AK CARES grant eligibility expanded

Author: Bert Stedman

I am proud to have been able to work with Governor Dunleavy to expand eligibility for the state grant program for CARES act financial assistance for businesses.

Effective on Monday, August 31, 2020, businesses that received any amount of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds will become eligible to apply for AK CARES grants, as will businesses that are secondary sources of income. These businesses can apply through the online application portal (www.akcaresonline.org) starting Monday.

In the beginning of the CARES act aid distribution process, small businesses who received $5,000 or more in aid from the federal government were then ineligible from also receiving aid through the state. While this measure was initially put in place to prevent large corporations from swallowing up all of the available aid, it created problems for businesses in Alaska and prevented them from receiving grants from the state to help their businesses weather health mandated closures and economic downturn.

The Legislative Budget & Audit Committee, which I serve on, approved the governor’s request to fix these problems at our meeting on August 27, 2020.

Applications for grants can be from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $100,000. Businesses can apply through the AK CARES Grant portal at https://www.akcaresonline.org starting on Monday August 31.

August 27th, 2020  |  Posted in News & Comment  |  No Comments »

Work to begin, final bids awarded for Gravina Access improvements

Author: Bert Stedman

Work will soon begin on a host of projects meant to enhance the movement of people and goods between Ketchikan and Gravina Island.

The project will not only provide improved access to the airport, but will improve access to developable land on Gravina, promoting long-term economic development of the island. 

“I am happy to see all of the bids awarded and progress made towards making access to Gravina easier and more convenient,” Senator Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said. “I would like to thank Governor Mike Dunleavy and Commissioner John MacKinnon for moving this project forward. Ketchikan’s economy can really use this $100 million project infusion over the next few years.”

Sen. Stedman has worked doggedly with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Legislature over the years to keep this project on the radar and ensure that the residual original bridge money is used and that there is enough money available to make better access to Gravina Island a reality. 

Some benefits of the Gravina Access Project will be to:

• Provide residents more reliable, efficient, and convenient access to Borough and other state and developable or recreational lands;
• Improve the convenience and reliability of access to the Airport for passengers, airport tenants, emergency personnel and equipment, and shipment of freight; and
• Promote planned long-term economic development and tax-based expansion of Gravina.

The total project is estimated to cost $106 million and feature:

• Reconstruction of existing airport ferry berths to meet current design standards;
• Upgrades and improvements to pedestrian facilities at both terminals;
• A new heavy freight mooring facility and new ferry layup dock on Gravina Island;
• New ferry berths on both Gravina and Revilla;
• Terminal upland improvements on Revilla;
• Shuttle vans to carry pedestrians and their luggage to/from the airport;
• New toll facilities; and
• The replacement of the bridge over the Airport Creek and reconstruction of Seley Road from Lewis Reef Road to approximately the end of the Airport Reserve.

HISTORY: Better access to Gravina Island has been a local goal since before the airport was constructed in the early 1970s. Starting in the mid-‘90s, Congress started earmarking money for the project. Pacific Pile and Marine was just awarded the remaining outstanding project bid for $17.8 million for work on the layup berth and freight facility, and will be employing several local subcontractors.

Work on the project will start fall 2020. DOT officials estimate the project will be completed by 2023.

“The community has been working for better access to Gravina for generations,” Sen. Stedman said. “This project couldn’t have come at a better time.”

August 24th, 2020  |  Posted in News & Comment  |  No Comments »

Make your voice heard – get counted in the census!

Author: Bert Stedman

Over the last generation, Southeast Alaska has lost representation in the Alaska State Legislature as population centers have shifted towards the Railbelt. Where we once had several senators representing the Southeast communities and their concerns, we now have only two. Please make sure we retain our representation in the Legislature by being counted in the census today!

Why is the census so important? It is the best way to ensure that people living in Southeast Alaska can retain representation and receive aid.

The census determines many things across the country. It determines funding for local communities, representation in the national government, and many other important decisions. For example, it was the formula used to determine how much money each community in the state received from the CARES Act for coronavirus aid. It is also used to determine how much federal funding AMHS receives annually.

The census is also important for determining emergency response. Detailed census demographics can help officials, epidemiologists, and other emergency responders accurately respond to outbreaks and pandemics like the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing.

Why should you fill out the census?

• Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year.
• The results determine how many seats in U.S. Congress each state gets.
• The U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, mandates it: The U.S. has counted its population every 10 years since 1790.

Filling out the census can be as crucial as voting to making sure that your community is receiving adequate aid and representation.

Every household in the United States is asked to participate. You can participate at www.2020census.gov. It’s quick and easy and it is not too late to fill it out. Please be sure to be counted!

August 13th, 2020  |  Posted in News & Comment  |  No Comments »

My visit to the Fairweather dock in Ketchikan with Senator Sullivan

Author: Bert Stedman

On Saturday, Sen. Bert Stedman toured a new dock that is being built for the NOAA Ship Fairweather with Sen. Dan Sullivan, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Chief of Staff Michael Walsh Jr., and Borough Mayor Rodney Dial. They all have been working diligently to ensure that the vessel is homeported at a new dock in Ketchikan.  

This will bring jobs and economic activity to the community after 20 years of planning. This will be a good boost to the economy that comes just in time as the community has suffered major losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and loss of tourism and other business revenues. 

“My office has worked on this project since appropriating the state funding for it in 2012,” Stedman said. “We have been working very well with Senator Sullivan, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Mayor Dial for the last several years to bring the project across the finish line. I’m glad that after years of pushing for this project we have Phase I – demolishing the old dock—ready to go.” 

At the federal level, Sullivan secured a commitment from Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to make this project a priority for NOAA.   

“I thank Senator Sullivan and the congressional delegation for making completion of this project a priority. The next critical step is securing funding for the new dock and prioritizing the project in the next NOAA agency budget bill. That bill is due to pass Congress by October 1, 2020,” Stedman said.  

HISTORY: In 2001, federal law sponsored by former Senator Stevens required the NOAA vessel Fairweather to be homeported in Ketchikan. NOAA owns uplands and a dock at 1010 Stedman Street in Ketchikan. The dock is old and unusable. Stedman sponsored an appropriation in 2012 of $7.5 million in state general fund dollars to the Borough for a new NOAA homeport facility. In 2018, Sullivan added language to the USCG Reauthorization Act allowing NOAA to accept and spend non-federal funds to build a new dock for NOAA in Ketchikan. Then in 2020, the Ketchikan Borough transferred approximately $7 million to NOAA for the agency to take over the project and build the dock.  

ABOUT THE VESSEL: The Fairweather is a hydrographic survey vessel that maps the ocean to support safe navigation and commerce. Officers, technicians, and scientists aboard the vessel collect data that NOAA cartographers use to create and update the nation’s nautical charts. The Fairweather was constructed at the Jacksonville Shipyards in Florida and christened in March 1967. The Fairweather was named after Alaska’s Mt. Fairweather. The vessel was commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey in October 1968 at the Pacific Marine Center in Seattle.

August 10th, 2020  |  Posted in News & Comment  |  No Comments »