Day: May 13, 2026

Lawmakers in the Alaska House passed a bill that aims to stabilize budgets for Alaska school districts by redefining how they calculate their student counts. The student count makes up the base of the state’s education funding formula. 

Lawmakers passed House Bill 261 by a 31 to 9 vote, with bipartisan support, on Tuesday. Under the new calculation of the student count, the bill would provide an additional $143 million in state funding to school districts next year. 

But with competing education funding and policy proposals in the Legislature — and just seven days left in the legislative session — the bill heads to the Alaska Senate for consideration and its future is uncertain.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, would allow school districts to make their student counts and budget estimates earlier in the year. Currently, schools make an estimated student count in October, and revise it in the spring. Under the proposed legislation, districts would use the previous three-year average of their student count — or the previous year’s count, if it is more than 5% higher. 

Story described the change as a way for school districts to get off a budgeting “rollercoaster” and allow districts to have firmer budget estimates, including more certainty in offering contracts to teachers and staff in the spring.  

“This is such a policy change that would so help Alaska stabilize education and get more relief and more certainty, and less stress for our families,” she said Tuesday, after the vote. 

Alaska school districts are grappling with major budget deficits and rising costs, which have them planning cuts and teacher and staff layoffs across the state — at least 11 schools are slated for closure — amid years of ongoing debates among legislators and Gov. Mike Dunleavy on how much the state should fund education. 

School districts currently estimate their student counts in October and draft budget estimates in the spring, and sometimes up to the first day of school in the fall. But with declining enrollment and other changes among student populations, those budget estimates can change, leaving districts uncertain about what staff or programs will be offered in the fall — as well as how much state funding they will receive. Under the new legislation, districts would instead have a solid student count number to budget off of in the year ahead. 

Additionally, the bill would change how districts count students who receive intensive special education services. Districts could use the previous year’s count, or the current year’s count in October or in February. 

“And what’s great about smoothing is it can help them plan for their educational programs when they are in a climate of declining enrollment,” Story said. “Other states are doing this, and they don’t have the volatility that we do. Because our process, our funding process timeline, is messed up, it really is.”

Alaska has seen a steady decline in enrollment in public schools in recent years, with more students and families opting to enroll in homeschool programs and private schools, or leaving the state altogether. When student numbers decline sharply, the state has a “hold harmless” provision which protects districts from funding dropping dramatically, and phases funding down over three years. Proponents of the legislation say the more predictable student counts and budgeting will help districts with long term stability, their ability to retain teachers and attract new students.

The adjusted student count would have varying effects on school districts statewide — a state fiscal analysis projects the Anchorage School District would receive $31 million more next year. Sitka would see $2 million more, and Yukon-Koyukuk would see $3.8 million in additional funding. But several districts would see less funding under the new calculation, like the state-run boarding school Mt. Edgecumbe High School. 

Members of the Alaska House debated and passed an amendment to the bill which would also change the calculation for local municipalities’ contribution to school districts in the state’s complex funding formula, known as the local contribution. 

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, sponsored the amendment that would cap municipalities’ contribution at a fixed increase of 2% annually, which would relieve boroughs seeing rapidly rising property assessments — those assessments inform how much they contribute to their local schools. Ruffridge said large boroughs like the Kenai Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna and Anchorage, which are seeing rising property values, are shouldering education funding that should be placed on the state. The adjustment is estimated to cost the state $30 million next year.

“What you’re seeing in a lot of districts with high increases to property assessment values is their required local contribution is going up and up,” Ruffridge said in an interview on Wednesday. “As a result, they’re being required to pay a significantly higher portion, so to the state it looks like the state funding to schools is going down. That’s what it looks like. And on the municipal side they’re being asked to pay more and more and more.”

The amendment passed by a 24 to 16 vote, with Story among those opposing. After the vote she called it a “significant change” and said she had concerns about capping funding for education. 

The prospects of the bill are uncertain. Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, who chairs the Senate Education committee said Tuesday the policy changes will need to be vetted by the Senate with just days left in the session.

“Bringing everybody along while we are also trying to deal with property tax bills and sales tax proposals and a Rural Health Transformation Fund and all these different healthcare compacts, along with the omnibus crime bill, and of course, the budgets, it might just be too much for us to take that large of a bite,” Tobin said. “But I do believe that components of House Bill 261 will end up in the final package.”

“I’m not trying to be a future teller by saying what is and is not going to continue to be considered by this body,” she added, and said that it’s likely the policy changes will be taken up by the Task Force on Education Funding. “This could be a part of that overall package you see introduced in the 35th Legislature.”

The draft bill redefining districts’ student counts would cost an estimated $113 million, plus additional provisions, for a total of roughly $143 million. 

Meanwhile, the Senate is in the process of considering another “mini-bus” education bill, also originally authored by Story, which would fund an additional $82 million for schools, including targeted funding for transportation, energy relief, reading instruction and career and technical education programs. 

A draft budget passed by the Senate includes up to $100 million in one-time funding for schools, if oil prices remain high. The House drafted a budget with nearly $158 million in one-time education funding — the two proposals are currently being negotiated and compiled by a conference committee of three senators and three representatives over the next few days.

The bill is subject to a reconsideration vote on Wednesday at the request of House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, which delays the bill’s transmittal to the Senate.

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The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday.

The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska. 

If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state.

State officials opposed the listing, and in a written statement Wednesday morning, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the decision means Alaska is managing its fish stocks well.

“This decision by NMFS Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler indicates strong support for Alaska’s management of natural resources,” he said. “Alaska became a state, in large part, to hold authority over our own natural resources such as fisheries. Since then, the sound science and fisheries management by our department has been recognized globally.”

The Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group based in Washington state, had requested the listing in January 2024, citing climate change and competition from hatchery-raised fish. 

A preliminary finding by the National Marine Fisheries Service in May 2024 concluded that the petition “presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.”

At the time, the agency sought additional information, but it made no final decision before the Biden administration ended and the Trump administration began.

In May 2025, the conservancy filed suit against the federal government, stating that officials had illegally delayed their decision on the listing.

Both sides settled the suit in March this year, agreeing that the federal government would decide the issue by May 13. 

Emma Helverson, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy, said by email, “The scale and geographic extent of the crisis facing Chinook across the Gulf of Alaska make this conclusion deserving of careful scrutiny. We are reviewing both the agency’s scientific conclusions and the legal framework underlying this decision before determining next steps.”

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More than a half-century ago, Alaska Native leaders stood at a crossroads as they sought to reconcile two powerful forces – embracing Indigenous self-determination in a rapidly modernizing world and protecting our traditional way of life. 

Our early leaders had to bridge our perpetual connection to the lands and waters that sustained our people for centuries with the realities of a cash economy, recognizing that responsible resource and business development was the only way to safeguard our self-determination for future generations.

This dual need led to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, which vested ownership of the ancestral lands we retained through the settlement in 12 regional and over 200 village corporations, known as ANCs. However, ANCSA was never simply about settling land claims — it was a promise that we as Alaska Native people could protect our way of life while also building new institutions, some of which would include responsible resource development, to propel us into the world of modern capitalism.

More than 50 years later, ANCs have embraced self-determination through economic development for the benefit of their shareholders, Alaska and the entire nation. Today, honoring ANCSA’s vision means both recognizing the potential of our lands — specifically through projects like Donlin Gold — as well as embracing ANCs’ capabilities as experienced federal contractors.

Yet, despite decades of ANCs operating successfully at the top of their fields — while balancing being pillars of Alaska’s economy and stewards of our ancestral homelands — both of these avenues are now facing intense scrutiny. 

For Alaska Native communities, the successful development of Donlin Gold into one of the world’s largest open-pit gold mines represents a historic milestone, injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into village corporations across the state to fund dividends, scholarships and essential services. 

The Yukon-Kuskokwim region, specifically, will benefit from thousands of long-term, high-paying jobs and the infrastructure necessary to finally lower the staggering cost of energy and freight for local families.

Ultimately, this project has the potential to trigger significant revenue sharing, serving as a modern testament to an economic model that has channeled over $2 billion to Alaska Native communities since its inception.

Rightfully so, many have pointed out that potential is not enough, and proper stewardship of the land is equally important as the glitter of gold.

To earn trust, developers must prove that the economic security that Donlin Gold provides will not come at the expense of our environment. The salmon must still run, the water must remain pure and future generations must inherit land that remains worth stewarding.

Achieving this balance requires exhaustive environmental review and continuous integration of Indigenous knowledge. The record shows that the project’s landowners — the Alaska Native people themselves — are meeting that bar. Decades of studies and oversight show they have not taken this responsibility lightly. If Donlin Gold moves forward, it will do so under the watchful eye of those who carry generations of knowledge about these waters.

On the federal level, we must also defend the tools that allow ANCs to compete in the federal marketplace. We need to remain vigilant against efforts to dismantle the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program, a cornerstone of Alaska Native economic self-determination that is currently facing misguided attacks by policymakers in Washington.

In 1992, Congress amended ANCSA to include ANCs in the 8(a) Small Business Act to advance Alaska Native self-determination. Far from being a mere “preference,” 8(a) is an essential efficiency tool that serves as an economic development tool for Alaska Native communities, while at the same time enabling the federal government to rapidly deploy mission-critical expertise at reduced cost to U.S. taxpayers.

To dismantle or disrupt this program is to intentionally create vulnerabilities in national security, public health, and the economic stability of families from Alaska to the Lower 48. It also threatens the more than 51,000 jobs that ANCs and ANC contractors create in all 50 states, including 23,740 jobs in Alaska, according to our research with the McKinley Group.

The success of this model proves that communal growth and corporate responsibility can go hand-in-hand — just as we have proven with stewardship and responsible resource development. By maintaining these protections, we ensure that the promise of ANCSA’s settlement remains a living reality for the next generation of Alaska Native leaders.

Emil Notti, one of the architects of the settlement, once observed that one of ANCSA’s key goals was “to get Native people involved in the economic system so that as Alaska grew, they wouldn’t be left out.”

That vision speaks to the foresight of those leaders, sustaining our traditions while opening doors to opportunity. Now, we must not allow anyone — whether in Alaska or Washington, D.C. — to close those doors by threatening our access to self-determination.

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