Rep. Steve St. Clair

As I leave Juneau tomorrow, I want to thank you all for your support you’ve shown me in my first session as your Representative!

While there certainly has been some rough moments and hard decisions to be made; I know I did my best to represente the district well. I will be back in District on Sunday and look forward to meeting with all of you. I will be at the Memorial Wall in Wasilla for the remembrance of Memorial Day. We hope to see you there!

I will give updates on the Special Session for the Gas Line as well as some of the legislation that was passed this session. God Bless.

Today I had the privilege of carrying SB 239 MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION by our district's own, Sen. Cathy Tilton, which codifies the allowance of legally imported vehicles in the state to be officially registered by the DMV. It passed unanimously and should go into law soon this year.

This is common-sense legislation that allows many of our states car collectors to register their foreign vehicles that were legally imported into the U.S. and conforms to the 25-year rolling average that is already in federal law.

Click the link below to watch my full speech on the bill on the House Floor earlier today!


https://www.ktoo.org/gavel/video/?clientID=2147483647&eventID=2026051232&startStreamAt=3057&stopStreamAt=3211

Debate on the official gasline bill happening on the House Floor now, tune in to watch!

House Floor Session SB 9 – SURRENDER OF INFANTS; INF. SAFETY DEVICE SB 21 – AK WORK & SAVE PROGRM SB 24 – TOBACCO/NICOTINE/E-CIG AGE; E-CIG TAX SB 146 – REAA FUND: MT. EDGECUMBE, TEACHER HOUSING SB 180 – LNG IMPORT FACILITIES SB 211 – EXTEND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING BOARDS SB 239 – MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATIO...

There seems to be some misinformation about my vote on HB 195. While the bill was being considered on the House floor, an amendment was introduced to prohibit pharmacists from prescribing abortifacient drugs. I supported the amendment and voted against tabling it. I had worked closely with the sponsor of the amendment, and it was a solid piece of policy.

As amended, HB 195 would prohibit pharmacists from prescribing, dispensing, or administering mifepristone, the leading drug used in medication abortions. By preventing pharmacists from dispensing mifepristone, lives will be saved. If we cannot save every unborn child, I will still work to save as many as we can. Currently, there is no public or legislative appetite in Alaska to constitutionally ban abortion; 69% of Alaskans identify as pro-choice, and the necessary votes do not exist in the House or Senate to place a complete prohibition into the State Constitution.

The analogy I use is this: Imagine witnessing a school bus accident where the bus is full of children and on fire. Do you try to save as many as you can, knowing you cannot save them all, or do you stand by and do nothing because you cannot save everyone? I choose to save as many as possible.

Importantly, there are other drugs that can induce an abortion but also carry vital, alternative medical uses, such as misoprostol. Misoprostol is used for a variety of indications in obstetrics and gynecology, including the medical management of miscarriages, labor induction, cervical ripening before surgical procedures, and the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. Because pharmacists can currently prescribe misoprostol, a blanket ban on this specific drug would cause severe collateral damage to women’s health.

I have always promised to be transparent and accountable for my votes. This is why I voted the way I did. We may not be able to save every life, but I will always work to save as many as possible.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

[email protected]

I voted NO to concur with the Senates version of the operating budget today, it will now go before a conference committee of both bodies to reconcile the differences before final passage.

Both the initial version of the budget (House) and this last version (Senate) cut the statutory amount of the PFD, made no major reductions, and the Senate added unnecessary language to spend more money for the current fiscal year we’re in that is to end in July.

I encourage you to stay involved as the budget moves into the conference committee and know that I’m continuing to fight for your statutory PFD and seek accountability on what we’re spending and what we can truly afford.

Today, I voted NO to override the Governor’s veto of SB 64 (elections bill). I fundamentally disagree with changing election laws in the middle of an election year—this should have had a delayed effective date to ensure fairness and objectivity for voters.

Additionally, with just five months until November, there would not even be enough time for the state to properly implement these sweeping changes, let alone do so without confusion and errors. For these reasons, I supported the Governor’s veto.

I hope we revisit this policy in a non-election year and ensure the Division of Elections has the time it needs to implement any changes correctly.

🚨 Legislative Update: SB 243 & SB 203 🚨

The latest Committee Substitute for SB 243 (Prohibited Weapons) has passed out of Senate State Affairs, now as a clean bill, that only repeals the law prohibiting suppressors. The committee heard our concerns.

Public testimony has been canceled as SB 243 has now moved from State Affairs to the Judiciary Committee. We still should keep a close eye on its progress for the rest of session.

Thank you for getting involved—stay engaged, and you can always get text updates on those two bills and any others using the bill tracker on akleg.gov!

Today I voted NO on HB 78, the return to defined benefits (DB) bill that would strap us with an estimated $300 - $400 million in unfunded liability for retirement payments to state employees and teachers. We still currently owe our last DB system nearly $7 billion, which won't be paid off until 2039 (estimated).

I will say it over and over again - until we as a state have agreed on a comprehensive fiscal plan to get us back on track and prevent year-to-year deficit spending, we cannot add any more massive expenditures to our budget and most certainly not this one.

It's my hope the Governor will now veto this unaffordable bill.

Mat-Su bus strike to end soon, great news for our community and families.