As Legislature closed, Mat-Su senators helped deliver key legislation on telehealth, pre-kindergarten expansion and reading instruction

Mat-Su state senators Shelley Hughes and David Wilson, both Republican, were at the center of two important bills that passed at the end of the 2022 legislative session.

Hughes was deeply involved in the so-called “reading bill,” a major education reform that passed the Senate and finally the state House after some political fireworks.

Wilson was one of the sponsors of a bill expanding telehealth services in the state and guided it through the Senate as chair of the Senate Health and Social Services Committee.

Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, D-Anch., had sponsored the House version of the telehealth bill. It was her HB 265 that wound up passing the Senate although Wilson guided it through.

The bill increases Alaskans’ access to health care by making permanent some of the flexibility that was important to patients and medical providers during the pandemic, when there were restrictions on in-person visits for care.

Without the legislation, there are risks of losing expanded telehealth access when the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) expires this July. HB 265 would extend this, making it permanent.

The bill also expands ways telehealth consultations can be provided, for example by audio in addition to videoconferencing, which can be limited for patients in rural Alaska and even parts of larger communities where broadband and high-seed Internet is lacking

The bill also requires “parity,” or equal pay, for Medicaid for services delivered via telehealth, compared with in-person visits. This is important because if physicians were paid less for telehealth there would be a disincentive to invest in the equipment needed and training.

Another important feature of the bill expands the ability of out-of-state providers to offer telehealth services without the patient having to travel for an in-person visit first.

“This is a widely supported bill, among legislators, health care providers, and Alaskans. I’m thrilled that all Alaskans will be able to (now) enjoy the freedom to seek high-quality health care without having to travel to obtain it,” said Wilson.

For her part, Spohnholz said: “These last two years have shown us the benefits of telehealth. More access to care and cost savings for both Alaskans and the state make it clear why patients and providers alike are excited to continue the expansion of telehealth,” through the legislation, she said.

HB 265 is supported by over 40 health care organizations.

The reading bill was SB 111, which expands reading instruction for young children in early grades and provides extra help for children who fall behind in reading.

The bill, one Gov. Mike Dunleavy’ priorities this year, also provides for a major expansion of pre-kindergarten programs in the state and with extra money provided to school districts by allowing them to count children in pre-K as part of the calculation in the Base Student Allocation, or BSA, the formula that allocates state aid to schools.

The bill was developed in the Senate Education Committee with the participation of Sen. Shelley Hughes, who is also the Senate Majority Leader.

The legislation also contains a provision Hughes has championed forming a “virtual learning consortium” that will provide extra assistance to home-school and correspondence study students. The bill, as it was finally passed, also has an increase in the BSA formula for all schools that will help counter the effects of inflation, although people in the education community had hoped for a bigger increase.

SB 111 passed the Senate unanimously but encountered resistance in the House, where rural legislators opposed it because the measure did not go far enough, they said, to help Alaska Native students in rural schools, many who speak their Indigenous language.

When SB 111 was stalled in the House in the final days of the session senators tried a different tactic, inserting the bill’s language with extra provisions to help rural students into another education-funding bill that had passed the House.

The two education bills, now combined into the House-passed HB 114, went back to the House two days before adjournment for a “concurrence” vote where the members agree on the floor of the House to the new version of the bill.

It was a controversial maneuver that prompted stiff opposition from many House members including Democrats who preferred simply providing more money to schools rather than adopting the reading bill. However, the governor had also told lawmakers he would veto any increase in school funding unless the reading-instruction bill was also adopted.

In the end the new bill was adopted in the House, but by a narrow 21-19 vote.

Dunleavy said he was pleased that the reading bill had passed along with other elements of his “People First” initiative aimed at domestic violence, sex trafficking, and the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous persons.

Dunleavy said he was pleased to see the passing of HB 325, sponsored by Rep. Sara Rasmussen, R-Anch., which the bill contained components of the governor’s “Victims’ Rights” crime package – an update of the definition of sexual consent; protection of crime victims, and a revoking teaching certificates from individuals who committed certain sex crimes.