In his address to the ALaska Legislature on Monday, Senator Mark Begich spoke to the ALaskan Lawmakers on issues such as education and gun rights, but also spoke about the trend in Alaska as well as around the country to make voting more difficult.

During that address, Begich pointed out that House Bill 3 would make it increasingly difficult for Natives and other minority groups to vote. He said in his address, “Let’s be honest, there is not a problem here, unless I missed it in all the elections I’ve been involved, ” said Begich of House Bill 3, which would require Alaska voters to produce at least one form of picture I.D. at the polls. “I haven’t seen all the fraud people are talking about.”

Juneau’s Chamber of Commerce warmed its new offices at the Huna Totem Building with Alaskan Amber beer, Abby’s Kitchen hors d’oeuvres and a chance to grill Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich.

“We love our new space. We love our new landlords,” Cathie Roemmich Juneau Chamber CEO, said as she introduced Sen. Begich.

Begich presented a letter of recognition to local caterer Abby’s Kitchen & Catering.

“For a business that has lasted five years and an entrepreneur who has done a good job,” Begich said.

“I know what it is like to own and operate a small business. The threshold of small business is when you make it to five years,” Begich said. “That is a very good sign. That means the odds are with you now.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on Monday called on the Parnell administration and state lawmakers to make strong commitments to education, give greater support for children’s health insurance and eliminate any obstacles to voting.

The Democrat also used his address to a joint session of Alaska Legislature to express his support for targeted federal spending cuts and his belief that with new faces in Washington there are new opportunities to push for issues important to Alaska. He also encouraged the state to take up creation of an Arctic port authority and put up $2 billion to support $3 billion in federal loan guarantees as part of a bill he’s introduced to speed Arctic port development.

Alaskan Sen. and member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Mark Begich outlined a piece of legislation to provide more funding for rural community development, including new affordable housing.

The Rural Educator and American Community Housing Act will provide $50 million in affordable housing assistance that will be used to build homes or improve living conditions for educators, public safety officers and medical providers working in rural communities. Sen. Begich noted that the lack of sufficient housing has been a contributing factor to the low retention rates of public servants, and said the bill is designed to help attract more teachers, police officers and health providers.

Federal Sequestration is scheduled to take into affect Friday March, 1st. We spoke recently to U.S. Senator Mark Begich, Alaska’s lone congressional democrat about what’s going on in the nation’s capital.

Sen. Begich(D-AK): “This is not a complicated problem, it just means that people have to make decisions. And that’s whats really becoming problematic for some, because they don’t want to make these tough calls. I think again, Congressman Young’s approach, and at least some of us on the senate side have approached it. It’s going to be a combination of things, there’s a right way to go about this. At the end of the day, we have to cut wasteful programs, we have to reduce the spending, at the same times we need to have the right revenue streams, to get out of this multi-generational debt that’s been created. So there’s tough decisions, but we’ll have our way though it, and we’ll make it work.”

Neither rain nor snow could deter Homer area residents from attending a town hall meeting with Sen. Mark Begich on Sunday. More than 100 people crowded into the commons of Kachemak Bay Campus, Kenai Peninsula College-University of Alaska Anchorage, to listen to the senator’s comments and to ask questions.

Homer Mayor Beth Wythe introduced Begich, noting his five years of service to the state and his focus on “building a strong economy for Alaska.” Begich serves on the U.S. Senate committees on Appropriations; Veterans’ Affairs; Indian Affairs; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich was in Homer over the weekend to provide an update on what’s happening in Washington, DC. He also spent his time during the town hall forum to talk about his expectations for Alaska.

A crowd of about 50 people gathered at the Kachemak Bay Campus Sunday afternoon to connect with the senator. Begich started out discussing the most recent announcement from the United States Postal Service regarding ending Saturday mail delivery, the need for Congress to tighten the purse strings on federal coffers and the upcoming March 1 sequestration deadline, which is when a series of automatic spending cuts go into effect unless Congress acts to prevent them.

About 100 people rallied in Sitka to protest what they see as the first step in introducing scientifically modified animals into the American diet. For Southeast Alaska, it’s especially worrisome because the area depends largely on fishing for its livelihood.

Lance Preston owns and operates a boat called, “The Sea Boy” in Sitka. He’s made a living as a fisherman since 1993 and says these new fish could bankrupt Alaska.

Legislation to ban sale or shipping of genetically modified salmon in the United States, and to require that such products be labeled as genetically engineered was introduced in the U.S. Senate Feb.7 by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska.

“Alaska has been supplying the world with nutritious salmon for decades,” said Begich, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard. “We cannot afford to experiment with the world’s largest wild salmon stocks without the certainty that these fake fish won’t pose a serious environmental risk, especially to wild salmon and their habitat.

“I’m introducing these bills to prevent against science experiments on the plates of Alaska families,” he said.

Sen. Mark Begich is co-sponsoring legislation aimed at improving mental health care in this country.

The proposal is an expansion on a measure that Begich proposed last year to improve mental health services on college campuses but that died with the last Congress. The new plan has drawn bipartisan support, which Begich said should help the measure gain traction.

The measure, entitled the Mental Health First Aid Act of 2013, has eight other original co-sponsors, including three Republicans — Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Roy Blunt of Missouri and Marco Rubio of Florida.