“Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell have positions on women’s health that are truly frightening.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/05/2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/05/2023

ANCHORAGE — Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell are doubling down on their anti-birth control agenda by broadcasting their support all over Alaska for policies that would restrict access to birth control.

“Instead of shrinking from these alarming stances, Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan are broadcasting their anti-woman agenda all over Alaska. Alaska women need to know that Mark Begich is the only candidate in the race who understands the economic and professional impact these issues have on Alaska women and the only candidate protecting their right to choose, right to privacy and ability to make their own health care decisions,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans for Begich.

Mark Begich has always supported women’s access to contraception and believes the decision to seek contraceptive care is best made between a woman and her doctor. He has co-sponsored legislation to reverse the harmful Hobby Lobby decision and stop employers from denying their female employees coverage for birth control.

Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell are supporting frightening proposals to reverse these efforts.

Dan Sullivan:

·Supports allowing corporations to deny coverage for contraception. Called Hobby Lobby case “great.”

·Refused to say if he would support “personhood” amendment, which could ban common forms of birth control.

Mead Treadwell

·Thinks all Alaska women should pay for contraception out-of-pocket. Backed Hobby Lobby case to allow corporations to deny female employees coverage for contraception.

·Supports “personhood” legislation, which could ban common forms of contraception.

Read more at alaskasenatefacts.com

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Cleveland Paper Highlights Delegation Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/05/2023

ANCHORAGE - Dan Sullivan’s hometown newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is calling Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski’s bipartisanship “stunning” given the polarized political environment in Washington. Cleveland reporter Stephen Koff was so shocked he even had to call an Alaska political scientist to confirm it.

Koff noted the Begich-Murkowksi pairing in a piece comparing the two senators from Ohio, Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) - who hail from different parties and vote together only 41% of the time.

By contrast, Begich and Murkowski have voted as much as 80% of the time together, a claim called “true” by independent fact check organization PolitiFact. Open Congress lists the two senators as having voted together 65% of the time during the 113th Congress, more than any other split delegation in the Senate.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes:

“Ohio’s pair votes together more often than the pairs from nine other states: Iowa (where the senators vote together 32 percent of the time), Arkansas (38 percent), Florida (29 percent), Louisiana (30 percent), Missouri (39 percent), Nevada (38 percent), Pennsylvania (33 percent), South Dakota (36 percent) and Wisconsin (28 percent). Brown and Portman share the same togetherness score as North Carolina’s Richard Burr, a Republican, and Kay Hagan, a Democrat.

“But the Brown-Portman duo is no Begich-Murkowski.

“Alaska Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Lisa Murkowski have voted together 65 percent of the time in the 113th Congress, a number so stunning that The Plain Dealer called a political scientist in Anchorage to see if it could be true.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/04/2024

ANCHORAGE — There were no winners at a Senate primary debate hosted in Eagle River where Mead Treadwell, Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller spent an hour and a half sparring over who would be most effective at denying women access to birth control or cutting funding for women’s reproductive health services.

All three candidates oppose a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions and support the belief that a boss should be able to make health care decisions for an employee.

“The unfortunate loser of today’s debate is Alaska women, who are watching Mead Treadwell, Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller race to restrict their access to birth control, allow bosses to make health care decisions for them and invade their privacy. A woman’s choice and health care decisions are critical issues that affect their professional and personal lives, and there wasn’t a word about that from politicians who believe government should make health care decisions for Alaska women,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans for Begich.

The GOP candidates each highlighted support for various policies that would harm women’s access to reproductive health care and invade their privacy:

· Allow employers to deny women access to birth control based on religious beliefs;

· Oppose safe and legal abortions;

· Treadwell supported “medically necessary” policies which would invade women’s privacy and expose her medical records to the government;

· All three highlighted their support for allowing the government to decide who you can and can’t marry

Mark Begich has distinguished himself as the only candidate who will stand up for a woman’s right to choose, believes that women should have access to affordable birth control and knows that a woman’s health decisions are best made between her and her doctor.

View more at AlaskaSenateFacts.com.

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Boasts Over 170 New Alaska Donors in 30 Days

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/04/2024

ANCHORAGE — Mark Begich continues to build support among Alaskans in his latest fundraising report for the month of July with 170 new Alaska donors. Begich brought in $420,000 total dollars in a 30 day period.

The fundraising total signals Begich’s continued momentum with over 170 new Alaska donors in just 30 days.

Begich has received the financial support of over 5,000 Alaskans. A total which exceeds all of his opponents put together.

“Mark Begich is honored to have the support of over 5,000 Alaskans. A number greater than his 2008 election and larger than all three of his major opponents put together. Mark will continue to campaign the way he knows how, Alaskan to Alaskan, door to door, village to village,” said Max Croes, Communications Director for Alaskans for Begich.

The report is a “pre-primary” filing Senate candidates are required to file with the FEC.

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Begich Only Candidate Standing up for Alaska Women

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/04/2024

U.S. Senator Mark Begich has launched AlaskaSenateFacts.com, a website outlining clear differences between Begich and Senate candidates Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell when it comes to critical issues affecting women such as birth control, privacy, equal pay, and the ability of women to make their own medical decisions.

Using information gathered from debates, candidate statements and news reports, the site draws a clear distinction between Begich and his opponents. Treadwell and Sullivan have amassed a startling record of opposing women’s rights, equal pay and access to reproductive health services.

“Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan believe a woman’s boss should be able to make health care decisions for them and deny them access to birth control. These are economic issues for Alaska women that affect their personal and professional lives, which is why they need to know Mark Begich is the only candidate in this race willing to defend their privacy and stand up for their right to make their own decisions about their reproductive health,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans for Begich.

GOP candidates participated in a debate this afternoon focused on their anti-choice, anti-birth control, and anti-women agendas.

Visit http://alaskasenatefacts.com/ for more information on where each of these candidates stand.

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KTVA reports on the harmful effect Treadwell’s proposal would have

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/01/2024

ANCHORAGE — Mead Treadwell is standing by his controversial support for a 30% national sales tax that would increase the cost of nearly everything for Alaskans, who already face a high cost of living.

To KTVA Channel 11 News Treadwell claimed the tax would be beneficial for everyone involved,“You keep your money if you’re investing, it if you’re are spending it you pay something based on consumption.”

In reality, Treadwell’s scheme would raise taxes 30% on all goods and eliminate the home mortgage tax deduction used by 30 million Americans, crushing homebuyers in Alaska.

According to Kyle Hampton, director of the UAA Center for Economic Education, such a tax would have grave implications for the economy. Hampton says that such a tax would “ result in the poor paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes in ways that they are not currently,” and would decrease consumer consumption of goods and services across the country.

Republicans, Democrats, and tax experts alike have criticized the scheme. Former President George W. Bush’s administration rejected the proposal and said it would create “the largest entitlement program in history” because of the extreme poverty it would create among lower income Americans.

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Read the full article on KTVA:

Paying more for what we consume is a tough sell, but 75 House Republicans and nine Republican senators are backing a bill that would implement a national sales tax.

If signed into law, the Fair Tax Act 2013 sets the sales tax rate at 23 percent in 2015 and repeals the income and employment tax. It also prohibits the funding of the Internal Revenue Service after 2017. The bill was assigned to a congressional committee on Jan. 23, 2013 and has not moved since.

Kyle Hampton, director of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Center for Economic Education, says eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with a sales tax will hurt the wallets of low-income earners.

“A sales tax would eliminate much of that progressivity, it would result in the poor paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes in ways that they are not currently,” said Hampton, who expects manufactures and retailers to be less than impressed by the idea.

“The tax will be split between producer and consumer,” Hampton said.

Exactly what kind of price increases goods and services will see is up for debate.

“The national sales tax would raise the price of everything by approximately 30 percent,” said Zack Fields, with the Alaska Democratic Party. “You would pay more for groceries at Costco, you would pay more for snowmachines, pickup trucks, even medical care and credit card payments.”

Fields said the 23 percent tax rate is misleading, and that it would actually be closer to 30 percent.

“And you’re actually eliminating the home mortgage tax deduction and that would raise costs for folks who are paying a mortgage by somewhere between $4,500 to $5,000 a year,” Fields said.

Republican Senate candidate Mead Treadwell said the current tax system doesn’t encourage investment and he’d like to see it changed.

“It’s 70,000 pages long, the tax code, it takes 70,000,000,000 American hours to comply with and there is a much simpler way to catch revenue,” Treadwell said.

Treadwell said the Fair Tax Act would encourage more savings.

“You keep your money if you’re investing it if your are spending it you pay something based on consumption,” he said. “I’m not wedded to any 23.”

Kyle Hampton said a national sales tax could decrease spending and harm business. He said the tax would likely be split between the consumer and the producer.

“If they attempted to pass on all of the costs on to the consumer they would not be successful in doing so, they would see a significant decrease in the number of goods consumers are buying,” Hampton said.

The Fair Tax Act of 2013 allows for a monthly sales tax rebate for families meeting certain income requirements. There are also exemptions from the tax for property or services purchased for business.

Calls Begich “Tireless advocate” for Fishing Industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/01/2024

Mark Begich has received the endorsement of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC), calling him “a tireless advocate for Alaska’s commercial fishing industry and fishing dependent coastal communities.”

ABSC represents more than 70% of participants in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands king, snow, and tanner crab fishery.

ABSC President Edward Poulsen calls Senator Begich a “committed leader,” and asserts that the Senator is “uniquely poised to address the most pressing issues facing the Alaskan fishing industries and the communities that depend on it.”

Begich is the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans Atmosphere Fisheries and the Coast Guard where he is overseeing the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and leads the fight against genetically modified salmon and pirate fishing. Begich has also secured emergency relief for communities that suffered low salmon runs in past years. Begich has also secured $303 million for Coast Guard assets to ensure our entire fishing fleet is safe.

Begich has also received the endorsement of the United Fishermen of Alaska. Crab fishermen Keith Colburn of the popular show The Deadliest Catch also lent Begich his support this week, calling him “the right guy for the job.”

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Begich-Murkowski Vote Together Almost as Much as All-Republican Utah Delegation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/31/2014

ANCHORAGE — An independent fact check from Politifact.com called Mark Begich’s latest TV ad “True” and ruled Senator Mark Begich and Senator Lisa Murkowski vote together “as much as 80% of the time.”

Murkowski and Begich voted together more than any other pair of senators from opposing parties, voting together “more often than not.” The two voted together 148 times out of 183 total votes, or 80.8% of the time in 2014.

Congressional Quarterly affirmed that the pair vote together more than any other pair of Democrat - Republican delegations. Begich-Murkowski vote together almost as much as Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, both Utah Republicans.

Their voting record extends to common sense Alaska values like a Balanced Budget Amendment, support for increased energy development and the Keystone XL pipeline and cutting wasteful government spending.

Here is a cross-section of votes the Senators have agreed on:

July 2011, in favor of a Balanced Budget Amendment (both “yes”);

July 16, 2014, Failed motion to consider a bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision: Agree (both “yes”);

July 29, 2014, On confirming Robert McDonald as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (both “yes).

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Reiterates Support for Letting Bosses Make Health Care Decisions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/30/2014

ANCHORAGE — U.S. Senate candidate Mead Treadwell took his attempts to regulate the reproductive health of Alaska women to new levels yesterday. Treadwell revealed his belief that insurance plans should not include coverage for contraception because it is a “brand-new benefit” that hasn’t been around very long, piling on to his already absurd belief that bosses should be allowed to make women’s health care decisions for them.

Many health insurance companies have offered birth control coverage for decades, far from a “new” benefit.

Treadwell on why insurance plans shouldn’t cover contraception or birth control:

“Yes it was a brand-new benefit. Contraception wasn’t around much longer than before I was born except through physical methods…,” Mead Treadwell, Palmer Free Radio, 7/28/2014.

Treadwell’s offensive comment came while reiterating his support for the recent Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling, which allows a woman’s boss to deny access to birth control through insurance plans. Treadwell regularly brags on the campaign trail about his support for policies that restrict birth control access, invade women’s privacy, and give the state control over women’s bodies.

“Alaska’s women deserve access to the best and most up-to-date medical care available, it’s appalling for Mead Treadwell to believe birth control hasn’t been ‘around long enough’ to be considered an important medical benefit. Politicians like Mead Treadwell are not doctors and shouldn’t be trying to make health care decisions for Alaska women,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans for Begich.

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