Veterans, pickups, food all targets of Valley legislation

JUNEAU — With the Legislature focused on the state budget with just 20 days left in the session, Valley lawmakers have so far managed to pass three pieces of legislation.

Rep. Bill Stoltze sponsored a resolution calling on the state to produce and use more food locally. It was the first resolution put forward in the Legislature and it cleared the body March 11.

“In 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that residents of the state spend $1,500,000,000 annually on food and estimated that less than 5 percent of the food consumed in the state is produced locally,” the resolution states.

The resolution aims at economic development and access to fresh, nutritious food, as well as “food security,” the notion that Alaska’s food supplies could be cut off in the event of a natural disaster that closes highways.

“There was a time when more than 50 percent of the food consumed in Alaska was grown right here in our state. Today that number is down around 5 percent,” Stoltze says in a press release. “There is no reason Alaska cannot produce more locally grown food for consumption in Alaska, by Alaskans.”

Wasilla Rep. Wes Keller’s measure to exempt certain vehicles from commercial regulations also is awaiting Gov. Sean Parnell’s signature.

The idea behind that one is to exempt 1-ton pickups and vans used for commercial purposes from regulations as commercial vehicles. Keller described it as “a win-win for companies using standard heavy-duty pickups and vans for their business.”

He added that it frees up commercial vehicle enforcement officers to focus on truly commercial vehicles and saves small businesses licensing and insurance fees. The bill’s co sponsor, North Pole Republican Doug Issacson, said it “delivers on our promise to decrease unnecessary, burdensome regulations on small businesses.”

Finally, a resolution that sailed through the Legislature after Rep. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, introduced it, proclaims Alaska a Purple Heart State. Purple Heart, of course, refers to the military decoration awarded to servicemen and women wounded or killed in the line of duty.

“Alaska has now joined with other states to honor the men and women in uniform who were wounded or who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and give them the recognition they deserve,” Hughes says in a press release upon the bill’s passage last Thursday.