Kxlo Stone (left) and Trinity Beltz (right) testify to the importance of protecting sibling relationships in foster care to the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 26, 2026. Stone’s sister Tali Stone sits behind her. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska foster youth could see their ties to siblings legally protected through the adoption process, under legislation proposed last year in the Alaska House of Representatives.
House Bill 157 would maintain the legal relationship between siblings through the process of adoption, and also encourage adoptive families to support sibling relationships. It is sponsored by Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, who is a foster parent himself.
“Sibling relationships are among the most powerful and enduring connections a person can have,” Gray said, in opening remarks of a hearing on the issue on Wednesday. “For children in foster care, siblings are often a remaining link to their past, their identity and their family. These bonds provide emotional stability, comfort and a sense of belonging during an experience that is confusing and traumatic.”
Currently, under Alaska law, adoption ends the legal relationship between adopted children and their birth family, including siblings. The bill preserves the legal relationship between siblings, despite adoption and termination of parental rights. Siblings would continue to be legally recognized, including for siblings by blood, marriage or adoption by one or both parents.
Deko Harbi (left) and Lotus Nickoli (right) testify in support of HB 157 and the importance of preserving sibling relationships in foster care on Feb. 25, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Gray introduced the bill last year but it has not yet been scheduled for committee hearings. This week, he invited a group of current and former foster youth with Facing Foster Care in Alaska, a non-profit advocacy organization, to testify on the issue to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. In an emotional hearing, youth shared personal stories of separation from siblings, and urged legal protections for maintaining sibling relationships as vital.
“When my siblings and I were separated, daily things became harder to do and life was harder to get through,” said Tali Stone, who was separated from her five siblings when they entered state custody. “I went from laughing, sharing bed with my older sister, and playing with my younger siblings, to not knowing where they lived, who they lived with, and missing huge milestones and moments in their lives.”
Lotus Nickoli of Fairbanks testified to the fear and uncertainty he felt when he was separated from his eight siblings.
“It’s just more scary, like knowing that they’re going to be going through different situations, different foster homes and whatnot, different foster parents, like you don’t know who they’re with and what these foster parents are capable of,” he said, breaking down into tears.
“Siblings should not be separated,” he said.
In Alaska, the Office of Children’s Services, which runs the state’s foster care system, is required to “make reasonable efforts” to place siblings together in a foster placement if siblings are living in the same home when taken into state custody. If siblings are not placed together, case workers must document how reasonable efforts were made. The case worker is also charged with connecting siblings and providing opportunities for contact, “if it is in the best interest of the child to maintain contact.”
Amanda Metivier, director of Facing Foster Care, said the foster youth have called for legislation to prevent sibling separation because the reality is often youth are having great difficulties in maintaining contact when taken into state custody and after adoption.
Amanda Metivier (right) director of Facing Foster Care Alaska, and Amanda Redmon (right) a former foster youth testify to the House Judiciary Committee on the importance of maintaining sibling relationships among foster youth on Feb. 25, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
“So as a state, we’ve been experiencing a decline in the number of foster homes in recent years, and so it becomes harder and harder for OCS to keep children together,” she said.
“The unfortunate truth is that if you have a young person that moves into a foster family or a relative, and the permanent goal is going to be adoption, and their siblings are in another place, they become legal strangers,” she said.
Trinity Beltz said when OCS intervened and took her, her eight siblings and two stepsisters into state care, they were all separated in foster placements. While she could see some of her siblings, she OCS barred her from seeing her stepsisters because the agency claimed they were not related.
“Nobody updated me on where they were, and that really broke me,” she said. “I haven’t seen them since they were at least four years old, and looking at them now, they’re already almost seven to eight.”
“But I do want to still be their sister, and not be like a stranger to them,” she added. “To me, that would break my heart completely.”
The bill was introduced last year and was referred to the House Health and Social Services Committee.
Representative Andrew Gray at a Senate Judiciary hearing for HB 101 on February 9, 2026, Photo Courtesy of Gavel Alaska.
This article mentions sensitive topics such as sexual assault and child sexual assault, resources for victims in Alaska can be found here.
NOTN- Alaska lawmakers are considering legislation that would raise the state’s age of consent from 16 to 18, a change the sponsor statement says would strengthen protections for teenagers and make it easier to prosecute sexual assault and exploitation.
House Bill 101, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Gray, was introduced as Alaska continues to report some of the highest rates of sexual violence in the country.
“Alaska has the highest rate of rape in the country, which is over 3 times the national average.” Gray said at a Senate Judiciary hearing, “We also have one of the highest rates of child sexual assault in the country, over 6 times the national average, according to the UAA Justice Centers’ Alaska Victimization Survey.”
Under current law, 16- and 17-year-olds can legally consent to sex with adults, which supporters say creates a loophole that complicates prosecutions. Survivors often must prove they did not consent, even when there is a clear power imbalance between adults and teens, which Gray says makes the successful prosecution of cases difficult.
HB 101 would close that gap by establishing that minors under 18 cannot legally consent to sexual activity with adults. The bill includes a four-year “close-in-age” exemption so consensual relationships between peers are not criminalized.
The Anchorage Police Department has formally endorsed the bill. In a letter to lawmakers, Police Chief Sean Case said officers regularly see the harm caused by sexual abuse and exploitation and that the bill would give law enforcement clearer authority to protect minors and hold offenders accountable.
“On behalf of the Anchorage Police Department, I express our strong support for House Bill 101. This legislation strengthens protections for Alaska’s youth by aligning our criminal statutes with the realities of adolescent development and the responsibility of adults to safeguard minors from exploitation and harm.” The letter said.
The Alaska House of Representatives is seen in action on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Sean Maguire, Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives is seen in action on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House on Wednesday advanced a bill that would boost state funding for a nonprofit that provides free legal aid to vulnerable Alaskans.
House Bill 48 was approved by the House on a 27-13 vote.
Supporters say the Alaska Legal Services Corporation is critical for assistance in housing disputes, financial abuse cases, for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities.
“Those services hopefully keep you housed, keep a restraining order in place, keep children in your custody, (and) help you collect your child support,” said Juneau Democratic Rep. Sara Hannan, the bill’s lead sponsor, before the final vote.
The agency is Alaska’s largest provider of legal aid for civil cases. It is also the largest provider of free legal assistance for survivors of domestic violence and abuse. Alaska has routinely had the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence in the nation.
Keeley Olson, executive director of Standing Together Against Rape Inc., said civil legal aid is “an essential service” for survivors of sexual assault to help them rebuild their lives.
“Sexual assault survivors often face significant barriers to justice, including navigating complex legal systems while dealing with the emotional and physical trauma of their experiences,” she said in support of the bill.
All 21 members of the Democrat-dominated majority supported the bill alongside six Republicans in the minority. All 13 no votes came from minority Republicans who were concerned about its costs.
State funding for the corporation comes partly from filing fees to the Alaska Court System. HB 48 would direct 25% of those fees to the agency, up from 10% currently in state law.
Court filing fees in Alaska are otherwise deposited in the state treasury and can be spent for any purpose.
In 2025, the Alaska Legal Services Corporation received just under $300,000 in filing fees. The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development estimated HB 48 would boost its funding by roughly $460,000 per year.
Although the Alaska Constitution guarantees the right to a defense attorney in criminal trials, there is no equivalent protection in civil cases. The corporation was founded in 1967 to bridge that gap.
The agency received $1.2 million in state funding in 1984, but that dropped below $700,000 in 2024. The number of Alaskans eligible for civil legal aid more than doubled over the same period.
Maggie Humm, executive director of ALSC, told lawmakers last year that roughly half of its applicants for help are turned away due to current funding levels.
Humm said the nonprofit provided legal help to roughly 6,200 Alaskans in 2024. A $400,000 funding boost could allow the agency to help roughly 800 additional Alaskans, she added.
Fairbanks Republican Rep. Will Stapp said that he supported the work of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, but with Alaska facing a fiscal crisis, additional state funding would come with consequences.
“You’re going to have to fill this hole. Where are you going to fill it from?” Stapp said before Wednesday’s final vote.
Palmer Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson, the House minority leader, said using filing fees to fund the agency was “convoluted.”
“We should just fund it, if that’s what we want to do,” she said.
The funding increase for the agency is supported by the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education and other Alaska organizations.
The Legislature failed to pass a similar bill in 2024. After passing the House on Wednesday, HB 48 now heads to the Senate for its consideration.
NOTN- Streets, schools and public safety topped the list of community priorities in the results of the recent city budget survey that, according to city leaders drew an unusually high level of public participation.
Mayor Beth Weldon said 4,400 residents responded to the survey.
“Which is quite unusual, and if you think about that, that’s half of what we usually have for voting on elections. So we did have a lot of people interested in telling us what they prioritize.” Weldon said.
According to Weldon, the number one priority identified by respondents was streets, roads and winter maintenance, followed by schools and public safety.
Rounding out the top 10 priorities were water and wastewater services, Bartlett Regional Hospital, recreation facilities, trails, the airport, national disaster response, libraries and museums.
Residents were also surveyed on areas they viewed as lower priorities or potential places to cut.
Tourism management ranked first among programs seen as candidates for reductions.
“The responses were mainly that they thought we should use more of the Marine Passenger fees to do that, rather than general fund fees.” Weldon said.
Other lower-ranked areas included climate and energy efficiency, economic development, housing development and land use planning, recreation facilities, homeless services, libraries and museums, trails, and the port and harbor.
“It was interesting seeing recreation facilities both on priority and where to cut but it totally was generational. The older you were, the less you prioritize recreational facilities.” Said Weldon.
The most popular option for raising or adjusting revenue was through property tax changes, Weldon said, with support “well into the 50%” range.
“It will be pretty tricky to do that, because one of the ballot measures capped our property tax, so we can’t do a lot there for another year or two.” Weldon said.
Weldon said the city is continuing to collect feedback through budget workshops, the final workshop takes place on March 4.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, speaks Friday, April 26, 2024, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, speaks Friday, April 26, 2024, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The arrest of a Soldotna family by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including two teens and a 5-year-old, has prompted a wave of concern and lawmakers to hold an investigatory hearing on Monday on the arrest and detention of minors in Alaska.
“As far as I am aware, the detention of children by ICE in Alaska is unprecedented,” said Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. In opening remarks, he questioned if federal agents provided full due process to the family and honored legal protections for children.
“Is Alaska about to see more children detained?” he asked.
ICE agents arrested Sonia Espinoza Arriaga at her home in Soldotna on Feb. 17, and apprehended her three children — ages 18, 16 and 5. Arriaga is married to an Alaskan U.S. citizen and was in court proceedings to gain asylum after fleeing violence in Mexico, according to news reports. The next day, Arriaga and her two younger children were deported to Jalisco, where they remain. The 18-year-old was transported and detained at the Anchorage Correctional Complex and transferred on Feb. 20 to a privately-run ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to news reports.
The arrest comes as ICE operations are ramping up in Alaska and nationwide, amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Gray noted the agency saw a historic funding increase last year and now has a budget of roughly $85 billion.
Anna Taylor with the Alaska Institute for Justice (top left), Rev. Michael Burke with St Mary’s Episcopal Church of Anchorage (top middle), Elora Mukherjee, a clinical professor of law at Columbia and director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic (top right), Rev. Meredith Harbor with the Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna (bottom left), Rev. Lisa Adam Sherry with the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (bottom center), and Soldotna parent Alison Flack (bottom right) testified to the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 23, 2026 on the recent ICE arrest of a Soldotna family and detention of minors in Alaska. (Screenshot of Gavel)
Members of the House Judiciary Committee put questions to officials with the Alaska Department of Corrections and Department of Public Safety on the extent of the state’s involvement in ICE operations and detention of minors. They also heard testimony from community members, attorneys and clergy expressing outrage and concern at ICE operations.
Gray said the committee had invited representatives from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to testify about the arrest and issues raised, but they declined to appear. He said his office has submitted a list of questions to the agencies, including questions about due process, and have not yet heard back.
Gray said his office will be drafting a committee resolution urging a change in federal policy, and said if ICE fails to answer the committee’s questions, the committee will “look at other options for compelling their testimony.”
State agencies questioned on policy around detaining minors and cooperation with ICE
Jen Winkelman, commissioner of DOC, said the department has an agreement with federal authorities to detain people arrested under federal charges, including with ICE for civil immigration charges.
“Does DOC detain minors?” Gray asked. Winkelman said no.
Winkelman did not say in the committee meeting whether DOC would hold children detained by ICE.
“We have the contract for the federal government to hold individuals that may come in in a non-criminal capacity,” Winkelman said. “When the ICE agents detain somebody, they will bring them to us, the individual and a piece of paper that essentially authorizes us to hold them.”
In the case of Arriaga, her husband, Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, told reporters that initially she and her two youngest children would be held in a hotel in Anchorage and guarded by federal agents, but then he learned they were flown to San Diego the same evening of their arrest, then driven to the Mexico border and deported.
ICE did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday about the expedited deportation of the Arriaga family and plans and protocols for detaining minors and families in Alaska.
Gray said the committee had invited representatives from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to testify about the arrest and issues raised, but they declined to appear. He said his office has submitted a list of questions to the agencies, including questions about due process, and have not yet heard back.
Zane Nighswonger, director of institutions for DOC, told lawmakers that ICE detainees are held in state prisons, but are held separately.
“They’re basically subject to the same security measures we have for our prisoners. We do keep them separate from the prisoner population, as they’re non-criminally charged,” he said Monday. “They recreate separately from other prisoners, have access to their telephone calls separately from other prisoners, and then showers and things like that.”
Nighswonger said individuals arrested by ICE are typically held in Alaska jails and then transferred to federal detention facilities within 72 hours.
The Alaska State Troopers do not participate in ICE enforcement, Leon Morgan, deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told lawmakers on Monday. “We don’t coordinate with ICE for immigration enforcement,” he said.
Morgan said for criminal cases Troopers will work with federal partners, but not cases related to immigration enforcement. He said Troopers have a policy to mitigate effects of law enforcement actions when children are involved. “In terms of how ICE does their job, or what they do, that is just beyond or outside the scope of how we operate,” he said.
Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage asked what state legislators can do to constrain ICE action in Alaska given federal authority outweighs state law.
Elora Mukherjee, a clinical professor of law at Columbia Law School and director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, testified that lawmakers can not only speak out, raise concerns and demand answers from federal authorities, but states are also taking action to block ICE enforcement actions and developing new detention centers.
“I think your committee is doing exactly the right thing by inviting officials from the federal government, from ICE, from DHS, to testify about what is happening in Alaska,” she said. “Right now, it seems that in Alaska, as in many states across the country, the federal government does not want local and state legislators to know what they are doing.”
Advocates call arrests and detainments a ‘grave concern’
Attorneys and immigration advocates testified that the avenues for legal immigration are being cut back by the Trump administration at every level — from travel bans, to canceling visa and refugee programs, to petitioning to end birthright citizenship — resulting in more and more people being arrested and deported.
Arriaga had reportedly applied for and was in the process of obtaining asylum for her family. A spokesperson for ICE said she had failed to appear for a court hearing in January, prompting deportation, according to news reports.
Mukherjee testified that ICE is increasingly arresting and detaining children and families.
“From January to October 2025, at least 3,800 children under the age of 18, including 20 infants, were detained by US immigration authorities,” she said, and many are held beyond the legal limit of 20 days.
She spoke about her experience representing children and families held at the privately-run South Texas Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas, and the traumatizing conditions of detention there.
“Among my other clients at Dilley have been a two year old boy who was breastfeeding in detention. A six year old boy had a leukemia diagnosis. An eight year old girl began wetting the bed. An 11 year old girl lost hearing in one year. A 14 year old girl engaged in self harm. All of these children and their parents were detained despite being eligible for release,” she said.
“ICE has the authority to release these families who are not flight risks on parole as they seek asylum and other forms of humanitarian protections in the United States,” she noted. “None of these children or their parents had a criminal history anywhere in the world.”
A Soldotna mother, Alison Flack, whose daughter attended kindergarten with Arriaga’s five-year-old, testified he was flourishing in school and learning English, and that the community is shaken by his arrest.
“We’re all now faced with the decision of what to tell our children,” she said. “Should I tell her that he moved and just hope and pray that she doesn’t find out the truth? Our state is better than this.
“I don’t want to tell my daughter that the grown-ups have done something so terrible, the ones she’s supposed to be able to trust,” she said.
Clergy members in Anchorage and Soldotna testified that the incident and actions from federal immigration authorities raise grave moral concerns.
“We believe there’s been a serious breach of what we as clergy leaders would consider basic sacred family values,” said Rev. Michael Burke, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church of Anchorage and speaking on behalf of a multi-faith group.
“We tore a family from their community rootedness in this recent event, and this harm that was done, potential harm to children that will have a lifetime memory of trauma was not caused by any bad actors other than those of the federal government themselves,” he said. “This raises grave concerns as a matter of policy, the rule of law and our fundamental ethical commitments to one another as members of the community.”
NOTN- Juneau officials are weighing whether to move forward with a federal buyout program for homes on flood‑prone View Drive, after most residents said they can’t afford the required local cost share.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service has identified View Drive as a candidate for its Emergency Watershed Protection buyout program. A preliminary estimate puts the total project cost at about $25 million.
Under the program, the federal government would cover 75% of eligible costs. The remaining 25% must come from non‑federal sources, such as the city, homeowners or other partners. Juneau asked NRCS to waive that local share, but the request was denied.
“After the assembly had some additional discussion at the Finance Committee meeting, they directed staff to to do an informal poll, so it was non-binding, just to get a sense from the residents who live on that road, if they would be willing and interested to participate in this program, if they had to pay the 25% non federal cost share, or if they would not be interested in participating in the program.” Said Director of Engineering Denise Koch.
The city conducted that informal poll of 18 properties on View Drive. 14 responded.
Koch said most homeowners indicated they would not participate if they had to pay the full 25% themselves. Only two said they were interested.
“Most of the respondents said that they would not be interested in participating under those circumstances. There was one property owner that I had listed as unclear, they selected yes and no, and they indicated that they would need more information in order to make an informed decision.” Koch said, “Of the two yeses, one is a property that has been subject to severe and repetitive flooding, the other is a property that is on the high side and has not flooded.”
Because the two interested homes are far apart, Koch said it’s likely NRCS would only approve a buyout for the repeatedly flooded property. That would create an unusual, one‑house project in a program that typically buys out a group of homes.
“A major theme was real disappointment that CBJ would require individual property owners to pay a 25% cost share.” Said Koch, summarizing several responses from the informal ballot and in person conversations, “Some people said that they didn’t have the ability to pay for that 25% cost share. Or if they had that amount of money, they might use it in other ways to protect their homes versus participating in a buyout program.”
On top of the 25% share, the city would also face tens of thousands of dollars per property in non‑reimbursable project management costs, including permitting and technical work. Kocher said the city is already stretched thin and facing a tight federal timeline; participating homeowners would need to be out of their homes before the 2026 glacial outburst flood season.
“What we’re looking for from a staff perspective is to understand from the Assembly, if there’s additional information that that you need in order to help make a decision as to whether CBJ should participate in this program or not. We do have this, essentially, time is of the essence problem again, if we’re going to proceed with this project, we have to get people out of their homes before August of 2026, and that’s really not that that far away.” Koch said.
Assembly members said View Drive residents have found the program details “incredibly confusing,” with multiple meetings, memos, and evolving information about eligibility and costs.
“One of the frustrating things I think about this project is there probably is a solution out there, you could bring partners together, you know, city homeowners, our community, the state nonprofits, there are lots of folks who may want to see this come to fruition, but we don’t have time.” Said Assembly member Christine Woll.
Kocher acknowledged that city staff are “learning as we go” while simultaneously working on other flood mitigation and long‑term enduring solution efforts, including the now‑uncertain lake tap alternative that, if built, was expected to protect all homes along View Drive.
For now, the Assembly has directed staff to hold another neighborhood meeting with View Drive residents, along with a small number of Assembly members. The goal is to explain the program more clearly, answer questions and find out whether there’s enough interest to justify moving ahead with the buyout option at all.
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives convene on the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature on Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a nearly $500 million supplemental budget bill to address the state’s budget deficit — one of the largest budget shortfalls to date — amid debate and scrutiny from Republicans who opposed drawing from a state savings account to pay for it, leaving the bill unfunded for now.
Lawmakers passed House Bill 289, known as the supplemental budget, by a 24 to 16 vote on Monday, which is largely a routine process to address budget shortfalls and fund state government services and programs through the fiscal year that ends on June 30.
Top line items include an additional $40 million for disaster relief, following the devastation of the remnants of Typhoon Halong on Western Alaska; $55 million for last year’s million-acre wildfire season in the Interior of Alaska; $70 million in transportation funding to unlock $630 million in federal matching funds; $130 million for the Higher Education Investment Fund; $20 million for the Alaska Department of Corrections; and millions for public assistance including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, housing vouchers and senior benefits.
But members of the Republican-led House Minority caucus raised concerns and frustration at the “fast tracked” budget bill, as well as expansion of spending and high costs for this year. While some members said a few items may be mandatory like funding disaster relief efforts and transportation, other spending items need further vetting and review.
Voicing opposition, Republican members voted against immediately funding the roughly $490 million budget bill through the state’s principal savings account, the Constitutional Budget Reserve – which failed by a 24 to 16 vote on Monday.
Unlocking the savings requires three quarters of the 40-person House, or 30 votes. Amid higher than expected state costs, and declining oil prices and state revenues, the Legislature must draw from the savings account to fund the state government.
The budget bill is expected to advance to the Senate for further debate and possible amendments. But on Monday, Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, a member of the minority caucus, requested a re-vote, expected on Wednesday, which may change the final vote tally but is not expected to delay the bill.
Historically, members of the minority have withheld support for the CBR vote until after the Senate approves the bill to maintain negotiating leverage.
Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer who serves as the House Minority Leader, raised objections to what she called a rushed process in the House.
“A rush through the budget without adequate scrutiny, in my opinion, without transparency, that’s not efficiency, that’s just courting failure, that’s just a rush to failure,” Johnson said. “And history has shown that rushed budgets often lead to unintended consequences.”
Members of the multipartisan House Majority caucus called for lawmakers to support the budget bill, as requested by Dunleavy, and pay the state’s bills now.
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage speaks on the supplemental budget bill on the House floor on Feb. 24, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
“These obligations must be paid,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, who chairs the House Finance Committee, speaking on the House floor on Monday. “There’s nothing unusual. The size is unusual, but the fact that they were requested and filed is not unusual. They are obligations of the state. They are effectively binding contracts that must be paid. And the question is, when.”
Dunleavy first introduced the supplemental budget in December, and requested additional items up to last week, including $35 million more for disaster relief if the state fails a federal appeal and is denied a request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund 90% of costs for the first three months of the typhoon disaster in October.
Some items, like the $70 million federal transportation match, replace funds that Dunleavy vetoed last year — to the alarm of some lawmakers, union and construction industry groups because the money unlocks hundreds of millions of federal dollars. Lawmakers say it is time-sensitive to fund it in order to support the summer construction season.
“I would say these are actually precise invoices, not a blank check,” said Rep. Chuck Kopp, D-Anchorage. “They’re ones that were already on the books, and we’ve already taken the responsibility to pay.”
Some Republicans questioned departments spending over what the Legislature appropriated last year, particularly the Alaska Department of Corrections, calling for more thorough oversight and transparency.
“We have departments who have come with us, who actually spent like drunken sailors last year,” said Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River. “We need to make sure that they’re reined in.”
Other lawmakers pushed back against critics for holding up the budget bill process.
“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone,” said Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, on the House floor on Monday, in response to Republicans’ criticisms of Dunleavy’s budget request and administration spending. “And what I’ll say is that sometimes we just have to put our differences behind us. We have to collaborate, cooperate, and do what’s best for Alaska.”
Following the House votes on Monday, House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, pointed out that the governor has not been involved in supporting the budget his administration has requested. “It’s quite interesting if this is a governor’s bill and the governor’s not involved at all in terms of promoting his own bill,” he said.
Rep. Jeremy Bynem, R-Ketchikan, a member of the minority, raised concerns on the House floor but ultimately voted to support the budget bill and the savings draw. “It was a difficult, challenging vote for me,” he said of voting against his caucus.
“I absolutely did not love the process we went through to get to where we were today. There are items in that (bill) I still have questions on,” he said. “The reality is that many of these items are things that we will have to take up and pay for.”
A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the criticisms raised and lack of support from Republicans on the governor’s requested budget.
“The Alaska Constitution grants appropriation powers to the legislature, and that includes the CBR draw,” said Jeff Turner, communications director for Dunleavy. “The governor’s office is not part of any negotiations between the house caucuses.”
Meda DeWitt holds up a plant in this undated photo provided by the candidate. (Handout photo)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Meda DeWitt holds up a plant in this undated photo provided by the candidate. (Handout photo)
Six years ago, Meda DeWitt was seeking to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office. Now, she’s looking to take his position.
Last week, DeWitt became the 17th person and second independent to file a letter of intent for Alaska’s gubernatorial race.
Speaking by phone, she said a majority of the candidates in the race are Republican and all working off the same talking points.
“We need somebody who isn’t owned by a specific party and required to use those talking points shared among all of the party, and really listen to Alaskans and get the job done,” she said.
DeWitt is a lifelong Alaskan, born and raised in the state. She is Tlingit from the Naanya.aayí clan in Wrangell, she is senior state manager for the Wilderness Society in Alaska and president of Yak-Tat K̲wáan Inc., the village corporation for Yakutat.
A traditional healer, she has 20 years of experience as a community and political organizer.
“I have experience in working with the different components that a community needs to thrive,” she said. “And I believe that our state has some hard realities that we need to address. You know, we need to address climate change. We have 141 communities that are going to have to be relocated.”
DeWitt said the state’s budget will need “some tough love” but that the next governor should also be prepared to support the base needs of what the state is supposed to provide its residents.
Asked why she believes she’s the best person to organize that, she said, “Well, Alaska needs a mom. My elders that I work with have asked me to run. Communities have asked me to run. My children have asked me to run. They believe that I can make a difference, and so I personally may never have just chosen on my own to step up into that space, but when you have your elders in your life that matter, your children in your life that matter, and your community in your life that matter, that ask you to do it, then you have to take the time to honor that.”
The recall campaign against Dunleavy launched in 2019, after the governor proposed sweeping budget cuts. It alleged a variety of illegal and incompetent acts.
“He cut safety, he cut education, he cut elder benefits, he cut all of these things that underpin being able to live here and survive,” she said, recalling the campaign. “Alaska is hard to live in.”
“The recall, even though we didn’t recall him, we did hold him in check. He knew that that was always looming there in the background for his entire eight years,” she said.
The next governor will have to deal with tough issues, DeWitt said.
“We have to talk about ferries in Southeast,” she said. “We have to talk about coastal erosion on the West Coast, we have to talk about our oil and gas dependency and how that’s not healthy for us. Also, who’s talking about the fact that we ship in 95% of our food and goods?”
DeWitt sees her campaign as one focused on issues that people are talking about.
“I think that this is a people’s campaign that’s going to take people power to do it, and I look forward to working with Alaskans in the process,” she said. “And I humbly ask for their support and their vote and to be given the opportunity to serve.”
Juneau officials said they were “deeply frustrated” after learning that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has abruptly backed away from pursuing a preferred long-term fix for the catastrophic glacial outburst floods threatening the Mendenhall Valley.
At a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night, City and Borough of Juneau leaders detailed new modeling that shows a worst-case glacial lake outburst flood could send an estimated 118,000 cubic feet per second of water down the Mendenhall River, far beyond anything the city has experienced.
“So in August of 2023 when we had our first majorly destructive GLOF, that impacted about 30 homes. Then the next year, in the August of 2024 we wound up with a very different type of event. It wasn’t as much of a riverbank erosion event, it was more of an inundation event. It impacted about 300 homes. So just get a sense of that.” Said Director of engineering Denise Koch, “Then in August of 2025 we had an even more severe GLOF. The HESCO barriers were largely successful in protecting the areas that they were designed to protect. We think without HESCO barriers in 2025, we would have had anywhere from 750 to 1000 homes that would have been impacted. So just to give you a sense of how much more severe each one of these GLOFs is getting.”
Maps presented at the meeting showed that a maximum event could push water beyond the Central valley, crossing Riverside Drive and Mendenhall Loop Road, affecting neighborhoods on both sides of the river.
“We’re talking about a GLOF of this magnitude, if you did not have sufficient mitigation, going beyond what people experienced in 2024 which was terrible in and of itself.” Said Koch, “We’re talking about water also having impacts on the western side of the river, having impacts all the way down, impacting the Mendenhall wastewater treatment plant, having impacts to the airport, a GLOF of this magnitude really gets beyond the Central Valley.”
Scientists from the University of Alaska Southeast, the National Weather Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and Tribal representatives from Tlingit and Haida identified a “lake tap” of Suicide Basin as the preferred enduring solution.
“The lake tap was the most attractive option. It has a very high likelihood of reducing the GLOF risk. It is designed to drain out Suicide Basin at approximately the Basin’s inflow rate.” Said Koch, “There are a lot of assumptions that went into this. A lake tap is essentially a tunnel, there’s a lot of tunnel building capacity in Alaska, It is definitely a technology that is out there and exists.”
The Lake Tap option, the least costly of the long term mitigation efforts discussed, would include construction of a roughly 2.3‑mile tunnel from Suicide Basin to an outfall between Nugget Falls and the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, according to officials.
City Manager Katie Koester said that until recently, CBJ had been told the lake tap was the selected alternative, and that the Army Corps would move quickly toward a technical report on a timeline strongly backed by Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Koester said the city had been in “multiple times a week” coordination with the Corps, but that a couple weeks ago those check ins ceased.
“We were under the impression that it was all going smoothly.” Koester said, “We began inquiring, why haven’t we had a check in a while? Then on Thursday of last week, we had a meeting with Army Corps headquarters where they rescinded all of the direction that they had previously given to pursue a lake tap as the selected alternative. They directed staff to wrap up all efforts on the lake tap as the selected alternative, which included environmental work and feasibility and preliminary engineering.”
Koester described the change as “a really disheartening pivot that left us a little bit speechless,” adding, “I imagine also leaves you speechless.”
“I’m deeply frustrated with this change of course from Army Corps of Engineers. They certainly have been a great partner, really we need them.” Koester said, “We need them to fight the flood fight, to keep this community safe and whole until we can get to an enduring solution.”
According to Koester, Alaska’s delegation, Sen. Murkowski and Sullivan are both committed to an enduring solution, with Sen. Sullivan meeting with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works on Wednesday.
Koester urged residents to advocate specifically for the lake tap, and to speak as a unified community.
“I think that it certainly doesn’t help our position to have a divided community on what the best option is, because we are asking for so much so quickly.” Koester said, “I’m confident that we are all advocating for a solution. We need to be aligned, and it doesn’t help when we’re unaligned. But we’re not that unaligned. We all, everyone in this room, everyone who has written their delegation and talked to their delegation, wants an enduring solution and wants it quickly, and I have never heard anyone advocate for anything other than that.”
Officials did emphasize however, that HESCO barrier flood protection work is proceeding.
Koester confirmed the Corps has a signed agreement and continues to cover 100% of Phase Two HESCO costs.
NOTN- The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly is set to tackle several hot button issues at tonight’s Committee of the Whole meeting, including flood mitigation efforts, redevelopment plans and new budget survey results.
According to a release from CBJ, the major focus of the meeting will be long-term solutions for glacial lake outburst flooding in the Mendenhall Valley.
City officials will present updates on a proposed Lake Tap which has been identified as the preferred engineering option following a recent planning session hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Engineers estimate that without further mitigation, a future maximum flood event could impact more than 2,800 properties in the valley.
The Assembly will also receive updates on the second phase of the HESCO barrier flood project, and review results of an informal poll of View Drive residents about a voluntary federal buyout program.
City Manager Katie Koester said the buyout option would require a 25% non-federal match, estimated at roughly $6 million if all 18 eligible properties on View Drive participate.
Officials are seeking to determine whether homeowners are interested and whether they could help assemble the local share through private or nonprofit contributions.
City leaders emphasized participation would be voluntary, and the city would not move forward without sufficient interest.
Beyond flood response, the Assembly will hear results from a recent citywide budget priorities survey.
The meeting will also include discussion of next steps for a developer solicitation for Telephone Hill and updates on the ongoing Seawalk project.
City leaders are anticipating a late night tonight.
