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Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office says it didn’t review an incendiary video address prepared by the adviser he had put in charge of the state’s new Office of Family & Life. In the video presented May 11 to the Alaska Family Council, Dunleavy’s then-pro-family policy adviser Jeremy Cubas described supporters of abortion rights as “seemingly demonically possessed” and claimed they were motivated by a “primal urge” to “sacrifice a child at the altar of their false idols.” The video, obtained last week in response to a public records request, raises new...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Alaska Republicans, criticized the Biden administration for filing federal charges against former President Donald Trump. Dunleavy’s statement was issued before the indictment was unsealed June 9 by the U.S. Department of Justice. In an interview later that day, Sullivan said he stood by his statement, though he hadn’t yet read the indictment. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a frequent critic of Trump, said the indictment needed to be taken seriously. The former president is accused of ret...
Alaska’s legislative session ended last month, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy has yet to consider most of the 31 bills passed by both House and Senate this spring. The Legislature’s 31 bills are the third fewest of any first-year session since statehood. The biggest bills of the year are the budget bill and the annual mental health budget. Dunleavy could veto or reduce line items within the budget before the start of the state’s fiscal year on July 1, but with a couple weeks to go, he hasn’t given any clues about his thinking. Other bills waiting...
The first session of the 33rd Alaska Legislature adjourned last month, with a lot of issues unresolved. “We were just tied up too much with the issue of the dividend and the budget and how we’re going to pay for things,” said Senate President Gary Stevens after adjournment. The slow movement on priority bills was tied to the protracted disagreement between the House and Senate majorities over the size of the Permanent Fund dividend, but also questions about other priorities. Lawmakers will reconvene in January 2024 for the second regular sessi...
The reactions by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment last week say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out of the three — our governor and junior U.S. senator — must think the public is politically motivated above all else, unable to consider the facts and unwilling to believe that the former president could ever do anything wrong. I’ll add “gullible” to the list because, sadly, the two apparently think the public is gullible enough to believe their accusations, which sound like they were min...
People are growing increasingly cynical about government: How money is spent, how hiring decisions are made, and how it seems there are few consequences for actions that hurt the public. Yet too many elected leaders continue making bad decisions that add to the cynicism. Such as Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointing to the University of Alaska Board of Regents his former chief of staff whose poor judgment — and illegal actions, according to a judge — cost the state at least half-a-million dollars. Tuckerman Babcock, a longtime political adviser to the...
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s adviser on “pro-family” policies resigned May 30 after revelations that he made incendiary and offensive statements on a podcast. A review of more than 100 hours of recordings found that Jeremy Cubas defended some of Adolf Hitler’s views, boasted that he uses a vile racial slur “on a daily basis” and said people should “get violent” in response to aggressive transgender activists. He also said it’s not possible for a man to rape his wife. “When you signed the contract, you have already consented,” Cubas s...
Remember what your parents, teachers and truant officer said: You are judged by the company you keep. Too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his attorneys general didn’t think more about that before signing on to multiple lawsuits against the federal government, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Yes, that guy, the one who was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives on a lopsided 121-23 vote last week for 20 counts of bribery, abuse of public trust and other charges going back several years. Donald Trump blamed “radical left Democrats” f...
Alaska’s monthslong delay in disbursing federally funded food stamps to thousands of families still isn’t over — compelling many Alaskans to continue depending on food banks and pantries for emergency food assistance while they wait. While the state reported that on average, new applications for food stamps and other public assistance benefits filed this month were being processed within 30 days, many Alaskans who applied for benefits as early as last fall were still waiting for their applications to be approved. “We are definitely seeing...
The Alaska Supreme Court has affirmed that the state will not be allowed to go ahead with a plan intended to make it more difficult for state employees to participate in a union. In a ruling released Friday, the court upheld and confirmed a lower-court decision that found the state acted illegally when it unilaterally attempted in 2019 to change the rules pertaining to employees’ dues deductions. The five justices, ruling unanimously, said the state violated the Alaska Public Employment Relations Act and the Administrative Procedures Act, as w...
Child care advocates statewide have pushed lawmakers about funding problems, and the effort made a difference in the budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1. The Legislature approved an additional $7.5 million toward grants for child care providers, though it is not certain until Gov. Mike Dunleavy signs or vetoes the budget bill. The funding is half the amount advocates say it would take to sufficiently boost wages and stabilize the industry. Some lawmakers say they have more work to do. Anchorage Sen. Cathy Giessel, the leader of...
Alaska’s push to become a bigger player in the clean-energy market was in the spotlight last week at a conference convened by the governor, even as the state continues to embrace new fossil fuel production, including the controversial Willow oil project on the petroleum-rich North Slope. At the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage on May 23, Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a measure he successfully pushed through the Legislature that would allow the oil-reliant state to cash in on the sale of so-called carbon credits to companies l...
The budget that legislators approved last week and will send to the governor for his signature into law or veto would provide about $425,000 in one-time additional state funding to the Wrangell school district for the 2023-2024 classroom year. That would deliver almost a 9% boost to the district’s total operating budget revenue, which is comprised of state money (more than 60%), a borough contribution (32%) and federal dollars. “It will still need to pass the governor, so it’s not guaranteed,” Bill Burr, Wrangell schools superin...
Alaska lawmakers reached a compromise on the state budget and adjourned after a one-day special session last week, approving a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend for this fall with the possibility of a second, smaller payment next year if oil revenues exceed projections. The amount of the PFD and the capital budget — construction and maintenance projects in legislators’ home districts — were the final items that forced legislators into a special session after the regular session ended May 17 without a budget. The governor called them back to work...
Legislation to impose a state tax on e-cigarettes and vape products passed the Alaska Senate on the next to last day of the regular session, but will have to wait until next year for consideration by the House. The House did not take up the measure before adjournment on May 17. A House committee held one hearing on similar legislation earlier in the month, with members raising multiple questions about the tax and other issues. If approved next year, the bill would impose a 25% tax at the retail level on e-cigarette products, including liquids,...
The Alaska Legislature passed a bill May 16 to establish June 9 as Don Young Day, commemorating Alaska’s late congressman, who died in March 2022 after 49 years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young, a Republican known for his gruff manner and bipartisanship, was 88 when he died. He was the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House. His contributions to Alaska have already been marked in numerous ways, including naming a volcano in the Aleutian chain and a federal office building in Fairbanks after him. Y...
October will be Filipino American History Month in Alaska if Gov. Mike Dunleavy approves a bill that passed the state House and Senate unanimously. House Bill 23, from Anchorage Rep. Genevieve Mina, is largely ceremonial — it does not declare an official holiday or require schools to teach lessons on Filipino American history — but supporters testified that passage of the bill would be an important honor. The first recorded Filipino visitor to Alaska arrived in 1788, and immigrants from the Philippines were critical to the operations of sal...
A pair of criminal-justice bills that failed to win state legislative approval in the session that ended last week will be back next year. The first bill would reclassify drug-overdose deaths as second-degree murders instead of manslaughter cases. It passed the House on May 11 but failed to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure, House Bill 66, also contains provisions that would increase jail terms for drug-related crimes, as well as provisions relating to dosing of other people, such as in cases where so-called “date-rape...
Alaska state legislators have failed to block a 67% pay raise for themselves and a roughly 20% salary increase for the governor and his cabinet. Under state law, legislators had until May 15 to pass a bill to block the pay raises — but never took a final vote by the deadline. The pay raises are set to go into effect July 1 for the governor and his cabinet, and in January for the Legislature. Back in March, the state’s independent salary commission held a 15-minute meeting at which all five members agreed to the substantial pay boosts. All of...
The Alaska Legislature has voted to criminalize the harassment of 911 dispatchers and threats against them. The Alaska House voted 37-1 on May 11 to approve Senate Bill 38, a measure passed 19-0 by the state Senate on March 17. The bill was written by Wasilla Sen. David Wilson and advances to the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy for signature into law after failing to pass through the Legislature last year. The measure was at least partially inspired by an instance when a caller repeatedly dialed 911 to protest Fourth of July fireworks. If Dunleavy...
The Alaska Legislature has approved a measure that would set up a system for leasing state forested lands to businesses and investors that could profit by preserving the land and selling “credits” to others who need or want to offset their direct or indirect carbon emissions. The carbon-offset credits bill would allow leases of up to 55 years, with payments made to the state by businesses and other entities seeking to preserve tracts of land for their capacity to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. The measure, Senate Bill 48, passed the Sen...
Alaska lawmakers have been spending the final days of the 121-day legislative session disagreeing over the amount of this fall’s Permanent Fund dividend. As of Monday afternoon, the House and Senate appeared unable to agree on state spending for the fiscal year that starts July 1, likely pushing lawmakers into an overtime session. This would be the fourth year of extra session time since the cost of the dividend put a strain on tight state finances in 2017. The Republican-controlled House wants a $2,700 PFD this fall and is willing to draw hund...
Senior citizens and people with disabilities who need extra care would be able to get help at home under a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature and on its way to the governor for signature into law. The state House voted 39-1 to approve Senate Bill 57 on May 8, followed by unanimous Senate concurrence on May 10 with the House changes. The legislation would allow the state to license individual homes as the equivalent of assisted-living centers. A home would be permitted for up to two residents under normal circumstances, three with special...
Newly arrived residents and newly licensed drivers would have an easier way to get a commercial license under a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature. In a 40-0 vote last Friday, the Alaska House approved Senate Bill 123, which would repeal the requirement that someone hold an Alaska driver’s license for one year before getting a commercial driver’s license. CDL recipients still have to go through the normal application process, which includes a written test, road test and physical exam. The bill passed the state Senate 20-0 on May 3 and now...
The salmon crisis in Western Alaska is prompting new discussions in the U.S. and Canada about an idea that would have been a non-starter a decade ago: Maybe it’s time to build hatcheries to stem the steep fish declines on the Yukon River. Indigenous culture along the Yukon, in both the U.S. and Canada, is centered on wild salmon runs. Historically, those runs supported both commercial fisheries that rural residents depended on for cash income, and subsistence fisheries that kept freezers and dinner plates full through the winter in a r...