Accomplishments
Energy
- Won Senate Approval for Opening ANWR as part of Budget Process Twice, in 2005 and 2007 (Unfortunately the implementing bills did not pass)
- Southwest Alaska Geothermal Project – $5.3 Million (2009)
- $1.5 million grant for Chena Hot Springs Energy to build the first mobile geothermal turbine, a project finished in the summer of 2009.
- Enactment of the Amchitka Nuclear Workers Compensation Aid Act (2004) – allowed compensation for workers who participated in nuclear tests in the Aleutians between 1965-1971.
- Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Juneau — $308,000 to expand vocational training including distance learning (2009)
Alaska Natives
- Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage — $2 million for training dental health care workers (2009)
- Yukon River Chinook salmon disaster funding ($5 million) – Declared in January of 2010 by the Secretary of Commerce.
- Authored key provisions in the recently enacted Tribal Law and Order Act to increase the number and training of VPSOs (2010).
- Yukon River Chinook salmon disaster funding ($5 million) – Declared in January of 2010 by the Secretary of Commerce.
- Maniilaq Association, Kotzebue — $500,000 for facilities and equipment (2009)
Education
- Lisa Murkowski successfully negotiated for the priorities of Alaska’s Head Start programs to ensure that our youngest children have access to high quality early childhood education
- Awarded the National Parent Teacher Association’s first ever Congressional Voice for Children Award
- Participated, as the lead Republican, in negotiations leading to passage of the Kids in Disasters Well-being, Safety, and Health Act and appointed an Alaskan to the Commission.
- Increased funding for teacher credentialing and provided flexibility to assist Alaska in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel.
- Works closely with Alaskan educators, parents, and community organizations to achieve changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Military
- Secured wrongly denied funding for the Alaska Territorial Guard to rightly reinstate the retirement benefits of these valiant Alaskans.
- With Sen. Stevens, fought to keep Eielson alive through the BRAC process.
- Missile defense. Pushed back against the Obama administration’s efforts to cancel a planned expansion of the Ground Based Missile Defense facility at Fort Greely (2009)
- Sponsored the Wounded Warrior Transition Act. Included in the fiscal year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (2009). Ensures members of the Reserve Component who suffer wounds and injuries on the battlefield are not discharged from active duty until their conditions are fully evaluated
- Expanded the Qualified Veteran Mortgage Bond program to allow veterans of the 1st Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan to be eligible for low-rate home loans.
Business
- Won Senate Approval for Opening ANWR as part of Budget Process Twice, in 2005 and 2007 (Unfortunately the implementing bills did not pass)
- Raised the federal loan guarantee for a gas pipeline to $30 billion plus inflation from the 2004 cap of $18 billion
- University of Alaska Ketchikan, Small Business Development center – $350,000 (2009)
- Increased funding to pay for pre-timber sale layout, planning and road construction in Southeast, Alaska.
- Protected permits that allowed the opening of the Kensington Mine in Juneau. 2009.
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Veterans
- Co-sponsored the Veterans Health Budget Reform and Transparency Act to ensure advance appropriations for VA healthcare to end the chronic underfunding of VA health care
- Worked to make the VA Mat-Su Community Based Outpatient Clinic a reality (2008)
- Sponsored the Wounded Warrior Transition Act. Included in the fiscal year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (2009).
- Expanded the Qualified Veteran Mortgage Bond program to allow veterans of the 1st Gulf War,
- Co-sponsored the Post 9-11 GI Bill to update and improve educational benefits for veterans and their families at a critical time in the negotiations, which resulted in more generous benefits being enacted to assist our nation’s veterans.
Transportation
- City of Ketchikan replacement and rehabilitation of municipal bridges and trestles — $500,000 (2009)
- Fairbanks North Star Borough Road and Bridge Improvements — $1 million (2009)
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough Road and Bridge Improvements — $1 million (2009)
- Juneau International Airport Medium Intensity Approach Lighting System with Runway Alignment Lights — $1 million (2009)
- Commercial Vessel Discharge permit moratorium – which excludes most Alaskan fishing vessels from onerous regulations that rightly apply to larger vessels. First passed in 2008 and an extension of the moratorium has passed the Senate in 2010.
Environment
- Won approval of legislation to create the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area to promote tourism on the Peninsula (PL 111-11, 2009).
- Seal and Steller Sea Lions Biological Research – $300,00 (2009, FY2010 Commerce, Justice Science Appropriations Bill)
- $1.5 million grant for Chena Hot Springs Energy to build the first mobile geothermal turbine, a project finished in the summer of 2009.
- Stellers and Spectacled Sea Eider Research – $350,000 (2009).
- Chugach National Forest – Funding for Porcupine Creek Campground reconstruction – $1,911,000 (2009)
Fishing
- Obtained Yukon River Chinook salmon disaster funding ($5 million) – Declared in January of 2010 by the Secretary of Commerce.
- Secured Commercial Vessel Discharge permit moratorium – which excludes most Alaskan fishing vessels from onerous regulations that rightly apply to larger vessels. First passed in 2008 and an extension of the moratorium has passed the Senate in 2010.
- Secured Oil spill tax relief legislation to close the chapter on claims by oil fishermen in the wake of the EXXON Valdez disaster. Passed 2008.
- Obtained $300,000 for Bering Sea Crab Management and Research (2009, FY10 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill)
- Obtained funding for implementation of the Yukon and Pacific Salmon Treaty.
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Social Services
- Provided $500,000 to Covenant House Alaska for the relocation of the Crisis Center facility in Anchorage (2009)
- Obtained $200,000 for the Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis (AWAIC) Domestic Violence Shelter in Anchorage for infrastructure improvements (2009)
- Obtained $1 million for the City of Ketchikan for facilities and equipment at Ketchikan General Hospital (2009)
- Protected Village Safe Water from proposed funding cuts and secured an additional $37.5 million last year for rural water and sanitation systems in Alaska.
- Secured $10 million for the Denali Commission for Health Facilities (2009).
Union/Labor & Job Training
- Won Senate Approval for Opening ANWR as part of Budget Process Twice, in 2005 and 2007 (Unfortunately the implementing bills did not pass)
- Increased funding to the Joint Pipeline Training Center.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance for Agrium Workers in Kenai and Soldotna in 2005 and 2008.
- Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Juneau — $308,000 to expand vocational training including distance learning (2009)
- Increased funding to the Northwestern Alaska Career and Technical Center – Nome.
Medical
- Convened Health Care Town Hall Meetings in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, and Soldotna as well as a Statewide Tele-Town Hall to hear from Alaskans about the proposed health care reform bill – Summer 2009
- Secured $1 million for facilities and equipment fort Ketchikan General Hospital (2009)
- Secured $1 million for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Consortium, Bethel for facilities and equipment (2009)
- Provided $10 million to the Denali Commission for Health Facilities (2009)
- Secured $350,000 for Providence Health System for a physician recruitment and retention initiative (2009)
Hunting
- Protected access to hunting, fishing, trapping activities on public lands.
- Senate passed legislation co-sponsored by Lisa Murkowski to end the national parks gun ban. Lisa also signed a letter to Secretary Kempthorne asking him to reconsider the long-standing ban and questioned his response when he testified before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. (2009)
- Sponsored the Alaska Lands Transfer Acceleration Act enacted into law in 2004 – which required the Department of Interior to complete their land transfers to Alaskans and Alaska Natives in an expedited manner. Gave Alaska the land it was promised at statehood.
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Arctic
- Introduced the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Implementation Act
- Introduced the Arctic Deep Water Port Act to direct the Secretary of Defense to determine the feasibility of building a deep water port in the Arctic.
- Convened a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security field hearing
- In the Homeland Security Appropriation bill, Senator Murkowski obtained an appropriation of $32.5 million
- Introduced the Hydrographic Services Improvements Act to authorize funding to adequately map the Arctic Ocean and improve navigation and to help delineate our extended continental shelf.”
Public Safety
- Wasilla Police Station Technology Upgrades – $1 million (FY 2005)
- Sponsor of Police Survivors Anniversary resolution in honor of the group, Concerns of Police Survivors, the national support organization for families and co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
- Authored key provisions in the recently enacted Tribal Law and Order Act
- Drug and Alcohol Interdiction, Rural Law Enforcement – $900,000 (2009 & FY2010 Commerce)
- Consistent sponsor of Red Ribbon Week resolution to commemorate national anti-drug efforts in memory of murdered DEA Special Agent Enrique (Kiki) Camerena
Federal Employee
- Secured transition from COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) to Locality Pay because COLA increments do not count toward retirement benefits. Also, Locality Pay is higher than COLA rates, which compare cost of living in Anchorage vs. Washington, D.C.
- Alaska ANILCA Local Hire Provision: won an amendment in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act (PL. 111-11) allowing Alaskan employees hired by the National Park Service to win permanent employment and the ability to advance up the Park Service personnel schedule. This means that Alaska residents who work on a part-time or seasonal basis will be allowed to apply for other full-time positions in the Department.