Bill P. Wielechowski (born December 7, 1967) is an American lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gub ...

representing District H. District H is located in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

and includes Spenard and the University of Alaska at Anchorage. Prior to the 2012 redistricting process, he represented District J from 2007 to 2013.

Early life

Wielechowski was born December 7, 1967, in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

family (his grandfather immigrated from

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

in 1910). He attended

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

earning a Bachelor of Science in business management and finance and graduating magna cum laude. He then attended

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranking ...

earning his

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1992. After moving to Anchorage, he became a volunteer with the Northeast Community Council, as a Commissioner on the Anchorage Planning & Zoning Commission and as chair of the Creekside Town Center. In 1999 he was the designated chair of the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board. In 2003, he served on the mayoral transition team for

Mark Begich Mark Peter Begich ( ; born March 30, 1962) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009. Born in An ...

and went on to serve the city as a member of the 2003 Anchorage School District Budget Review Team and the Mayor's Task Force on Obesity and Health. In 2004, he stepped down as designated chair of the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board to become associate general counsel for IBEW Local 1547.

Alaska Senate

In 2006, he was elected to the

to replace retiring Democratic incumbent Gretchen Guess in District J, which included the neighborhoods of Mt. View, Muldoon and Russian Jack in Anchorage. In the 2010 election, he defeated Ron Slepecki winning 58% of the vote to Slepecki's 42%. He was a majority member of the Senate bi-partisan Working Group from 2007 through 2012. He then joined the Minority Caucus. In 2013–2014, Senator Wielechowski led an effort to repeal legislation, passed by the legislature in 2013, granting additional tax credits to oil and gas companies. The effort to repeal the legislation was rejected by Alaska voters in 2014.

Committee assignments

In the 2015-2016 legislative session, Wielechowski served as a member of the following standing committees; Judiciary, Resources and State Affairs. He also served on the Special Committee on Federal Overreach, the Joint Committee on Armed Services

References

External links

Alaska State Legislature - Senator Bill Wielechowski
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Bill P. Wielechowski (AK)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' - Bill Wielechowski *
2006
campaign contributions
Bill Wielechowski
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wielechowski, Bill 1967 births Alaska lawyers Democratic Party Alaska state senators American politicians of Polish descent Living people Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Seton Hall University School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska