Senate passes five Alaska-related bills

For Alaskans, the Senate went out with a bang during its final week of the current 118th Congress as it passed five Alaska-related bills passed by unanimous consent. The Senate passed these measures, all sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, among others, on a standalone basis after a package of public lands measures prepared by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee was not included in a year-end vehicle such as the Continuing Resolution.

The Senate passed the following measures by unanimous consent:

S. 623, a bill to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) to exclude certain payments to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives or their descendants from being used to determine eligibility for certain programs, and for other purposes. This bill was sponsored Senators Sullivan and Murkowski.

Next up is S. 2615, the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act. Sponsored by Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, this legislation would sunset the requirement for village corporations to re-convey lands for municipal uses under Section 14(c)(3) of ANCSA.

The Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act, S. 3617, would waive an existing statutory requirement that compels Cape Fox Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation for the Village of Saxman, to use a portion of its entitlement under ANCSA for remote parcels that have no economic value to the corporation. Instead, the bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to Cape Fox the surface estate to a 180-acre tract in the Tongass National Forest that was unavailable to the corporation under the original terms of ANCSA.

S. 3790, the Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Extension Act, is one familiar to many in veterans in Alaska. Sponsored by Senators Sullivan and Murkowski. This legislation would make lands identified in 2020 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFS) eligible for conveyance, as was promised to our Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans. The legislation would also require USFS to identify additional lands for selection and conveyance to eligible veterans.

Finally, the Senate passed S. 4974, a bill to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to reauthorize the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System, and for other purposes. Sponsored by Senators Murkowski, Sullivan, Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

While none of these bills will become law before the end of the 118th Congress, their passage provides positive momentum going into the new year. Senator Murkowski expressed her “hope and optimism” that both the House and the Senate could advance these non-controversial measures into law relatively early in the next Congress.