Government & Politics
Biden signs stopgap spending bill, avoiding government shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signed the stopgap spending bill, giving his administration and Congress about two months to work out agreement on the dozen annual spending bills. Those appropriations measures were supposed to become law by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, but disagreement about whether to adhere to the […]
Wee hours U.S. Senate drama: GOP colleagues on the floor battle Tuberville blockade
WASHINGTON — After a marathon day and late-night vote to avert a Thanksgiving government shutdown, four U.S. Senate Republicans held the floor until the wee hours Thursday, urging their Alabama colleague to lift his months-long objections to hundreds of U.S. military nominations. Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa […]
Alaska’s Permanent Fund needs accounting and legislative oversight
The Governor, Legislature or both need to conduct an audit in a format that is available to the public or engage in serious oversight of the Permanent Fund’s recent erratic decisions that risk fund money. There is a growing threat to the Permanent Fund, and it is coming from the Board of Trustees. Their plan […]
Congress sends stopgap spending bill to Biden’s desk, averting shutdown for now
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators voted 87-11 to approve legislation Wednesday that would fund the government into next year, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution or CR, would fund part of the government until mid-January and the rest of the programs within the annual appropriations […]
U.S. House passes stopgap spending bill in bipartisan vote, in crucial test for new speaker
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Tuesday to fund the government into the new year, though the measure must pass the Senate by the end of the week if Congress is going to avoid a partial government shutdown. The 336-95 House vote was the first major legislative test for Speaker Mike […]
Alaska Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announces run for Congress
Alaska Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom will run for Congress, seeking the seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. Dahlstrom announced her campaign in a prepared written statement and did not immediately answer phone calls seeking additional comment. If elected, Dahlstrom would be replaced as lieutenant governor by someone selected by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. […]
Auditor: Alaska Department of Law ‘likely violated’ state law and constitution
The Alaska Department of Law “likely violated” Alaska law and the state constitution when it spent more than $300,000 on a lawsuit awaiting review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alaska Legislature’s top auditor concluded in a report released last week. The report, in process since October 2020, analyzed competing arguments from attorneys representing the […]
More legislators press AG on Cook Inlet gas, a $750,000 settlement and an Aleutian murder mystery
More state legislators are asking GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to press urban Alaska’s largest natural gas producer, Hilcorp, to extract more of the fossil fuel from its leases in Cook Inlet. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Zack Fields led a group of 14 mostly Democratic representatives and three senators in drafting a letter and sending it […]
Huge new federal grant promises easier access for cheaper, cleaner power in Alaska’s Railbelt
When wildfires ripped across the Kenai Peninsula in 2019, among the burned homes and businesses was a key power line that supplied cheap hydroelectricity to Anchorage. After that line was destroyed, even people untouched by the fire still felt the burn. Anchorage residents paid more than $10 million extra on their power bills. Last month, […]
Federal judge dismisses lawsuits seeking to halt Alaska’s Willow oil drilling project
Alaska’s largest oil drilling project in decades will continue toward production. On Thursday, a federal court judge in Anchorage dismissed two challenges against ConocoPhillips’ Willow project, saying plaintiffs failed to show that the federal government made significant mistakes when it approved the project. Some of those plaintiffs, which include a constellation of local and national […]
GOP presidential candidates brawl in Florida debate, while Trump rallies nearby
Five Republican candidates for president tussled over support for Ukraine and abortion policy at a debate in Miami Wednesday evening, while the leading contender for the nomination, former President Donald Trump, sought Latino votes in an event across town. Trump, who consistently garners more than 50% in polls of Republican voters, once again declined to […]
Gov. Dunleavy appoints new Representative to House District 40
Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Kotzebue Republican Thomas Baker to fill the House District 40 seat left vacant by Josiah Patkotak when he resigned to become Mayor of the North Slope Borough last month. The Republican members of the Alaska House of Representatives will vote to confirm Baker’s appointment. Baker ran for Alaska Senate in 2020 […]