Local political news from Anchorage, AK

Politics

Lisa Murkowski becomes third Republican senator to support same-sex marriage

BILL ROTH / Anchorage Daily News
Sen. Lisa Murkowski addresses the crowd gathered in Town Square Park during the Choose Respect march in Anchorage on Thursday, Mar. 28, 2013. The rally was intended to draw attention to sexual assault and domestic violence in Alaska.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she now supports gay marriage, becoming the third Senate Republican to do so. 3 hours ago

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Archive by category ''Politics

POLITICS

Members of Alaska congressional delegation suspicious of NSA data collection

Members of Alaska's Washington delegations are demanding more transparency and congressional oversight on government surveillance, though they won't say the programs need to be shut down or that Congress should repeal the Patriot Act.
LEGISLATURE

Lawmakers want to renovate, expand their Anchorage offices

Legislators who have had enough of their tired, cramped and worn-out office building in downtown Anchorage say that after years of failed efforts to move out they've found a fix that will work: Revamp and expand the old space.
LEGISLATURE

Kansas official takes active interest in Alaska elections

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an adviser to Mitt Romney last year on immigration policies and a national figure in the Republican party's conservative wing, testified before the Alaska Legislature in support of a voter photo ID bill.
POLITICS

Judge scolds Alaska Redistricting Board

The Alaska Redistricting Board received a judicial spanking Thursday from a Fairbanks judge who said the board is not worthy of the trust placed in it by the Alaska Supreme Court.
POLITICS

Rep. Don Young, on Africa hunting trip, misses hearing on Alaska oil legislation

When a key House of Representatives panel took up a bill this week that would require annual lease sales and streamline permitting in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, home state Rep. Don Young missed the session.
LEGISLATURE

Group fights move to repeal oil-tax cut

An oil industry group wants Alaskans to think hard about whether to put their names on petitions seeking to put a measure on the 2014 ballot that would repeal the oil tax cuts passed this year by the state Legislature.
LEGISLATURE

Effort to repeal new oil tax law clears its first hurdle

Backers of a voter referendum to wipe out the newly passed oil tax bill can move ahead with their effort. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell on Thursday certified their application, and the group can now circulate petitions to collect signatures in their quest to put the measure targeted at Senate Bill 21 ...
POLITICS

Begich, Murkowski reveal reasoning for voting against gun control bill

Alaska Sens. Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, both of whom voted against the effort to extend background checks to gun shows and online sales, have supported an alternative that would increase the number of mental health records entered into the federal background check database.
LEGISLATURE

Critics of oil tax cuts move ahead with referendum to repeal the legislation

Critics of Gov. Sean Parnell's oil tax cut bill on Thursday called it unconstitutional, a break for Big Oil and a massive giveaway of Alaska's resources as they took the first official step in their bid to repeal the newly passed measure.
POLITICS

Alaska senators vote against tighter gun control measure

Both of Alaska's senators, Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, voted against tighter gun control legislation Wednesday.