SC Alaska News

In the final week of the 118th Congress, five Alaska-related bills passed the Senate by unanimous consent. These measures were considered individually after a package of public lands measures from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee was not included in a year-end legislative vehicle like the Continuing Resolution.

The following bills were approved:

S. 623 aims to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) to exclude certain payments to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives or their descendants from affecting eligibility for specific programs. This bill is sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

S. 2615, known as the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act, also sponsored by Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, seeks to end the requirement for village corporations to reconvey lands for municipal uses under Section 14(c)(3) of ANCSA.

S. 3617, titled the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act and sponsored by Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, proposes waiving a statutory requirement that obliges Cape Fox Corporation to use part of its entitlement under ANCSA for remote parcels without economic value. Instead, it directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey a 180-acre tract in Tongass National Forest to Cape Fox.

S. 3790 is named the Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Extension Act and is backed by Senators Sullivan and Murkowski. It would make lands identified in 2020 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service eligible for conveyance as promised to Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans while requiring additional land identification for selection and conveyance.

S. 4974 intends to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to reauthorize the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System among other purposes. It is supported by Senators Murkowski, Sullivan, Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

Although these bills will not become law before this Congress ends, Senator Murkowski expressed her "hope and optimism" that both chambers could advance these non-controversial measures into law early in the next session.