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In remarks to the Alaska Legislature on March 20, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the work of President Donald Trump, saying the new president's pro-mining and pro-drilling views are "great for those of us in Alaska." Sullivan, who walked through a crowd of anti-Trump and pro-democracy protesters en route to the speech in the state House chambers, downplayed the chaos caused in Alaska by the Trump-empowered Department of Government Efficiency, which has orchestrated the firing of hundreds of...
British Columbia Premier David Eby said on March 6 that he intends to introduce legislation that would place tolls on commercial trucks traveling from the Lower 48 states to Alaska through his province. Speaking at the Legislative Assembly building in Victoria, Eby said the move is one of several that he is taking in response to President Donald Trump’s erratic Canadian tariff plans. “I’m here to share that we will be introducing a new law in the coming days to respond to this historic challenge: unprecedented legislation. It will inclu...
All seven members of the powerful state Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 24 proposed rewriting the payment formula in state law for the annual Permanent Fund dividend, renewing the Senate’s effort to replace an obsolete, 43-year-old law that hasn’t been followed since 2015. If signed into law, Senate Bill 109 would split the annual earnings transfer from the Alaska Permanent Fund to the state treasury: 75% of that transfer would be reserved for state services, and 25% would be used for dividends. This year, the PFD would be about $1,420 per...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has introduced a bill that would partially reverse Alaska’s 35-year-old ban on fish farms. If it makes it into law, the bill would not allow salmon farming but would allow farming of “any bony fish belonging to the osteichthyes class.” That includes species like tilapia, catfish or carp — the world’s most widely farmed fish. The chair of the House Fisheries Committee, Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes, disagrees with the governor’s proposal. “Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, our coastal communities and fishing families across...
Ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alaska Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III declined to say that he supports aid for the embattled eastern European nation, drawing a significant contrast between himself and the other two members of Alaska’s congressional delegation. After President Donald Trump incorrectly stated that Ukraine started the war, Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan pushed back on the president’s comments and said Russia started the war. Begich did not issue a similar rebut...
In a series of hearings last week, members of the Alaska Legislature heard emotional testimony about the need for more education funding. As lawmakers consider the idea, it’s becoming increasingly clear within the Capitol that more funding for public schools will come at the expense of the Permanent Fund dividend. “The state of Alaska is probably facing its largest fiscal problem … in 30 years,” said Bethel Sen. Lyman Hoffman, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, on Feb. 11. Hoffman has been a legislator since 1987. Under the governo...
The state is bringing in less money than it is spending and is on pace to finish the current fiscal year with a deficit of $171 million, according to figures presented Feb. 4. Lacey Sanders, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s top budget official, told the Senate Finance Committee that spending from the Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund likely will be needed to close the gap before the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment in May. That would require support from three-quarters of the House and three-quarters of the Senate — usually a politically fraught negot...
In a series of hearings last week in the Alaska Capitol, advocates from across the state presented hours of impassioned and often emotional testimony in favor of a bill to sharply increase state funding for public schools. The state funding formula has increased just 2% over the past decade, but a pair of cold-blooded financial hearings by legislative committees showed that the education request may have to compete with the Permanent Fund dividend and aid for aging state buildings in the next budget. In December, Gov. Mike Dunleavy offered a st...
State political campaign regulators have issued a second heavy penalty against the organizers of a failed campaign that sought to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. On Jan. 27, the Alaska Public Offices Commission fined Alaskans for Honest Elections, Alaskans for Honest Government, the Ranked Choice Education Association and Anchorage resident Arthur Matthias a combined total of almost $157,000. The commission imposed the maximum allowable fines on the parties, stating that they have “proven themselves shockingly poor at com...
A state commission is recommending automatic inflation-driven pay raises for Alaska’s governor, lieutenant governor, members of the state Legislature and top officials at state agencies. The recommendation, approved by the three members of the State Officers Compensation Commission on Jan. 29, will become effective after the 2026 state election unless the Legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy approve a measure within 60 days rejecting the pay hikes. “If we’re really going to have a system where anybody can run (for office) and be able finan...
Members of the Alaska Senate are making another run at restoring the state’s pension system for public employees, one year after inaction by the Alaska House killed a prior effort. Senate Bill 28, filed Jan. 10 by Anchorage Sen. Cathy Giessel, would create a system slightly modified from the one eliminated by state lawmakers in 2006. Its early introduction is a sign that returning to a defined-benefit retirement plan — based on years of service — for state, municipal and school district employees will garner significant attention in the 34th...
A five-member state commission has approved plans for a new borough centered on the Southeast Alaska town of Hoonah. Approval sets the stage for a local election on the proposed Xunaa Borough. If voters approve the borough’s creation, Hoonah will be dissolved as a town and reincorporated as a city-borough with governmental authority over a wide swath of northern Southeast Alaska, including much of Glacier Bay National Park. It would be the state’s 20th borough and the first new borough since Petersburg created a city-borough in 2013. Wra...
Arthur Sammy Heckman Sr. has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of unlawful interference with an election after illegally canceling a 2023 election and hiding the results of a 2022 election while serving as acting mayor of Pilot Station in Southwest Alaska. The Alaska Department of Law announced the plea deal on Nov. 14 by email. It did not immediately answer a request for a copy of the plea deal and associated documents. Pilot Station is a town of about 600 people, on the Yukon River. Heckman and city clerk Ruthie Borromeo were...
Federal prosecutors are recommending that an Alaska fisherman serve six months in prison, pay a $25,000 fine and be banned from commercial fishing for a year after lying about fishing catches and trying to kill an endangered sperm whale. Dugan Paul Daniels pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor earlier this year, and prosecutors released their sentencing recommendation on Nov. 5. According to court documents, Daniels became infuriated in March 2020 when a whale began taking fish from his longline fishing gear and damaging equipment. This kind...
A majority of Alaska state senators want to address education, elections, energy and the public employee retirement system when they convene in January. Late Nov. 6, the day after the election, leading senators confirmed that the chamber will continue to be led by a large coalition of Republicans and Democrats. Members of the new bipartisan coalition were vague about its precise makeup, saying negotiations are still ongoing. After one member of last session’s coalition lost reelection and another decided against running for another term, the g...
In a brief “tele-rally” Oct. 21, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump urged Alaskans to vote for U.S. House candidate Nick Begich, saying that control of the closely divided House could come down to a single vote. “Control of the House of Representatives is so important, and Alaska, you could very well be the vote,” he said. Begich is seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, and polling shows the candidates are running close together. Most seats in the 435-person U.S. House tilt strongly Democratic or Republican; Alas...
Alaska legislators have voted to ban large signs in the state Capitol, a move that followed large protests over Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to veto a multipart education bill earlier this year. Under a new policy, visitors to the Capitol “are permitted to hand-carry a paper-based poster board or placard type sign up to 11×17 inches in the Capitol corridors and lobby.” The policy prohibits signs on sticks and posts — all signs must be held by hand. “A sign will be confiscated if it is used to disturb, or used in a manner that will imminently...
An airport-style security screening checkpoint could be coming to the Alaska State Capitol, ending decades of open public access. In a public notice published Oct. 2, the nonpartisan agency in charge of Capitol administration seeks a private firm to “conduct security screening of visitors and visitors’ belongings.” The firm may also be in charge of screening incoming packages. Security officers at the Alaska Capitol do not currently screen incoming visitors, and the Capitol does not use metal detectors or backscatter X-ray machines like those...
Alaska's two leading U.S. House candidates are offering significantly different views on the role of federal spending, a cornerstone of Alaska's economy. Speaking to members of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 10 in Fairbanks, incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola promoted her support of big federal infrastructure bills that have brought billions of dollars to Alaska. Republican challenger Nick Begich criticized that legislation and voiced concerns about the size of the federal deficit,...
This year’s Permanent Fund dividend, plus a one-time energy rebate bonus, will be a combined $1,702 per recipient, the Alaska Department of Revenue announced Sept. 19. The amount is slightly higher than previous estimates from the spring, in part because the number of eligible Alaskans is lower than expected. The payments will be direct-deposited into bank accounts starting Oct. 3. Paper checks, for those Alaskans who requested them, will be mailed later in October. This year’s combined dividend is about $400 more than last year’s payme...
The Alaska Supreme Court on Sept. 12 affirmed the U.S. House candidacy of Eric Hafner, a Democrat imprisoned in New York state on a 20-year felony sentence. The court, in a split 4-1 decision, upheld Anchorage Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles’ decision to dismiss a lawsuit by the Alaska Democratic Party that had challenged Hafner’s eligibility. The decision means Hafner will appear on the November U.S. House ballot alongside incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican challenger Nick Begich, and Alaskan Independence Party challenger Joh...
Alaska’s governor has vetoed a bill intended to clarify the rental car tax collection process for Alaskans who put up their vehicles for rent on Turo and similar car-sharing applications. The Alaska Department of Revenue has said that Turo is subject to the state’s 10% sales tax on rental cars, the same as Avis, Hertz and other companies that own and rent cars. But Turo has argued that users, not the company itself, are liable for collecting the tax. The state unsuccessfully sued Turo six years ago in an attempt to find out how much tax rev...
Turnout in this year’s state primary election is on pace to be the third lowest in the past 50 years, according to preliminary figures published Aug. 27 by the Alaska Division of Elections. Through that evening, 106,208 votes had been counted from just over 17.5% of all registered voters. The turnout rate in Wrangell was similar. Four years ago, Alaskans approved a new elections system that includes an open primary election in which candidates from all parties compete in the same race for each statewide office. The top four vote-getters a...
Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is withdrawing from the race for the state’s lone U.S. House seat, she announced via social media on Friday, just three days after the primary election. With most of the votes counted, Dahlstrom is expected to finish third in the state’s top-four primary election, behind Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola and fellow Republican challenger Nick Begich. In a prepared statement published, Dahlstrom said she wanted to see Peltola voted out of office but “at this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal reali...
A ballot measure that could repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice election system is headed to a vote in November, the Alaska Supreme Court confirmed Thursday, Aug. 22. In a brief order, the court’s five members upheld a lower court decision that certified Ballot Measure 2, which would repeal the laws that created the state’s ranked-choice general election and open primary election system. The order came shortly after justices heard oral arguments in an appeal claiming that the Alaska Division of Elections improperly certified the measure. “Toda...