Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, speaks on House Bill 57 in the Alaska Senate on Monday, April 28, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Sean Maguire, Alaska Beacon
Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, speaks on House Bill 57 in the Alaska Senate on Monday, April 28, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Senate last week advanced a bill that would allow for the anonymous surrendering of infants in so-called infant safety devices.
The boxes are located on the exteriors of buildings. They are climate controlled and monitored by video. When the device is opened, a 911 request is automatically made.
Alaskans have been able to surrender infants since 2008. Newborns must be given directly to police officers, firefighters, doctors or other medical personnel. They are then turned over to the Alaska Office of Children Services for adoption.
In Alaska, an infant must be aged 21 days or younger to be surrendered legally.
North Pole Republican Sen. Robb Myers is the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 9. It would allow newborns to be surrendered in climate-controlled boxes, located outside police stations, fire departments, hospitals and other locations.
Myers said that around one baby a year has been surrendered in Alaska since 2008. Despite that, three infants have been found abandoned in Alaska since 2013: Two were found dead; one newborn was discovered alive in Fairbanks in a box in winter.
Myers said safe surrender devices would help save lives. Parents can feel shame or the fear of potential recognition when giving a child to another person, he said. The climate-controlled boxes are intended to remove that barrier.
The Alaska Senate advanced the bill on an 18-2 vote. Sens. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican, and Löki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat, voted no.
Tobin said the anonymity of surrendering a child into a baby box could lead to abuse of women. She said the boxes introduce the potential that traffickers could surrender babies without a mother’s consent.
“The potential misuses for these devices far outweigh the benefits,” Tobin said.
All 50 states allow for the surrendering of infants. Almost half of states allow for newborns to be surrendered in baby boxes, which has accelerated since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, particularly in Republican-led states.
If the bill passes, the Alaska Department of Public Safety would be tasked with drafting regulations for the placement of infant safety devices. Each infant safety device is estimated to cost $16,000. That excludes surveillance and security costs, which state officials say could be “significant.”
SB 9 now advances to the House for its consideration. Similar legislation has been advancing through that legislative chamber.
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, asks a question about Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the House Finance Committee. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Sean Maguire, Alaska Beacon
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, asks a question about Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the House Finance Committee. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House Finance Committee on Wednesday advanced a draft operating budget with a roughly $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend.
For a decade, the annual PFD check has been part of the Legislature’s annual budget-making process. A $3,800 PFD would follow a formula from a 1982 statute.
Lawmakers on a budget panel adopted the full, statutory dividend in the evening after long debate. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson, co-chair of the House Finance Committee, cautioned legislators that the vote means Alaskans “will absolutely have the impression” that “a very liberal dividend” will be paid this year.
Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a full PFD as part of his budget proposal in December. A $3,800 dividend check is estimated to cost roughly $2.47 billion, the largest single spending item in the budget.
Ketchikan independent Rep. Jeremy Bynum proposed that the PFD would come from two sources. Almost $1 billion would be drawn from the general fund of the state treasury. A simple majority of lawmakers is required to spend from that account.
However, close to $1.5 billion would come from the state’s main savings account, the $3 billion Constitutional Budget Reserve. Three-quarters of the House and Senate would need to support spending from that account.
If the three-quarter vote fails, the dividend paid to Alaskans in 2026 would drop to around $1,500. Some lawmakers cautioned that would still leave the state roughly $100 million in deficit.
The roughly $3,800 PFD was approved 6-5 by the House Finance Committee. All five minority House Republicans supported a check of that size, alongside Nome Democratic Rep. Neal Foster, co-chair of the House Finance Committee.
The remaining five members of the Democrat-dominated House majority voted no.
Supporters of a full PFD said that high oil prices justified a larger dividend this year. In 2022, Alaskans received a $3,284 dividend and energy relief check when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices skyrocketing.
Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks, said that the “people of Alaska are hurting right now” and are facing difficult circumstances from high energy bills.
The U.S.-Israel war in Iran has seen oil prices spike to well over $100 per barrel. The Alaska Department of Revenue projected last month that would see the state collect $1 billion more revenue than expected over the current fiscal year and the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Lawmakers have already earmarked a substantial portion of that additional revenue to pay Alaska’s outstanding bills.
The operating budget now advances to debate by the full Alaska House. Once approved in that chamber, it advances to the Alaska Senate for its consideration before heading to the governor’s desk.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, speaks during a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: Sean Maguire, Alaska Beacon
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, speaks during a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Senate on Wednesday advanced a constitutional amendment that would establish a dedicated fund for public education.
If passed, lawmakers could design a new source of state revenue to go toward the fund that would be used specifically for schools. The resolution states that the Legislature could only appropriate money from the fund for public education.
The Alaska Constitution explicitly prohibits the dedication of funds in most cases. Supporters say that prohibition was intended to give the Legislature flexibility in budgeting, and avoid mandated funds.
Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman said before Wednesday’s vote that education is his No. 1 priority. A dedicated education fund could be a “tremendous tool” to improve schools in Alaska, he said. Hoffman co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee which sponsored the constitutional amendment.
The Legislature last year approved an historic increase in school funding through the state’s complex formula, overriding two separate vetoes by Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Still, advocates say that substantially more school funding is needed with school districts facing sizable budget shortfalls and decades of deferred maintenance.
Two Alaska school districts in January sued the state, arguing that Alaska’s education funding levels violate a constitutional duty to fund schools adequately. School districts across Alaska have long complained about crumbling buildings that have reached crisis level.
Republican Sen. Bert Stedman represents Sitka, home of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a state-run boarding school which has reported leaking roofs and buildings in disrepair. Stedman said Alaska is one of the nation’s richest states, but the condition of its schools is “kind of embarrassing.”
Surrounded by school children in the Senate’s public galleries, Stedman said that “we should be doing better for our kids.”
“Every generation needs to make a little step forward and this is our little step,” he said in support of the resolution before the final vote.
The Alaska Senate approved the resolution on a 17-3 vote. At least 14 of 20 senators are needed to support a constitutional amendment. Two-thirds of the Alaska House of Representatives would need to vote for the same resolution to put the proposal before voters at the November election.
All 14 members of the bipartisan Senate majority supported the constitutional amendment, alongside three minority Senate Republicans — Sens. Robert Yundt of Wasilla, Mike Cronk of Tok and James Kaufman of Anchorage.
Three minority Senate Republicans voted no: Sens. Robb Myers of North Pole, Cathy Tilton of Wasilla and George Rauscher of Sutton.
Myers said the drafters of the Alaska Constitution sought to block the proliferation of dedicated funds, which would consume the annual budget.
He said that establishing a dedicated fund for education “removed any sort of flexibility for the Legislature.” He said that avoiding annual debates about school funding was “not necessarily a good thing.” Education spending could effectively be “out of sight, out of mind,” he said.
Myers said the state has numerous other priorities such as health care and natural resource management, but they would not receive the same dedicated funds.
The resolution now advances to the House. If approved by 27 of 40 House members, it would then be placed before voters at the Nov. 3 election. A simple majority of voters is needed to approve an amendment to the Alaska Constitution.
A governor cannot block a constitutional amendment from appearing on the ballot with their veto pen. The Alaska Constitution was last amended in 2004.
NOTN- The City and Borough of Juneau is scrapping its participation in the long-planned gondola project at Eaglecrest ski area after costs ballooned from single-digit millions to an estimated $37 million, leaving the city on the hook to repay Goldbelt during an already tight budget season.
Finance Committee Chair Christine Woll said the Juneau Assembly voted Wednesday night to move forward with pulling out of its agreement with Goldbelt, which had helped finance the project. The city expects to repay about $12 million that Goldbelt invested, roughly $9 million of which has already been spent.
“We knew that increases at Eaglecrest were going to be significant over time, just because of aging infrastructure, and we knew that the public tax dollars probably couldn’t sustain paying for those increases at Eaglecrest.” Woll said, “So the vision was that by installing a gondola that could help take advantage of summer revenue from our visitor industry, we could provide a more reliable, non-taxpayer dollar-funded income stream at Eaglecrest, but for a price tag that big, it no longer becomes something that the city has funds to invest in.”
The gondola was originally projected to cost about $7 million, later revised to around $9 million when the city and Goldbelt signed their deal, Woll said. The latest estimate, about $37 million to install, pushed the project far beyond affordability for the City.
“It’s just terrible, what a waste of money, but we’re gonna have to figure out how to pay it back.” Woll said.
The decision to cancel the project now leaves Eaglecrest in a precarious financial position. Its future budgets had assumed new income from gondola operations during the summer months.
Woll said the Assembly has directed Eaglecrest to return with a much-reduced operating budget that fits within the traditional taxpayer subsidy the ski area receives.
The gondola reversal comes as Juneau is just beginning to create it’s annual budget for FY 27.
“Ultimately, the assembly is going to have to make some hard decisions about service reductions. We’re aiming to make about $2 million more in cuts before June, when we have to pass the budget.” Said Woll.
Fishing vessels are seen in Homer’s harbor on Oct. 22, 2025. A resolution passed by state lawmakers urges federal officials to extend the ban on Russian seafood imports. Russian fish competes for market share with Alaska’s fish. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
A legislative resolution urging a continued and better-enforced ban on Russian seafood in the United States is headed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Part of a series of actions by Alaska lawmakers to try to shore up the state’s ailing seafood industry, House Joint Resolution 29 won final passage last week and was transferred to the governor on Monday.
The resolution calls for continuation of the ban on Russian seafood imports imposed in 2022, after that country’s invasion of Ukraine. The ban was expanded in 2023 to cover imports of Russian seafood to the U.S. through a third-party country, usually China, where fish are processed.
The import ban is set to expire later this year. That makes the resolution timely, supporters aid.
Among the supporters is Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Woodrow, in testimony to the Senate Resources Committee on Feb. 27, said a stockpile of Russian fish that was in the U.S. before the ban went into full effect is just now being depleted.
“We need more time to really capture the U.S. marketplace. Our industry has not recovered yet,” Woodrow said. Even though last year’s fishing season was better, it was still one of the worst years in the last 20 years, he said.
“This is one measure that will help our fishermen. We’re starting to see the fruits of this ban coming into play, but we need more time to provide stability to our industry. We need more time to see it come to fruition,” he told the committee.
In addition to seeking an extension of the import ban, the resolution calls for stronger monitoring and enforcement to “ensure fair trade, protect the state’s seafood industry, and promote sustainable and ethical seafood production.”
Legislative resolutions do not have the power of law, but they can influence actions by Congress, the federal executive branch or other institutions.
The Russian seafood import ban resolution was not among the measures introduced by the Joint Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska’s Seafood Industry, formed in 2024. However, it addresses an aspect of international trade, one of the issues raised by the task force. The task force’s report recommended an update to a Russia-focused resolution passed by the legislature in 2022, Senate Joint Resolution 16.
Russian king crab is displayed at a Costco in Anchorage on Nov. 14, 2022. The crab, from the Barent Sea, was distributed by Arctic Seafoods of San Francisco, and was part of inventory stockpiled before the U.S. government banned fish imports from Russia. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The eight-member task force, comprising Senate and House members from fishery-dependent districts, issued its recommendation report in January 2025, at the start of last year’s session. Recommendations for action resulted in the introduction of a series of bills intended to help the industry, which has struggled with low fish prices, glutted international markets, high costs and other challenges.
Other bills focus on tax credits and revenues
One of the task force’s bills, aimed at encouraging seafood product development and diversification, is headed for a vote in the Senate this week.
That measure, Senate Bill 130, concerns the state’s fisheries product development tax credit system. Currently, seafood companies are allowed to deduct the cost of new equipment used to develop value-added products from salmon, herring, pollock, sablefish and Pacific cod. The bill would expand that to all fish species, including shellfish. That is in line with the recommendation in the task force report, which identifies arrowtooth flounder, fish meal and crab shells as examples of some underused or discarded products that could be processed into something marketable.
The bill, in the amended form before the Senate, also seeks to expand the range of technology for which investment would qualify for credits, and it would extend the sunset date for the credit to 2037. Currently, the tax credit is due to expire next year.
The revenue impact of the bill, if it wins final passage, is difficult to determine because there are several unknown variables, said the fiscal note prepared by the state Alaska Department of Revenue. Estimated annual revenues losses to the state would range from $1 million to nearly $4 million, according to the fiscal note.
Another task force bill, aimed at helping fishery-dependent local governments, had not moved out of the Senate Finance Committee as of Tuesday. That measure, Senate Bill 135, would allow municipalities to increase their share of fisheries business tax and fishery resource landing tax revenues. Currently, the state and local governments split those tax revenues equally. The bill would allow local governments to get up to 75% of the tax revenues.
The legislature passed two seafood task force bills last year, each of which had wide support. However, Dunleavy vetoed one of the bills.
The bill that escaped the governor’s veto, House Bill 116, allows for the formation and operation of member-owned commercial fishing insurance cooperatives. Such cooperativesexist in other states and were used by some Alaska fishers. The bill passed unanimously.
The vetoed bill, Senate Bill 156, would have transferred $3.69 million from a defunct state loan fund to the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank. The state-owned bank needed the boost to keep serving the seafood industry, bill supporters argued. But Dunleavy argued that the cost of the action was too great for the state budget to bear.
Members of the House and Senate voted to sustain Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of SB 113, a corporate income tax bill tied to education funding by a vote of 45 to 16. 46 votes were needed to override the veto on Jan. 22, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Senate on Tuesday advanced a constitutional amendment that would lower the threshold for veto overrides of spending decisions.
The Alaska Constitution currently has two thresholds to override a governor’s vetoes: it takes two-thirds of legislators to override a veto of a policy bill and three-quarters of lawmakers to override a budget veto or a veto of legislation that spends money.
Anchorage Democratic Sen. Matt Claman’s proposed the constitutional amendment that would reduce vetoes of spending decisions to the same two-thirds threshold.
Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, speaks at a March 19, 2024, news conference held by the Senate majority caucus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Claman’s resolution passed the Senate along caucus lines on a 14-6 vote. All 14 members of the bipartisan Senate majority voted for the resolution while each member of the all-Republican Senate minority voted no.
At least 14 of Alaska’s 20 Senators are needed to reach the two-thirds threshold to advance a constitutional amendment. Twenty-seven of the 40 House members would need to approve Claman’s resolution for the proposed amendment to appear on November’s ballot.
The last time the Alaska Constitution was amended was in 2004.
Claman, a Democratic candidate for governor, said the drafters of the Alaska Constitution intended to create a strong executive branch. But the high hurdle to override a veto on spending decisions had “undermined the balance of power between the Legislature and the executive,” he said.
Alaska is the only state with a three-quarter veto override threshold for spending decisions.
In a statement following the vote on Tuesday, minority Senate Republicans said the governor’s veto power was one of few tools to curb the Legislature’s wide-reaching power. Members of the caucus stated that Gov. Mike Dunleavy had used that authority to veto tax bills, among other measures.
“The framers of our Constitution saw the wisdom in giving the governor considerable power to reduce state spending,” said Tok Republican Sen. Mike Cronk, the Senate minority leader. “The fiscal override threshold is high for a reason.”
While the Legislature has voted to override a governor on 40 occasions for policy bills since statehood, veto overrides for spending decisions have only occurred five times, Claman said.
The most recent override of a spending veto occurred last August in a special session Lawmakers voted to reject Dunleavy’s veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. The vote was 45-14, the minimum number of lawmakers needed to override a budget veto.
If approved by the House, the constitutional amendment would appear on the ballot at the Nov. 3 election. If approved by a majority of voters, the constitutional threshold for budget vetoes would then be lowered starting in 2027, also the beginning of a new governor’s term.
Unlike legislation, an Alaska governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment.
Joint Education Committee Hearing, March 30 2026, courtesy of Gavel Alaska
Alaska education leaders told lawmakers Monday, that the state’s public schools are in a “crisis” due to rising vacancies, high teacher and principle turnover and growing student needs, all while enrollment declines.
Testifying before the joint education committee, meaning both the House and the Senate, superintendents, principals, special education directors and recruitment experts described the education system as strained by flat funding.
They stressed housing and visa barriers for teachers, and a growing share of students needing intensive support.
Jennifer Schmitz, director of the Alaska Educator Retention and Recruitment Center, said Alaska’s annual turnover has reached about 30% for teachers and 35% for principals.
“We are in a crisis time right now with teacher turnover and principal turnover,” Schmitz said.
Districts are also depending on hundreds of international teachers and emergency teaching certificates to staff classrooms.
In many districts, she said, international teachers have become deeply rooted in communities and students rely on them for stability.
But new federal visa costs and restrictions, including a potential $100,000 price tag for some H‑1B visas, threaten those positions, especially for rural schools.
“We are in an educational crisis, and we are doing harm to the children of Alaska. An urgent response is needed to address the dire vacancy rates and the need for in person educators and support personnel across Alaskan schools.” Said David Nogg, principle of Goldenview Middle school.
In a separate Senate Labor and Commerce Committee hearing, lawmakers heard similar testimony when discussing Senate Joint Resolution 28, warning that steep federal fee hikes and new placement limits on visa programs are not only worsening worker shortages in schools but tourism and other key industries across the state as well.
“Visa workers are vital to filling Alaska’s diverse workforce. Foreign worker visa programs are extremely useful for highly seasonal industries such as tourism. Alaska has the largest seasonal employment swing in the country, this is not a marginal fluctuation, it is a structural feature of our economy.” Said Mike Mason, legislative assistant to Senator Löki Tobin.
Education leaders also pointed the Base Student Allocation (BSA), saying, even after last year’s increase, inflation has eroded its value.
“All boats rise and fall on the same tide, and for Alaska school districts, that tide is the BSA,” Randy Trani, Superintendent of the Mat-Su district said, calling for “timely, reliable, predictable” funding so districts can plan and focus on academics instead of annual cuts.
School finance officials also stressed that most dollars already go directly to students and there are funding needs beyond the classroom that districts are struggling to meet.
Anchorage budget director and Alaska Association of School Business Officials president Katie Parrott said about 75% of districts’ operating spending in FY2025 went to instruction, while only 2% went to district-level administration and 5% to administrative support like payroll and HR.
“There are a lot of competing priorities eating into these slices of the pie.” She said, “It’s truly imperative that the state does increase and inflation proof funding for pupil transportation as one of the key strategies to address chronic absenteeism, make sure kids are getting to school that they have equitable access.”
Throughout the hearing, educators said they remain committed to students and to Alaska, but warned that constant uncertainty is pushing many out of the profession or out of the state, saying, “when you starve a system, you see the impacts of that.”
A network of pipelines, seen on Aug. 23, 2018, snakes through a portion of the Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit on Alaska’s North Slope. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Five Alaska mayors voiced concerns about how a proposed tax break for the Alaska LNG gas line project would impact their communities.
Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed eliminating property taxes and other local taxes for the $46 billion megaproject. Instead, his bill would impose a volume-based tax when substantial quantities of gas are delivered from the North Slope.
The Alaska Department of Revenue estimated Dunleavy’s bill would equate to a roughly 90% reduction in property tax revenue, once the pipeline is at full capacity. The state agency has said the pipeline will not move forward without cutting property taxes for Glenfarne, the New York-based developer of the proposed pipeline and export facilities.
Five Alaska mayors on Friday testified to the Senate Resources Committee in support of the 800-mile pipeline, which is set to run from the North Slope to Cook Inlet. But the municipal leaders also expressed concerns about the potential loss of revenue from the governor’s tax break and the impacts on municipal services.
‘Bottom offer’
Peter Micciche is mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, one of Alaska’s largest with roughly 62,000 residents. He said a liquefaction facility, equating to 43.5% of the total project, is set to be located in the coastal region.
Micciche said the project would have tens of millions of dollars of impact annually for the Kenai Peninsula, with costs set to be borne by local communities under Dunleavy’s bill. He said the proposed elimination of all local taxes for Alaska LNG is “cutting deep into the fabric of how our communities work. And that worries me.”
He cited concerns about Dunleavy’s proposed tax rate rising by 1% annually. He said the borough’s budget increases on average by 2.5% each year, meaning that would leave the Kenai Peninsula “underwater.”
“Costs have shifted from the state to the municipalities. But we simply cannot afford additional costs,” he said to lawmakers Friday.
Micciche, a former long-time oil and gas executive, emphasized that he is excited by the project, but he considers the governor’s tax break to be “a bottom offer.”
Adam Prestidge, president of Glenfarne Alaska LNG, on Monday told the Senate Resources Committee that the company recognizes there will be impacts to municipalities from the project. He said discussions are ongoing with municipal leaders about how the company will cover some costs to ensure communities feel comfortable they “will be taken care of.”
Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, listens to questions from senators during a break in Alaska Senate proceedings on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. (James Brooks / Alaska Beacon)
Micciche, a former Republican Alaska Senate president, framed the scale of the challenge of negotiating acceptable legislation for communities and Glenfarne with less than half of the legislative session left until adjournment. “This bill needs a lot of work,” he said.
“We’re ready to sit down and pen a deal that works for everyone — the developers, our community, Alaskans — and I hope to God that comes along with affordable gas,” Micciche said.
‘Once-in-a-lifetime project’
Supporters remain bullish on the gas line’s potential to be an economic boon for Alaska. Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich has been hired by the Dunleavy administration to boost the pipeline. He told the Senate Resource Committee on Monday that it was “a once-in-a-lifetime project.”
Glenfarne owns 75% of the project while the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., a state agency, owns the remaining 25%.
Begich and Prestidge declined to answer some questions in detail about the proposed tax break and whether it was at an appropriate rate, citing the need for confidentiality in commercial agreements. Begich implored lawmakers to hold a session behind closed doors to discuss revenue questions with Glenfarne.
Under Dunleavy’s bill, the long-sought gas pipeline is expected to raise over $22.5 billion in new revenue for the state of Alaska. But over the next 36 years, it would also cost roughly $13 billion for local communities compared to current law, according to state projections.
Instead of property taxes, the governor’s bill would impose a volume-based tax of 6 cents on every thousand cubic feet of gas, which would increase by 1% annually. The tax would only be imposed once the pipeline delivers an average of 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day or 10 years after gas starts being produced.
Edna DeVries is mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, home to around 117,000 people. She said the Mat-Su Assembly believes those thresholds are “far too high” and that they should be lowered so the borough could collect revenue sooner.
DeVries cited a concern common to all five mayors along the proposed corridor for Alaska LNG: the impacts of constructing the pipeline on municipal budgets.
Mayor Chris Noel of Denali Borough, home to 1,600 residents, said that construction would see added costs for waste management, fire and rescue and housing, which would likely be borne by the local community. Denali Borough does not currently collect property tax. But it would get “limited benefits” from the pipeline with no local offtake planned for the borough, Noel said.
“The bottom-line is we cannot subsidize increased costs. We need certainty via an impact payment program during construction that actual costs will be covered by the project,” he said.
Another potential concern: education funding. Alaska’s complicated education funding formula means that as a local community’s total assessed property tax value increases, state contribution for schools is reduced.
Concerned at the ‘precedent’
Mayor Josiah Patkotak of the North Slope Borough said he was concerned at the “precedent” set by eliminating property taxes for oil and gas projects before a final investment decision is reached. Patkotak, also a former member of the Alaska House of Representatives, cited a recent record North Slope lease sale and said oil developers could seek similar tax relief.
Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, talks with Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-Utqiagvik, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, as the Alaska House of Representatives convenes at the state Capitol in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The North Slope Borough, based out of Utqiaġvik with 10,500 residents, has a long history of fiercely defending its authority to levy property taxes on oil and gas companies, he added.
Patkotak estimated Dunleavy’s proposed tax break means the borough would collect $12 billion less in revenue compared to current law. He said property tax revenue has been critical for the borough, which funds schools, fire and rescue services, airports and waste management.
Prestidge declined to tell the Senate Resources Committee whether the proposed tax break would be make-or-break for the project. But he said if the bill failed to pass, “It makes it more difficult because it makes the gas more expensive.”
“It creates an incredible amount of uncertainty around the project,” he added.
Patkotak noted that the North Slope would not get any of the gas delivered through the pipeline with no offtake planned for the remote region.
That has long been a concern for Fairbanks, which has a population of 97,000 people. The borough has advocated for a $180 million spur to deliver gas to the Interior city.
“We need to make sure we’re getting Alaskans’ gas to Alaskans,” said Mayor Grier Hopkins of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Hopkins said there are currently “no concrete” plans to build a gas offtake for Fairbanks, but discussions are ongoing with Glenfarne.
Members of the Senate Resources Committee hear testimony by phone from borough mayors on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s tax break proposal for the Alaska LNG gas line project on Mar. 27, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Forrest Wolfe is seen in an undated campaign photo for his run for the Alaska House of Representatives for District 21, in East Anchorage, in 2022. (Campaign photo provided by Wolfe)
A legislative aide to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and a former candidate for the Alaska House of Representatives, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol on Thursday in Juneau.
Forrest Wolfe, 40, was pulled over by Juneau Police at about 10:30 p.m. on Mar. 26, according to court documents, after driving erratically through a busy area of downtown Juneau. Wolfe was the sole occupant of the vehicle, a red Chevrolet Tahoe, when he was pulled over on Franklin Street.
Wolfe exhibited a strong odor of alcohol and gave conflicting stories of his previous activities, then stopped answering questions, according to the police report. Wolfe failed a field sobriety test and then later a chemical test for alcohol, showing his breath alcohol level at 0.10, which is above the legal limit of 0.08. He was arrested and charged with a criminal misdemeanor.
Wolfe serves as deputy legislative director for Dunleavy, a role he began in January, according to his public LinkedIn profile.
A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office declined to comment on the arrest or any penalties by his employer on Monday, citing privacy as a personnel matter.
Wolfe ran for the Alaska House in 2022 as a Republican representing District 21 in East Anchorage, and narrowly lost to Rep. Donna Mears, D-Anchorage, by just 150 votes.
Prior to serving in the governor’s office, Wolfe served as a legislative liaison for the Alaska Department of Administration for about a year, in 2025. He worked as legislative staff for more than a decade, since 2012, for various Republican representatives.
Wolfe posted a $500 bail and was released from Lemon Creek Correctional Center on Friday morning, according to Alaska Public Media.
Wolfe has had previous run-ins with Juneau Police for minor infractions, and was arrested and convicted for drunk driving in 2011.
The No Kings movement returned for a third nationwide day of action today at Overstreet Park.
‘No Kings’ Juneau is just one of more than 3,000 events across the United States, including roughly 23 in Alaska alone, according to Anjuli Grantham From Juneau for Democracy, who has organized this protest alongside the Re-Sisters and Juneau Indivisible.
The demonstrations are aimed at denouncing what participants see as a slide toward authoritarianism and demanding the protection of democratic institutions.
“The first (No Kings Rally) was one of the largest protests in American history.” Grantham said, “The second was as well. The statement, ‘No Kings’ means that we refuse to live in tyranny, and we refuse to live in a society in which the rule of law is not being upheld, and so by saying ‘No Kings’, we’re reminding everyone that we are indeed a democracy. We are not a dictatorship. And that’s a fundamental value of what it is to be an American.”
This year, participants are demanding no war, no more funding for ICE, and protection of the Constitution and the rule of law.
“This really is a community that cares, and also, because we’re the capital, we’re also a community that understands the value of government and of of good governance. Because since we’re the capital, we also experience the effects of bad governance pretty rapidly.” Said Grantham, “So much of what’s happening right now can feel very isolating, and there’s so much about what it is to be alive today which is isolating in general, but then to be living under this growing authoritarian regime…isolation is one of the tactics of authoritarianism. So by coming together, we show one another that we are not alone.”
Grantham also emphasized that the rally is only one part of a broader strategy.
Beginning next week, Juneau groups will host a weeklong series of workshops under the banner “How We Resist,” aimed at training community members in nonviolent resistance and democratic engagement. The Workshops will include information on general strike preparedness, noncooperation tactics like boycotts and sit-ins, and an ACLU Alaska immigration bystander training watch party and Q&A.
For those skeptical that their presence at a rally or workshop makes any difference, organizers argue civic participation is essential.
“We need to practice the muscle of democracy. By showing up, we are practicing what it means to be democratic citizens. That matters greatly.” Grantham said, “We have these rights, and we will have these rights as long as we practice them, as long as we use them. That’s what the scholars and the experts tell us, we have to use all the tools that we have available to us as long as we have them, because those tools become whittled away by authoritarianism, so when we show up together to put into practice, number one, our First Amendment rights and our ability to petition the government when we are dissatisfied with it, we are living our democracy.”
Protests, she says, strengthen organizational skills and help sustain networks that can respond to future crises.
If there is one message Grantham hopes people take away from the Juneau rally, it’s – “I hope people feel that by taking part in an event like this and by doing these other actions as well, that we are living our values, and we are going to be able to tell our grandchildren in confidence that we had an important role to play in preserving American democracy. Action is the antidote to despair. It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed and depressed right now, but for me, when I show up and I do things, those feelings go away.”
