Government & Politics
Alaska Legislature gets first look at carbon plan proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Friday officially unveiled a pair of bills intended to market Alaska as a destination for companies interested in reducing the effect of their greenhouse gas emissions. The result could generate millions of dollars for the state while helping reduce the effect of global climate change. One bill would create laws and […]
Democrats in Congress condemn Biden administration expansion of Title 42
WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the White House expressing their “great concern” that the Biden administration is walking back on its promise to restore migrants’ access to asylum. In the letter, they also condemned the administration’s expansion of a controversial policy that immediately turns away migrants at the […]
Ahead of education-funding bill, supporters of Alaska public schools pitch their case
In a series of hearings at the Capitol, teachers, administrators and concerned parents are making the case for a major increase in Alaska’s per-student funding and for other legislation that they say will help the state’s public schools. The hearings come as the Senate Education Committee prepares to introduce legislation on the topic. The bills […]
Alaska will receive $285 million in federal money to boost state ferry service
The Federal Transit Administration has awarded more than a quarter-billion dollars to the Alaska Marine Highway System, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said Wednesday. In a written statement, Alaska’s two U.S. senators said the grants, authorized under the 2021 federal infrastructure bill, cover six projects and amount to more than $285 million for […]
National Dems give New Hampshire, Georgia more time to change 2024 primary dates
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire and Georgia will have a bit longer to implement key changes to when and how they hold Democratic presidential primaries, under an extension a Democratic National Committee panel approved Wednesday. Election officials will have until June 3 to move New Hampshire’s 2024 Democratic presidential primary to Feb. 13 and Georgia’s to […]
USDA says it will restore a ban on most development in the Tongass National Forest
The Biden administration will ban new logging roads and most development in much of Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. The decision, which repeals a 2020 USDA action under the Trump administration, continues a quarter-century of action and counter-action over development in the region, which contains the world’s largest […]
Lawsuit says Alaska statute allowing public funding to go to private schools is unconstitutional
The question is resurfacing, but this time in a lawsuit: Can families enrolled in a state-funded correspondence program use their allotment to pay for private school classes? Last June, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development didn’t know the answer so they asked the state’s attorney general’s office, which offered a response that drew […]
Police and firefighter pension bill, long sought by unions, is revived in Alaska House
A bill that would recreate a state pension plan for firefighters and police officers has been revived in the Alaska House of Representatives. On Tuesday, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, introduced House Bill 22 to the House Committee on Community and Regional Affairs, bringing back an idea sought by public employee unions but which has failed […]
For rural Alaska lawmakers, local issues trumped party interests and swung the state House
Last week, rural members of the Alaska House of Representatives ended the six-year reign of a predominantly Democratic coalition, flipping control of the House to a predominantly Republican coalition. By joining 19 of the House’s 21 Republicans, the four members of the House’s rural “Bush Caucus” averted the kind of leadership deadlock that plagued the […]
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy urges Legislature to fund more legal action against Biden administration
In his annual address to the Alaska Legislature, Gov. Mike Dunleavy identified successes from his first four-year term in office and called for action on a list of administration priorities, including more funding for a “statehood defense” program that has launched a series of lawsuits against the federal government. Speaking Monday night at the state […]
House Speaker McCarthy’s powers are still strong – but he’ll be fighting against new rules
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is already facing the limits of his power. A single member of the House – from the far-right Freedom Caucus to a progressive on the far left, or any member in between – can threaten his speakership. And at least one Democrat already is promising to do just that. […]
Alaska revenue picture looking more normal, with lower oil prices, after pandemic and war shocks
After a roller-coaster couple of years, Alaska’s state government revenues are returning to a more normal pattern of dependence on investment earnings, federal contributions and petroleum earnings, Dan Stickel, chief economist of the state Department of Revenue, said on Friday. The state revenue picture is expected to return to its normal “three-legged stool” pattern in […]