testing, and added support for hospitals. The purpose of the majority of this funding is to provide a boost to programs that were previously authorized and funded from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act which was signed into law in March. The bi… Continue Reading
04.21.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: A long, steady push brought the F-35s to Eielson
by Alistair Gardiner
Tuesday's touchdown of a pair of the nation's newest fighter jets at Eielson Air Force Base marks the end of a decades-long effort to have the aircraft stationed at the installation. With a total price tag of about $400 billion, the F-35 program is the costliest weapons program in U.S. military history. Getting the aircraft to Eielson has been a complicated and precarious process. The F-35 program began in the 1990s with plans for a basic airframe that, with some adjustments, would fulfill fig… Continue Reading
04.20.20
Daily Energy Insider: Sen. Murkowski urges FCC to give utilities, first responders priority on spectrum band
by Dave Kovaleski
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow emergency responders and utilities to continue to have priority usage of the 6 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band. Murkowski's plea comes after FCC officials published a draft rule April 1, allowing unlicensed devices to utilize the 6 GHz band. It is currently occupied by only electric and natural gas utilities, along with other licensed users like first responders. Murkowski, chair of the Senate Energy a… Continue Reading
04.16.20
KTOO: Alaska’s struggling timber industry can now hit pause on federal contracts
by Elizabeth Jenkins
In reaction to the pandemic's disruption of the global timber market, the U.S. Forest Service is allowing extensions on existing timber sale contracts with sawmills and timber operators. Typically, Forest Service contracts expire after three to five years. But this change gives businesses a way to request up to a two-year extension on certain contracts so they can navigate the difficult times. Alaska businesses are getting an extra year on top of that because of another setback: The ongoing tr… Continue Reading
04.15.20
KINY: Senator Murkowski trying to help the cruise industry
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she is working to help Alaska's seafood industry and its cruise ship industry during the pandemic. Murkowski said she would like to salvage at least part of the cruise ship season this year. "We have to work together as a community and an industry on this. It's important for seafood processors. We want to line people up to start working in some of our most remote communities. Those communities want to know that the processors have plans in place to protect t… Continue Reading
04.14.20
Huffington Post: Senators Demand Next COVID-19 Bailout Bill Prioritize Domestic Violence Survivors
by Alanna Vagianos
The next coronavirus aid bill needs to prioritize victims of domestic and sexual violence, who are particularly vulnerable as stay-at-home orders leave them isolated with their abusers, dozens of senators wrote in letters to leadership on Monday. In two letters that were shared with HuffPost ahead of their release, the bipartisan group of senators called for more resources and funding for victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and family violence as the coronavirus outbreak spread… Continue Reading
04.13.20
KTUU: Senator Lisa Murkowski and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz give an update on COVID-19
by Alexis Fernandez
Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Senator Lisa Murkowski held a community briefing Monday on COVID-19. To recap some of the highlights: The mayor said continuing our current efforts to flatten the curve are critical, and what we're doing is working, he says. He confirmed the statistics are not showing any specific patterns or clusters in any particular neighborhood in Anchorage. Berkowitz confirmed he will be asking for an extension of the current emergency order through November 15th - whi… Continue Reading
04.13.20
Peninsula Clarion: Senators reach out to Alaskans in audioconference meetings
by Michael Armstrong
In town hall audioconferences held the past two weeks on the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska's U.S. senators have been listening to concerns and trying to help citizens get relief through the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan have held the dial-in audioconferences on April 2 and April 9 to give people an opportunity to understand how Congress has responded to the pandemic and how it can help them. The April 2 conference … Continue Reading
04.10.20
Roll Call: Lawmakers prod USDA to aid local food growers hit by pandemic
by Ellyn Ferguson
More than 30 senators from both parties called on the Agriculture Department to provide robust aid for small growers and meat producers who are the backbone of the farm-to-table movement. In a Thursday letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, 29 Democrats, independents Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said public health restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus have imposed extra expenses for … Continue Reading
04.09.20
Daily Energy Insider: Alaska senators sponsor bill to purchase oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve
by Dave Kovaleski
Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) are sponsoring a bill to purchase $3 billion of U.S.-produced crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The bill aligns with the request made by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to fill the SPR to capacity. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Reps. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) are also sponsoring this bicameral bill, which will be introduced when Congress returns to session. "The oi… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Homer News: Seawatch: Fishermen get briefed on CARES Act
by Christy Fry
Alaska's congressional delegation held a conference call with 65 of Alaska's fishery leaders last week and laid out some details of the federal assistance available to fishermen through the $2 trillion CARES Act. The call was set up by United Fishermen of Alaska, and Executive Director Frances Leach had praise for the delegation. "Obviously the senators and congressman are very concerned about our industry, and they're doing everything they can to make sure that we have what we need," she said… Continue Reading
04.08.20
KTUU: $16M funneled into Alaska healthcare system via CARES Act
by Beth Verge
Nearly $16 million in funding will be funneled to Alaska after being appropriated by the Health Center Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The monies, according to a release from Alaska's delegation comprising Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young, will go toward helping community health centers prevent and respond to the current coronavirus pandemic. Murkowski said in a statement… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Homer News: Seawatch: Fishermen get briefed on CARES Act
by Christy Fry
Alaska's congressional delegation held a conference call with 65 of Alaska's fishery leaders last week and laid out some details of the federal assistance available to fishermen through the $2 trillion CARES Act. The call was set up by United Fishermen of Alaska, and Executive Director Frances Leach had praise for the delegation. "Obviously the senators and congressman are very concerned about our industry, and they're doing everything they can to make sure that we have what we need," she said… Continue Reading
04.08.20
KTUU: $16M funneled into Alaska healthcare system via CARES Act
by Beth Verge
Nearly $16 million in funding will be funneled to Alaska after being appropriated by the Health Center Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The monies, according to a release from Alaska's delegation comprising Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young, will go toward helping community health centers prevent and respond to the current coronavirus pandemic. Murkowski said in a statement… Continue Reading
03.30.20
Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman: Congressman, Senators join Governor on press conference to address COVID 19
by Tim Rockey
Gov. Mike Dunleavy welcomed Congressman Don Young and Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan on Monday's press conference to discuss the state's response to the outbreak of COVID 19. Dunleavy announced that five more Alaskans had tested positive for COVID 19 since the last online report on the Department of Health and Social Services website on Sunday. Of the five new cases, two each were discovered in Anchorage and Fairbanks and the last positive case was found in Palmer. Palmer has all thre… Continue Reading
03.30.20
KTVA: Alaska's US lawmakers say $2 trillion stimulus will bolster small businesses
by Elizabeth Roman and Jes Stugelmayer
In the first news conference of the week, Alaska's governor and public health officials announced there were just five new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. Experts say the number of people infected will peak over the course of the next few weeks. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said all of the new patients identified were between 30 and 59 years old. Two cases were in Anchorage, two in Fairbanks and one in Palmer. Gov. Mike Dunleavy was joined by Rep. Don Young, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Su… Continue Reading
