After four years of effort, the Alaska Legislature has passed a bill offering additional support for the underfunded organization that offers free legal help to Alaskans facing civil lawsuits.
“We’re so excited,” said Maggie Humm, executive director of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation.
ALSC is the state’s largest provider of free legal assistance for survivors of domestic violence and abuse. It generally supports Alaskans who are unable to afford an attorney on their own.
Under state law, Alaska must provide criminal defendants with a defense attorney. No such mandate exists in civil cases, so the work falls to the ALSC, a nonprofit that lacks the budget to take on every request for help.
On Wednesday, the state Senate voted 17-3 to pass House Bill 48 and give the corporation 25% of all state court filing fees, up from 10%. The change is worth an extra $400,000 to the corporation.
The change does not affect funding for the Alaska Court System; the fees are otherwise used for general purposes, not the courts specifically.
Humm said earlier this year that ALSC provided legal help to roughly 6,200 Alaskans in 2024. By email on Wednesday, she said she expects another 800-850 people will be helped by the additional money.
Because the House passed HB 48 on a 27-13 vote in February, the Senate’s action on Wednesday will send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for final approval or veto.
Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, proposed an identical bill in 2023, and while that bill passed the Senate, it never received a vote in the House before the 33rd Alaska Legislature expired in 2024.
That left Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, to reintroduce the bill last year and restart the legislative process.
By email, Humm said that if signed into law, the bill “helps to ensure that more low-income Alaskans facing issues such as domestic violence, elder fraud, and access to earned benefits receive the legal help they need to protect their safety, stability, and dignity. Investing in legal services benefits all Alaskans by helping resolve problems early, before they become more serious and costly challenges for both individuals and our communities.”
ALSC has been trying since 2011 to pass a bill that reserves 25% of the state’s court fees for the corporation. In 2018, the Legislature passed a measure allocating 10%.
Attorney General designee Stephen Cox answers questions from the House Judiciary Committee during a confirmation hearing on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
As Alaska state lawmakers consider Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s pick for attorney general, several have questioned a potential conflict between his involvement with a private, religious school and his role in the state’s top legal office.
Stephen Cox currently leads the Alaska Department of Law, which is defending the state in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of spending state homeschool funds on religious and private school tuition.
He is also the treasurer and a founding member of the Thomas More Classical School, a private Christian school for grades Kindergarten through sixth grade, slated to open in Anchorage in the fall, whose website invites the use of state homeschool funding for nonreligious courses.
Cox has served in the role since his appointment in August, and appeared before lawmakers in a series of legislative hearings last week and Monday, ahead of a confirmation vote for attorney general, expected in the next week.
Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, noted the apparent conflict between the state constitution and the school’s financial plans at a May 1 hearing.
“Our constitution directly says ‘schools and institutions so established shall be free of sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or private education institution,’” she read.
She pointed to his role as treasurer as a direct conflict with the state constitution because the school’s “tuition assistance” web page said it anticipates accepting payment through state allotment funds for courses “that do not use religious-based publishers and/or content.”
The lawsuit that will decide whether that spending is constitutional is currently underway.
Cox said he was not aware of the school’s tuition information.
“I am on the board of that school. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations,” he said, adding that he was involved in hiring a headmaster and the formation of the school. “I am not aware of that part of the website and I’m also not aware of any decisions with respect to allotment programs.”
He declined to comment further saying the issue was in active litigation.
Each homeschooled student is eligible for up to $4,500 per year, to be spent on curriculum, supplies or other educational resources. But the question on whether that money can go toward religious or private institutions is currently being decided.
A group of parents brought the lawsuit to prohibit state money from going to such institutions against the state in 2023, and a judge ruled the allotment system unconstitutional in 2024, but that ruling was overturned by the Alaska Supreme Court. The case moved back to a lower court — four school districts were named as defendants — and last fall a judge denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, citing need for evidence of how allotments are actually spent. A discovery period for both sides to collect evidence is open until June 1.
At a Monday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Ted Eischeid, D-Anchorage, pressed the question.
“Does that mean that under Alaska ethics law, you would recuse yourself about decisions that might benefit your school, financially related to public money going to private schools?”
Cox answered a slightly different question. He told lawmakers, for background, he had already looked into the question of recusal given his three children are homeschooled through the Anchorage School District’s correspondence program, Family Partnership Correspondence School. He said that he was advised it wasn’t necessary.
“The advice that I received back from my ethics supervisor after an analysis was that it was not a reason for recusal, because I think there are, like, 25,000 Alaskan students that benefit from the allotment, and so the fact that my kids benefit in piano class and tutoring and whatnot wasn’t itself a reason to recuse,” he said.
Cox is Catholic, and is a parishioner at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Anchorage, according to the school’s website.
Cox said he learned that the Thomas More Classical School was anticipating receiving allotment funds during confirmation hearings last week. He said he was not directly involved with the state’s defense in the lawsuit and that he would seek ethics advice about recusing himself from the case.
“I will say that I’m not involved in any of the day-to-day litigation, or even really any of the supervision of the strategic litigation,” he added. “Recently, last week, I learned for the first time that on the website, there was a reference to the school anticipating becoming a vendor of the correspondent school allotment programs. So I have asked my staff to take another look at that from a recusal perspective.”
On Tuesday, the tuition information on the school’s website had been changed. It now says that it still anticipates taking allotment money, but only in accordance with state law.
At the hearing on Monday, Eischeid asked Cox if the school planned to receive public allotment funds.
Cox said the issue is being litigated in court now, and whether it’s constitutional has yet to be determined.
“I want to be very careful, because this is in active litigation, and these are the issues that the judge and the judges ultimately will have to grapple with,” he said. “But as I understand it, the school districts and their correspondence schools — so for example, ASD’s correspondent schools, Family Partnership — the school districts will decide whether or not and to what extent the allotment can be used for private educational or private institutions, and vendors.”
Cox said when a court rules on the question, the Thomas More Classical School will follow the law.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, noted that the Thomas More Classical school board president is Charles Gartland, who is also working at the Alaska Department of Law as the civil division director.
“Would he need to recuse from any cases dealing with allotments and private schools?” Gray asked?
Cox said he has asked the department’s ethics lawyers to research the question.
“I would assume that the same analysis that existed for me would also apply with respect to Mr. Gartland,” he said. “But I do not have an answer on that question yet.”
Officials with Alaska Department of Law did not return a request for comment on Tuesday on how decisions on recusal are made.
Gray said Monday there appeared to be a conflict of interest.
“Even if it’s all above board, as a member of the public, I see that, and I think that I would be more comfortable if the chairman of the board of a private school and the treasurer of the board of the private school wouldn’t work on those particular cases,” he said.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks about at a May 4, 2026, news conference about his property tax bill intended to help draw investment in a massive natural gas pipeline. The news conference was held in his Anchorage office. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is urging state lawmakers to act on his proposal to cut state taxes by $7.2 billion over the next 36 years to subsidize construction of the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
Failing to act, he said, could keep the pipeline from being built at all.
“This bill is too important. This concept is too important,” Dunleavy said. “This is not setting up a tax for the lemonade stand down here in the corner by the hot dog stand. This is the biggest (natural gas) project on the planet.”
But some state lawmakers are skeptical about the size of the governor’s proposed subsidy. Two alternatives — one in the House and the other in the Senate — are advancing through committees in the final weeks of the session.
Other legislators believe the pipeline already makes financial sense and no change is needed.
As a result, four different paths await state legislators in their last weeks, and it isn’t clear which one they’ll take — or whether the governor will call legislators into special session on the issue.
There’s also been no agreement with cities and boroughs affected by the proposed tax cut. There’s also no public agreement with North Slope gas producers or the state’s labor unions.
At the core of the problem facing lawmakers is how much — if any — subsidy is needed in order to attract investors who would pay for building the pipeline project in two stages.
The first stage would involve a pipeline from the North Slope to Cook Inlet for in-state use. The second stage would construct processing plants at the north and south ends of the pipeline, allowing larger volumes of gas to be exported overseas.
If both phases of the project are built, Department of Revenue economist Dan Stickel told legislators on Tuesday, the result would be cheaper natural gas than currently available from Cook Inlet.
“If the full project goes forward, it’s a significant reduction in cost to Alaskans,” he said.
Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, noted that Alaskans could be locked into high natural gas prices if the second phase is never built or if both phases are built but no exports take place.
For a hearing last week, the Department of Revenue estimated that under that scenario, prices in Anchorage would exceed $27 per thousand cubic feet by 2033, more than double current prices.
It’s unclear how likely that worst-case scenario is.
The larger the subsidy, the greater the chance that the project is built in full and the lower the price of gas for Alaskans, project proponents say.
“Our objective is to have the lowest cost gas for Alaskans and have certainty on the project,” said Adam Prestidge, president of Glenfarne Alaska, the project’s developer.
A problem, some legislators say, is that they’re working without information. Glenfarne, an international firm that last year bought 75% of the project and became its developer, has not shared its latest estimate for how much the pipeline will cost.
“I think it’s important for us to have starting points on what the actual numbers are, because if it needs tax relief, let’s figure out what the relief is,” said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage.
Legislators also don’t know how much North Slope gas producers will charge for the gas, or what international buyers will pay for it.
Some of that information is impossible to know — legislators are trying to anticipate the price of natural gas in 2033 and beyond, once the pipeline is up and running.
Other information is being kept confidential until a final investment decision or when proposed prices are submitted to state regulators, something that’s months away at the earliest.
Legislators are being asked to take action within weeks.
“We’re not really competitive in the global market if the (cost) overrun is 40%,” said Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage, on Tuesday.
The gas pipeline’s publicly stated cost on Tuesday was $46 billion, but most legislators believe the true figure is higher.
“I think it’s really $57 billion … if not higher,” said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, relying on a prior statement from former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.
Begich, a Democrat, lost to Gov. Mike Dunleavy in the 2018 governor’s election. Now, Begich is a paid adviser, hired by Dunleavy’s administration on a $100,000 contract.
In a Tuesday hearing, Begich said lower taxes would not increase profits for investors or developers and would simply lower the end cost of gas for consumers.
“If you lower the tax, it does not go to the return or the profit or anything of this project,” he said.
“I am just telling you right now, every dollar you save consumers is a dollar in their pocket in an economy that is struggling,” Begich said.
Under his calculations, Wielechowski said, the average Southcentral Alaska family would save $55 per year if the pipeline is built and produces gas according to the latest available cost analysis from the Department of Revenue.
The subsidy needed to create that savings amounts to a loss of $500 per Alaskan per year, he said, money that could be used for the Permanent Fund dividend or state services.
“That’s not a good deal,” he said of the exchange.
The latest available version of the Senate proposal shows an increase in revenue to the state, rather than a subsidy. Instead of earning $27.9 billion through 2062, the state would earn $42.1 billion.
“I would describe that as very burdensome for the project and potentially prohibitively so,” Prestidge said.
“I will characterize that tax at that level as something that would require some real reconsideration of the drawing board of how the project is structured and taken forward,” he said.
In the House, discussions have been less acrimonious. The House Resources Committee on Tuesday morning discussed a proposed a subsidy of less than $5.9 billion, smaller than the governor’s concept but similar in other regards.
“It would be a tax reduction but a smaller tax reduction than proposed by the governor,” Stickel said of the House proposal.
On Tuesday afternoon, the committee worked methodically through a long series of amendments to its plan, frequently consulting Prestidge and Begich about how each might affect financial negotiations.
The House and Senate bills are each in an early stage of development. If passed by the resources committees, each would have to pass through their respective finance committee before advancing to a floor vote and on to the other half of the Legislature.
Alaska Organized Militia members from across the Alaska Army National Guard, and the Alaska State Defense Force, prepare for departure from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson as they travel to Bethel, Alaska, while supporting storm response operations, Oct. 13, 2025. (Alaska National Guard photo by Capt. Balinda O’Neal)
Alaska will deploy 25 National Guard soldiers and airmen to Washington D.C. this month, according to a Friday update from the Alaska Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.
The deployment is part of a response to President Trump’s August declaration of a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital. In the nine months since, 2,500 troops remain, according to NBC4 Washington. Guard members have assisted with medical emergencies, arrests and beautification projects, as well as snow removal.
The division announcement said the Alaska service members will be focused on public safety: “Guard members provide support functions such as crowd management, perimeter security, and logistical and communications support.”
Alaska National Guard members will deploy for 60 days, according to the division, as part of a joint task force with the Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement partners.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved a verbal request in November from the U.S. Secretary of the Army for Alaska to deploy 100 service members, following a national directive by the Pentagon to all 50 states to prepare National Guard service members to train for “civil disturbance operations.”
A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the smaller deployment, the purpose and timing of the mission on Monday.
Lawmakers had raised concerns about the Pentagon’s national directive for an estimated 20,000 National Guard service members to be trained and prepared to deploy in U.S. cities within 24 hours. Alaska was initially charged with preparing 350 service members as part of a “quick reaction force” by Jan. 1.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, co-chair of the Alaska Joint Armed Services Committee, and a veteran of the Alaska National Guard, was among those who had raised concerns.
On Monday, Gray said the smaller deployment for 60 days is less of an issue.
“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the American taxpayer to be flying service members from Alaska to D.C. to do what I don’t believe is of grave consequence,” he said.
“At the end of the day, to me, it’s sort of a nothing burger. I do think that it shows that the Dunleavy administration and General (Torrence) Saxe are in alignment with Trump. They’re showing that they support Trump’s agenda. But again, this is just not that big of a deal, in my opinion.”
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak (at rear) preside over Monday’s joint session of the Alaska Legislature on May 4, 2026. (Corinne Smith photo/Alaska Beacon)
After two southeast Alaska Republicans reversed themselves, the Alaska Legislature on Monday failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an elections bill intended to take effect this year.
Forty votes were needed to override the veto. Monday’s vote was 38-22, with Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, and Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, providing the critical votes to sustain the veto. Both previously voted to pass Senate Bill 64 and send it to the governor.
Each said after Monday’s vote that they did not believe state officials would be able to implement the bill in time for this year’s elections.
As written, SB 64 contained a swath of changes to state law that were intended to make it easier for Alaskans to vote and to improve the security of state elections.
Among the proposed modifications: Free postage for absentee ballots, a new system for absentee voters to track their ballots through the counting process, a 10-day period for absentee voters to fix problems that disqualified their ballots, updated procedures for auditing the state’s voter list to remove ineligible people, a requirement that the financial backers of ballot measures disclose their identities and a special liaison intended to fix widespread voting problems in rural Alaska.
Dunleavy vetoed the bill on Thursday. In his veto message to the Legislature, he wrote, “the Division of Elections warns such changes would be extremely difficult if not impossible, to implement securely and reliably in advance of the 2026 elections.”
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, supported the bill and the override. Speaking ahead of the vote, he said that in 2022, during a special election held after the death of Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the state was able to implement a ballot-tracking system within six weeks.
“I’m not prepared to tell Alaskans, ‘Sorry, it’ll have to wait another year. It’s just too hard,’” Wielechowski said.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, speaks in support of overriding a veto by Gov. Dunleavy of an elections reform bill on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
But Bynum said afterward that he was swayed by statements from the Division of Elections, which said it was uncertain about its ability to implement the system so quickly this year.
“I can’t speak to what they may or may not have done in 2022. I can only speak to what the Division of Elections is telling me today. And what they told me is that this timeline is too aggressive for them to effectively put this in the law,” he said.
Bynum said another factor in his vote was the use of tribal IDs by voters at the polls. SB 64 would have mandated the state to accept their use as voter ID. Bynum said that until the past week, he was unaware that tribal IDs could already be used as a matter of policy.
Bynum said the vote was a difficult one for him and that if the bill had taken effect Jan. 1, he would have voted for it.
Stedman was one of the last legislators to vote, and his opposition was significantly less important because Bynum’s decision had already sustained the veto.
“I think they need more time to implement it. That was it, pretty much. I think there’s a lot of good work in this bill and a lot of positive things, but it just needs a little more time,” he said while walking away from Monday’s joint session.
In a joint legislative session, lawmakers in the Alaska House and Senate failed to override Gov. Dunleavy’s veto of an elections reform bill, SB 64, by a vote of 38 to 22, sustaining the veto on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
In March, the House voted 23-16 on March 23 to pass the bill. Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, was excused absent from that vote but later expressed her support. Two days later, the Senate voted 16-4 to approve the House’s changes and send the bill to Dunleavy.
The veto of SB 64 was Dunleavy’s 10th in the two-year 34th Alaska State Legislature. While prior governors have vetoed more bills during a single Legislature, this Legislature has passed relatively few bills, and Dunleavy has vetoed bills at a higher rate than any previous governor.
Legislators overrode two of Dunleavy’s 10 vetoes. Two others, in addition to SB 64, saw override votes fail. The remaining five were never brought up for an override vote despite opportunities to do so.
The veto means a sixth consecutive year will pass without a significant update to the state’s election system. Bipartisan bills failed in 2022, 2024 and now 2026.
This year’s bill appeared to have the most likelihood of success — it was endorsed by Reps. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, and Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, two of the most politically conservative members of the state House, and it had support from House and Senate progressives.
The Alaska Federation of Natives issued a statement urging legislators to support an override, as did other groups.
But many Republicans opposed the changes because they wanted a more rigorous cull of the state’s voter list and oppose easier access to absentee voting.
Ahead of the final vote, Republican writer Suzanne Downing lambasted the bill, as did other socially conservative commentators.
Vance, speaking Monday to the Legislature, said she received “threats” and “bullying” because of her support of the bill and an override.
After the vote, she said “there has been slander and an all-out assault to discredit and, frankly, lie to the people about what this bill does.”
Asked whether she was referring to Downing and her website, which has published a series of articles against the bill, she said, “Very clearly — intentionally misleading the people about what’s actually in the bill, what it does, and claiming that I’m no longer a conservative.”
One of the articles was from Rep. Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen, who urged Dunleavy to veto the bill and on Monday asked legislators to sustain the governor’s decision.
Speaking on the floor, she said rural voters in her district need more than 10 days to fix problems that might have disqualified their absentee ballot.
Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, represents Schwanke’s district and another Fairbanks-area House district. He was in favor of the override.
“If I lose an election because a little old lady in Arctic Village had to cure her ballot and have that one ballot cost me my election, so be it,” he said. “Aren’t we here to make sure every vote counts?”
Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox, with Goov. Mike Dunleavy, speaks at a Feb. 12, 2026, news conference in Anchorage about drug enforcement. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
State lawmakers raised concerns in a series of legislative hearings while they considered the confirmation of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s attorney general designee Stephen Cox. At issue were controversial legal actions Cox took in his first eight months in office.
Attorney General designee Stephen Cox appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Cox is an attorney and has served in various roles in federal law enforcement, including as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas and other roles in the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, as well as in private industry in Texas and Alaska, according to his resume. Cox is a member of the Federalist Society, a national conservative and libertarian legal organization. Prior to being appointed, he worked as legal counsel for Bristol Bay Industrial, LLC, a holding company and investment subsidiary of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, since 2021.
Dunleavy appointed Cox to the Attorney General’s office in August, after Treg Taylor resigned to run for governor. Cox appeared before lawmakers in Senate and House confirmation committees ahead of a joint session to vote on his appointment next week.
While in Alaska’s top legal post, Cox has taken several controversial actions lawmakers questioned. He defended handing over Alaska’s private voter information at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which has prompted a lawsuit by civil rights groups. Cox and the Alaska Department of Law also joined over 110 amicus briefs, or “friends of the court briefs” on a wide variety of federal and state cases, including U.S. Supreme Court cases.
Attorney General designee Stephen Cox answers questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee during a confirmation hearing on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Some lawmakers raised concerns that Cox has taken legal positions with amicus briefs that were highly politicized, aligned with the Trump administration and in some cases contrary to Alaska law and unrelated to Alaskans interests.
That included joining Alaska in cases opposing birthright citizenship, supporting a Christian baker declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, and supporting the most recent case where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional maps cannot be drawn based on race — a decision critics say effectively limits the Voting Rights Act.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, asked why Cox had signed Alaska on to challenge birthright citizenship, which the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide in June. Stevens became emotional, saying it was a fundamental value to provide refuge to people fleeing war and poverty, or seeking better opportunities — like his own ancestors who escaped the Irish famine.
“It just baffles me. How can you or your department or anyone in the administration argue against birthright citizenship? It’s in our Constitution. It’s a moral issue,” Stevens said.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage listen to Attorney General designee Stephen Cox at a confirmation hearing on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Cox said he believes that birthright citizenship should not be granted for children of those visiting or temporarily in the United States, but only for those who intend to stay.
“My view of the Constitution under the 14th Amendment is that it is not simply birth on the territory, that you also have to be not subject to the foreign jurisdiction, and that there has to be some kind of allegiance,” Cox replied.
“But I also recognize, like everything, I could be wrong,” he added. “But again, we will hear what the US Supreme Court decides on that issue.”
Lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary and State Affairs Committees pressed Cox on his reason for signing on to cases that they said would be contrary to Alaskan’s interests.
Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, asked if Cox would sign on to cases challenging abortion rights in another state, while Alaska’s Constitution protects the right to abortion within the right to privacy.
“What is your perspective with respect to filing amicus briefs and requests for amicus briefs regarding the right to abortion, that the courts have found is specifically protected in Alaska?” Claman asked.
After several minutes of back and forth, Cox finally said he would have to consider the specific case and consult with the governor.
“I would look hard at the law. I would consult the experts within the Department of Law. I would get their expertise. If I felt that the state of Alaska did not have an interest, I wouldn’t bring it,” he said. “If I thought that there was an interest in that the state of Alaska did have, notwithstanding what the Alaska Supreme Court has ruled in in its prior cases, I would have a conversation with the governor.”
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, questioned Cox on why he didn’t oppose a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court that would require mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day, which would be a challenge for many rural Alaska precincts. Alaska law currently allows ballots to be received within 10 days, or 15 days if mailed overseas.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, questions Alaska Attorney General designee Stephen Cox during his first legislative confirmation hearing before the Senate State Affairs Committee on Apr. 30, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
“Why didn’t you stand up for Alaska and say to the court: this is a bad law for Alaska. We want you to strike this down. We want you to say no to this,” Wielechowski said.
Cox defended the decision to submit an amicus brief declaring no support for either party as a “strategic choice.”
“I actually like briefs in support of neither party that are very fact-based. And I think, and again, I realize people might disagree, but I think sometimes they get noticed the most, but that was a strategic choice,” he said.
Lawmakers also questioned the time and resources expended by the Alaska Department of Law on amicus briefs, versus prosecutions and law enforcement in Alaska. “Why would we spend that money when we have this crisis on domestic violence and sexual assault, when that money is better spent on prosecution in state?” Claman asked.
Cox defended the initiative, and the creation of a new Alaska State Solicitor General role focused on multistate litigation in October. He said his goal in office is to pursue more amicus briefs.
“Going forward, I’d like Alaska to take more of a leadership role, offering more of our own briefs, and shaping the arguments directly, as opposed to just being a joiner,” he told lawmakers.
Senators question Cox on sharing confidential voter information
Several senators questioned Cox on his role in the Dunleavy’s administration’s decision to share confidential voter information at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice last year. Critics and plaintiffs in new lawsuit against the state say the sharing of voter information — including full name, birth dates and partial social security numbers — was a violation of voters’ privacy. The state also signed an agreement to remove voters the DOJ flags as ineligible.
Alaska Attorney General designee Stephen Cox is questioned by Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, during his first legislative confirmation hearing before the Senate State Affairs Committee on Apr. 30, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Cox said he believed the request was lawful, and noted the federal government had threatened to sue.
“One, was there a statute that authorized disclosure of confidential information? There was, for lawful government purposes,” Cox said. “And two, we took the posture of cooperation. Alaska has a long standing history of cooperating with the U.S. Department (of Justice) Civil Rights Division.”
“And I will be candid with you,” he added. “I have a disposition of cooperating with law enforcement.”
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, pressed Cox on the decision to share the voter information, which he and other lawmakers stressed is protected by Alaska’s Constitution.
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, questions Alaska Attorney General designee Stephen Cox during his first legislative confirmation hearing before the Senate State Affairs Committee on Apr. 30, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
“The state also has a constitutional right of privacy. It’s one of the, I think, bedrocks and one of the most important things I think some people recognize in the state constitution,” Kawasaki said. “Why was that not your first thought, is that Alaska has got a constitutional right to privacy. Let’s take a pause before we do anything more that the Department of Justice has requested?”
Cox defended the decision as lawful: “I will concede I am learning about the right to privacy. And the Legislature has far better expertise on the right to privacy,” Cox said. “And the law department’s position is that that statute is a valid statute and that it is not unconstitutional.”
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Kenai, also questioned the purpose of sharing Alaska’s voter information, which Cox defended as under “lawful government purpose” in the agreement. But Bjorkman raised doubts that the reasons the federal government may deem voters to be ineligible is clear.
“If we are releasing the data for a lawful purpose, but we can’t positively identify what the purpose is, and then judge that according to whether or not it is indeed lawful,” Bjorkman said. “I have a concern about that.”
Cox outlines AG office priorities
Cox told lawmakers that while in the Attorney General’s office his priorities include a new “quality of life” initiative working with the municipality of Anchorage to prosecute retail theft and public disorder infractions.
“We’ve cross-designated prosecutors so that state and municipal attorneys can use each other’s authorities. We’re looking at civil tools like abatement actions to go after drug houses or even using data from retailers to identify patterns and repeat offenders,” he said.
Cox said prosecuting violent crime like domestic violence and sexual assault is always the No. 1 priority of the office, and added he’s focused on resource development and consumer protection as well.
“Alaska has some of the strongest consumer protection laws in the country, and I think we can be enforcing them more aggressively,” he said.
“At bottom, this job is about the rule of law, what the law requires, how it is applied and how we exercise the state’s power within those limits. I’ve spent much of my career in law enforcement settings where the stakes are real. Decisions affect liberty, public safety and public trust. That experience shapes how I approach this office,” he said.
Cox is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. A joint session on state appointments was scheduled for May 7 but was postponed and likely will be set for early next week.
Matt Cooper, newly appointed to be the University of Alaska president, is seen in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska)
The University of Alaska Board of Regents announced Matt Cooper as the new university president on Friday, after a closed-door, confidential hiring search.
Cooper is a Fairbanks-based attorney, and formerly served as legal representation for the university starting in 2011 and later as general counsel to the university from 2021 to 2024.
He will replace Pat Pitney, who announced her retirement in November, after 30 years of public service and five years as university president. She is planning to step down later this month. The regents said Cooper will begin his term on August 3.
The board appointed Michelle Rizk, vice president of university relations and chief strategy, planning and budget officer, to serve as interim president during the transition period from May 22 to August.
Following an executive session Friday, the board voted unanimously to select Cooper. Board of Regents Chair Scott Jepsen said after the vote that Copper was selected from among 50 candidates.
The University of Alaska Board of Regents and UA President Pat Pitney are seen on a web call, following the announcement of the new UA president, Matt Cooper on May 1, 2026. (Screenshot of web call)
“I think he brings a management style to university, which will help us be collaborative and work as a team to achieve the goals that we have set for the university,” Jepsen said. “We have a lot of challenges in front of us, and it’s going to take a skill set that has good interpersonal skills, understands the university, understands Alaska, and has that vision of where we want to go.”
UA President Pat Pitney told board members she was pleased with the selection.
“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Matt over the years, and he is a genuine leader. He looks for win-win solutions. He’s worked on numerous issues and opportunities for the university at all levels. So he knows he knows our institution, he knows the people he’s just going to bring a really strong energy and strong leadership to our university,” she said.
Cooper has been practicing law in Alaska since 2003. He is leaving a position with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP where he focused on real estate and land use issues in Alaska, Washington state and other areas, according to the firm’s website.
He received a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree at the University of Puget Sound.
Cooper will be charged with the chief executive role overseeing the state’s public university system across three university campuses, 13 community campuses and over 500 in-person and online degree programs, as well as a wide range of research initiatives. Currently, roughly 20,000 students are enrolled this year.
Cooper will continue to live in Fairbanks. He will earn a base salary of $420,000, with a total compensation package of $429,600 excluding benefits, according to the university.
That’s a slight increase from Pitney’s total compensation package of $427,565, which included a housing stipend and excluded benefits.
In a statement following the announcement, Cooper said he was grateful for the appointment.
“I’ve seen firsthand how UA empowers our communities and state, and I believe strongly that the future on our horizon is bright,” he said. “I look forward to building on the strong foundation President Pitney has established, and to working with the Board and university leadership and governance to support and advance the university’s long-term vision and goals.”
University changes hiring process
Cooper was one of three finalists for the top university position. Regents and university officials opted to conduct a closed-door, confidential hiring process that began last winter, instead of holding public forums and interviews of finalists.
The change in process was at the recommendation of a Texas-based hiring consultant, Wietkeffer, to protect candidates’ confidentiality and potentially draw from a larger applicant pool, said Jepsen in a Feb. 16 letter.
“In recent years, highly qualified candidates – especially sitting presidents and chancellors – have declined to participate in searches with a fully public evaluation process for finalists due to concerns about professional risk if they are not selected for the role,” he wrote. “Adopting a representative model helps ensure UA can attract and seriously consider the strongest possible candidates while still incorporating meaningful stakeholder input.”
The university’s hiring committee — made up of three regents, industry leaders, and university, city and education officials — narrowed the list down to six semifinalists, then three finalists.
Finalists made campus visits and met with select “constituent groups” this spring that included faculty, staff and student representatives from across the university system, according to a presidential search update. Each participant was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.
The groups submitted input to the Board of Regents, who made the final decision to select Cooper.
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify Michelle Rizk currently serves as the vice president of relations for the University of Alaska, and to reflect that the university’s candidate search narrowed down to three finalists from six semifinalists.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses proposed education legislation at a news conference on Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bipartisan bill aimed at streamlining the state’s elections process on Thursday, just seven months ahead of high-stakes state and federal elections in November.
Leaders with the multipartisan House Majority caucus said there will be a joint legislative veto override vote within the next few days.
In a prepared statement announcing the veto, Dunleavy said while there are many provisions in the bills he supports, the bill contained “legal and operational challenges and could jeopardize the election process.” He told lawmakers his two main issues with the bill are related to when it would go into effect and voters’ signature verification.
“The Division of Elections warns such changes would be extremely difficult if not impossible, to implement securely and reliably in advance of the 2026 elections,” he wrote in a transmittal letter to the Legislature. He said the Division needs sufficient time to make necessary changes.
The Alaska House passed the bill in March along caucus lines, following passage by the Senate last year. It contained a variety of changes to the state’s elections system, which supporters say is years overdue and needed to update and strengthen the elections process and expand voter access.
The governor said that the bill would impose “significant operational hurdles” for the Alaska Division of Elections in administering state and federal elections in November.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, who carried the legislation in the Senate, condemned the decision in a written statement following the announcement.
“Governor Dunleavy has said, by his veto, that Alaska’s elections are secure enough,” Wielechowski said. “Unfortunately, they are not, and even his supporters confirm that. Our voter rolls stood at 114% of the voting-age population in 2022. Ballots are being rejected over technical errors. Tampering with a voting machine is not explicitly a crime under current law. This bill addressed every one of those concerns. The Governor had every reason to sign it.”
The bill would have authorized checks to update Alaska’s voter rolls. Officials have said managing an updated voter registration list is a continuous challenge with Alaska’s transitional environment and many residents moving in and out of state, resulting in the number of registered voters currently outnumbering actual eligible voters in state.
The bill would also have enacted a new ballot tracking system, provided paid postage for all absentee mail-in ballots, strengthened security protocols, and implemented provisions for faster elections results, among others.
The Legislature has five days to convene in a joint session to consider an override of Dunleavy’s veto. A majority of 40 votes of the Legislature’s 60 members are needed for an override.
“There will be a veto override vote. I don’t think it will come as a surprise to the governor,” said House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, in a call Thursday evening.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the House Majority caucus slammed the decision Thursday following the announcement, saying in a joint statement the veto is “a significant setback for election integrity and a direct blow to voting access for Alaskans living in rural and off-road communities.”
Edgmon called the decision “deeply disappointing.”
“This was a bipartisan effort to address the real challenges of voting in a state as vast, rural and remote as Alaska. We worked in good faith to improve access, strengthen transparency, and maintain the integrity of our elections,” Edgmon said. “Alaskans deserve a system that reflects our unique geography, not one that ignores it. This veto does exactly that.”
Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, said that rural Alaska “is the hardest place in the state” to vote.
“Everyone who has looked at the data knows that. We passed a bill to clean up our rolls and remove barriers. It will not become law today,” she said. “My people have been patient with systems that were not built for us, distances that were not considered, delays inevitable in rural areas beyond our control. So today, the problem doesn’t go away. Neither do we.”
Dunleavy also took issue with provisions to establish a ballot tracking system and to allow voters to fix mistakes on their ballot — a process called ballot curing — by requiring the division to contact the voter by phone or email within 24 hours. Under the bill, voters would have been allowed to return a form to correct the ballot with a copy of identification by email or by mail within 10 days of the election for their ballot to be counted.
“The ballot-tracking and ballot-curing provisions are especially problematic,” Dunleavy wrote. “The ballot-curing provisions create tension with Alaska’s witness requirement by allowing a voter to cure a missing witness signature after the ballot has already been returned, even though Alaska’s absentee-ballot framework requires the voters certificate to be signed in the presence of a qualified attesting official or witness.”
The governor sent a letter following a meeting with presiding officers of the Legislature on Thursday with technical changes he’d like to see in legislation for fixing ballots, evaluating and verifying signatures.
Dunleavy said the potential Alaska gas line is his main priority, but he’s open to continuing negotiations on the elections bill this session.
“While the Alaska gas line bill is the most important bill this session, I am open to a conversation with lawmakers on how we can address the legal and operational issues this session.”
Other provisions in the now vetoed bill would have included:
Require all absentee ballots to be received within 10 days of Election Day;
Establish a new rural community liaison position within the Division of Elections to support rural districts, including recruitment and training of poll workers;
Require the Permanent Fund Dividend Division to share data to improve the accuracy of the voter rolls’
Require the state to develop a cybersecurity program, and notify the public if there is a data breach;
Require the division to publish results for all rankings in the precinct results.
Require presidential ballots to include a line for write-in votes for president and vice president
Updates crimes of unlawful interference with an election, ballot tampering and election official misconduct
Dunleavy said he applauded the Legislature’s efforts, but said the state needs more time to make changes to the state’s elections system.
“I appreciate the efforts made to improve Alaska’s elections. Going forward, I encourage those who wish to continue this work to use this bill as a starting point; ensure that any proposed changes comply with state and federal law; and pass any election legislation on a timeline that allows the Division of Elections to implement the necessary systems properly,” he said.
Edgmon said that the issues Dunleavy raised were “highly subjective” and lawmakers had heard from the division and the lieutenant governor, who is charged with overseeing state elections, that the timeline for implementing the bill was doable.
Edgmon said it’s unclear if there are the votes to override.
“You never know until the votes are tallied. You just never know,” he said. “And I know there will be plenty of votes. Will there be enough? I’m not going to hazard a guess at this point, because I’ve been proven wrong before.”
A copy of the Alaska Constitution is seen on Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon
A copy of the Alaska Constitution is seen on Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
A proposal to create civics education requirements for all Alaska high school students is advancing in the Legislature, amid a deepening decline in public trust in government nationwide.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, sponsored Senate Bill 23, which would require high school students to take a semester of civics curriculum, pass a civics exam or complete a project-based assessment in order to graduate. The bill is under consideration in House committees after it passed the Senate in March.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, talks to fellow legislators shortly before the Alaska Senate adjourned for the year on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Stevens, a longtime legislator and former University of Alaska professor, told House members at a hearing on March 18 the goal is to inspire students to be more engaged with their government and civic affairs.
“What we hope to do is to rekindle the spirit within our education system to help foster citizenship and voting and community engagement, which is really a fundamental purpose, I think, of public education,” Stevens said.
Civics education is the study of how local, state and federal government works in the constitutional democracy of the United States. That includes our government’s laws and history, the rights of citizens and structures of power.
Stevens said in an interview Wednesday that he sees expanding civics education as a way to combat growing distrust or misunderstanding of government.
“Certainly, I think there’s just a lack of understanding. I have talked to a lot of kids who just have no idea that there is a state government and there is a federal government. There’s a difference between the two,” he said, adding that each governments’ roles and responsibilities are important to understand.
Stevens said Alaska’s students should know that, states are responsible for administering public schools and running elections. “I think kids need to know that, and I think they’re interested in it.”
The bill would direct the Alaska State Board of Education to provide open access, no-cost educational resources to districts covering 14 areas of government, politics and public affairs. Those 14 areas include the founding principles of the United States, the Alaska and U.S. Constitutions, federalism, civil liberties and civil rights, political parties, campaigns and elections, comparative systems of government including by Alaska Native tribes, and others.
If enacted, students would have three options to fulfill the graduation requirement: take and pass a semester-long comparative government and civics course, pass a civics exam — with an option e-take the exam if they did not pass — or opt to complete a civics-related project.
In the second term of the Trump administration, public distrust and political polarization has continued to decline in the U.S. A survey completed in September by the Pew Research Center found public trust in government at one of the lowest points since 1958 — just 17% of respondents said they trust the federal government to do what is right. That’s down from 22% in 2024, and reported trust in government has not been higher than 30% since 2007.
Another 2025 survey by the center found that 8 in 10 U.S. adults said that on important issues facing the country, Republican and Democrat voters not only disagree on policy and plans, but also can’t agree on basic facts.
Shawn Healy with iCivics, a nonpartisan advocacy organization founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to promote civics learning, testified in support of the bill. He said many states across the country are taking steps to bolster civics education.
“Just since 2021, 33 states have adopted at least 51 policies to strengthen civics education, and just this spring, we’re following 218 bills in 40 states, including Senate Bill 23, that seek to strengthen civic education,” he said.
Healy told lawmakers that often people do not understand where to go to solve problems in their communities. He said supporting civics education in schools and dialogue on public issues — across political divides — can help address polarization.
“What we know actually, is when we have conversations across difference, that that’s actually a moderating force, that brings us close together, at least creates an opportunity for us to compromise and develop consensus. And classrooms are great venues for that.” he said.
Researchers with iCivics found that young people who experience civics education are more likely to vote, go to college, be confident in public speaking and volunteer and work on community issues. He said the growing interest in advancing civics education is an investment in future generations.
“We’re not sentenced to this current predicament in our country, where there’s widespread civic ignorance, there’s deep distrust of institutions and one another, and toxic levels of political polarization,” he said. “States across the country are embracing civic learning as a means of strengthening and sustaining our constitutional democracy.”
Many Alaska school districts, including Cordova, Haines, Kodiak and the Aleutian Region School District reported they already offer civics education, according to a survey conducted by the Alaska Council of School Administrators on the impacts of the bill.
Other districts, including Nome, Lower Kuskokwim and Petersburg school districts noted that implementation would require costs for training teachers and purchasing curriculum. As a result, the bill was revised to require Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to develop open, no-cost curriculum resources for districts.
Susan Nedza, superintendent of Hoonah City School District, testified to lawmakers she was initially concerned about the cost and now supports the revised bill.
“While there is often much debate about the reason schools exist and what schools should teach, it is my opinion that civics education is vitally important in preparing youth for the future as community members and citizens,” she said. “I have in the past been concerned about cost and about tests creating a barrier for school and students. The version before you offers pathways that eliminate my concerns.”
The revised bill now estimates a state cost of $40,000 for educator stipends to support a working group to evaluate the curriculum and education resources for districts to list on the DEED website. It estimates $12,000 for the initial design, printing and shipping of a civic education seal for all high school graduates, and $5,000 each year going forward.
Stevens has sponsored previous bills to strengthen civics education that were approved by the Senate in 2024 and 2022, but they were unsuccessful in gaining support and stalled before reaching a vote on the House floor.
Stevens said some of the past opposition was related to a concern the state would be imposing an unfunded mandate for schools, but that is addressed in the current bill, which requires the state to provide with the open, no-cost educational resources. Other concerns were related to what critics called a “high stakes” test requirement to graduate. He said those are addressed by having three options for meeting the requirement in the bill.
The civics education bill was advanced by the House Education Committee earlier this month and is now referred to the House Finance Committee for consideration. It has not yet been scheduled.
Civics curriculum in SB 23 would include:
the founding history of the United States, including foundational documents and the principles of government of the United States;
federalism, including the role and operations of local, state, and national governments;
the institutions of the United States government, including the responsibilities of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches;
the rights and responsibilities of United States citizenship;
civil liberties and civil rights;
the Constitution of the State of Alaska and the Constitution of the United States;
political parties and interest groups;
campaigns and elections;
the United States Congress;
domestic policy;
foreign policy;
comparative systems of governments used globally and by Alaska Natives;
international relations; and
major issues facing local, state, and the United States governments.
Juneau residents pack Assembly Chambers to give public testimony on CBJ’s proposed Budget cuts, photo courtesy of CBJ.
NOTN-Residents packed a special Assembly meeting last night to oppose proposed cuts to city recreation facilities, warning that closures would damage public safety, youth development and the community’s quality of life.
“‘I’ve got some serious questions about the budget as proposed and how it actually balances livability.” Said one testifier, Brock.
The hearing focused on the city manager’s draft budget, which lists possible reductions to parks and recreation services, including the closure of one of Juneau’s two public pools, the Treadwell Ice Arena, and the Dimond Park Field House. City officials have emphasized the list is preliminary and intended for discussion, not a final set of cuts.
“Speaking in favor of the Juneau Douglas City Museum, my wife and I volunteer there, as do many, many other people, thousands of hours a year.” Said one testifier, Ed, “We provide a lot of information for visitors, capital tours, walking tours, the museum itself. When you lose a museum, you lose history. When you lose your history, you screw up the future.”
Speaker after speaker, including parents, children, seniors and former officials, urged the Assembly to keep the facilities open.
“‘Name me a better return on investment for the well being of Juneau than our pools in a community like ours, surrounded by water and defined by our connection to it. Access to safe, welcoming aquatic spaces is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Public Pools provide a place where people of all ages can come together, stay active and build community on any given day. Young children are being taught how to swim. Senior citizens are participating in low impact exercise. Athletes are using the gym. Parents like me are maintaining social connections. It is a shared space that strengthens the fabric of our town. For family, these pools are essential.” Said Connor, testifying in support of Parks and Rec.
Residents urged continued funding for the field house and ice arena, saying they are heavily used indoor venues that provide affordable recreation during long, dark winters.
“I’m here tonight as a social worker and advocate, and most importantly, a mother, because the people most affected by these proposed cuts are often the least able to attend in person late at night meetings.” Said Joanna, testifying on behalf of Parks and Recreation programs, “The proposed elimination of community services is not a minor budget adjustment. These are not luxuries. They are essential public infrastructure. What is most disappointing for me personally is not just the threat of cuts, but the lack of thoughtful understanding behind them.”
Some residents accused city leaders of, what they characterized as poor fiscal decisions, including spending on a new city hall and the troubled Eaglecrest gondola project.
“Mayor, City Manager, you’ve got to listen to the public. I was someone that worked for you that told the truth. I tried to go to a November assembly meeting. You made me leave.” Said KC Kregar, who has previously been trespassed from City Hall, according to a story by KTOO, he also came to discuss safety issues at Eaglecrest. “You’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a now dead gondola project. You spent millions of dollars of the community’s money not having a plan, and now you think this community is going to accept you taking away their recreational facilities.”
Some also warned that reductions to core services could drive working families away and erode trust in local government.
“Yes, our community faces some difficult decisions. But our solutions cannot be simply to take an ax to all the things that make this community wonderful.” Said Cheryl.
A few days prior to the special assembly meeting, Assembly member Nano Brooks posted to his Facebook with his own reduction proposals.
“It breaks my heart to see people pleading for recreation facilities. People are sad, people are scared and you all deserve better.” He wrote.
An assembly finance meeting took place directly following the swathes of public tesimony.
Members reviewed two lean budget options for Eaglecrest Ski Area, both designed to avoid another year of deficit spending.
At the Assembly’s request, the Eaglecrest Board and staff returned with a “bare minimum” budget built around the ski area’s traditional $930,000 general fund subsidy, and a separate, broader budget that would need about $1.68 million from the city but is the lowest level board members say can realistically support operations next winter.
Board members said the $930,000 option technically balances on paper but would cut staffing by 56%, trim operating days from about 86 to roughly 66, and shorten hours to 9 a.m.-3 p.m. all season and eliminate in‑house food service. Eaglecrest staff warned that would leave the mountain unable to reliably open lifts, respond to breakdowns or maintain safety.
Acting general manager Erin Lupro said the higher-subsidy plan still cuts staffing around 44% and keeps shortened hours, but preserves just enough capacity to run the hill, pursue a private food-and-beverage concession and continue long‑range planning the Assembly has requested.
In a split decision, the Finance Committee directed staff to calculate the cost of effectively mothballing Eaglecrest, which essentially means keeping facilities maintained but not operating, while leaving enough staff to plan for a future relaunch. Some members opposed even studying closure, but others said they need those numbers before deciding on any subsidy level.
“At some point, we’re going to be moving some stuff, we’ve got a long list for final decision.” Said Finance Chair Christine Woll, “I move that we direct somebody, and I would think this would be city staff and Eaglecrest staff, to work together to bring us back the cost for keeping Eagle Crest warm. When I hear that we can’t operate Eaglecrest at the same level of taxpayer funding that’s been going into Eaglecrest, I just have to know what the cost, if we were to not operate Eaglecrest, but maintain our infrastructure so that when a new plan for Eaglecrest arises, we can pick it back up. I think that will be expensive, but it’s hard for me to imagine justifying spending twice as many dollars of taxpayer support on Eaglecrest, given all of the feedback that we’ve gotten.”
No final decisions were made. Eaglecrest’s budget, along with youth grants and other items, remains on the committee’s pending list as the Assembly continues work on the fiscal 2027 budget.
