Representative Sara Hannan, Andi Story and Senator Jesse Kiehl (from left to right) at Thursday evening’s Town Hall.
NOTN- Juneau residents turned out Thursday evening for a legislative town hall at the Mendenhall Valley Library with Juneau’s delegation.
State Senator Jesse Kiehl and Representatives Sara Hannan and Andi Story met with constituents to share updates from the current legislative session and hear directly from the community.
“Mostly, the reason we’ll do this is to hear your questions or hear your comments. By golly, we need to hear from you. You’re who we work for.” Said Kiehl Thursday morning.
Attendees asked about a range of issues facing Juneau and the state including disaster response, Representative Andi Story assured constituents that the legislature is speaking with Alaskaa ‘s congressional delegation to come up with long-term mitigation plan for glacier lake outburst floods.
“Everyone’s living with a lot of stress, it’s emotionally draining when its your home.” Story said, “We know August is coming around, we’re trying to repair the HESCO barriers, we are trying to do what we can.”
Most prevalent was the budget, and more specifically, the Governor’s recently proposed fiscal plan, currently making its way through the legislature.
“What we have to do is have a balanced budget.” Story said, “We don’t have to pass any policy at all, but every year we have to come together to provide a balanced budget to meet our constitutional budget requirement.”
The Governor’s sweeping fiscal plan includes Alaska’s first statewide sales tax in more than four decades. The proposal would create a year-round sales tax, 4% in the summer and 2% in the winter, running through 2034.
“It would add on top of local sales tax, and it would override any local sales tax decisions.” Kiehl said, “So Juneau voters just voted to take sales tax off of food. This will put sales tax back on all food, that’s an issue.”
If adopted the tax could potentially raise over 800 million dollars a year by the early 2030s.
The plan also includes a constitutional amendment to set a “50-50” Permanent Fund Dividend, which would amount to roughly $3200 per recipient.
“What the governor used to propose, was just take more than we can sustain out of the earnings reserve. Great, big draw.” Kiehl said, “So I applaud the Governor for saying, okay, that old idea of his doesn’t work. His proposal takes that cap, and it says we’re going to draw 5% we’re going to split it 50-50, between public services and PFDs. but you can only do that if we spend even less on services than we do now.”
Kiehl said the Governor’s proposal could underfund schools and building maintenance.
“The state’s going to crumble and fall down if we do that, the math doesn’t work.” He said,”Could we protect a dividend? Yeah, but the simple fact is, we’re not gonna get the votes to raise taxes to increase the PFD from where it’s been. We should stabilize the PFD, but if we’re talking about adding taxes to Alaskans and Alaska businesses, we’re not going to do that to pay out a bigger check than we’ve been paying.”
Representative Hannan hinted at an opportunity for residents to publicly testify at a Senate Finance meeting next Thursday, this has yet to be confirmed on the Alaska State Legislature website.
The meeting took place in person and was live-streamed on Facebook.
Cars are driven on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage on Oct. 7, 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska’s population rose slightly between 2024 and 2025 and is now at its highest level since 2017, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced Wednesday.
Alaska had an estimated 738,737 people as of July 1, 2025, the department said in its annual state population estimate.
The rise comes despite a revision that erased thousands of international immigrants that the U.S. Census mistakenly believed had moved to Alaska.
Last year, relying on Census figures showing that thousands of people had migrated to Alaska from other countries, the department estimated Alaska’s population at more than 741,000 people.
Since then, and after prodding from Alaska state demographer David Howell, the Census Bureau retroactively lowered the number of international migrants that came to Alaska, and this year’s state population estimate is significantly lower than the one published last year.
“We think (that) is more accurate given that people crossing the southern border aren’t very often making their way to Alaska,” Howell said.
With the extra residents removed and a new baseline in place, the state’s population grew on a year-over-year basis because the number of births in the state exceeded the number of Alaskans who died.
That natural increase — births minus deaths — of 3,389 people was greater than the number of people who moved out of the state.
Between 2024 and 2025, 1,740 more people moved out of Alaska than moved here. It was the 13th consecutive year of negative net migration in Alaska, extending the longest streak of negative net migration since 1945.
Overall, the state’s population grew by 0.22%. That was less than the nation as a whole (0.5%). Compared with the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, Alaska’s population growth ranked 40th.
South Carolina (1.5%), Idaho (1.4%) and North Carolina (1.3%) had the highest growth rates among states. Vermont (-0.29%), Hawaii (-0.15%) and West Virginia (-0.07%) had the lowest and were among five states that posted population declines.
The U.S. Census Bureau has slightly different figures than the state — it estimated a 0.1% population gain between 2024 and 2025 — but the Alaska Department of Labor conducts surveys of military bases and group homes that the Census Bureau does not, Howell said. For that reason, he believes the state’s estimate is more accurate than the Census Bureau’s.
Overall, Howell said, Alaska seemed to simply extend existing population trends between 2024 and 2025.
“We’re continuing to see losses in the working-age population. … We’re really starting to see declines in the school-age population. It was growing slightly at the beginning of this decade, but at this point, there’s about 1,000 more 17-year-olds than there are 4-year olds. And so we’re just going through aging,” he said.
Alaska’s median age is 37.1, one and a half years older than it was at the start of the decade. Haines, the state’s oldest community, has a median age above 50.
As the state ages, the number of new births is dropping and the number of deaths is rising.
Howell and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development are predicting that the state’s population will start dropping steadily by the year 2050.
The number of births in the latest population estimate is the lowest since the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was built. The number of deaths dropped slightly last year, but Howell said there may be a morbid reason for that: The COVID-19 pandemic peaked in Alaska in 2021-2022 and may have killed elderly Alaskans who would have died later.
This year’s state population estimate retroactively updated the population change between 2021-2022, turning it from a small gain into a decline.
On a borough and city level, existing trends continued in the latest forecast. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough continues to be the fastest-growing large area of the state, the population of Anchorage is relatively flat, the Interior’s population is growing slightly and Southeast Alaska’s population is falling.
A road sign marks the road towards the Lower Kuskokwim School District offices and the Bethel High School. October 9, 2023. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
While Alaska school districts are seeing improvements in kindergarten to third grade students’ reading proficiency, which officials credit to the Alaska Reads Act, some districts are struggling to access state managed funds for a federal grant program aimed at supporting literacy programs, teacher development, and student learning.
School districts awarded CLSD grants in 2025
Alaska Gateway School District
Aleutians East Borough School District
Anchorage School District
Bering Strait School District
Bristol Bay Borough School District / Chugach School District
Copper River School District
Cordova City School District
Dillingham City School District
Galena City School District
Iditarod Area School District
Kake City School District
Kashunamiut School District
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Kodiak Island Borough School District
Kuspuk School District
Lake and Peninsula Borough School District
Lower Yukon School District
Mount Edgecumbe High School
North Slope Borough School District
Northwest Arctic Borough School District
Petersburg Borough School District
Pribilof School District
Southeast Island School District
Yakutat School District
Yukon Flats School District
Yukon–Koyukuk School District
Lawmakers with the House Education Committee heard from two district superintendents about the successes and challenges of the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant program — which in 2024 awarded $50 million to Alaska schools over five years.
In 2025, roughly half of Alaska’s districts, or 27 school districts, qualified for these grant funds administered through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, according to the department.
The program is aimed at advancing literacy for children from birth through 12th grade students, including pre-literacy skills, reading and writing. The program focuses on districts with disadvantaged children, including those living in poverty, English language learners and students with disabilities.
While all Alaska districts are required by state law to implement the Alaska Read’s Act, the policy did not come with additional state funding, said Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, co-chair of the education committee, in an interview on Monday. She said some districts are struggling to fund the kindergarten through third grade reading initiatives. “I would like to see us supporting schools so that everybody gets the support they need to implement the law the way it was written,” she said.
The program isn’t new, but it has more money and it’s funding more districts now. In 2019, nearly one third of Alaska districts were awarded $25 million over five years, according to DEED.
“The literacy grant is a really powerful tool that is going to help the districts that it’s in, a lot,” Himschoot said. “I’ve heard a lot of gratitude from superintendents about having this opportunity for those who have it, but we did hear about some bumps in the rollout of it.”
District officials’ testimony prompted Himschoot to send a list of questions to DEED about how the grant is managed.
Michael Robbins, superintendent of the Bristol Bay Borough School District, which serves approximately 135 students, said the grant has been crucial for implementing the Alaska Reads Act, particularly supporting teachers’ training professional development, which helps retention. “The grant supports training, coaching and leadership development grounded in research-based instruction, including the science of reading,” he said.
“It creates consistency across classrooms in schools, helps prevent problems before they grow, and ensure that limited resources are utilized where that matters most,” Robbins said.
But Robbins said in implementing the grant, districts need more “clear, timely and reasonable guidance around allowable use of grant funds” from DEED.
He said the district would like to use the money for professional services vendors to provide training to teachers, and funding to attend conferences. “The approval process has been particularly cumbersome as some districts have had to resubmit their application multiple times, which takes valuable time from our grant leaders and administrators, as well as delaying the implementation of important activities,” he said.
Officials with DEED did not attend the legislative hearing, but department spokesperson Bryan Zadalis said by email on Monday that the department recognizes the importance of clear guidance, which is communicated through multiple channels including webinars and office hours. “DEED also aligns state-level guidance with federal updates as they are released to ensure accuracy and compliance, which can at times require sequencing information rather than issuing it prematurely,” he said.
In addition, Robbins, who formerly served as the superintendent of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District, said that that district did not qualify for grant funding. “The need was there, but the resources are not,” he said. “We need to find ways for all districts and all students to have access to the same level of support and opportunity.”
Robyn Taylor is superintendent of the Petersburg School District which serves approximately 420 students, and was awarded $350,000 per year through the grant program. She testified to lawmakers and echoed the need for equity in supporting reading programs across Alaska’s school districts. She said Petersburg still continues to have challenges with implementing the Alaska Reads Act, which she called “a real tension.”
“In Petersburg alone, between FY 25 and FY 26 we eliminated one of our three elementary reading interventionist positions, positions that were directly supporting Reads Act implementation and student outcomes,” she said. She said the district was told that CLSD funds were for supplementing programs not replacing funding.
“(The) restriction makes it difficult to use this grant to maintain positions or systems that are already working but are no longer financially sustainable under current funding structures,” she said.
Taylor and Himschoot both emphasized that districts who did not qualify for funding need support with the administrative work to apply. They said some schools should have easily qualified for the funding, but didn’t in part because they lack proper documentation of their students’ need for free or reduced school meals, which is one of the federal poverty guidelines. “It’s not that they don’t have kids in need,” Himschoot said. “It’s that they haven’t been identified through the paperwork, because they don’t have the capacity in their district to go chase that down.”
Zadalis said the grant process is a competitive one. He said the primary source of education funding is through the state’s funding formula, but districts may also access state or federal funding through other grants focused on literacy efforts.
Taylor said Petersburg students are making gains in reading proficiency, and the district is committed to continuing improvements beyond the grant cycle. “What we are asking for is greater flexibility, clearer and earlier guidance,” she said. “And increased trust in districts to make decisions that reflect local context and student needs.”
Gov. Mike Dunleavy gestures during his State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed a 4% statewide summer sales tax, effective through 2034, as part of his plan to bring Alaska’s state revenue and expenses in line for the long term.
If adopted, the sales tax would be Alaska’s first statewide, general-purpose levy since state legislators abolished Alaska’s income tax in 1980.
Alongside the tax bill, the governor has proposed a tighter state spending cap and a constitutional amendment that would guarantee a Permanent Fund dividend lower than scheduled by current law but above what legislators have approved in recent years.
“This comprehensive plan is designed to bridge the next seven years by stabilizing state finances, limiting spending growth, restoring a rules-based PFD, and sharing responsibility through targeted, time-limited revenue measures that support investment and predictability,” the governor wrote in a letter to state lawmakers.
Since 2015, persistently low oil prices and plateaued oil production from the North Slope have dogged state lawmakers who have struggled to balance Alaska’s need for services with the desire to pay large Permanent Fund dividends.
While most of Alaska’s general-purpose state revenue comes from the Alaska Permanent Fund, oil remains the No. 2 source of flexible spending money for the state, leaving the annual budget process subject to the vagaries of global markets.
Senate Bill 227, containing the bulk of the governor’s plan, was introduced on Monday and referred to the Senate Finance Committee for further discussion. An identical version will be introduced in the House on Wednesday.
The most fiscally consequential item in the bill is the sales tax, which would peak during the summer tourist season and drop to 2% between October and March.
That tax is expected to raise as much as $815 million per year for state services and the Permanent Fund dividend by Fiscal Year 2032.
Dunleavy’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 — fiscal year 2027 — is about $7.75 billion and has a deficit of almost $1.5 billion.
The Dunleavy administration expects that revenue from oil production and a proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline will compensate for the phaseout of all the taxes in the long term.
Under SB 227, the state’s corporate income tax would fall to zero in 2031; the sales tax wouldn’t expire until 2034, leaving individual Alaskans paying higher tax rates than corporations for a period.
“Normally, sales tax is left to local governments. So I know it was a hot issue in Anchorage when the Mayor proposed that, so I think it is going to hit a lot of households,” said Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, applauded Dunleavy on Monday for putting forward a fiscal proposal, even if he disagrees with some of the components.
“The governor’s putting out a bill. I commend him for that. He’s putting out, you know, he’s throwing out ideas. I give him credit for that,” he said.
Wielechowski and other legislators said they want to fully analyze what the governor is proposing before opining on it.
“There are a lot of parts to this bill, and the No. 1 thing for me — without a complete analysis — is it’s really unclear on how this is going to affect hard-working Alaskans,” said House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer. “It is my No. 1 priority to make sure everyday Alaskans aren’t on the losing end of this.”
The Alaska Municipal League, which represents local governments across Alaska, is particularly interested in the governor’s proposal.
The League has previously said it would prefer a statewide income tax to a sales tax.
In almost every part of Alaska, except for Anchorage, sales taxes are a pillar of services.
Many cities and boroughs exempt certain things, like food and utilities. Under the Dunleavy proposal, the state would be in charge of collecting sales taxes and would remit money to cities and boroughs.
Local exemptions and sales tax caps could vanish in the process, with the state instead determining what is taxed and not.
“This is a 56-page bill that we are still going through. Sales tax is a major component of that, but sales tax shouldn’t be thought about independently from the other components,” said Nils Andreassen, director of the league.
In addition to the sales tax, SB 227 temporarily raises the state’s minimum oil tax, adds a surcharge of 15 cents per barrel of oil produced on the North Slope and adds part of the corporate sales tax update that Dunleavy vetoed last year.
Andreassen noted that regardless of its source, tax revenue flows into the state’s general fund for any number of uses.
“All taxes are connected at some level,” he said.
The governor’s plan for the Permanent Fund dividend, enclosed in a constitutional amendment proposal separate to SB 227, is similar to one he proposed in 2021.
Currently, the state’s No. 1 source of general-purpose revenue is an annual transfer from the Permanent Fund to the state treasury. In FY27, that transfer will be worth $4 billion.
The “50-50 dividend” proposed by the governor would reserve half of that transfer for dividends, or about $2 billion, if it were in place this year.
That amounts to roughly $3,200 per PFD recipient, based on the number of recipients in 2025.
Under a current, disused formula in place since the 1980s, the dividend would be about $3,800 per recipient.
That formula hasn’t been used since 2015, and lawmakers have instead set the amount by fiat, typically using a figure that can be paid with available revenue after services are covered.
Legislators can ignore formulas in state law because the state’s annual budget bill is a law, and when one law conflicts with another, the newer law takes precedence.
Putting a dividend formula in the constitution would bind future governors and legislatures, and put the dividend atop the annual budgetary priority list, alongside education and other constitutionally mandated functions.
Adopting a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate, and approval by voters in the next general election.
Alaskans have not adopted an amendment since 2004, and the Legislature hasn’t put one before voters since 2016.
U.S. Army Soldiers with the 11th Airborne Division, load Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft in preparation for deployment into the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center’s 25-02 training exercise, Fairbanks, Alaska, Jan. 23, 2025. (U.S. Army Photo by Master Sgt. Justin P. Morelli)
A Democratic state lawmaker from Anchorage loudly denounced the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s surge in Minnesota while speaking on the Alaska House floor on Friday.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, is a military veteran and co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Armed Services Committee.
“The facts are that our government is out of control. Norms have been broken at an alarming rate, and the world is watching us in shock,” he said.
Gray’s remarks were met by loud desk-thumping — a form of applause — and came on a day when thousands of Minnesotans marched in subzero weather and held a general strike to show their opposition to ICE efforts in their state.
Tensions are particularly high after several shootings by federal officers, including one in which an officer killed a mother of three.
The remarks came one day before federal agents fatally shot another Minneapolis resident on Saturday, prompting nationwide protests throughout the weekend.
Up to 1,500 active-duty troops of the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, based in Anchorage, have been ordered to stand by for possible deployment to Minneapolis — Minnesota’s largest city — according to National Public Radio.
In those letters, Gray and Kawasaki say they are receiving “enquiries … from the Alaskan people” and pose a series of questions.
How long will the 11th Airborne be in Minnesota? How does a deployment fit in the division’s mission to defend the United States against foreign threats? Could soldiers be detaining suspected undocumented people? Would the 11th Airborne fight the Minnesota National Guard if Gov. Tim Walz activates it to defend protesters?
“Fifteen hundred active-duty soldiers may be sent from Alaska to Minnesota to protect ICE agents as they continue their efforts to arrest and detain suspected undocumented immigrants,” Gray said, “But who really needs the protection? Is it the ICE agents, or is it the folks who are terrified to leave their homes, to go to work, to pick their kids up from school or to actually show up at their immigration appointments?”
While Gray’s comments appeared to have the support of many legislators in the chamber — judging by the desk-pounding applause — there was at least one dissenting voice.
Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, is a veteran, the spouse of a veteran, and a Latina, she said, explaining that she had also sent a letter to Gen. Cogbill, but her letter was to remind him that he is not legally obligated to answer the Legislature’s questions or testify in the Capitol.
Allard said she has been deployed overseas with the military and with the U.S. State Department.
“I experienced things when I worked for the US State Department, of women being abused, hit — watched them get their teeth knocked in, where I had to stand by and couldn’t do anything,” she said.
“We have a lot going on in our country, dividing, saying we’re this or we’re that. We’re all Americans, but it doesn’t mean that it’s okay to have riots across our country. If the military and the federal government and the Department of War and the 11th Airborne Division decide that it’s best to go to Minnesota, that’s what we need to do,” she said.
Allard’s comments were met by quieter but noticeable desk-pounding, with the loudest coming from Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake.
He said afterward that he thinks Gray incorrectly described some aspects of ICE’s work in Minnesota. For example, Gray said ICE detained a five-year-old in Minnesota.
“There’s a little bit more to the story, McCabe said.
“We shouldn’t be messing around in another branch of the government in their bailiwick,” he said. “The worst people in Alaska to manage the National Guard is probably the state Legislature.”
A summary sheet is seen during ballot review on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, at the headquarters of the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Supporters of Alaska’s election system filed a lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections on Thursday, alleging that the state’s description of a roll-back-the-clock ballot measure is biased and inaccurate.
The state has defended its language, with a spokesperson calling it “accurate, neutral, and consistent with prior initiatives.”
This fall, voters will be asked with Ballot Measure 2 if they want to return Alaska’s election system to what it was in 2020. The state’s description would be printed on ballots alongside the measure.
Until 2020, political parties determined who could vote and run in primary elections, voters were required to pick just one candidate in the general election, and people could donate secretly to nonprofits that could then pass money to candidates.
In November 2020, Alaskans approved Ballot Measure 2, which put all political candidates for an office into the same primary election. The top four advance to a general election that uses ranked choice voting. Nonprofits that donate to political candidates are required to disclose their donors.
In 2024, an effort to repeal the primary and general election changes failed by 737 votes out of 320,985 cast statewide.
The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are AFL-CIO president Joelle Hall, state Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and former Juneau city council member Barbara Blake. All three are represented by attorney Scott Kendall, the prime author of the 2020 ballot measure that installed the current elections system.
The suit was organized by the Alaskans for Better Elections Foundation, Kendall said. Alaskans for Better Elections supported the 2020 measure and has opposed prior efforts to repeal it.
“I think (Alaskans) should know that the ballot language that has been offered by the Division of Directions is materially inaccurate, and in some cases, says the measure does the opposite of what it does, and it omits very significant changes the measure will make,” Kendall said by phone on Thursday.
In particular, the suit objects to the state’s claim that the ballot measure would restore or “bring back” campaign finance rules.
“The proposed measure (24ESEG) would not ‘restore,’ ‘bring back,’ or add even a single
campaign finance rule to Alaska’s statutes,” the suit states. “Rather, 24ESEG would fully repeal a litany of campaign finance disclosure requirements, and eliminate enhanced fines.”
A key part of the 2020 ballot measure and existing state law is the requirement that nonprofit groups disclose their financial supporters if those nonprofits contribute money to election candidates.
A prior effort to repeal the 2020 ballot measure would have left the disclosure requirement in place. The new repeal effort would eliminate the dark-money disclosure law, concealing donations.
A section-by-section analysis published by the Alaska Department of Law in February 2025 concluded that this year’s measure would “reverse several changes to campaign finance disclosure requirements.”
“It repeals a ton of very, very popular campaign finance disclosure provisions, and yet, the ballot language proposes to say it restores them,” Kendall said.
The lawsuit also asserts that the state’s approved language downplays the way that political parties would be permitted to determine who may vote in primary elections.
Independent candidates would not appear on primary election ballots unless one or more political parties allow them. Independent voters would not be allowed to vote in a primary unless permitted by political parties.
Before 2020, both the Republican and Democratic parties in Alaska allowed some independent voters to participate in their primaries.
“Granting major political parties in Alaska the power to disenfranchise voters for primary elections is neither mentioned, nor even implied, in the proposed ballot language,” the lawsuit states.
The Alaska Division of Elections is being legally defended by the Alaska Department of Law, which has not been formally served with the lawsuit but has a copy of the complaint.
“We have been in the midst of ongoing discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel, who was urging the adoption of ballot language that would have departed from the legal standard requiring accuracy and neutrality,” said Sam Curtis, a spokesperson for the Department of Law.
“We have not yet been served with the complaint and will review it when we are. The ballot language at issue is accurate, neutral, and consistent with prior initiatives. The alternative language advanced by the plaintiffs would be confusing and inject advocacy where the law requires impartial description. We are confident the courts will uphold the State’s language.”
The plaintiffs challenging the state have diverse political perspectives: Hall is a registered Democrat, Giessel is a Republican, and Blake is a registered nonpartisan. All three have opposed prior repeal efforts and are opposing this year’s as well.
Giessel said she wants Alaskans to know what they’re voting on.
“People tell me that they’ve signed initiatives, particularly this year — and other years previously as well — and then they find out that actually what they were told they were signing was misrepresented to them. So I want them to know exactly what’s in this,” she said.
Hall is an experienced campaigner.
“People need to know what they’re being asked to vote on, as clear as possible. Because some people will walk into that booth and read that word for word,” she said. “They will not have made up their mind ahead of time. So it just needs to be really clear.”
What do you think?
Below are the two versions of the proposed language on Ballot Measure 2. Which do you think is clearer and more accurate?
First, the state-written language:
An Act Restoring Political Party Primaries, Single-Choice General Elections, and Campaign Finance Rules
This act would get rid of open primary elections and ranked-choice general elections. It would bring back political party primaries and single-choice general elections. It would also bring back campaign finance rules.
Elections will occur as they did before open primaries and ranked choice voting. In the primary election, voters will choose a party’s ballot. They will vote for one candidate in each race and the winning candidate will be the party’s nominee. In the general election, voters will select one candidate in each race. The candidate with the most votes will win. Party petitions, special runoff elections, and other parts of the prior election system would return.
Campaign finance rules would also return to the way they were in the prior election system. This act would remove the limits on donations to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor. It would remove limits and disclosure rules under current law, including for digital ads, out-of-state donations, undisclosed donations, and the true source of donations. It would remove some fines and change the meaning of a campaign expenditure.
Second, the language proposed in the lawsuit:
An Act Restoring Political Party Primaries and Single-Choice General Elections, and Repealing Certain Campaign Disclosure Requirements and Fines
This Act would get rid of open primary elections, where all candidates appear on one ballot. It would get rid of ranked-choice general elections. It would replace them with political party primaries and single-choice general elections. This Act would also repeal certain campaign finance disclosure requirements and get rid of or reduce some fines for violations.
In the primary election, voters would choose one party’s ballot and vote only for candidates from that party. Political parties would be given the power to prohibit voters who are not registered members of their party, including Nonpartisan and Undeclared voters, from voting in their primaries. The winning candidate from each primary would be the party’s nominee. In the General Election, voters would vote for only one candidate. The candidate receiving the most votes would win, whether or not that candidate has a majority of the votes cast for the race.
This Act would end the ban on dark money by getting rid of the requirement that independent expenditure groups report the true sources of their contributions. It would also get rid of the requirement that such groups, when they are funded mostly by out of state money, disclose that fact in their ads.
Finally, it would get rid of or reduce the fines for some campaign finance violations.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy shakes hands with Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks, as he exits the House chambers after his State of the State address on Jan. 23, 2026. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivered his eighth and final State of the State address on Thursday to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature, touting the accomplishments of his term and promising continued momentum, particularly for large-scale resource development.
“Even though it’s my last year, there is no slowing down,” he said, and promised to work with legislators to advance policies in the spirit of Alaska’s independence and resilience.
In a nearly 80 minute speech, Dunleavy gave wide-ranging remarks on his administration’s initiatives over the last seven years, from reducing crime to improving reading scores. He touched on economic and workforce development, as well as the advancement of mining, oil and gas projects, like the proposed Alaska LNG gas pipeline project from the North Slope to Cook Inlet.
On Thursday, Dunleavy shared only a few details on a promised new state fiscal plan to help balance declining state oil revenues and pay for his proposed $7.75 billion draft budget this year. He said he plans to introduce a fiscal package in the next week, as well as bills focused on job training, child care and affordable housing.
Lawmakers with the House and Senate majorities expressed interest and some skepticism about his new fiscal plan after the speech, and concern around the lack of details for potential new tax proposals as the session gets underway.
“Honestly, that’s a tremendous amount of things he said he wants us to get through, so we have to do things properly and slowly and rightly and correctly,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. “And everything does take more time than you think, but we’re willing to work with the governor, and anxious to see what the specifics are of his fiscal plan.”
House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said he is not optimistic for a fiscal plan this year.
“This is the eighth year that the governor has put a budget in front of the legislature with an over billion dollar deficit,” he said. “Yet to be contrasted this session with a fiscal plan that is going to be very controversial that none of us have seen yet.”
Dunleavy began the speech by applauding the state’s disaster relief efforts, most recently the response this fall in the devastating aftermath of ex-Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska. He noted the state has experienced 85 state and federal disaster declarations during his term, an average of one per month.
“We can’t control natural disasters. But we can control how we respond,” Dunleavy said. “I couldn’t be prouder of how we’ve responded to these events thanks to the brave men and women that I have the honor to serve as Governor.”
Dunleavy thanked the Trump administration throughout the speech, particularly for its focus on boosting Alaska resource development, which was outlined in the president’s executive order that promised to develop the state’s resources “to the fullest extent possible.”
He praised the Trump administration for re-opening offshore drilling and federal lands in the Arctic for oil and gas development, as well as for the millions promised for health care through the Rural Health Transformation Program.
“Alaska is benefitting greatly thanks to President Trump, and his administration. We need to do all we can to work with our federal partners over the next three years,” he said. “We may never get this opportunity again.”
Television cameras capture Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State speech on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Dunleavy touted dropping crime rates and a declining unemployment rate, citing a growing economy and state population.
“I know there’s a feeling that things can be better, and of course they can, but our economy has been getting stronger and stronger every year of my administration,” he said.
Dunleavy said his administration will continue to work on reducing crime, in part by focusing on a new partnership with the municipality of Anchorage to combat crime there.
“Public safety has been my No. 1 priority and it will continue to be so until the end of my term,” he said.
Support of the proposed AK LNG pipeline featured prominently in his speech, though the financing and budget ask from the legislature remains uncertain. Dunleavy applauded the gas line developer, Glenfarne, a private energy developer that owns 75% of the project while the state of Alaska owns a 25% share.
Glenfarne Group CEO and founder Brendan Duval and Alaska LNG President Adam Prestidge stand while Gov. Mike Dunleavy recognizes their work in his State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Glenfarne executives were in the House chamber as Dunleavy praised the company’s most recent announcement: that they had signed new gas sales and contractor agreements and are headed into final investment negotiations to begin construction.
“This will be the single most transformative project in Alaska since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline,” he said.
While education was a major priority of the governor and legislature last year, Dunleavy only briefly touched on the topic. He said he would like to see legislators take action on bills he’s already introduced to expand charter schools, create open enrollment, address teacher retention and expand tribal compacting, which would allow schools to be run by local Alaska Native tribes.
Lawmakers react to the governor’s state of the state address
Republican lawmakers praised the speech and its scope.
“I thought it was a great address,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok, who was especially excited about movement towards a new gas pipeline. “He tried to cover everything that he possibly could, you know, still holding that optimism of getting things done that we need to get done.
“It was good to hear his overall enthusiasm going into his last year,” said House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Anchorage. “We do need to evaluate our revenue and our expenses and to really take a good look and be good stewards going forward. So I’m interested in seeing what he will promote.”
Members of the House and Senate majority caucuses echoed the interest in more details on the AK LNG pipeline proposal.
“I come from a district where people are not opposed to resource development, but we’re definitely skeptical,” said Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks. “We want to be practical, and we want to be critical, not to the point of stopping projects, but to the point of just understanding and having fair and reasonable oversight on projects.”
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, answers press questions following Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2025, while Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, look on. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Others, like Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, were more skeptical about the project. “Do they have gas purchase agreements? Not that we’re aware. Do they have gas sales agreements? Not that we’re aware. Do they have financing for the project? Not that we’re aware,” he said. “So they’re talking a lot about the project, and it feels like progress, but do they have any firm commitments on any of those things? Not that I’m aware.”
“We applaud his efforts. We all want a gas line. We’re all excited that we’re as close as we are,” Edgmon said. “But there are other sorts of existential issues that we’re not dealing with here in the legislature.”
The speech failed to address fisheries for the second year in a row. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, praised the governor’s optimism, especially around other resources, but noted the fisheries omission on Thursday.
“It is one of our largest employers in the state, and they’re still having significant problems after the turn down a couple years ago. So we’ll continue to have discussions with the administration and see what help we can put forward for the industry guys,” he said.
Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, said most of his constituents would like to see an improvement in the level or quality of state services. “The governor did a good job of highlighting some of the achievements from his administration, but I think in many cases, he missed the mark on the reality felt on the ground,” he said.
“With closing small businesses, we have a summer construction season that’s not funded — for the first time in state history. We have to address that,” said Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage. “We have a stressed fishing industry. So just a big difference between a sort of a glossy speech and the much more challenging reality on the ground that we have to address.”
But Dunleavy noted in his speech that he’s still got some time to get work done — and he’s not running down the clock.
“Contrary to what you may have heard, my time is not up until noon on December 7th, 2026,” he said. “And our time here together in this last regular session isn’t up until midnight on May 20th.”
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives and Alaska Senate watch as the final vote on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 113 is displayed on the voting board in the House on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Republicans in the Alaska Legislature voted down a new funding source for public school programs Thursday as they sustained Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 113.
The vote on overriding the governor was 35-25, 10 votes short of the 45 needed for an override. All of the “no” votes came from Republicans in the House and Senate minority caucuses. Those voting no included some legislators, such as Sen. Rob Yundt, R-Wasilla, who had strongly supported the bill last year.
If SB 113 had been enacted, the bill would have shifted some corporate income tax payments from other states to Alaska.
The result was expected to be between $25 million and $65 million per year in new revenue for the state treasury, and the bill called for much of that money to go to programs that help young children learn how to read and to career-technical education programs that teach Alaskans non-college trades.
Dunleavy vetoed the bill last fall, saying he was unwilling to approve any tax measure that was not part of a comprehensive, long-term plan intended to balance state revenue and expenses.
Under the Alaska Constitution, the veto needed to be taken up during the first five days of the regular session if lawmakers wanted to override it.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Photo byJames Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is expected this evening to detail his plans for a long-term plan to balance Alaska’s expenses and revenue.
“There will be a temporary, seasonal sales tax concept put forward for discussion with the legislature,” Dunleavy said Wednesday during a cabinet meeting open to reporters.
Will state lawmakers approve that idea?
“I don’t have the answer to that until we start having discussions,” he said.
Since 2015, Alaska’s annual budget process has frequently been snarled by low oil prices that have made it difficult for legislators and governors to balance the state’s books without spending from savings.
Alaska relies on oil revenue for almost a third of its general-purpose revenue, and for most of the past decade, the price of North Slope crude has been relatively low.
Alaska has never had a statewide sales tax, and it hasn’t had a statewide income tax since 1980.
Since 2018, the state’s No. 1 source of general-purpose revenue has been the proceeds of the Alaska Permanent Fund, followed by oil.
Dunleavy’s proposal will mark a major shift for the governor, who is term-limited and in the final year of his second term. For his first seven years in office, the governor has attempted to resolve the long-term imbalance in state finances by cutting services and spending.
On the rare occasions that legislators have passed new tax measures, Dunleavy has vetoed them, saying he will accept no tax bills that are not part of a complete fiscal solution.
The governor is expected to unveil his proposal for a complete solution on Thursday. He said he views any tax measures as a temporary “bridge” until the North Slope begins producing more oil and a proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline comes to fruition.
“The proposal and the fiscal plan has multiple components, and basically what it is, it’s a road map to inject stability, especially over the next five years when revenue is not quite what will be in the out-years,” he said.
In addition to proposing a statewide sales tax, the governor is expected to propose bills changing oil taxes and the Permanent Fund dividend.
“There’s always room for negotiation, but there’s two sides. That (goes) both ways,” he said.
Dunleavy’s remarks came during a Wednesday cabinet meeting that saw the leaders of state departments praise Dunleavy and point to ways in which the state’s position has improved since he entered office.
Crime is down, commissioners said, statewide employment is expected to reach a new historic high this year, and the state’s gross domestic product is also up.
Alaska remains near the bottom of national rankings in educational performance and violent crime, but Dunleavy said he wanted to emphasize that many of the state’s problems are improving.
“We wanted to make sure that people in Alaska know that … there’s a lot happening. These people are working hard. State employees are working hard. There’s a lot going on,” Dunleavy said. “It is a safer place. Is it the safest place in the country? No. That’s a motivator to keep going. We are creating more jobs. Can we, should we, do better? Absolutely. Keep going.”
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives leave their chambers on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska lawmakers opened the second year of their regular legislative session on Tuesday with an ambitious agenda but low expectations amid a tight budget that appears likely to draw the lion’s share of legislators’ attention.
“It’s one big log jam,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka.
The Alaska Legislature operates on a two-year cycle between elections; bills are carried over from the first year to the second, but if they don’t pass the Legislature by the end of the second year, they expire and must start all over again.
Speaking Tuesday, members of the coalitions in charge of the House and Senate said they hope to address pensions for public employees, the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline, a long-term plan to balance state expenses and revenue, elections legislation and a handful of other major topics — all while dealing with an annual state budget that’s tightly constrained by the price of oil and a reluctance to enact legislation that will raise revenue.
On top of that, there are two newly appointed members of the state House, two members of the House who switched to the Senate, and new leaders in both the House and Senate’s minority caucuses.
The regular session is scheduled to end May 20.
Topic No. 1 is the state’s annual budgetary balancing act
“I think the big topic always is the budget,” said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham.
In December, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a $7.75 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 plus additional spending in the current fiscal year.
Alaska lacks the revenue to pay for that spending, so the governor has proposed spending $1.8 billion from savings.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, noted that the governor’s budget proposal calls for a large Permanent Fund dividend.
Reduce the governor’s proposal to $1,000 per recipient, and the deficit disappears — but only if you don’t include additional expenses that the governor left out of his budget, Hoffman said.
The Legislature could use savings to balance the budget, but members of the Senate majority believe the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve — the state’s primary savings account — shouldn’t be used for recurring expenses.
“I’ve said it a couple of times, we shouldn’t be spending those dollars on one-time items,” Hoffman said.
If that position holds, the governor’s budget will need to undergo major changes before becoming final.
It takes 45 votes — 30 in the House and 15 in the Senate — in the 60-person Legislature to spend from the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
Getting those votes has historically been a challenge because it will require members of the majority caucuses to compromise with members of the minority caucuses.
In prior years, the Legislature has deadlocked over the issue, driving the state to the brink of a government shutdown.
“The budget is in an environment that’s fiscally constrained, and it’s going to be challenged by additional expenses that we’re going to see in the supplemental measure. That’s our top priority,” Edgmon said.
Governor’s veto of transportation projects looms large
One of the “additional expenses” that has legislators worried the most is funding for the state’s annual transportation construction budget.
Last year, Dunleavy vetoed a chunk of that budget because lawmakers intended to pay for it by diverting money from previously funded projects. Legislators did not take up a veto override during their August special session.
That’s left a hole of about $70 million needed to unlock ten times that amount of federal money.
Filling the hole will likely require spending from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which needs a supermajority in the House and Senate.
“There are businesses that are going to close if the next construction year is not funded, and so I’m pretty concerned about it,” said Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage.
Stedman called it a “significant issue.”
“We do have a deficit in this current fiscal year, and it is very difficult to deal with the three-quarter vote. … So we’ll wait and see what the governor’s proposal is to fix the mess he created,” Stedman said.
More than 20 groups representing a variety of organizations across the state have been urging lawmakers to act on the issue, going so far as to launch a statewide ad campaign that asks Alaskans to also join the lobbying effort.
Without quick action, the groups say, there will not be enough time to put money to work during the summer construction season.
Members of the Alaska House’s all-Republican minority caucus pose for photographs on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Governor expected to reveal fiscal plan during State of the State
Shortly after opening their session on Tuesday, lawmakers formally invited Dunleavy to deliver his annual State of the State address at 7 p.m. Thursday.
That’s unusually early, but Dunleavy is expected to use the speech — his final State of the State before leaving office in December — to unveil a comprehensive plan to bring state expenses and revenue into alignment over the long term.
That’s likely to require significant new taxes or major budget cuts: A 10-year plan published by the governor’s office in December showed that the state will need to raise as much as $1.6 billion in additional money per year to keep state services at current levels in 2035.
Since oil prices plunged in 2015, state legislators and governors have been unable to fully resolve a fiscal gap that has bedeviled the state.
“It’s something that’s been on the docket for a long time, but it comes with a certain level of controversy, angst and maybe outright resistance,” Edgmon said.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said lawmakers initially expected the governor to propose a handful of bills, “but now there’s going to be an omnibus bill that has all of the issues in it,” he said.
House and Senate leaders were briefed on the outline of the governor’s plan earlier this week without receiving details.
Stevens, Edgmon and other legislators reserved comment on the governor’s ideas until they see the full text.
“It’s impossible to opine on it at this point without seeing the bills, without seeing what he’s truly putting forward,” Edgmon said.
Newly confirmed Sen. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, shakes the hand of Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, on the first day of the session at Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Veto override vote possible on Thursday
Hours before the governor talks about a comprehensive fiscal plan, legislators will vote on an incremental bill that would provide funding for education programs across the state.
The House and Senate passed Senate Bill 113 last year but Dunleavy vetoed it. If lawmakers override the governor, online companies would be required to pay corporate income taxes in Alaska for services delivered in Alaska.
Current law allows them to pay those taxes at the site of their server farms or other physical offices.
“I think Senate Bill 113, quite frankly, is a litmus test for where we’re going to go with the fiscal plan,” Edgmon said.
Pension bill awaits attention in the Senate
On Friday, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee will begin hearing a bill that would re-establish a pension plan for state employees and teachers.
The House passed the bill last year, leaving the issue in the hands of the Senate, which passed a similar bill in 2024. While Dunleavy has previously voiced opposition to the idea of a pension revival, a narrow majority of legislators appear favorable to the idea, saying it is important for Alaska to offer competitive benefits when hiring prospective workers.
Rep. Garrett Nelson, R-Sutton, introduces his wife and youngest daughter (standing at background) on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
New legislators and legislators take their seats
Last year, Sens. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, and Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, resigned from the Legislature to cover statewide office. Dunleavy appointed Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, to fill those Senate seats.
Rauscher and Tilton sat as senators for the first time on Tuesday, while their replacements sat as representatives for the first time in the House — longtime legislative aide Steve St. Clair and Sutton Community Council member Garret Nelson.
Both are stalwart Republicans and aren’t expected to significantly change the mix in the state House, where they will sit in the 19-member, all-Republican House Minority caucus.
The House is controlled by a 21-person coalition of Democrats, independents and two Republicans.
The House’s Republican minority has a new leader this year — Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, who replaced Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, during the legislative interim. Johnson gave up her position on the powerful House Finance Committee — a hurdle for any bill with a price tag — in order to take her role as the face of the minority.
Replacing Johnson on the finance committee is Rep. Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla.
Some members of the House minority were unhappy with Johnson’s election as leader in part because that vote took place before St. Clair and Nelson were appointed. Since then, Johnson has been confirmed with a second vote, and any division among members of the House has quieted.
In the Senate, Shower’s departure required the selection of a new leader for the six-person, all-Republican minority caucus there. Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, was elected to that role by his fellow minority Republicans.
The Senate continues to be led by a 14-person coalition that includes nine Democrats and five Republicans.
Newly appointed House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Anchorage and House Minority Whip Rep. Justin Ruffridge speak with reporters on the first day of the second session of the 34th Legislature on Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Legislators prepare to take up natural gas pipeline issues
The proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline will be the top priority of the Senate Resources Committee, Giessel said on Tuesday.
Developers of that project have said they intend to make a go/no-go decision on the pipeline’s first phase early this year, and Dunleavy has floated the idea of a large state property tax break in order to encourage the project.
On Tuesday, members of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee voted to spend up to $250,000 to hire Pegasus Global to advise the Legislature on the pipeline project. The Legislature already has an advisory firm, GaffneyCline, on contract, but that firm’s parent company, Baker Hughes, plans to get involved with the pipeline project.
