Assembly Legislative Committee Draft 2026 MOA Review - 2025-11-19
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Assembly Legislative Committee Draft 2026 MOA Review - 2025-11-19
The Assembly Legislative Committee convened on November 19, 2025, to review a revised draft of the 2026 Municipal Operating Authority (MOA) legislative program. Despite a late arrival by committee member Mr. Myers and a brief discussion regarding the inclusion of district priorities, the committee determined they lacked the quorum necessary to vote on amendments. Consequently, the committee decided to facilitate the formatting of changes for the December 2nd meeting, where a final vote is expected.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were presented or acted upon during this session.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jamie Lopez, representing the "Sank Formerly Homeless Coalition" (formerly identified as representing the coalition), addressed the committee regarding victim access to crime records:
- Lopez expressed strong opposition to current Alaska statutes that prevent victims from accessing case records (such as body camera footage) after a legal case reaches its natural conclusion.
- Lopez cited specific concern regarding the high cost and delay of obtaining records, noting a recent $1,155 charge for five hours of police body camera footage and a six-month waiting period.
- Lopez stated that while medical or confidential health records should remain restricted, raw video footage and police reports should generally be accessible to victims without barriers.
- Lopez suggested that the committee or Administration should take up this issue with the Alaska Public Safety Department (APD) or the state legislature.
- No other public comments or testimony were recorded.
Discussion Items
- Review of Revised 2026 MOA Draft:
- The meeting focused on changes proposed in the revised draft, following a previous work session. Changes highlighted in the document included:
- Blight Reduction Fund: An increase in the amount to create parity with the "APD Real-Time Crime Center Capital" item, a recommendation originally suggested by Member Constant to better balance public safety impacts.
- Unmanned Aerial Systems for Emergency Capabilities: A carryover request from the Anchorage Fire Department for a drone program focused on wildfire early detection and other emergency needs (e.g., search and rescue training), reflecting a continued pattern of commitment despite previous state-level funding denials.
- Restoration of Defined Benefit Pensions: The inclusion of this perennial request for the third consecutive year, despite concerns raised by the chair regarding its likelihood of success given the anticipated legislative focus for the upcoming year.
- Education Funding: The committee noted the exclusion of language regarding the Anchorage School District's (ASD) fiscal plan request, with the decision made to let ASD focus on that priority separately while the Assembly focuses on municipal priorities.
- District Priorities: Member Gerker inquired about the inclusion of district priorities, specifically mentioning split rail fences and Station 11 (volunteer fire department) for District 2, and priorities for District 5 and 6. Staff confirmed these were being incorporated and that a hard deadline of Friday, November 21, was set for submission.
- Quorum and Procedural Challenges: Chair Mr. Yates and the Clerk determined that the committee lacked a quorum, as non-member Mr. Gerker could not be counted alongside Members Baldwin, Day, Silvers, and Myers. Due to the lack of a quorum, no votes could be taken. The committee discussed the difficulty of amending a document where it is easier to add than remove.
- The meeting focused on changes proposed in the revised draft, following a previous work session. Changes highlighted in the document included:
Key Outcomes
- Procedural Determination: The committee confirmed it could not vote due to a lack of quorum.
- Next Steps Assigned:
- Staff member Allie is directed to incorporate all current feedback and district priorities into a formatted document.
- Districts are requested to submit priorities by Friday, November 21, to meet the Wednesday, November 26 agenda deadline (due to Thanksgiving).
- The draft MOA legislative program will return to the committee on December 2nd for final amendments and a vote.
- Vote Status: No votes were cast during this meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Um it's best conversation we can manage. So I'm gonna go ahead and call to order this meeting of the assembly legislative committee. We're those today from 1240 to 140 p.m. Do not think we'll need all the time. Uh let's go ahead and start with member introductions on the room. We have Jared Gerker. And on the phone, Mr. Myers. Yes, sir. Thanks, Zach. Thanks. Any other assembly members on the phone? Doesn't look like it. Okay, so we'll go ahead and jump right into our business today. Um the uh topic we have for consideration is a review of the draft 2026 MOA legislative program. Uh so we had a work session last week where members were invited to offer comments and suggestions for amendments. I understand the administration took some of those suggestions and has presented to us a revised draft of the MOA legislative program. I think I'll just go ahead and walk through the changes and my understanding of what led to them uh as well as I can. I'll note for people looking at the uh the draft document, the new items are uh highlighted in yellow. So first on page two, uh towards the bottom, we have the blight reduction fund. That category was in the legislative program the earlier draft, but it was suggested, I believe, by member constant that we consider the raising amount to make it bring a closer into parity with the item above it in the safe category, the APD real-time uh crime center capital. Um again, this was uh a recommendation that came from member constant, and I I think the argument was that um in terms of what do we want to do to impact public safety, uh, these two things perhaps merit closer to equal consideration than what was presented in the original draft. Uh going on to the next page on page three. Uh we have fund for unmanned aerial systems for emergency capabilities. This is a drone program that has been put forward by the Anchorage Fire Department. This is a carryover from our legislative program that we presented last year and took the Juno now. Since it's still in here, obviously it did not get funded by the state. Uh, but we remain concerned about wildfire safety. And the the thought was and one that I support is that I think there's certain things where even if we are not perhaps overly optimistic that will secure funding, I think showing a pattern of um commitment on our part to say that these are recurring issues that we think should always be uh front of mind for the legislature carries with it, Marin. So the Anchorage Fire Department, we consulted them again to see what they would like to see include in this program. And again, they came back to us with this request for an unmanned aerial system. Uh the thought is that I think most utility boot related to early detection of wildfires, but it could be used for other um other needs like search and rescue training, etc. Moving down the page, we have a restoration of defined benefit pensions for public employees. This is again one that's been in the legislature program for a number of years. I mean, as long as I've been around anyway. So I think this is at least the third time it's been included. Uh, there was a discussion at the work session on whether or not to include it. The thought being that um this is uh would perhaps have a lower chance of success given what we anticipate the focus of the legislature for next year to be. Um, with counter-argument being one that this is something we have had as a perennial request. It's been a priority for the meeting for a number of years, and so um it made sense to I think continue to hold on to the program, although I know there was um so also some dissent on that. Uh so that is an overview of the changes, and I think um since we don't have anyone from the administration present to elaborate, I'll pause there. Um certainly it's gonna be a short queue. So if any members have comments or thoughts or edits, uh feel free to chime in. Okay, member Gerker. Yeah, just uh to clarify on the district priorities. We'd sent in uh Scott and I had sent in something for the split rail fence and uh station 11, the volunteer fire department. Is that that's reflected somewhere, right? Yeah, I think I think we're working off this word document for the edit, but there is a new version of this glossy that I don't know has been shared with you, but it's definitely in the quite sure. Allie's on the phone. Maybe she can explain the process um for how members will next see the glossy draft.
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