Day: March 7, 2026

At the Alaska Beacon, we’re constantly trying to figure out where we should put our attention. There’s always more news than there are people to report it.

Every Thursday, the Alaska Legislature publishes its committee schedule for the coming week. Public notices alert us to meetings and events. The governor’s office occasionally lets us know ahead of time that something’s coming down the pike, too.

Here’s what we know about for the coming week. If you know of something that’s coming up that you should think we should pay attention to, email us at info@alaskabeacon.com.

We can’t cover everything on this list, but we’re interested in them and we think you should know about them in case you’re interested in them, too.

This list is ripped from our notebooks, and it is likely to change over the course of the week. We’ll update it when we can.

Are you trying to keep track of when to testify on a bill? The Legislature has a website for that.

Monday, March 9

• Bid opening for the new National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sale. (This was moved to March 18 because of an error.)
• 8 a.m. – House Education Committee hears invited testimony on a bill that would raise per student state education funding by $630 and a resolution that would ask the Trump administration to waive visa fees for international teachers in Alaska
• 9 a.m. – Senate Finance looks at major maintenance projects for Alaska’s K-12 schools
• 10:30 a.m. – House floor session (citations only)
• 11 a.m. – Senate floor session, watch for supplemental budget vote
• 1:30 p.m. – Senate-passed elections reform bill gets a hearing in House Finance
• 1:30 p.m. – ISER and other invited testifiers talk about the pension bill in Senate Finance
• 3:30 p.m. – Bipartisan, bicameral education task force looks at major maintenance with representatives from the Department of Education and Early Development, the Legislative Finance Division and the Coalition for Education Equity.

Tuesday, March 10

• Mariculture Conference of Alaska opens in Anchorage (it runs through March 12)
• 9 a.m. – State school board meets to hear report on how well the Alaska Reads program is working
• 11 a.m. – U.S. Rep. Nick Begich gives his annual legislative speech
• 1 p.m. – Alaska Railroad CEO gives a status update to House Transportation
• 3:30 p.m. – Planned Parenthood talks to Senate Health and Social Services

Wednesday, March 11

• Morning House and Senate floor sessions
• 7:30 a.m. – Senate Finance Corrections Subcommittee considers the budget for the Department of Corrections
• 8 a.m. – Joint House and Senate Education Committee meeting for the 2026 State Board of Education Report to the Legislature
• 9 a.m. – Legislative Finance and Division of Retirement and Benefits talk about the pension revival bill with Senate Finance
• 9 a.m. – Cook Inlet LNG talks to Regulatory Commission of Alaska about their plans for a floating natural gas import terminal
• 12 p.m. – Lunch and Learn about Alaska’s role in international energy stability
• 1 p.m. – House Judiciary takes up an as-yet-unintroduced (as of Friday) resolution about voter privacy
• 1:30 p.m. – Public testimony on the operating budget in House Finance
• 1:30 p.m. – Where is state IT falling short? They’ll talk to Senate Finance
• 3:15 p.m. House Labor & Commerce Committee considers interstate health care licensing compacts that could unlock more federal money through the Rural Health Transformation Program
• 3:30 p.m. – Big new public education funding and policy bill gets a hearing in Senate Education
• 3:30 p.m. – Senate Resources gets an update on the Railbelt electric transmission upgrades and on the Port of Alaska
• 4:30 p.m. – Budget public testimony continues in House Finance until 6:30 p.m.
• 5 p.m. – House Education talks about their BSA increase bill

Thursday, March 12

• Public comments due on UAS plans for a shellfish seed farm in Sitka
• 9 a.m. – House Finance has a hearing devoted to the elections reform bill
• 9 a.m. – Real Estate Commission meeting
• 10:15 a.m. – House Military and Veterans Affairs talks about a bill allowing “patriotic organizations” to sell alcohol
• 12 p.m. – Lunch and Learn about efforts to track landslides in Southeast Alaska
• 1:30 p.m. – More public testimony on the budget in House Finance
• 1:30 p.m. – Senate Finance takes a first look at the new bill cutting the amount of money transferred from the Permanent Fund to the treasury each year
• 1:30 p.m. – Senate Transportation learns about a fancy new way to de-ice roads
• 3:15 p.m. – House State Affairs looks at an education tax
• 3:30 p.m. – NCSL talks about the rural health transformation program, giving a national perspective

Friday, March 13

• Morning House and Senate floor sessions
• Estimated date for spring revenue forecast
• Deadline for public comments on new mining road near Herbert Glacier trail in Juneau
• 8 a.m. – House Education talks about free school meals and a federal bill that would require ID for some internet use
• 1:30 p.m. – Still more public testimony about the budget in House Finance
• 2 p.m. – Federal court arguments in Metlakatla-state dispute over fishing
• 3:30 p.m. – Senate Resources talks about natural gas and an income tax

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