FILE - North America's tallest peak, on Aug. 12, 2025, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer,File)
FILE – North America’s tallest peak, on Aug. 12, 2025, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer,File)
AP- Rescuers are trying to reach four climbers who fell on Alaska’s Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest peak, the National Park Service said Thursday.
The climbers’ conditions weren’t immediately known following the fall, which was reported to Denali National Park and Preserve rangers overnight, and rangers were seeking a weather window to allow them to reach the area by helicopter, a statement from the agency said. The four climbers were part of a seven-person team.
The three others climbing attended to those who fell, and then returned to camp, the statement says. The fall occurred near Denali Pass, at about 18,200 feet (5,547 meters). The climbers returned to an area known as high camp around 17,000 feet (5,181 meters), the statement says. McKinley stands at about 20,310 feet (6,190 meters).
Park officials have been in contact with the three climbers, said Scott Carr, a park service spokesperson. He said additional information would be released “if and when it becomes appropriate.”
Over the years, many climbing injuries and deaths have occurred on the traverse between the high camp and Denali Pass, mainly resulting from unprotected falls, according to the park.
Park rangers and mountain guides install and maintain snow pickets — which are used to help build anchors for extra protection on areas like steep slopes — between the high camp and Denali Pass, the park says. Climbers are urged to have their own pickets in case the protection placed by rangers and guides is missing.
Weather conditions didn’t improve the way rescuers had hoped. Carr said late Thursday that conditions throughout the day had been variable, with low cloud ceilings and limited visibility, and that authorities were still awaiting an opportunity to safely fly.
“Helicopter operations will start when a weather window opens up,” he said.
A typical climbing season for Mount McKinley begins in late April and continues into mid-July, according to the park. There were 516 climbers on the mountain as of Thursday, Carr said by email.
On Wednesday, two climbers as part of a separate incident were evacuated from the mountain by helicopter around 11 p.m., but the park service said it did not have additional information to share.
Late-afternoon sunlight bathes the ConocoPhillips building in downtown Anchorage on March 10, 2026. A legal dispute over confidentiality of data from exploratory wells drilled by ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska came down to interpretations of the federal Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is seeking to release the information publicly, and an appeals court ruled in the state’s favor. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The state of Alaska has the right to make public data from exploration wells drilled by ConocoPhillips in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, an appeals court has ruled.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, issued Wednesday, overturns a 2023 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason that allowed well data to remain under wraps.
At issue is a collection of wells drilled in the reserve, which is federal territory. ConocoPhillips argued that data confidentiality is explicitly guaranteed in federal law and that federal law supersedes state law, but the appeals justices disagreed.
On the National Petroleum Reserve, “Alaska has its own authority to gather — and disclose — data collected from oil and gas exploration, authority that it exercised even before Congress opened the Reserve to private exploration,” the appeals court ruling said.
The Indiana-sized National Petroleum Reserve is of keen interest to energy companies. It is underlain by a formation called the Nanushuk, the source of oil for ConocoPhillips’ huge Willow project, which is under development, the Santos-operated Pikka project, which recently started production, and other prospects. A lease sale held in the reserve in March, the first since 2019, drew a record $163 million in high bids.
Under state law, data from exploratory oil and gas wells is to be disclosed publicly after those wells are completed. State law provides for a 24-month period of confidentiality, after which the AOGCC is to make the data publicly available, unless the Department of Natural Resources commissioner grants an exemption to keep the information confidential for a longer period.
After ConocoPhillips’ request for a DNR exemption was denied, the company in 2022 sued the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to keep the data confidential.
ConocoPhillips argued that the federal Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act expressly prevents the AOGCC and Gas Conservation Commission from disclosing data from the wells, which were drilled on federal leases.
Gleason’s March 8, 2023, ruling came to a slightly different conclusion that nonetheless backed ConocoPhillips. She found that the federal law implicitly protects data confidentiality, despite state law.
The appeals court judges agreed that the federal law has no explicit restriction on state release of well data, but they drew a different conclusion from that finding than Gleason did.
For the state, the appeals court ruling is a victory that is good for future development, Acting Attorney General Cori Mills said in a statement.
“Alaska relies heavily on our resources and resource development. We are also stewards of those resources for the citizens of Alaska. Alaska’s law both allows resource development now, and encourages further development and exploration in the future. We’re pleased that the Ninth Circuit recognized that federal law has not overridden Alaska’s balanced approach,” Mills said.
ConocoPhillips is still considering its next steps, a company spokesperson said. “ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. has received the court’s decision and is evaluating it. ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. has not decided on whether to appeal the decision,” company spokesperson Megan Olson said by email.
The well data that is the subject of the case remains confidential, according to court documents. Confidentiality has been maintained all the time that the court case has been active.
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, presides over the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday, May 18, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
Civics education would be included among graduation requirements for all Alaska high schoolers, under a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in the final hours of the legislative session last week.
The new requirement aims to bolster Alaska students’ knowledge and understanding of the U.S. government and civic responsibilities. It comes amid declining public trust in government, the bill’s sponsor, Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, told the Alaska Beacon last month.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, is seen ahead of a vote on the operating budget on May 7, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Students would have three options to choose from to complete the requirement: complete and pass a semester of civics curriculum, pass a civics exam or complete a civics project-based assessment.
Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 23 by a combined vote of 57 to 3. The bill now goes before Gov. Mike Dunleavy to sign, veto or allow it to pass into law without his signature.
Under the proposal, school districts would be able to develop civics curriculums based on open-access, no cost resources provided by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development across 14 areas of government and public affairs:
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 Native people;
international relations; and
major issues facing local, state and the United States governments.
The initiative comes at a time when the United States is seeing a growing public distrust in government and deepening political polarization. A survey last year by the non-partisan Pew Research Center found public distrust is at one of its lowest points in the nation’s history, with just 17% of respondents saying they trust the federal government to “do what is right.”
Stevens declined to comment on the bill passing the Legislature when asked at the Capitol on Wednesday. He said he would wait to comment after the governor’s decision on the bill. Lawmakers have passed 114 bills in this two-year legislative term. But Dunleavy has vetoed 12 bills so far and will consider dozens more in the next few weeks.
Lawmakers are in a high-stakes 30-day special session called by Dunleavy to discuss potential state property tax relief for the proposed Alaska LNG gas line project. The special session is expected to go to June 21.
Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, and Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, listen to Nick Fulford, senior director for gas, LNG and energy transition at GaffneyCline Energy Advisory, at a May 26, 2026, House Finanance Committee hearing in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The proposed trans-Alaska natural gas line faces a narrow road to profitability, even with Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed multibillion-dollar tax break, according to estimates presented to state legislators.
The more the pipeline costs, the more its builders will need to charge for gas shipped through it in order to make money. But if the cost of Alaska gas is too high, it isn’t competitive with gas from other sources around the world.
On Tuesday, members of the House Finance Committee met for the second time in a 30-day special session devoted to discussing the tax break.
Nick Fulford of GaffneyCline, the Legislature’s hired analyst for the pipeline project, said previously published financial modeling by the Alaska Department of Revenue remains the best public look at whether the project pencils out financially.
“The main question really is: How much bigger and how much more capital cost can the project support before it becomes uneconomic,” he said.
Nick Fulford, senior director for gas, LNG and energy transition at GaffneyCline Energy Advisory, speaks to the House Finance Committee at a May 26, 2026, hearing in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
In 2018, officials with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. suggested that building a pipeline from the North Slope to Cook Inlet — plus large industrial processing plants on either end — would cost roughly $43.4 billion, including money earmarked for possible cost overruns.
Since then, the official cost has risen only slightly, to $46.2 billion, but many state lawmakers have said they are skeptical of that figure, because it does not seem to account for inflation.
Glenfarne, a multinational corporation that now owns 75% of the pipeline project, has not disclosed an updated figure.
Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage, said that when she uses the Consumer Price Index to judge how much the cost has grown, it’s significant.
“When I look at cost adjustment, just using CPI, just a straight cut through, that brings us to $57 (billion) to $60 billion,” she said during Tuesday’s hearing.
“I would say it seems highly likely that it would be more than $46 billion given the general inflation that we’ve seen,” Fulford said.
Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage, poses a question to Nick Fulford, senior director for gas, LNG and energy transition at GaffneyCline Energy Advisory, at a May 26, 2026, House Finanance Committee hearing in Anchorage. Next to her is Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks. Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Publicly available estimates suggest gas could be bought from North Slope producers between $1 and $2 per thousand cubic feet. That’s what’s technically known as the “upstream price.”
In a scenario where the pipeline costs Galvin’s suggested figure, the state’s tax laws don’t change to help the project and the upstream price is $1.50 per thousand cubic feet of gas, the Department of Revenue estimates that an end buyer in Japan could expect to pay more than $11 per thousand cubic feet.
That’s likely a problem for the pipeline project, because according to GaffneyCline’s estimates, the average contract price in Japan over the past 10 years has been $10.41 per thousand cubic feet — less than what the Alaska project would have to charge to earn its expected profit target.
Under a tax change proposed by the governor, the end buyer’s price would drop to about $10.40, using Galvin’s cost estimate and the $1.50 upstream price.
But if the cost of upstream gas rises, or if the cost of the pipeline rises, even the governor’s proposed tax break isn’t enough to keep the project economically competitive.
Fulford, speaking to the House Finance Committee, said he thinks Asian LNG prices will rise in the coming years, possibly offsetting any rising costs and keeping the project viable.
But he also acknowledged that with so many unknowns, it’s not clear where the project becomes uneconomic.
“The question is … if the price of LNG goes up and if the capital cost goes up, then where’s that sort of tipping point where the project can still go ahead, even if it’s a much higher capital cost?” he said.
Under Dunleavy’s proposal, the state’s existing petroleum property tax would be largely replaced by a tax on gas that moves through the pipeline.
Speaking last week in Anchorage, Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval said the governor’s proposed change is necessary for Glenfarne to get financing for the project.
“It won’t be financeable in the form that we’re trying to do it without the tax stabilization law,” he told the Anchorage Daily News.
Legislators appear favorable to the general idea, but they don’t know what tax rate to use for the “alternative volumetric tax,” as it is formally known.
Dunleavy has proposed 6 cents per thousand cubic feet of gas. House and Senate lawmakers are each considering different, higher rates.
They’re also considering mandatory impact payments to compensate cities and boroughs that collectively would lose out on $14 billion in property taxes through 2063 if the governor’s plan is adopted. A mandatory natural gas spur line to Fairbanks is also being discussed. As currently planned, the pipeline runs to the west of Fairbanks.
Rep. Calvin Schrage, speaking Tuesday, said legislators are working with a large amount of uncertainty, and that is slowing their work.
“If we could eliminate some of these variables and have it known, it would really help us in figuring out where this might be going, but we don’t have that right now,” he said. “What this is ultimately showing is that under our current tax structure, there’s a very small window of break-even profitability for a developer.”
House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, stands to applaud the House pages, staff and clerks at the end of the 34th Legislative session on May 20, 2026. (Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
An Alaska Legislature defined by its conflicts with Gov. Mike Dunleavy came to an end at 9:43 p.m. Wednesday night as legislators officially adjourned their second regular session.
Lawmakers will return to work Thursday as they open a special session focused on the planned trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. As with other topics, the Legislature and the governor appear far apart on the issue.
“I would say farewell, except I get to see you at 10 a.m.,” said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, shortly before final adjournment.
Before adjourning, the 34th Alaska State Legislature passed a large, multi-part crime bill that raises the state’s age of consent and criminalizes the act of using AI to create child sexual abuse material. Lawmakers voted to ban foam food containers, named the giant cabbage the state vegetable, approved a fast lane through airport security and passed dozens of small bills that were priorities for local communities and individuals across Alaska.
Bills that fail to pass before adjournment die and must be reintroduced at the start of the next Legislature. Among this year’s casualties were a proposal to offer paid leave for new parents, a bill to stabilize public school budgets, a right-to-repair bill, and all of the proposed constitutional amendments.
This fall is an election year and many incumbents are retiring, which means that when lawmakers return next year, the House and Senate will include many new faces. They also will work with a new governor: Because of term limits, Dunleavy may not run for re-election.
The Alaska Legislature is the only one in the United States controlled by multipartisan coalitions in both the House and Senate.
“The Senate majority and the House majority have worked extremely well together. We’ve been on the same page through this entire two years,” said Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, Sens. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage are seen at a news conference after the Senate adjourned on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
In their two-year term, the 34th Legislature passed 111 bills, on par with the 33rd Legislature, which passed 101 bills, and the 32nd Legislature, which passed 112.
Of the 111 bills passed by the 34th Legislature, Dunleavy has vetoed 12, including one he vetoed less than three hours before lawmakers adjourned on Wednesday.
Dunleavy is vetoing bills at a higher rate than any governor since statehood. Though other governors have issued more vetoes, Dunleavy’s represent a higher proportion of the number of bills passed through the Capitol.
At the start of the 34th Legislature, the House and Senate majority coalitions set education funding as their top priority.
Last year, they voted to permanently increase the core of the state’s public school funding formula, putting themselves at odds with the governor and setting up a historic set of veto override votes with the help of some Republicans from the House and Senate minority caucuses.
This year, the majorities passed a significantly less ambitious package of education policy reforms but also approved $144 million in one-time bonus payments to public schools and millions more in funding for maintenance and construction projects across the state. Some of the bonus payments are contingent on oil prices remaining high through July 1.
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, thanks his staff and colleagues in remarks on the House floor acknowledging he will retire from the Legislature this year and not seek reelection on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
They were less successful with other stated priorities, including pension legislation. Alaska has been without a public pension program since 2006, and the 34th Legislature was the first since then to pass a bill creating a new pension plan.
The governor’s veto came after legislators failed to reach agreement with him on one of their other stated priorities, energy.
Dunleavy has urged lawmakers to cut the state’s petroleum property tax in order to incentivize the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. Building the pipeline, the governor has said, is critical for lowering energy prices and improving the state’s economy.
Many legislators are skeptical of those claims.
This week, Dunleavy and House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, had negotiated a deal in which the governor would allow the pension bill to become law if legislators approved a gas pipeline bill that aligned with his vision.
The Senate Majority also prioritized elections reform and passed a bill on the topic earlier this year, but Dunleavy vetoed it.
Legislators fell two votes short of an override because two Republican supporters flip-flopped and voted to sustain the governor’s choice. They had previously voted in favor of the bill.
“We passed the bills, and that’s all we can really get. It’s out of our hands at that point,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage.
The House Majority’s fourth priority was balancing the state’s budget, and while lawmakers successfully did so this year, the budget was balanced on the back of high oil prices caused by the Iran war, not because of a particular legislative action.
“In the beginning, we were worried about just keeping the (Permanent Fund dividend) alive and getting a balanced budget,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, “and talking about how long our (Constitutional Budget Reserve) is going to last. Then, within a period of a couple of months, things totally changed, and the revenue forecast jumped up.”
When oil prices recede, legislators expect the state will again face major budget deficits.
“Next year will be a very, very difficult session,” Wielechowski said.
In the meantime, the state treasury is reaping wartime rewards, and lawmakers were able to balance the budget without spending from savings.
“Folks, this is what we accomplished, and we accomplished it on time and under budget,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, as he presented the final version of the operating budget bill on the House floor.
Members of the Republican House minority criticized the adopted budget for not spending more wartime oil revenue on the dividend.
“My primary objection to this budget is that in FY26, the state is absolutely swimming in money,” said Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks.
“We should have waterfalled that extra money into the Permanent Fund dividend,” he said.
Both the operating budget and the capital budget are subject to the governor’s line-item veto powers. The governor can eliminate or reduce individual items, but he cannot add or increase them.
Kopp gave the majority coalition a “B” for its performance. Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, thought the majority coalition there warranted an “A,” while Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok, thought the Legislature overall merited a “B”.
The last day of the session saw several lawmakers offer their goodbyes, including some who had not previously announced their retirement.
“I am not planning on being back here for the 35th Alaska Legislature,” said Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River. Saddler has served for 12 nonconsecutive years in the House.
Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, tears up after an emotional speech announcing his retirement from the Legislature and declining to run for re-election, on the House floor at the conclusion of the 34th Legislature on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, is retiring after 14 years in the House and received multiple rounds of applause. Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, is leaving the House as well, but for a state Senate run rather than retirement.
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, has not announced plans to leave the House, but he has been repeatedly named as a possible replacement for Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel. Hoffman is retiring as the longest-serving state legislator in Alaska history.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak and the oldest member of the Legislature, is also retiring. The Legislature’s youngest member is also leaving — Rep. David Nelson, R-Anchorage, is getting married this summer.
After the final gavel fell, staff and legislators cheered and filed out of the chambers.
Within an hour, Saddler was leading a group of them in songs that echoed up and down the Capitol’s stairwell.
Corinne Smith contributed reporting from Juneau.
Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, serenades legislators and staff in the Capitol stairwell shortly after the 34th Legislature adjourned on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, speaks Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, speaks Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Legislature has approved a state driver’s license data-sharing bill that would allow some travelers to speed through security at airports in Alaska.
On Wednesday, the Alaska Senate voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 237, from Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks. Because the House voted to pass the bill 40-0 on Tuesday, the Senate’s vote sends the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for final approval or veto.
As originally drafted by Kawasaki, SB 237 would have only allowed the state Division of Motor Vehicles to share driver’s license information with “a nonprofit organization, governmental, or tribal entity.”
Alaska is the only state that does not allow residents to get a replacement card online.
In the House, Rep. Steve St. Clair, R-Wasilla, proposed an amendment that would allow the state to share driver’s license data with “an entity participating in the Transportation Security Administration’s Registered Traveler Programs.”
That includes CLEAR, a for-profit company that offers fast-lane service at airport security checkpoints across the country.
“There’s actually a contract between CLEAR and the (Anchorage) airport right now, they just can’t do anything or share data until we pass legislation saying that they can,” St. Clair said.
House lawmakers approved that amendment unanimously.
At the urging of Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, lawmakers also amended the bill with a section that will allow Alaskans to store digital copies of their driver’s licenses on their smartphones.
If a police officer performs a traffic stop, that digital copy would be valid ID.
That amendment was originally a separate bill, House Bill 180, from the Office of the Governor.
“For anyone who lives their life on their phone, this would be a wonderful convenience that the administration would like to offer,” Gray said.
That amendment passed the House by a 38-2 vote, and SB 237 proceeded toward a final vote in the Legislature without opposition.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, talks with Senate staff before resuming work on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, talks with Senate staff before resuming work on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
A vote pending on the last day of the Alaska Legislature’s regular session could end up canceling a long-planned ballot measure that would restrict financial donations to political candidates in the state.
Late Tuesday night, the Alaska Senate voted 12-8 to approve House Bill 16, which would impose limits on the amount of money that individuals and groups can donate to political candidates.
That action sends the bill to the House for a simple up-or-down concurrence vote. Success would send it to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for enactment or veto.
HB 16 is substantially similar to a ballot measure scheduled for a vote during the August primary election. Under the Alaska Constitution, if lawmakers enact a substantially similar law to a ballot measure scheduled for a vote, the ballot measure vote is canceled.
Both methods would change state law, but there’s one key difference: A ballot measure cannot be repealed for two years after voters approve it. A law may be repealed the following year if legislators and the governor approve.
In 2018, a scheduled ballot measure dealing with legislators’ conflicts of interest was removed from the ballot after legislators passed a substantially similar law. In 2019, they rolled back that law.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, arranged Tuesday night’s vote on HB 16. He has previously sought to impose campaign finance limits.
“I think (the ballot measure) is going to pass overwhelmingly, and this would save a little bit of money,” he said of the decision to advance HB 16.
State law requires ballot measure information be published in a pamphlet that is sent to voters. In addition, the Division of Elections is required to hold in-person presentations at locations across the state to explain each ballot measure.
Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, helped orchestrate the ballot measure and House Bill 16.
Late Tuesday, he said he was surprised by the Senate’s action and was not informed until shortly before it took place.
“To see them pass it relatively unchanged was quite surprising, and a pleasant surprise,” he said, noting that he and his colleagues have been seeking new campaign finance limits in Alaska for five years.
In 2021, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Alaska’s then-existing campaign finance limits were unconstitutional.
The Alaska Department of Law declined to appeal that ruling. Speaking to reporter Nat Herz months later, Dunleavy said, “You know me: I’m the guy that wants people to be able to drive four wheelers on the road. I’m a freedom guy,” he said. “My tendency is to just let people do what they want in campaign finance law, as long as it’s disclosed and it’s accurate.”
As a result, the state’s 2022, 2024 and 2026 elections have operated with no restrictions on the amount of money a person can give to a candidate.
“We took it up last year, and there just wasn’t the support to do it at that time,” Wielechowski said.
What changed?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, people just — honestly, it just kind of got buried in everything else, and just going through bills, we saw it was there, and we said, ‘Well, I have a chance to maybe take it off the ballot and pass it.’”
Neither Wielechowski or Schrage have talked to Dunleavy about whether he would veto the measure or allow it to become law.
If HB 16 becomes law, or if the proposed ballot measure is adopted by voters, new limits would be in place for the 2028 election.
The new individual limits would be $2,000 in donations per candidate in each two-year election cycle. For the governor’s race, where a lieutenant governor candidate and governor candidate run together on a single ticket, the limit would be $4,000. The limit for donations from one person to a political party or group would be $5,000.
If a group wants to donate to a candidate, the limit is $4,000, or $8,000 for the governor’s race.
Those limits would be adjusted for inflation every 10 years.
Schrage said he’s open to either HB 16 or the ballot measure.
“It is very widely popular, and so — one way or another, I just want to see this taken and taken up and put back into law,” he said.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak (left) and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, watch the voting board in the Alaska Legislature as lawmakers vote on a veto override Tuesday, May 19, 2026, for the pension bill, House Bill 78. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak (left) and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, watch the voting board in the Alaska Legislature as lawmakers vote on a veto override Tuesday, May 19, 2026, for the pension bill, House Bill 78. (Claire Stremple photo/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska’s public employees and public school teachers will not have access to pensions this year.
In a 33-27 vote Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a bill that would have created a new pension system for teachers, municipal employees and state employees in Alaska. Forty votes were needed for an override.
The failure was expected. Lawmakers had passed the pension bill, House Bill 78, by a combined vote total of 33-27 last month, and there was no sign that any legislator had changed his or her position since that vote.
Alaska has been without a pension for new public employees since 2006, when lawmakers closed the existing pension plan to new applicants and mandated a 401(k)-style retirement system.
Though Dunleavy himself receives a public pension, he is opposed to opening a new system for current employees. In a veto message to lawmakers on Monday night, he expressed concerns about potential long-term costs and risks to the state.
“Pension obligations extend for decades, and the full cost of this bill may not be apparent until years after its enactment,” his veto message stated in part.
Despite the governor’s concerns, he was willing to allow the bill to become law as part of a grand compromise: If legislators approved a gas pipeline tax relief bill he supports, he would not veto the bill.
That arrangement fell apart on Monday afternoon after the House failed to advance the governor’s preferred proposal. The governor issued his veto about 10:39 p.m. that night.
Under the Alaska Legislature’s current interpretation of the state constitution, lawmakers are required to meet in joint session within five days to consider a veto override.
Under previous interpretations, legislators frequently skipped holding joint sessions if they either didn’t want to discuss an override or knew they lacked the votes to do so.
On Tuesday afternoon, though legislators knew an override was not in the cards, advocates and opponents spoke for a combined two hours before the final vote.
Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, speaks during a joint session of the Alaska Legislature as lawmakers vote on a veto override Tuesday, May 19, 2026, for the pension bill, House Bill 78. (Claire Stremple photo/Alaska Beacon)
Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the pension bill’s most vocal proponent, said the bill is intended to reduce the amount of staff turnover in the state. While the bill was expected to cost $73 million per year to implement, Kopp expected it would save over $240 million in training costs for new employees and overtime needed to cover positions left vacant by staff who had resigned.
“House Bill 78 is not a retirement bill. … It is a workforce bill, and it’s a resource development bill. We cannot build a gasline through this state unless we can retain our engineers. We cannot permit a mine when the permitting office turns over in 18 months. We can’t drill on the North Slope when the Haul Road isn’t being maintained,” he said.
Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, gave a 25-minute speech rejecting Kopp’s argument, saying in part that the lack of a pension system is not causing the vacancy problem. If the state’s Supplemental Benefit System — not used by some municipalities — is included with the state’s 401(k)-like public employee retirement system, Alaska has generous retirement benefits, he said.
Stedman suggested that higher salaries may be part of the answer to the state’s vacancy issues. Alaska used to be No. 1 in the country for teacher salaries. It’s now ranked below Washington state, he said.
Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, said that in his experience as an employer, higher salaries helped but weren’t a complete solution.
“That still didn’t solve the problem of retention, because people still cannot live in our communities affordably, so we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us,” he said.
Stedman also warned that the bill is based upon actuarial estimates that may or may not be accurate. The state’s prior pension plan was left only partially funded because of an actuarial error that led to a years-long lawsuit and left a multibillion-dollar shortfall.
Sens. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, and Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, each suggested that the proof of the need for the bill is in the state’s lived experience. Alaska has experienced 13 consecutive years of negative migration, and state and municipal governments continue to struggle to fill positions.
“This will make a tremendous difference if we override this veto and put back the option of a modest defined benefit pension for Alaska’s public servants,” Kiehl said.
The legislature’s regular session ends Wednesday night.
Any new pension bill would have to restart from scratch in January, when the 35th Alaska Legislature convenes for its first year.
Rep. Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage, listens to a speaker at a March 12, 2025, hearing of the House Labor and Commerce Committee, which she co-chairs. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
New parents in Alaska would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of state-paid leave starting in 2030 under a bill approved Saturday by the Alaska House of Representatives.
If signed into law, House Bill 193 would require the state to pay certain working parents up to $524 per week for up to 12 weeks starting in 2030 after a birth or adoption in the state.
Money for the benefit would come from the state’s existing unemployment insurance fund.
Despite widespread support in the House, the bill on Monday appeared unlikely to pass through the Capitol before the end of the regular legislative session on Wednesday. An initial hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, necessary before a vote in the Senate, was canceled as lawmakers instead devoted their time to a proposed tax break for the planned trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
“I cannot stress the importance of creating a paid parental leave program for Alaskans. It is a massive step in the right direction and a tremendous opportunity for our working families in Alaska,” said Rep. Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage and the bill’s sponsor.
The bill would also increase the state’s maximum unemployment benefit from $370 to $524 per week starting in 2028 and adjust the figure for inflation afterward. Money from the state’s unemployment tax would also be designated for vocational training.
The bill does not increase the unemployment tax to pay for these changes — fund administrators say the unemployment fund is currently overfunded and can support the changes through at least 2040.
The Alaska House of Representatives voted 36-4 on Saturday to approve HB 193 and send it to the Senate for consideration.
Hall, speaking before the House passed the bill, said “a number of compromises” were needed to pass the bill.
“A previous version of the bill had up to 26 weeks of paid leave contemplated. And as a conservative measure, that was reduced down to between eight and 12 weeks,” Hall said. “We also reduced the weekly benefit in a previous version of this bill. The weekly benefit was going to be $817 a week. That has now been reduced to $524 a week. And that applies for (unemployment insurance) and for paid parental leave,” Hall said.
Supporters said the bill is necessary to make Alaska an attractive place for young workers and parents to live.
Though the parental benefits envisioned in Alaska are far less than those in other states and other developed countries, legislators said they still represented a step forward.
“We’ll never be Norway. … we’re not going to give three years’ salary to both parents so that they can stay with that child and give them the nurturing that they need. But we are going to give this little bit,” said Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage.
If HB 193 is adopted, parental leave would be available to workers who have been at their employer for at least 13 weeks. Seasonal employees would not be eligible. Parents would have to use the leave before their child turns one year old, or within one year of an adoption.
Foster parents would not be eligible for the benefit, and benefits do not stack — if an employer offers something similar or better, the worker could not receive the state benefit.
The number of weeks of parental leave would be subject to the amount of money available in the parental leave fund. The state could offer as few as eight weeks or as many as 12.
Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River voted against the bill, saying the state “would be better served pushing for a voluntary framework: Tax incentives for employers who offer leave or a much narrower and fiscally bounded program, rather than this broad expansion of the state’s payroll tax and benefit apparatus.”
Rep. Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen and another opponent, said she believes the leave plan will burden small businesses.
Rep. Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage, voted in favor of the bill. She said she remembers having to go back to work within three weeks of having a child.
“I cried all the way there and all the way back,” she said.
“Maybe (the benefits are) not as long as other states’, but I think this is a step in the right direction,” Coulombe said.
At left, House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, talks with experts on the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline during a break in debates Monday, May 18, 2026. To Kopp's immediate right is Joelle Hall of the Alaska AFL-CIO. At center, gesturing, is former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, now an adviser to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
At left, House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, talks with experts on the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline during a break in debates Monday, May 18, 2026. To Kopp’s immediate right is Joelle Hall of the Alaska AFL-CIO. At center, gesturing, is former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, now an adviser to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
A high-stakes quid pro quo deal fell apart in the Alaska Capitol on Monday as legislators failed to approve a tax break for the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline and Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would have restored public pensions in the state.
The failure leaves public employees with a 401(k)-like retirement system and legislators likely to head into a special session for further work on a gas pipeline bill.
Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the Legislature’s lead negotiator on the planned deal, said on Monday night that “the pension was a good vehicle to help get people there and be more conciliatory towards this gasline legislation than they otherwise would have been. Now that the governor has vetoed the pension, I expect the conciliatory attitudes will suffer.”
Monday was the deadline for Dunleavy to enact or veto House Bill 78, which would have created a new pension plan for Alaska’s public employees. Alaska has not offered a pension since 2006, when lawmakers closed the pension plan to new employees after an actuarial error led to significant underfunding.
Days ahead of Monday’s veto deadline, Dunleavy offered a deal to legislators — pass a tax break for the proposed gas pipeline, and he would allow the pension bill to become law.
“We said we wanted the gasline bill passed in an acceptable form to the governor’s desk before the deadline on the (defined benefit) bill,” said Jeff Turner, the governor’s communications director. “At that point, he could allow a (defined benefit) bill to go into law.”
Dunleavy told reporters at a news conference earlier this month that the gas pipeline bill should be the Legislature’s top priority.
In March, he introduced two identical bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, with his ideas. Legislators have since held dozens of hearings on those ideas.
If enacted, the governor’s proposal would largely exempt the gas pipeline and supporting infrastructure from state and local property taxes levied on petroleum property. In place of the property tax, the state would levy a tax on gas transported by the pipeline.
The pipeline’s lead developer, multinational firm Glenfarne, has said the change is necessary for it to successfully obtain financing needed to build the pipeline project.
Alaska LNG, as it is known, would ship gas through an 800-mile pipeline, from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska. As currently planned, the first phase of the project would deliver gas to Alaskans in 2029 and the second phase would allow foreign exports by 2031.
While state legislators generally support the idea of a pipeline, they have balked at the governor’s planned tax breaks, particularly because Glenfarne has thus far declined to provide new estimates for the cost of construction or its expected cost of gas when the pipeline is complete.
That has made it impossible for them to determine whether the proposed tax break is too large, too small, or just right.
Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, speaks Monday, May 18, 2026, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
House and Senate each took the governor’s ideas and amended them. Both increased the proposed gas tax — formally known as an “alternative volumetric tax” — mandated construction of a spur line to Fairbanks and required Glenfarne provide early payments to communities affected by pipeline construction.
Senators went further, proposing price controls on gas shipped through the pipeline to Alaskans, an end to a tax exemption that would benefit Glenfarne, and small increases to the state’s oil taxes.
With both bills far from completion, Kopp began negotiating with the governor’s office on a possible compromise.
Kopp has been supporting a pension revival for a decade, and sought a deal that would accomplish two personal goals that also are among the legislative majorities’ top priorities.
On Monday, after days of work, he introduced a compromise gas pipeline proposal as an amendment to Senate Bill 180. That bill was originally written as a one-sentence change to state law pertaining to liquefied natural gas import terminals.
Kopp’s amendment, 22 pages long, was adopted, and House lawmakers began debating, one after another, hours of amendments to Kopp’s amendment.
In the back of the House chambers, advisers to the governor — who have been working closely with Glenfarne — provided feedback on whether each amendment was acceptable.
From left to right, Reps. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, Neal Foster, D-Nome, and Robyn Niayuq Frier, D-Utqiagvik, talk about an amendment to the gas pipeline bill on Monday, May 18, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
One amendment from Rep. Robyn Niayuq Frier, D-Utqiagvik, derailed that process. Adopted on a 21-19 vote by the House, it would allow the North Slope Borough to negotiate directly with Glenfarne on taxes.
Frier represents the North Slope Borough, and because the project’s large gas treatment plant would be located there, the borough would lose a disproportionate amount of tax revenue with a switch from property taxes to the alternative volumetric tax.
“The amendment was completely necessary,” Frier said afterward, explaining that the borough had been asking for it.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough, planned site of the export terminal, accepted the alternative tax, and lawmakers from that region did not propose amendments similar to Frier’s.
Frier said North Slope officials talked with all of the stakeholders, with the governor’s office and Glenfarne.
“We always knew this was going to be an issue, and I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. They could have been negotiating. They should have been negotiating,” she said.
Frier said that rather than try to push through a major bill in a single day, she would like to see lawmakers focus on House Bill 381, the House’s gasline bill, in a 30-day special session.
“We need to do the proper vetting, we need the modeling, we need it to go through the Department of Revenue. … We need people to weigh in, not trying to shove this in at the last minute. This is not good process,” she said.
Lawmakers in favor of Kopp’s compromise were unable to quickly reverse Frier’s amendment, and the Senate adjourned shortly after 10 p.m., leaving no avenue for Kopp’s amendment to pass through the Capitol on Monday.
Kopp said afterward that he had negotiated a deal to sidestep Frier’s amendment, but with the Senate adjourned until after the window to veto the pension bill, he said the governor was uninterested.
“He feels like the outcome has to be 100% controlled. … The House was in position to send over a good gasline bill. The governor simply did not care, because he had to have it in the bag. To me, that’s disappointing, and to me that was very shortsighted,” Kopp said.
With the deal dead, the House adjourned for the day just after 10:30 p.m. The governor’s veto message arrived in the House clerk’s office shortly afterward, at 10:39 p.m.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s legislative director, Jordan Shilling (left) and his deputy legislative director, Forrest Wolfe, watch as assistant legislative director Victoria Schoenheit delivers the veto message for House Bill 78 to the House clerk on Monday, May 18, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
“I share the Legislature’s goal of strengthening recruitment and retention for Alaska’s public workforce,” the governor said in his veto message. “However, House Bill 78 contains unresolved legal, tax, administrative, and fiscal issues that create uncertainty for the State, employers, employees, and the retirement systems themselves.”
Kopp, visibly frustrated, sat in his office after the House’s adjournment.
“He has no allies in the Senate that can help him on the gasline. I was his No. 1 ally in the entire Legislature,” Kopp said, “and he killed the pension bill that I carried. That was his thank you to me. So, I’ll remember that.”
