Legislative leaders on Feb. 27 wrote to Alaska’s congressional delegation, urging them to block deep cuts to federal programs that they say would “endanger the economic prosperity and social well-being of Alaskans.”
“It is our duty to inform you that the legislature cannot fix the financial havoc that is being wreaked on Alaskans by the federal government,” said Kodiak Republican Senate President Gary Stevens and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, in a strongly worded two-page letter.
Stevens and Edgmon warned about the “destabilizing” impacts of potential cuts to food stamps, early learning programs and Alaska’s bypass mail program that serves rural communities. They said hundreds of federal workers in Alaska could lose their jobs and conveyed fears that hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for energy projects in Alaska could stay frozen.
“The time to sound the alarm is over. It is time to act. Please reach across the aisle and restore the checks and balances that our founding fathers envisioned,” they said.
The two presiding officers also pushed back against “unchecked” cuts being enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Stevens and Edgmon said those cuts “must end,” adding, “it is having an outsized impact on our state.”
The letter was sent to Alaska’s three-member, all-Republican congressional delegation: U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House on Feb. 25 narrowly approved a budget resolution that called for up to $2 trillion in cuts. Begich voted to advance the spending plan.
The two Alaska legislative leaders feared the resolution could be the first step toward deep reductions to critical federal programs, including Medicaid, which is used by around a third of Alaskans.
In a statement, a Murkowski spokesperson said Feb. 26 that she was working to understand the impacts of the House budget resolution, but she remained “an outspoken defender of Medicaid.” A spokesperson for Sullivan cautioned that the budget negotiations are just getting started.
Republican budget hawks have stressed the need to reduce the size of the federal government to address the ever-growing national debt and deficit. At the same time, the U.S. House resolution calls for $4.5 trillion in tax breaks over a decade, which would balloon the deficit further.
Talks in Congress about deep programmatic cuts are occurring as the Alaska Legislature grapples with a $500 million deficit over two fiscal years. State senators have recently introduced revenue measures, including oil tax hikes, as a way to potentially address the fiscal gap.
“Alaska already faces significant budget challenges, and these reckless federal actions put our state’s economy at risk. We can only do so much from a state’s perspective,” Stevens said in a written statement separate from the joint letter with Edgmon.
Anchorage Daily News reporter Iris Samuels contributed to this story.
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