Campaigns and Elections
Reelection campaign (website mothballed): For Alaska Legislature election and reelection campaigns in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. (Analysis from 2016 and 2018 cycles.)
2018 omnibus ethics/good government ballot initiative: The initiative collected the signatures to qualify for the ballot, however, in the face of overwhelmingly popular support per polling the legislature preempted the initiative by passing "substantially similar" legislation, effectively resulting in a watered-down version of the initiative being passed into law.
2016 PFD automatic voter registration (PFD AVR) ballot initiative: Passed 64-36. Because of its unique AVR trigger (PFD registration), PFD AVR effectively constitutes best-in-nation voter reg policy.
Legislation
State Affairs Committee: The committee I chaired or co-chaired from 2017-2023, which has jurisdiction for Alaska's election system, criminal justice system, Permanent Fund and Permanent Fund Dividend, Department of Administration and pension system, and public facilities.
Legislative Side Projects
Alaska Artistic License: I passed legislation that created a statewide license plate competition in which any Alaskan, from a third grader to the next Sydney Laurence, could submit a design. In the first year of the competition, in 2017, a celebrity jury selected five designs which advanced to a statewide vote, American Idol style. 17,355 Alaskans' votes later, we had a winner. As of 2022, the aurora borealis design featured on 100,000+ vehicle bumpers across Alaska. In 2023, a new contest was held, and a new winner selected. And so the cycle will continue. As a result, Alaska's license plates have been turned into a modest but ubiquitous canvas for public art, and in the most participatory possible way. ADN: "UAA Student has Winning Design for First Alaska Artistic License Plate."
Alaska hold music: The State of Alaska used to have hold music so bad that Kenny G sounded like Coltrane by comparison. Now our hold music is on fleek, featuring Alaska's most amazing music and artists, from Paul Rosenthal's "Bravura Variations" to Portugal. The Man's "Feel it Still." APRN: "Can you hold for a minute? State replaces default music with songs by Alaska artists."
Alaska Native Language Digest: The digest started in our legislative office, spearheaded by Reid Magdanz and David Russell-Jensen, and connected the several hundred "language warriors" we had worked with to pass a bill making Native languages official languages of the State of Alaska with regular updates about Native language revitalization activity and opportunities across Alaska. The digest is ongoing and run independently outside the legislative office.
Regional Fisheries Trusts
Alaska's commercial fisheries are increasingly difficult to enter unless you have a boatload of cash to buy in. This fact is especially pernicious for coastal communities with a century — or a millennia — of fishing tradition, but that are increasingly divorced from the commercial fisheries that are their livelihood and lifeblood. RFTs are an original policy idea to solve the problem.
By far, RFTs were the single biggest expenditure of time (four full years), creativity, and grunt work for our legislative office. Yet, we didn't get far. But there is value in the policy thinking and creativity behind RFTs as well as the reams of legal analysis, as we sought to navigate the thicket of thorny state and federal constitutional precedents.
Relevant docs: sponsor statement/summary; final draft of the legislation; the preceding 12 drafts; compilation of RFT media coverage; RFT constitutional considerations; financial model for a hypothetical Bristol Bay fisheries trust; limited entry fishing permits by state residency (Alaskan vs. Washingtonian vs. Oregonian, etc.); limited entry fishing permit ownership by Alaskan community, 1975-2015.
Partisan Voting Index
A good partisan voting index is to electoral data as the S&P 500 is to the stock market. The most commonly used PVI has always struck me as a bit simplistic. The KTPVI was an effort to create something different.
I needed to write a term paper for a class and drafted the KTPVI idea into service, which doubled as an excuse to exposé the idea and methodology and create an example dataset for Alaska's 40 legislative districts.
Fiscal Policy Working Group
During the summer of 2021, I co-chaired a bicameral, bipartisan 8-member committee basically charged with "figuring it all out" ("it" being Alaska's fiscal and political dysfunction). We delivered a work product that I was proud of, and that I genuinely think will eventually be the basis of whatever grand bargain is eventually struck to solve Alaska's fiscal and political woes.
Other Random, Fun Stuff
How educational limited entry fishing permits work and how to get one
How to name or rename place names through the obscure federal entity the decides such things (also published in First Alaskans magazine)
Research document on rhubarb's agricultural potential in Southeast Alaska