In her address to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Jan. 15, Gov. Sarah Palin (R) touted the revenue benefits of the multi-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline deal she helped engineer last year. She also called for significant new education spending, increased energy conservation and alternative power use and lower business license fees.
She urged lawmakers to streamline the state’s health-care business rules and promised to study policies other states have adopted to encourage businesses to provide health-care benefits for their employees.
To increase the number of health-care providers in the state and lower costs, Palin urged lawmakers to do away with requirements that companies apply for so-called certificates-of-need before building new facilities.
On education, she urged lawmakers to approve a spending bill early in the year so schools could make plans without having to issue “pink slips.” Palin also proposed a new apprenticeship program to train high school graduates and university students for jobs in construction, engineering and health care — professions in great demand in Alaska, she said.
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