NOTN- Residents of Telephone Hill, who were set to be evicted this week, have been given a one-month reprieve.
Residents filled Centennial Hall last Monday to oppose a plan to redevelop Juneau’s Telephone Hill into higher-density housing.
About 30 people testified against the proposal, which calls for replacing about 14 existing units with more than 100 new units. Mayor Beth Weldon said the project is part of the city’s effort to expand downtown housing.
“Most of it just comes down to trying to get housing downtown.” said Weldon, “So instead of 14 units, we’re looking for over 100 units, its a leap of faith.”
Opponents who testified last week criticized the plan’s cost and the displacement of current residents. The city maintains that the redevelopment is necessary to address Juneau’s housing shortage.
“We do have a timeline. This is a tough topic for people, because we are doing evictions, but in the spirit of trying to get more housing downtown.” Weldon said.
The Juneau Assembly paused the process Monday night after city officials said proper legal procedures weren’t followed, with at least one tenant not receiving proper notice of eviction.
“It was determined that our property manager had not taken appropriate evidence or proof of posting eviction notices.” Said Deputy Mayor Greg Smith, “Legally, and to make sure that was all correct, we extended that to November 1, and so folks have a little more time, we’ll just make sure this is all done right. Obviously, this is a very challenging situation.”
New eviction notices will be issued, requiring residents to move out by November 1.
The Assembly has appropriated $5.5 million toward the redevelopment.
City leaders say the redevelopment plans remain on track despite the delay.
Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people gather in Juneau for the opening of Celebration on June 5, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
A top official for the U.S. Department of the Interior has revoked a legal opinion that formed part of the legal basis for two new casino-like tribal gaming halls in Alaska, putting their future in question.
Writing in a memo to the head of the National Indian Gaming Commission and the top attorney at the Interior Department, MacGregor said that the Biden-era opinion “does not reflect the best interpretation of applicable law.”
The opinion overruled by MacGregor applied only to Alaska and declared that tribal authority applied under many circumstances to land allotments that were given to individual Alaska Natives by the federal government.
That’s a system similar to what’s in place in the Lower 48.
The state of Alaska opposed that view, holding to the position that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 extinguished almost all “Indian Country” in Alaska and that the state holds primary jurisdiction over land owned by Alaska Natives, Alaska Native corporations and Alaska tribes, with the exception of the Metlakatla Indian Community.
Millions of acres potentially affected
The settlement act left almost all Alaska tribes with no federal trust land on which to exert sovereignty. There are, however, more than 17,000 parcels of up to 160 acres that have been granted to individual Alaska Natives since 1906 and are held in federal trust. Collectively, they represent as much as 5 million acres of land.
Until the Biden-era opinion, it was believed that most — if not all — of that land was outside tribal jurisdiction. After the opinion, the Native Village of Eklutna and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska went ahead with plans to build casino-like facilities on allotments in their traditional territory. It was the first significant move to take advantage of the new interpretation of federal law.
The Native Village of Eklutna opened the Chin’an Gaming Hall in Birchwood, outside Anchorage, earlier this year. The Tlingit and Haida gaming hall, on Douglas Island, is under construction.
Now that the Biden-era opinion has been revoked, it isn’t clear whether the gaming halls are legal.
It’s still possible — albeit much more difficult — for tribes to exert jurisdiction over an allotment. But before the Biden administration’s opinion, Eklutna and the Tlingit and Haida Central Council had tried for decades to open casino-like gaming halls on allotments and had their applications rejected.
Before the Biden administration changed things, only Klawock and Metlakatla could operate casinos, and because of state laws regulating gaming, they do not offer table games like poker and blackjack. Instead, rows of slot-machine-like electronic devices fill their gaming halls.
That’s what can be seen in Birchwood and what is expected at the casino in Juneau.
MacGregor’s Sep. 25 memo says any action taken by the Interior Department or the National Indian Gaming Commission — which regulates gaming halls and casinos on tribal land — “should be reevaluated in accordance with this revocation.”
Birchwood gaming hall remains open
Aaron Leggett, President of the Native Village of Eklutna, said afterward in a written statement that its tribal gaming hall “remains open for our guests and continues to provide meaningful benefits to our Tribe, the surrounding community, and our state.”
Eklutna sought to build the gaming hall to provide jobs and an economic boost for tribal members and the local community, according to tribal leaders..
Leggett said the tribe is reviewing the new order.
A spokesperson for Tlingit and Haida declined to say whether construction will continue on its gaming hall, which is located on Douglas Island, on a road that leads to Juneau’s municipal ski area.
“Tlingit & Haida is aware of the U.S. Department of the Interior action to withdraw the solicitor’s decision. We also anticipated the action,” said Tlingit and Haida President Richard Peterson in a prepared statement. “We are reviewing internally and remain committed to exercising our Tribal sovereignty to preserve sovereignty, enhance economic and cultural resources and promote self-sufficiency and self-governance for Tribal citizens.”
State attorney general pleased by decision
The state of Alaska opposed the Biden-era opinion and has repeatedly fought the Native Village of Eklutna in court over its plans to open a tribally operated gaming hall.
Alaska Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox expressed support for the reversal in a written statement.
“We are encouraged that (the Department of the) Interior has returned to a position grounded in Alaska’s unique history. The Supreme Court has often said, ‘Alaska is the exception, not the rule.’ Today’s action respects that principle and restores the jurisdictional balance Congress intended and courts have repeatedly affirmed,” Cox said.
Asked to clarify whether the state believes that the Eklutna and Juneau casinos are now illegal, Department of Law spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said by email that MacGregor’s memo calls for a re-evaluation.
“Therefore,” she said, “it is for Interior to undertake the re-evaluation process and for the state to see the result of that re-evaluation process.”
It’s also not known how the new decision will affect two in-progress lawsuits that have challenged the Eklutna gaming hall. One suit, filed by neighboring landowners, is being considered by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after a lower-court ruling went in favor of Eklutna.
A second lawsuit, filed by the state of Alaska against Eklutna, is on hold, pending the result of the Ninth Circuit case.
Tlingit and Haida’s gaming hall has not yet been the subject of lawsuits, but attorneys and other observers familiar with the issue say they expect that hall will be the subject of litigation as well.
NOTN- The State of Alaska is preparing to continue essential services and minimize disruptions in the event of a federal government shutdown, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office said today.
Dunleavy has directed state executive branch departments to review federally funded programs and create contingency plans to ensure critical services continue wherever possible. Some programs, such as Medicaid and Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, are expected to continue without interruption due to existing authorizations or advance funding.
Other programs may face adjustments depending on congressional action and guidance from federal agencies, officials said. Historically, Alaska has been able to keep most federally funded programs running during past shutdowns, and the state expects to do the same using available funds.
If a shutdown lasts beyond a month, the state said it will reassess and prioritize programs most directly affecting Alaskans’ life, health, and safety.
Roughly 4,800 state executive branch jobs are at least partly funded by the federal government. Those employees are expected to continue reporting to work and receiving pay for now, while a small number of federal employees embedded in state departments will follow their agencies’ shutdown procedures.
According to States Newsroom, the Trump administration began posting plans over the weekend that detail how hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed during a government shutdown, while others will keep working without being paid.
A shutdown will begin Wednesday unless Republicans and Democrats in Congress reach agreement on a stopgap spending bill. Congressional leaders were set to meet Monday afternoon with Trump, but it was unclear if any agreement would result that would avert a shutdown.
States newsroom also published a list of the departments that have posted updated contingency plans in September:
Here is a list of the departments that hadn’t posted updated contingency plans as of Monday afternoon:
Agriculture Department contingency plan
Commerce Department contingency plan
Energy Department contingency plan
Housing and Urban Development contingency plan
Interior Department contingency plan
Transportation Department contingency plan
Treasury Department contingency plan
Veterans Affairs Department contingency plan
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development has developed a FAQ to answer Unemployment Insurance questions from federal employees who may be furloughed.
A hiker walks on May 30, 2018, on the trail to the Tongass National Forest’s Tern Island campsite in Wrangell, Alaska. (Photo by Xavier Rivera/U.S. Forest Service)
The Trump administration is planning to close some U.S. Forest Service offices in Alaska under a national reorganization announced this summer by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
The Forest Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, currently has offices in Anchorage, Juneau, Cordova, Valdez, Girdwood, Seward, Craig, Hoonah, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell and Yakutat. It isn’t clear how many of those offices will remain open after the reorganization.
The status of the Forest Service’s tourist-focused visitor centers in Portage, Juneau and Ketchikan also isn’t clear.
Contacted for details, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said by email on Friday, “Some aspects of the reorganization will take place over the coming months, while others will take more time. We will continue to provide updates as the reorganization moves forward.”
They added, “We recognize this may be difficult, but we are hopeful that affected employees will remain with us through this transition as we work to improve and continue delivering benefits to the people and communities we serve.”
In a July memo outlining the basic details of the plan, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said she intends to close the Forest Service’s nine national regional offices “over the next year” but “will maintain a reduced state office in Juneau, Alaska, and an eastern service center in Athens, Georgia.”
Research stations, like the Juneau Forestry Science Laboratory in Auke Bay, will be closed and “consolidated into a single location in Fort Collins, Colorado.”
Nationally, Rollins said she intends to scatter more than half of the Agriculture Department’s 4,600 Washington, D.C.-based administrators to five regional hubs; one each in Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana.
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan signed on to a letter with 10 other U.S. senators, calling on the U.S. Department of Education to reverse the decision to cut millions in congressionally approved grant funding for Native American-serving colleges and universities nationwide.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, argues that an estimated $36.1 million in grant funding already allocated under the Higher Education Act should be distributed to colleges and universities serving Native students nationwide.
Senators wrote the funds are already authorized and appropriated by Congress and should go toward its intended colleges and universities nationwide, “including dollars that are part of ongoing grants – projects, programs, and services that are already in motion and that are serving currently enrolled students,” they said.
“These institutions are statutorily authorized to receive federal support from the Department to strengthen their capacity to serve American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students, and rely on this federal support to adequately serve enrolled students,” they said.
“The Department’s decision to reprogram this critical source of funding for these colleges jeopardizes not just their continued existence, but also undermines the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to provide Native students an education,” they wrote.
Earlier this month, Sec. McMahon announced that $350 million in congressionally approved funding for minority-serving institutions, a federal grant category that includes funding for Black, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native American students, would be reallocated. McMahon cited “racial quotas” as discriminatory and unconstitutional. “To further our commitment to ending discrimination in all forms across federally supported programs, the Department will no longer award Minority-Serving Institution grants that discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas,” McMahon said.
The group of three Republican and nine Democratic senators rejected the claims, saying “to be clear, these grants do not impose racial quotas or restrict admissions based on race, but support institutions that deliver on the federal trust responsibility to provide an education for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians because of their unique legal status and political relationship with the United States.”
In Alaska, University of Alaska officials say they are still reviewing the extent of the funding freeze, but University of Alaska Fairbanks officials report the grant elimination totals at least $8.8 million across campuses.
Senators argued that the funding cut contradicts the Trump administration’s expressed focus on career and technical education, and said the funds boost capacity for institutions serving not only Native students, but wider student populations.
“As such, we again urge you to reverse the decision,” the senators wrote, “to release these funds, as appropriated by Congress, so that the work these schools do to support the trust responsibility, as well as the next generation of leaders as part of our nation’s bright future, can continue.
The letter was signed by Murkowski, as the chair of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and committee co-chair U.S. Sen. Brian Shatz, D-Hawaii; along with Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina; Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico; Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona; John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado; Michael Bennett, D-Colorado; Mark Kelly, D-Arizona; Tina Smith, D-Minnesota; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota.
A spokesperson for Murkowski said as of Wednesday they have not had a response from the department
“I do think it’s important to recognize that we should be seeing thousands of people likely lose coverage from this,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association.
Speaking to a room at Juneau’s convention center, they said if federal subsidies end, the cost of health insurance would rise so much that many Alaskans will go uninsured, discouraging them from getting checkups that could prevent serious illnesses. Hospitals would see a larger number of emergencies from uninsured people, straining them. It might even lead to an exodus from the state, as people seek alternative options and cheaper places to live.
“I worry about that,” said Kim Champney, executive director of the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities. “Because I think people will decide to leave Alaska because we have the most expensive health care in the country.”
Anton Rieselbach, with the Juneau Economic Development Council provided an analysis of cost estimates for Juneau. In Alaska’s capital city alone, 1,389 people receive health care via insurance plans bought through the federal marketplace. Right now, those Juneauites pay an average of $124 per month. If those subsidies expire, that will rise to $1,008 per month, an increase of more than 700%.
The council, a nonpartisan organization devoted to economic growth in the capital city, is worried about what will happen if the subsidies expire.
“We want people to be working and spending money, generating economic activity,” Rieselbach said, “but this just places another huge burden on people’s ability to spend their money in other arenas besides health insurance.”
A problem years in the making
The upcoming problem stems from federal subsidies enacted by Congress in 2021 and extended through the end of 2025. Those subsidies, known as “enhanced premium tax credits,” were applied on top of subsidies included in the original Affordable Care Act, which established the federal insurance marketplace.
Now, almost anyone who buys an individual health care plan through the marketplace gets some kind of subsidy.
Generally, that includes people whose employers don’t provide health insurance, self-employed people, and people who retired early and aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, which insures people with disabilities and people 65 or older.
Subsidies helped expand the number of people on federal marketplace plans from 11.4 million in 2020 to 24.3 million this year, allowing millions of Americans to get regular health care.
They also came at a high cost to the federal treasury: Extending them for another 10 years would cost $335 billion.
But if subsidies end, Alaska would be exceptionally hard-hit. The state has the highest health-care costs in the nation, which means unsubsidized insurance rates are high.
Of the 28,736 Alaskans who have health insurance policies through the federal marketplace, 25,170 receive the enhanced subsidies, according to figures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
If the enhanced subsidies expire, the poorest Alaskans will still see their plans subsidized. Middle-class Alaskans would be hard hit.
According to estimates published in March by the Alaska Division of Insurance, a single 50-year-old who earns $58,650 per year would see their monthly health insurance cost rise from $282 per month to $407 per month for a “silver” plan. If they have a “bronze” plan, their costs wouldn’t change.
But Alaskans who earn more than 400% of the federal poverty line — $78,000 per year for an individual — would see their costs skyrocket.
In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.
That same 50-year-old would go from paying $534 per month for a silver plan to $1,415 per month. Under a bronze plan, their cost would go from $9 per month to $890 per month.
Lori Wing-Heier, the director of the Division of Insurance at the time of those estimates, called the increase “pretty horrific” for affected Alaskans.
“It’s an insane amount,” said Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, talking about the increase.
This spring, Mina sponsored and the Alaska Legislature passed House Joint Resolution 9, a bipartisan letter asking Congress to extend the subsidies.
Across the state this year, the average monthly premium for Alaskans of all ages and all plans was $971.43, but the average subsidy was $866.28, the Division of Insurance said in March.
Kosin, of the hospital and healthcare association, said his group thinks it’s “really important” to extend the enhanced subsidies.
Insurance is based on the concept of sharing risks and costs. The more people in an insurance pool, the better it works. Subsidies encourage healthy people to be a part of the health insurance pool, he said. If people drop off, the cost of caring for any individual person is spread among fewer members, and rates go up.
An extension relies on congressional action
For the moment, Alaskans only have estimates of what will happen if the subsidies expire. Open enrollment on the federal insurance marketplace starts Nov. 1. There’s a “window shopping” period at the end of October that will give a sneak preview.
People must sign up by Dec. 15 to get insurance coverage that starts with the new year. Miss that deadline, and Jan. 15 is the deadline to get coverage that starts Feb. 1.
Kosin said he’s heard the argument that Alaskans could afford health care before the enhanced subsidies came into effect, and so there won’t be many people who drop their coverage.
That fails to take into account the way health insurance costs have gone up since 2020, he said.
In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.
“If there truly is a doubling or tripling of premiums, especially at once, I think I would have to guess it would be a higher percentage than a fifth of the population that would consider themselves priced out of the market,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski knows plenty of those people.
“If you are a 60-year-old couple (earning about) $82,000 in Alaska, you would be looking at a premium increase … without enhancements, of $44,556. My husband and I are over 60. Now, granted, we’re not on the exchange, but I have a lot of friends are in that category, and I don’t know very many of them that could swallow an additional $44,000 a year to pay for their insurance if they’re on the exchange,” she said in a Sept. 17 phone call.
Murkowski is among the members of the U.S. Senate who have been trying for months, without success so far, to find enough votes to extend the subsidies.
Impending government shutdown
The issue has now gotten entangled with the impending government shutdown. Senate Democrats have demanded — among other things — a permanent extension of the health care subsidies, without changes, in exchange for their votes on keeping the federal government open.
Sen. Dan Sullivan also supports an extension of the subsidies, but “there’s no way I would ever vote for that,” he said of the Democratic plan.
“I do think there’s bipartisan support to get this done. We’ve just got to power through these different issues,” he said by phone.
He identified three hurdles for the subsidies.
“It’s how long you extend them; are there pay-fors (budget cuts to compensate for the cost of the extension) … but the most important and complicated — and we just did a deep dive on this, and I do think there’s bipartisan support on this, is reforms,” Sullivan said.
“We are looking at ways to reform the system to make it work for the people who need it and are using it honestly, but have a disincentive against those who have been abusing it,” he said.
“We’re getting there. It’s complicated. I think the reform piece is going to be the most complicated, but I’m hopeful, and I’m putting a lot of effort into it,” Sullivan said.
Murkowski is more interested in a straight extension without changes. She introduced a standalone two-year measure and voted against both Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the government open, saying one of her conditions was an extension of the subsidy.
Speaking by phone this month, Mina noted that an extension has the support of groups as far afield as the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.
“I think if you’re directly on the insurance marketplace, you should be concerned. But also, if you care about economic diversification and startups, you should also be concerned,” she said.
If the marketplace doesn’t work, she noted, it would increase the costs of health care for everyone in the state because hospitals are required to treat people regardless of their ability to pay. If people can’t pay, that means their costs get shifted to people who can, increasing the health insurance rates of everyone, not just those on the marketplace.
“What I fear is that we’re regressing to the state that we were in (a decade ago) when we had all of these news articles about people paying like, $800, $1,000 a month for their health insurance, and we were able to stabilize that and find solutions to help people,” Mina said. “We’re just going backwards in that regard.”
NOTN- Residents filled Centennial Hall on Monday to oppose a plan to redevelop Juneau’s Telephone Hill into higher-density housing.
About 30 people testified against the proposal, which calls for replacing 14 existing units with more than 100 new units. Mayor Beth Weldon said the project is part of the city’s effort to expand downtown housing.
The Assembly has appropriated $5.5 million toward the redevelopment, though Weldon said no decisions are final.
“Most of it just comes down to trying to get housing downtown.” said Weldon, “So instead of 14 units, we’re looking for over 100 units, its a leap of faith.”
Opponents who testified criticized the plan’s cost and the displacement of current residents. The city maintains the redevelopment is necessary to address Juneau’s housing shortage.
“We do have a timeline. This is a topic for people, because we are doing evictions, but in the spirit of trying to get more housing downtown.” Weldon said.
According to Mayor Weldon, the Assembly changed the format through resident testimony so that there was more conversation between the city and the individuals who showed up to testify.
Alaska’s sole U.S. House Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, voted in favor of a seven-week budget extension, but that measure died in the U.S. Senate when lawmakers were unable to garner the 60 votes needed to pass the U.S. House measure or an alternative proposed by Democratic members of the Senate.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, was absent from both votes. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against both proposals.
“I voted against both measures as I felt that they were not serious (enough) to meet the situation that we are currently in today,” she said in a recording provided by her office.
The Republican-controlled House passed its stopgap funding bill 217-212, with one Democrat voting for it and two Republicans voting against it.
“The House did its job,” Begich said in a written statement afterward. “We passed a responsible, short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open and give Congress time to complete the appropriations process. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats chose obstruction over solutions, blocking this clean measure.”
Murkowski and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, voted against the House-passed plan, while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, voted for it. Eight senators did not vote, and the measure died 44-48.
Murkowski said that counterproposal included “a Christmas list” of Democratic ideas, including items that would have reversed big parts of the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill Act” from earlier this year, which contained core tax cuts and spending policies of Trump’s second presidential term. Murkowski and Sullivan voted for that bill, which was later signed into law.
On the other side of the coin, Murkowski said the Republican plan failed to include an extension of subsidies for health care plans passed through the federal insurance marketplace, something that is critical for Alaskans. It also didn’t include additional funding for public broadcasting or opposition to President Donald Trump’s unilateral budget clawbacks, known as recissions.
“I’m going to be busy in the next 10 days, trying to build a level of consensus that keeps the government open, because there is no side — no Republican, no Democrat, the White House — nobody wins when there is a government shutdown,” she said.
“It’s possible that my proposal will equally annoy both sides, but maybe, just maybe, it will get the conversation going in a way that advances serious discussion and positive outcomes,” Murkowski said.
An early voting station is set up in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau, Alaska on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
(Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
NOTN- Ballots for the 2025 City and Borough of Juneau municipal election are being mailed today to all registered voters, marking the official start of the election period that runs through Oct. 7.
Voters can return their ballots by mail, deposit them in one of five secure drop boxes located around Juneau, or vote in person at City Hall or the Mendenhall Valley Public Library.
Drop boxes open today and will remain available 24 hours a day until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
This year’s ballot includes races for three Assembly seats, an areawide member, and representatives from Districts 1 and 2 , along with three Board of Education positions.
Ballots must be postmarked by Oct. 7 to be counted.
Official results are scheduled to be certified and published Oct. 21, following the review of ballots.
The campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks is seen from the air on Sept. 20, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Officials at the University of Alaska said this week that previously announced cuts to federally funded programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students will be worse than initially thought.
At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the canceled funding will amount to an estimated $8.8 million, and University of Alaska Southeast programs will also be affected but to a lesser degree.
“It was quite a shock, because there was no forewarning to this,” said Bryan Uher, interim vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education at UAF in a phone interview Wednesday.
Uher said the elimination of the grant funding for the University of Alaska Fairbanks affects programs at the Bristol Bay campus in Dillingham and in Fairbanks at the Community and Technical College focused on career training and workforce development, as well as student services.
In total, for the five-year grant programs, Uher said the cancellation is estimated at $8.8 million of $12.9 million in grant funding previously awarded.
“This award funding is unique in that it funds faculty for new program development, and then it also funds staff for student support — so advisors, outreach, individual wellness coordinators, admissions, graduation – student services, essentially,” he said.
Uher said new programs in development that will be impacted — for students in person or through distance education — include American Sign Language, information technology technician training and private pilot ground school, helping students train for their pilot’s license.
Uher said those programs will continue through this academic year, and then the university will evaluate whether or how to continue them. University officials say they were given one year to close out grant-funded programs.
UAF includes campuses in Fairbanks, Dillingham, Bethel, Nome and Kotzebue. Uher said while these programs must have at least 20% Native students to be eligible for the funding, they serve a wider student population, especially student services at rural campuses that serve wider regions of rural Alaska.
“They provide follow-ups, financial aid support like, how do you apply for financial aid? Are there scholarships out there?” Uher said. “They provide financial literacy to students. So it really is a comprehensive service that we provide to these students who are not living in or located in urban centers like Fairbanks or Anchorage.”
An estimated 17% of the University of Alaska student population identified as Alaska Native in 2024, or 3,254 students statewide, and roughly 1.3% or 266 students identified as Native Hawaiian.
UAA and UAS expect less impact
University of Alaska Anchorage has grant-funded programs for Native students, but officials say they are not expecting them to be affected.
University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Aparna Palmer said in a university-wide email Monday that a grant-funded program on its Sitka campus to support student services is already set to end this month, and the university is authorized to continue to spend remaining funds for another year.
“I want to assure you that we will continue to support the many ways in which we are rooted in Alaska Native culture, history, language, and arts,” Palmer said, adding emphasis by underlining her statement.
Palmer said programs and courses in Indigenous studies, as well as support for Indigenous students, will continue. “Our programs and courses in Indigenous Studies at UAS are strong and will continue to thrive and grow. The UA President, Pat Pitney, and I are fully aligned on this,” she said. “Our Native and Rural Student Center will continue to be a space that provides support for Alaska Native students while welcoming all students.”
Faculty union president Jill Dumesnill, professor of mathematics at UAS, said by email on Monday that the announcement also disrupts future programs, faculty positions and student services.
“Writing these grant applications takes an enormous amount of faculty time and effort, and the Sitka proposal would have provided two additional faculty on the Sitka campus. That loss is significant because there are currently no Alaskan Native faculty members on the Sitka campus,” she said. “You don’t make campuses welcoming simply by calling them welcoming.”
Alaska’s U.S. Senators say they’re working to fund higher education
U.S. Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a statement Wednesday that the funds are already legally authorized by Congress, and support students as well as address workforce shortages in the state.
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
“I am working with my colleagues to reinforce to the administration that these are statutory grant programs authorized and appropriated by Congress that align with the President’s goal of providing career technical education to the next generation for high-impact workforce needs such as fisheries, healthcare, skilled trades, and energy,” Murksowski said.
“As Alaska partners with this administration on several large-scale and exciting projects that can help transform our state, we need a local workforce trained to meet this moment,” she said. “Cancelling these funds takes us further away from that objective.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, also repeated the impact on career training and workforce development education.
“Senator Sullivan and his team are in touch with the Department of Education regarding these grants. The University of Alaska serves thousands of students across the state, including Alaska Natives, and provides critical programs, such as job training and technical education, that build up Alaska’s trained workforce. President Trump’s Day 1 executive order to ‘Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ makes it clear we must be training the next generation to power projects like the Alaska LNG pipeline and keep these good-paying jobs in Alaska,” said spokesperson Amanda Coyne by email on Tuesday.
“Senator Sullivan will continue to work with the administration to fund secondary education and job training to continue building up Alaska’s economy and workforce,” she said.
Alaska’s U.S. House Representative Nick Begich did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The announcement follows the Trump administration’s move to cancel $350 million in congressionally approved grant funding for minority-serving institutions last week, saying the funds will be allocated elsewhere.
There are an estimated 5 million students enrolled in 800 minority-serving institutions nationwide. The grant funding is aimed at supporting students of color and from low-income backgrounds to pursue and complete higher education.
