Saying that he wants to ensure that all the regions in his senate district that receive service from the Alaska Marine Highway System have a seat on the Marine Transportation Advisory Board, Senator Gary Stevens (District R) introduced Senate Bill 24.

This bill will increase the size of the Marine Transportation Advisory board from 11 to 12. The new seat will be for a new area designated as “Southcentral Alaska” and will include the communities of Homer, Kodiak, Seldovia, Old Harbor, Port Lions and Ouzinkie.

Currently, these communities are in the “Southwest Alaska” group. That seat is currently filled by Mayor Shirley Maquardt of Unalaska.

The Marine Transportation Advisory Board was created by Admistrative order by Governor Murkowski in 2003, and established in Statute by Governor Palin in 2009. The 11-member board is appointed by the governor and can make recommendations and issue reports to the Department of Transportation and the Governor.

Currently, seven of the eleven board members are from Southeast Alaska, two are from Anchorage, and one each from Cordova and Unalaska.

Senate Bill 24 was read for the first time on January 18th and was referred to the Transportation and Finance Committees the same day.