This episode of The Empty Office Podcast features a wide-ranging discussion with retiring state lawmaker Andy Josephson from Anchorage. Josephson has been a member of the Alaska House of Representatives since 2013 and currently serves as a co-chair of the House Finance Committee.

Andy Josephson graduated from West High School in Anchorage and holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He has a law degree from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Prior to joining the Alaska Legislature, Andy Josephson was a public-school teacher, law clerk, and Assistant District Attorney.

Rep. Andy Josephson is retiring from the Alaska State Legislature at the end of this term to accept a fellowship at the Vermont Law and Graduate School to attend the LLM program in Environmental Law. The program is designed for lawyers who want to focus their career on environmental law and issues, including climate change, land use, natural resources, water resources, or environmental tax policy.

One of the bills mentioned during the interview with Rep. Josephson was House Bill 25, which would prohibit restaurants in Alaska from providing food in polystyrene foam containers. The bill passed the Alaska House of Representatives on April 21 by a vote of 25-15. The bill is scheduled to be heard on April 28 in the Senate State Affairs Committee. If the bill becomes law, Alaska would join 12 other states in banning polystyrene containers.

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