Federal omnibus bill includes millions for Alaska

Murkowski: ‘There is no good time to shut the government down’

Alaska stands to get a much-needed economic boost from the omnibus bill passed by the U.S. Senate to fund the government through the end of fiscal year 2017, including protections for the state’s fisheries, says Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

While admittedly a bit disconcerted over having to go to a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Sept. 30, Murkowski said the omnibus bill also would help boost Alaska’s contribution to national defense, combat the opioid epidemic, address high energy costs and fight wildfires.

Important to Alaska’s fishing industry is a provision within the bill blocking the Food and Drug Administration from introducing genetically modified salmon into the market until the FDA publishes labeling guidelines, so consumers are aware of what the product they are buying contains.

“There is no good time to shut the government down,” Murkowski said, during a teleconference following passage of the omnibus bill. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Murkowski was able to include provisions addressed a number of issues of importance to the state’s coastal communities.

“Our responsibility is to govern. Making sure we did not have a disruption that would be felt across the economy was our responsibility to make sure we avoided that. Legislating requires a level of compromise and that is what the appropriations process is all about.

“There was give and take. I did not get everything Alaskans hoped for, but it is about doing so in a way that helps families and the economy and is responsive and responsible to taxpayer dollars,” she said. “We need to work with the administration, but as the Congress we are the ones who set up the spending bill priorities and do what our constituents ask us to do, and that is to govern,” she said.

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Murkowski also secured language to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to update the FDA’s seafood list to change the acceptable market name of brown king crab to golden king crab, as it is commonly known throughout Alaska, to assist with seafood marketing.

On a national basis, the bill includes $164 million for fisheries data collection, surveys and assessments; $34.25 million for regional councils and fisheries commissions; $33.5 million for salmon management; $111.3 million for marine mammals, sea turtles and other species; $10.5 million to combat ocean acidification; $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, and $12 million to fulfill obligations under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Also included is $130 million to promote and develop fishery products and research pertaining to American fisheries, and $27 million for hydrographic surveys of the nation’s coastline.

The bill provides $15 million for the Denali Commission, an independent federal agency designed to provide cost-shared infrastructure projects in Alaska; $8.5 million in operations and maintenance funding for Army Corps of Engineers water and harbor projects in Alaska; $150 million for the Navy to procure materials needed for construction of a polar icebreaker, and $22 million for upgrades to the Coast Guard base at Kodiak.

The bill allocates millions of dollars for a wide range of programs in Alaska, including essential air service, the Arctic Council, low-income energy assistance, food and nutritional services, Alaska Native villages water programs, tribal court funding, and village built clinics, a program unique to Alaska that supports healthcare clinics in villages and rural areas.

Murkowski was also asked for her thoughts about the Republican health care bill, which passed the U.S. House by a vote of 217-213 on May 4. The bill, now before the U.S. Senate, would by 2026 cover millions fewer people than were insured under the Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama Administration. It would also allow insurers to charge higher premiums to older Americans not yet eligible for Medicare, and curtail federal support for Medicaid.

Murkowski said she hadn’t been following that legislation closely through the House. “It has been a bouncing ball,” she said.

“On the Senate side, we will be writing a health care bill that will come out of the Senate,” she said.

“It is important that we address the concerns of not only many Alaskans, but people around the country who are concerned about continuing lack of access and rising health care costs. Simply requiring insurance does not solve the problems most Americans are facing,” she said. “Those facing pre-existing conditions should not be left without. Certain things that were part of the Affordable Care Act need to be preserved,” she said. That list includes coverage for those under 26, extended Medicaid coverage and coverage for preexisting conditions, she said.

“You will see an effort coming out of the Senate that will be separate from what the House has done,” she said.

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