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Alaska National Guard says planned deployment to Washington DC pushed to May

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Members of the Alaska Organized Militia board an Alaska Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter, assigned to the 207th Aviation Troop Command, while traveling from Bethel to Tuntutuliak, Alaska, during storm response operations after Typhoon Halong on Oct. 23, 2025. (Courtesy photo)

Officials with the Alaska National Guard said plans to deploy a trained rapid response force this month to support federal authorities in Washington D.C. has been pushed back to May. 

Gov. Mike Dunleavy in November approved the U.S. Secretary of the Army’s request for 100 service members to deploy to the nation’s capital as part of a joint federal task force this month. The effort is part of a national directive by the Pentagon to all 50 states to prepare National Guard service members to train for “civil disturbance operations.”

By email on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Alaska National Guard said the timeline has been extended.

“The Alaska National Guard remains in contact with the Pentagon, through the National Guard Bureau, and continues to move through the established processes to support Joint Task Force-District of Columbia,” said Dana Rosso, a public affairs officer with the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which houses the Army and Air National Guard divisions. 

“The current activation timeline has been refined to May 2026,” he wrote. 

As of January, there were roughly 2,700 National Guard members stationed in Washington D.C., which the Trump administration has said is to help drive down crime. Service members are expected to be stationed there through the end of the year. On Tuesday, an additional District of Columbia Army National Guard brigade was activated “to coordinate military support to civil authorities and protect critical infrastructure in the nation’s capital.”

A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office declined to comment on the extended timeline on Wednesday.

Torrence Saxe, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, speaks at an Oct. 13, 2015, news conference about the impacts of Typhoon Halong's to Western Alaska and the response there. Behind him and also speaking at the news conference, which was held at Gov. Mike Dunleavy's Anchorage office, is National Weather Service meterologist David Kramer, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic Commanding Officer Captain Christopher Culpepper and Ryan Anderson, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Torrence Saxe, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, speaks at an Oct. 13, 2015, news conference about the impacts of Typhoon Halong’s to Western Alaska and the response there. Behind him and also speaking at the news conference, which was held at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Anchorage office, is National Weather Service meterologist David Kramer, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic Commanding Officer Captain Christopher Culpepper and Ryan Anderson, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

At the time the request was announced, Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said in a letter to lawmakers that 100 service members were in training for the mission to be “aligned with nation-level requirements.”

“The team will consist of Alaska Army and Air National Guard personnel trained in mission sets that may include site security, roadblocks and checkpoints, civil disturbance control, critical infrastructure protection, and personnel security,” Saxe wrote.  

But the process for how the deployment was requested and approved still isn’t clear.

Dunleavy’s office could not find a copy of the U.S. Secretary of Defense that requested the deployment, a spokesperson for the governor’s office said Wednesday. When asked if the request was made verbally, Jeff Turner, Dunleavy’s director of communications, referred the question back to the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.  

The division did not answer a request for comment on Wednesday. 

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the Joint Armed Services Committee, is a veteran of the Alaska National Guard and was among lawmakers that raised concerns in November when the announcement was made. He questioned the legality of the directive in an interview on Wednesday.

“Until they get something in writing, then there’s no actual deployment to prepare for,” Gray said.

“I think it’s a big misuse of the American taxpayer dollar to fly any soldiers from Alaska to D.C. for what we know is a trash pickup mission in many ways, and it’s a waste,” he added. “It’s just a waste of taxpayer dollars. So I hope that it continues to get pushed off indefinitely and that it never happens.”

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Alaska Senate approves fast-track budget bill to cover disasters, transportation projects

The Alaska State Capitol is seen on Monday, March 9, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

The Alaska State Capitol is seen on Monday, March 9, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to spend more than $300 million from savings and reverse some of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s most recent budget vetoes.

In a pair of 20-0 votes, the Senate approved a bill that would spend $373.5 million from the Constitutional Budget Reserve to pay for a variety of expenses and fill a deficit in the current budget year. 

“This is money to fund the budget that was passed last year for things that the governor already spent on,” said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage.

The bill now goes to the House, which failed last month to approve the needed spending from the budget reserve.

Among the expenses in the new supplemental budget bill is $70.2 million needed to unlock federal transportation grants. Dunleavy vetoed that funding last year amid a dispute with the Legislature about the proper source of the money. 

Also in the bill is $98.7 million for the state’s wildfire response fund and up to $75 million for the disaster relief fund. That latter figure is dependent upon negotiations with the federal government about who will pay for the response after ex-Typhoon Halong devastated southwest Alaska last year.

The largest single item in the bill is $129.6 million needed to refill the state’s higher education investment fund, which was used to cover expenses due to a separate veto-involved dispute between the Legislature and governor.

That fund covers scholarships paid to Alaska high school students who meet academic standards and attend in-state schools.

The Senate-passed bill is significantly smaller than a $531 million version that had been previously considered. It shrank at the urging of the Senate’s six-person, all-Republican minority caucus.

It takes three-quarters of the House and three-quarters of the Senate — 30 Representatives and 15 senators, respectively — to spend from the budget reserve. 

That’s a high hurdle, particularly because the Senate’s bipartisan majority caucus has just 14 members and the House’s multipartisan majority has just 21 members.

In both cases, compromises with the all-Republican House and Senate majorities are needed to spend from the reserve.

On Monday, the Senate pulled the supplemental budget bill from its schedule with no advance notice. Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, said at the time that the Senate Majority had unexpectedly lost a minority vote it needed to spend from the reserve.

That spurred hours of closed-doors negotiations between the Senate minority and members of the majority.

Since the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on Feb. 28, the price of oil — and, in turn, Alaska’s potential oil revenue — has risen, giving legislators another way to erase a looming deficit.

“We went over and talked with (the Senate Finance Committee) co-chairs and just said, ‘Hey, obviously, the price of oil is changing,’” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok. 

At the minority’s urging, the co-chairs removed almost $150 million from the bill — extra spending for state prisons, money for Medicaid, and millions in backup “headroom” for unforeseen expenses, among other items.

Cronk said the items removed during the compromise discussions could come back later, in the state’s regular budget bill, and the goal was to create “a real supplemental fast track” bill.

According to figures provided by staff for Hoffman, if Alaska North Slope oil prices average roughly $75 per barrel between now and June 30, the end of the state’s fiscal year, the state will earn enough oil revenue to pay for the removed items without spending from savings.

Since the start of the legislative session, construction companies have been lobbying for quick passage of a supplemental budget bill because they fear losing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of federally funded construction projects scheduled to take place as soon as this summer. 

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has disputed the need for early funding, and on Wednesday, Sen. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, attempted to strike that item from the supplemental budget.

He withdrew his proposed amendment after encountering opposition, saying he was satisfied with the smaller bill on the floor.

“We’ve come down a long way from $500 million,” he said.

After the Senate voted on Wednesday morning, members of the House majority attempted to call a vote to confirm the Senate’s changes. 

Members of the House minority objected, and the vote is now scheduled later, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, said members of the minority wanted to wait until Friday, when a new state revenue forecast is expected.

“We’re talking about a $300 million draw. We may not need to take that full amount out of savings when we have money coming in,” she said, referring to the way the price of oil has surged during the Iran war.

Asked whether the new, lower draw from the reserve is more acceptable to members of the minority, Johnson said she wasn’t sure yet.

“There’s probably a number that’s better than others, but I mean, as low as possible is our number,” she said.

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Alaska’s Congressional delegation votes to support American-Israeli war with Iran

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

 A plume of smoke rises after an explosion on Feb. 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Getty photo)

All three members of Alaska’s delegation to Congress showed their support for the new war with Iran last week, voting against resolutions intended to restrain President Donald Trump.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, voted against a measure in the Senate on Wednesday, and Rep. Nick Begich III, also a Republican, voted against a similar House resolution on Thursday.

Both resolutions failed to advance. 

The Alaska legislators’ votes were in line with their past actions. Last year, when Trump ordered a bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities, all three said they supported the strikes.

The current war is significantly larger than last year’s attacks, and Trump has said he is seeking Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and wants to have a role in picking its next leader.

Neither he nor senior administration officials have given firm long-term plans, and they have not ruled out the deployment of soldiers on the ground in Iran. 

Begich issued a statement on Feb. 28 calling the war “a necessary and targeted response” and said he supports regime change in the country.

“The path forward cannot be centered on further appeasement but the removal of this corrupt, fanatical leadership that has brought suffering to the Iranian people and threatens our peace at home. In so doing, we can provide the people of Iran the opportunity to change leadership, reclaim their sovereignty, and chart a new course,” the statement said in part.

Begich is in the middle of a re-election campaign, and his two leading challengers issued statements opposing the war.

By email, Democratic U.S. House candidate Matt Schultz criticized Begich’s vote and suggested he would have chosen differently.

“Our tax dollars should build schools and hospitals here at home, not bankroll endless foreign wars. But Washington always seems to find billions for war while Alaskans pay the price with sky-high costs and watch investments in our future get delayed, downsized, or ignored,” he said.

“The cost of war isn’t just dollars and cents, it’s measured in human lives and suffering. As a pastor, I believe every life is sacred. That’s why the Constitution requires Congress to approve war: so no president can send Americans into conflict without a real plan and the support of the American people.”

A spokesperson for independent U.S. House candidate Bill Hill referenced that candidate’s posts on social media when asked about his position.

“Our leaders should be investing in lowering costs and making life better for working Americans, not putting American lives at risk in foreign wars without congressional approval,” Hill wrote in a Wednesday post on Facebook. 

“Six U.S. service members have died and billions of dollars have been spent in a matter of days.  Meanwhile here at home, our schools are in crisis, healthcare costs keep rising, veterans are at risk of losing benefits, and everyday costs are just too damn high,” he wrote. “We can’t afford a costly war with no end in sight.”

On the Senate side, Murkowski said the resolution presented to her this week would have required the removal of soldiers from hostilities, stopping military operations immediately.

“The abrupt cessation of all offensive operations would not leave any Americans — soldiers, diplomats, or civilians — in the Middle East in a safer position,” her statement said in part.

Murkowski said Trump has “committed U.S. troops to active engagement in combat with an enemy that has targeted and killed Americans for decades. We have lost six soldiers in this fight with the potential for more casualties. What our troops need now is for our Congress, and this country, to know that they are supported. It is for this reason that I oppose Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution — based on the practical implications of its passage.”

Sullivan has supported military action against Iran for years and told reporters on Feb. 28, “I’m not someone that, in general, would support kind of taking out world leaders,” he said. “But I think these guys, … my belief is that they’re less world leaders than terrorists, right?”

He reiterated his position during a Congressional hearing days later, alluding to Iranian support for anti-American insurgents during the Iraq War and in terrorist actions before that.

“This country’s been at war with us for almost a half century,” he said, referring to Iran, “and they’ve killed thousands and wounded thousands of our best and brightest.”

Sullivan is also facing a re-election campaign this year, but unlike on the House side, there isn’t a bright line between the incumbent and his leading opponent on this issue. 

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola hasn’t made any public statements about the Iran war, and her campaign social media accounts have been silent on the subject.

When contacted Thursday, her campaign spokesperson said she had no comment. 

That makes it unclear whether she supports or opposes the war.

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Alaska officials stonewall state legislators on justification for handing voter data to feds

Brian Jackson, elections program manager for the Alaska Division of Elections, holds an SD card containing results from Alaska's Aug. 16, 2022 state primary. The cards and paper ballots from the primary are shipped to state elections headquarters in Juneau after the election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

Brian Jackson, elections program manager for the Alaska Division of Elections, holds an SD card containing results from Alaska’s Aug. 16, 2022 state primary. The cards and paper ballots from the primary are shipped to state elections headquarters in Juneau after the election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

The head of the Alaska Division of Elections will not share legal advice that led to the state’s decision to send an extended voter list to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Director Carol Beecher told state senators Wednesday that she will not waive attorney-client privilege as state lawmakers examine last year’s decision to give the Trump administration a detailed list of Alaska voters.

Alaska is one of only two states — Texas is the other — to hand over the data since the administration asked all 50 states last year. Ten others have said they plan to comply, according to records kept by the Brennan Center, a critic of the administration’s request.

Alaska and Texas are also the only states to have signed a memorandum of understanding that would allow the Department of Justice to pick individual voters for eventual removal from state lists of eligible voters.

Neither elections officials nor the Alaska Department of Law have explained why the state voluntarily complied with the request and signed the memo, or how compliance fits within the Alaska Constitution’s right to privacy.

Last week, Idaho became the latest state to reject the Department of Justice’s request for voter information, joining dozens of others.

That state’s Secretary of State said in a letter to federal officials that filings in a lawsuit showed that the department had shared sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, with “unauthorized persons,” and as a result, he could not guarantee that Idahoans’ identities would be safe.

In a pair of legislative hearings this week, Alaska lawmakers were unable to learn why Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Beecher, and the Alaska Department of Law reached a different conclusion.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, grilled Beecher during a Wednesday hearing, pressing her to release the legal advice she received before the Division of Elections turned over its voter list.

“This is an issue of grave concern for hundreds of thousands of Alaskans, and you have the ability to provide us with those documents. You have the ability to waive any potential privilege. Would you be willing to do that?” he asked.

“At this point, I am not willing to waive that privilege,” she said. 

Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, asked Beecher whether the department made a mistake by sharing the voter data and signing the memo that would allow the federal government to single out individual Alaskans.

“I do not, at this juncture, believe that the division made a mistake in signing the MOU,” she said.

This week’s toughest questions came from Democratic lawmakers. Beecher and Dahlstrom are both Republicans, and Dahlstrom is also a candidate for governor in this fall’s elections.

Republican lawmakers were generally silent in this week’s hearings. 

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was “in an awkward position” and reached out to a variety of experts in an attempt to avoid bias in a hearing he held on Monday.

During that hearing, Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, said he sees the state’s compliance as something like following the speed limit.

“When the federal government makes a law, we’re expected to follow it … it’s the federal government’s job, through whomever, to ensure that law is followed, and from what I understand, the federal government was merely attempting to make sure that Alaska followed the National Voter Registration Act,” he said.

The information transmitted to the Department of Justice goes beyond the publicly available voter information purchasable from the Division of Elections for $20. 

It contains personally identifying information, such as birthdates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

In a legal analysis performed last month, legislative attorneys called the DOJ’s request “unprecedented” and said the division’s handover would be legal only if the federal government requested the information “in compliance with federal law” and used “the information only for governmental purposes authorized under law.”

As of Wednesday, three separate federal judges — in Oregon, California and Michigan — have ruled that the federal government’s request is not in compliance with federal law. 

Of the 48 states and the District of Columbia that have been asked for their voter lists, 29 and DC are fighting the federal government in court. The federal government has won none of those cases to date.

Legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire said he is also unaware of any federal law that allows the federal government to single out individual voters for removal from voter lists, as the MOU states.

On Wednesday, Beecher said the Department of Justice has not yet requested that any voters be removed from Alaska’s list. In addition, Dahlstrom said in December that the state would comply with the MOU only if the federal government’s actions are legal.

But with the Alaska Department of Law and the Division of Elections stonewalling legislators, it isn’t clear what the state considers a legal request. 

In September, the Justice Department told Stateline that it is sharing the voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, and the Trump administration has previously said it intends to input the voter lists into a nationwide registry to look for noncitizens.

The DHS tool for that effort has repeatedly flagged citizens in error, ProPublica reported last month.

Speaking to legislators this week, former Alaska attorney general Bruce Botelho advised lawmakers to continue searching for the legal advice given to elections officials by the Alaska Department of Law.

He also suggested that legislators consider filing a lawsuit to have the agreement with the Department of Justice declared illegal.

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Alaska Supreme Court considers limits of executive and legislative power, including on abortion

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

In this screenshot from Gavel Alaska, Alaska Supreme Court Justice Aimee Oravec speaks during a hearing on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Screenshot)

For years, politically conservative members of the Alaska Legislature have attempted to restrict state-paid abortion care via language in the annual state budget.

That maneuver and similar actions could be ruled unconstitutional by the Alaska Supreme Court, which on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a lawsuit that may determine the limits of the Alaska Constitution’s confinement clause, which requires that budget bills be limited to spending and not include policy changes.

At issue in the case is a budgetary maneuver twice adopted by the Legislature in an attempt to partially de-fund a contract for a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration used to defend his controversial restructuring of public employee unions’ dues payments. 

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If you’re interested in the technical details of this case, the Alaska Legislature’s opening brief can be found here. The state’s response can be found here, and the Legislature’s reply brief is here.

Legislators said the contract, at more than $600,000, was too expensive, and in 2020 and 2021, they carved the budget for the Alaska Department of Law into two segments in an attempt to limit the contract.

Two of the governor’s attorneys general said they believed the Legislature was actually targeting the union dues plan, and its actions thus represented an unconstitutional infringement of the executive branch’s power.

Dunleavy vetoed the contract-specific language, technically eliminating all funding for the defense, and his administration kept on spending.

The Legislature’s auditor concluded in 2023 that the Dunleavy administration likely violated state law and the Alaska Constitution by continuing to spend money that had been eliminated from the budget. 

Lawmakers sued in January 2024.

By that time, the Alaska Supreme Court had ruled that the union-dues changes had been enacted illegally. Four days after the Legislature filed its lawsuit, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal requested by the administration, an act that leaves the state supreme court’s ruling in place.

In 2025, over the Legislature’s objections, Anchorage District Court judge Dani Crosby ruled that lawmakers’ lawsuit was moot because the money had already been spent, and she dismissed it. 

Legislators appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that there is a public interest in having the issue resolved, because it is likely to return again.

Attorney Kevin Cuddy, representing the Legislature, noted that last year — as in past years — the Alaska Legislature authorized a budget that included a provision stating that the Alaska Department of Health may not spend Medicaid money on certain abortions.

“That idea of no funding for this, some funding for that, these conditions are a regular feature of the budgeting process,” he said in Wednesday’s oral argument, arguing that the issue is not moot.

Deputy Solicitor General Jessie Alloway represented the state in Wednesday’s hearing and said the abortion issue is an example of why the court should decline to take up the Legislature’s arguments.

“This is exactly why the court should say this is moot and not take a more abstract view … because there is an unlimited number of hypotheticals that we could come up with that would be problematic,” she said.

If the court does overrule Crosby, both sides asked the justices to give them a firm answer rather than having Crosby take up the issue again.

The justices would then have to decide whether legislators overreached by attempting to restrict the executive branch, whether the executive branch overreached by continuing to spend, and where exactly the line rests between legislative and executive power.

“That’s what we keep coming back to: Who gets to decide this, whether these contracts are necessary?” asked Justice Aimee Oravec.

One prior Supreme Court case discussed Wednesday may offer some clues. In 2001, the court ruled on a legislative lawsuit against then-Gov. Tony Knowles over a series of budget vetoes.

One of those vetoes involved a dispute over bed space bought by the state prison system in private facilities. Legislators wrote in the budget that the space had to be bought from private contractors. 

The supreme court upheld that language in its ruling.

“Conditions are permissible, as this court held in the Knowles case,” said Cuddy, the Legislature’s attorney, “including saying what types of services, public versus private, or private versus public, the money can be spent upon.”

But Alloway, arguing for the state, said legislators were attempting to define purchases that had already happened. That’s different from Knowles. 

“What was happening was the (attorney general) had already retained outside counsel via his statutory authority. The Legislature knew about it, and then the appropriation targeted that decision by eliminating the amount the AG could spend on the contract,” she said.

During Wednesday’s argument, chief justice Susan Carney was absent. Staff for the court said she was recovering from surgery and out on medical leave.

Justice Dario Borghesan, a former Department of Law attorney, recused himself from the case, leaving three justices, all Dunleavy appointees, for Wednesday’s hearing.  Justice Jennifer Henderson, presiding over oral arguments, said Carney may be involved in deliberations before a final decision is published at a later date.

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After historic education funding increase, some Alaska lawmakers aim to boost the BSA again

A school bus drives in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

A school bus drives in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska lawmakers introduced new legislation in the House of Representatives that would raise the state’s per student funding for schools. They say it is critical to help school districts struggling with rising costs and ballooning deficits. 

The House Education Committee introduced House Bill 374 on Wednesday. It would raise the state’s per student funding, known as the base student allocation, by $630 per student. That would increase the current per student total — from  $6,660 to $7,290. Lawmakers increased the BSA by $700 per student last year.

“We can’t lose ground right now,” said Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka and co-chair of the House Education Committee on Wednesday. “We continue to look at all the different ways to support the schools, and the BSA is one way to do it.”

Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, speaks in favor of a veto override on House Bill 69 on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

The education funding increase would total $158.6 million statewide, and Himschoot said it would offer districts more stability by raising funds within the state’s complex funding formula. 

Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer and House Minority Leader, expressed skepticism at adding state funding for schools this year. “No discussion about adding additional money can be had without deciding what program you want to cut,” she said Wednesday. 

Himschoot said lawmakers decided on the $630 per student figure after assessing the current budget deficits of the state’s five largest districts by student population. The proposed funding increase would provide a partial stopgap for those budget shortfalls.

The Anchorage School District is facing a $90 million budget deficit, and is advancing plans to close three schools and cut 500 teachers and staff. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District is confronting a $23 million deficit, and considering closing three schools. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is looking at an $8.5 million budget shortfall and considering ways to cut costs. The Juneau School District has a $6.7 million budget shortfall.

Pearl Creek Elementary School is seen on June 3, 2025. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District decided to close the school at the end of the academic year. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

While the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has a current budget surplus of $2.5 million this year, that comes after it closed three schools last year — totaling seven school closures in the last five years, Himschoot noted. 

“They have class sizes approaching 40 in the high school and 26 in their elementary schools even now. And they’ve downsized a lot of different staff, including a total of 300 teaching positions since 2019,” she said. “So they’ve had to do … some challenging things in their district to get to the black.”

Himschoot noted the state has revenue challenges but said lawmakers should make education a priority. 

Last year, lawmakers faced a bitter political battle with Gov. Mike Dunleavy who twice vetoed education funding increases, citing the need for education policy changes to improve student outcomes. Lawmakers overrode Dunleavy’s veto and passed a $700 per student increase with some policy items, but the governor then vetoed its funding. Legislators then returned for a special session and voted to override the budget line veto. That resulted in an additional $51 million for schools.

Alaskans who supported the override of Gov. Mike Dunleavy's education funding veto applaud as legislators leave the House chambers on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
Alaskans who supported the override of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s education funding veto applaud as legislators leave the House chambers on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

But Dunleavy has said he is dropping his push for education policy changes this year, and focusing on a state fiscal plan and proposed oil and gas development projects.

Minority Leader Johnson, whose district includes the east side of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, including Palmer, Butte and Lazy Mountain, said after the funding increase last year districts should manage their budgets accordingly.

“We added a significant amount of money last year,” she said. “I think that we need to take a little while to let the districts figure out what they actually need, and let that money go through the process. If they have to make corrections, I don’t know what to say — if they have to close schools — they have to do whatever they have to do to manage their budget.”

Newly appointed House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Anchorage and House Minority Whip Rep. Justin Ruffridge speak with reporters on the first day of the second session of the 34th Legislature on Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Newly appointed House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Anchorage and House Minority Whip Rep. Justin Ruffridge speak with reporters on the first day of the second session of the 34th Legislature on Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Johnson expressed concern that the state is reckoning with a projected deficit, as lawmakers await a state revenue forecast due out in March. “We’re in deficit spending, and I don’t know where the money’s going to come from. And I think we need to have a lot more data on school spending,” she said. 

School officials, teachers and students have testified to the House Education Committee this year that state funding has not kept pace with classroom needs, particularly with rising costs for keeping schools open, including fuel, insurance and transportation, as well as deteriorating school facilities. 

The proposed state education funding increase would help fill some of those gaps, and prevent more severe cuts to teachers and classrooms, said Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau.

“I want families to know that we care about education in the state of Alaska, and you can raise your kids here and they’re going to have a decent education. And so I think we have to seriously look at what investment is that going to take from the state,” she said Wednesday. 

Himschoot said that BSA increase is one important step, and lawmakers are open to negotiating with members of the minority caucuses and the governor’s office to make it happen. “Everyone has schools in their district,” she said. “People call it a fight for the BSA. I prefer to call it a dance.”

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SEACC to host alternative public comment on Cascade Point

Graphic courtesy of SEACC

NOTN- Conservation and land trust leaders are raising alarms over a $28.5 million state-backed Ferry Terminal and Ore facility at Cascade Point, saying it’s advancing without key environmental review or tribal consultation and could reshape the region’s important cultural and ecological areas.

“This project kind of came up internally from DOT emails in 2019 and has moved at breakneck speed. In the last couple of years, there’s been a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Goldbelt, those are the land owners at Cascade point and the DOT.” Said Stacy Unzicker Mining Campaigner for Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, “So that would be, not only a ferry terminal, but a shared mixed use dock with an Ore dock in Berners Bay. There’s a lot of other places that money could be spent that would benefit not just Juneauites and people from Haines and Skagway, but all of Southeast Alaska, who’ve really been gutted with inconsistencies with ferry service.”

The proposal would create a mixed-use facility at Cascade Point in Berners Bay, combining a ferry terminal with an ore dock to serve a potential mine at Herbert Glacier, about 12 miles away. The funding comes from leftover money originally appropriated for the Juneau Access Road project.

Tyler Breen, an Environmental Policy Analyst with the Conservation Council, said state officials committed the money before completing the permitting, tribal consultation and federal environmental review processes that are supposed to inform whether and how such a project proceeds.

“On February 12, we gave testimony to the State House and Senate, outlining that the $28.5 million contract commits funds for this state to have momentum on this project in advance of the consultation and permitting processes that are intended to inform whether a project should happen.” Breen said, “So tribal consultation has not yet happened. By committing that $28.5 million in advance of assessing these baseline studies and doing the processes of assessing potential alternatives, they’ve constrained the potential outcome. That is, from my perspective as a policy analyst, a grave oversight.”

Tribal consultation as well as Clean Water permitting, have not been completed, the group said.

The Southeast Alaska Land Trust, which conserves about 280 acres downriver of the proposed mining expansion at Herbert Glacier, is backing the conservation council’s push for a more public comment and conversation.

Unzicker described Berners Bay as the “breadbasket of Juneau,” a place where Indigenous communities and local residents have long fished, hunted and recreated. The area supports herring runs, salmon streams and habitat for brown bears, moose and wolverines.

“These are clean, Lingít lands, specifically Wooshkeetaan lands in Berners Bay,” Unzicker said. “People actively go there to subsist and harvest from the sea and the land. We need to protect our anadromous fish because they’re the bounty that keeps giving, and mines are only there for a short time.”

In recent legislative testimony, a regional transportation official said 92% of public comments submitted during a comment period opposed the Cascade Point proposal, attributing much of that opposition to “fear of the unknown.” Conservation advocates dispute that characterization, saying the public is reacting to the information that has been made available.

“We want to make it vociferously clear that we are quite aware of everything that there has been transparency on,” Unzicker said, adding that the group is trying to maintain a constructive working relationship with transportation officials. “We believe they want to do good work, and we appreciate the ways they keep Alaska moving. We also want to make sure people aren’t getting lost in political agendas.”

To broaden the discussion, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and Southeast Alaska Land Trust are hosting a public event today from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

The first panel will feature tribal representatives speaking about their lineal connections to the land and the lack of consultation, followed by a second panel with conservation staff, a naturalist and a civil engineer taking questions from the public.

Organizers plan to livestream the event on the conservation council’s YouTube channel, with staff moderating comments so residents in communities such as Haines and Skagway can participate remotely.

“Please help us make sure that the decision makers, CBJ, legislators, DOT, all of these decision makers, need to hear from us really broadly about how this will impact us.” Unzicker said.

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Alaska lawmakers question release of voter data to DOJ

Judiciary presentation on March 2 on voter data sharing, photo courtesy of KTOO

NOTN- Alaska lawmakers are examining why the state turned over confidential voter information, including birth dates and parts of Social Security and driver’s license numbers to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a joint hearing Monday of the House Judiciary and House State Affairs committees, Rep. Andrew Gray said the U.S. Justice Department’s 2025 request for complete voter registration lists from every state was unprecedented.

“This request by DOJ has never happened before, the Department of Justice has never asked for the confidential information of voters at any point in our history.” Gray said.

Alaska first sent only public voter information, but in December agreed to transmit a full electronic file with all data fields visible.

“On December 19, under the authority of Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, the state agreed to transmit an electronic voter file with all data fields visible, records were provided that included voter’s full names, dates of birth, residential addresses and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers. Not every single state responded the way Alaska did.” Said Gray.

Attorney Libby Bakalar, who formerly represented Alaska’s Division of Elections, told lawmakers the disclosure likely conflicts with state law and Alaska’s constitutional right to privacy.

“Before I get into why this data transfer is problematic, if not unconstitutional, I just want to offer some context on the relationship between the state and federal government when it comes to running elections, the administration of elections in this country is the purview of the states. Those of you on the committee who support states’ rights would be pleased to know that states, including Alaska, maintain a lot of leeway and control over how their elections are run, issues like voter identification and voter list maintenance have historically fallen within the state’s remit. There is good reason for this.” She said, “For example, Alaska’s voter ID law allows for tribal IDs and confirmation of identity by a poll worker’s personal knowledge of the voter which aids voting in rural Alaska, where voters may not hold driver’s licenses or passports. We also have our own very detailed voter list maintenance statute that governs the way the division of elections adds and removes voters from the rolls and is supposed to determine who is eligible to vote in our state. The Alaska constitution, which affords greater protections of individual liberty than its federal counterpart, establishes a state based constitutional system of suffrage that includes provisions on the qualifications and disqualifications of voters. Perhaps most significantly, Alaska also has a specific constitutional provision that explicitly protects our citizens right to privacy.” She said.

Bakalar read from the federal agreement Alaska signed, under which the state pledged that within 45 days of receiving notice from DOJ about any “issues, insufficiencies, inadequacies, deficiencies, anomalies or concerns,” it would “clean its voter registration list by removing ineligible voters and resubmit the updated data.

“This process effectively turns Alaska’s independent voter list maintenance process into an audit and referendum by the federal government, in which the DOJ in Washington, has the final say over which Alaskans are allowed to vote here or not.” Bakalar said, “This has the potential to disenfranchise huge numbers of Alaskans at the whim of the DOJ, a whim which the DOJ may not necessarily be inclined to explain to the public’s satisfaction. And to what use will the DOJ put this data beyond just elections? We don’t know. We have seen aggressive immigration enforcement and unprecedented citizen surveillance under this administration. I think it’s fair to say that we cannot necessarily trust the federal government to use this data in good faith and for the purposes it claims.”

Election researcher Dr. Paul Manson of Portland State University warned that federal databases used to check voter eligibility are imperfect and often return non-matches that may still be U.S. citizens due to data inconsistencies.

He said that federal law bars large-scale voter removals in the 90 days before federal elections.

Lawmakers plan further questioning of state officials and experts about whether the Dunleavy administration’s cooperation was legally required and what protections now exist for Alaskans’ personal data.

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Facing teacher shortage, Alaska lawmakers urge waiver of $100,000 visa charge

Rep. Alyse Galvin at the Alaska House Education Committee presenting HJR39, photo courtesy of Gavel Alaska

NOTN- Alaska lawmakers are urging the federal government to waive steep new fees on H-1B visas for international teachers, warning that hundreds of classrooms could be left without educators if school districts are forced to absorb the added costs.

On Monday, the Alaska House Education Committee heard testimony on House Joint Resolution 39, which calls on the state’s congressional delegation to seek an exception to a recent presidential proclamation that imposes a $100,000 annual fee per H‑1B visa holder.

Many Alaska districts, particularly in rural and remote communities, rely heavily on international teachers to fill longstanding vacancies.

Rep. Alyse Galvin, the sponsor of HJR 39, told the committee the resolution is meant to give U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and the rest of Alaska’s delegation a stronger hand in Washington, D.C.

“We are unfortunately without enough educators before students, and so we are facing a really tough time in recruitment and retention of teachers, especially in rural and remote communities. Many school districts across Alaska use international recruitment to fill our school vacancies, with cases of international hires filling 60% of the total teaching staff in western Alaska.” Said Galvin, “We heard last week about how hard they’re working to grow our own teachers, we are still facing this gap. Our H-1B teachers are very important to us, and with the most recent proclamation by the President, we now have an imposition of a $100,000 fee for any employer who is hiring H-1B, so any new ones coming in will be having to face that cost, at least our school districts will and this is insurmountable.”

Galvin said some districts also face deep budget holes, including an estimated $90 million deficit for the Anchorage School District alone and more than $200 million in combined shortfalls across the state. Many districts have already exhausted their reserves, she said.

The committee also heard from Dr. Lisa Parady, executive director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, who said Alaska employs 573 international teachers, including 341 on H‑1B visas.

“Alaska is already facing a severe teacher shortage, at the start of the school year, we had at last report, 345, first day teacher vacancies, which equates to thousands of Alaska students beginning school without a teacher. Many Alaska districts, especially rural and remote communities, struggle annually to fill critical positions. International educators are not a luxury, without these educators, class sizes increase, course offerings shrink, student services are reduced, student outcomes suffer.” Said Parady.

Some lawmakers used the hearing to argue that while HJR 39 may help in the short term, it does not solve deeper problems with Alaska’s teacher workforce.

Rep. Andi Story, who co-chaired the committee Monday, heard concerns about pay and retirement. Galvin noted that unlike other states, Alaska does not have a single statewide pension system for all educators, and cited research that found Alaska’s average teacher salaries are roughly 30% lower than those in Washington state.

HJR 39 would not change the law, but would formally express the Legislature’s support for waiving or exempting Alaska school districts from the new visa fees.

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Alaska House OKs bill to crack down on AI-generated child sexual abuse material

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, speaks in support of a bill she sponsored, HB 47, that would add state criminal penalties for AI-generated child sexual abuse material, on the House floor on Feb. 27, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Anyone that possesses, creates or shares child sexual abuse material created with artificial intelligence in Alaska would face new state felony charges under legislation advanced by the Alaska House of Representatives on Friday — plus AI companies and social media companies could face state penalties too. 

House members passed House Bill 47 almost unanimously by a 39 to 0 vote, with Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, absent. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, and would enact new state felony charges for creating AI-generated images or videos that visually depicts sexually explicit or obscene content involving anyone under the age of 18. Previously known as child pornography, it’s now referred to as child sexual abuse material or CSAM.

“A decade ago, we couldn’t even imagine what it is that the vulnerable and our children are facing, and tools that are being used to exploit them,” Vance said Friday on the House floor ahead of the vote. “But here we are in a fast-paced technological environment, and our prosecutors are left with very few tools,” she said. 

Vance lauded the bill as closing a gap in state criminal law. Currently there are no state laws directly addressing AI-generated CSAM, though there are statutes that prohibit the viewing, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials. Vance emphasized that the bill would update Alaska law to penalize AI-generated CSAM, and noted it would apply regardless of whether images depict a victim or AI-generated material.  

“Currently in statute, you have to prove the harm of an actual child. And what this bill does is says that anything that is generated obscene material of minors will be criminalized to the same level as if it were a real child,” Vance said. 

Vance and others pointed to the recent arrest of an Alaska senator’s chief of staff for soliciting minors for CSAM on Snapchat, and the need to increase state penalties. Other lawmakers said the case demonstrates the need for more parental controls on minors’ social media. 

Legislators added on and approved significant parental controls and penalties for tech companies too, through an amendment process on Wednesday. 

Under the revised bill, social media companies will require age verification and parental or guardian consent for minors to create or maintain social media accounts. Parents would have full access to minors’ social media, including all minors’ messages and interactions on the platform. The bill enacts a social media curfew for minors from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., unless modified by a parent. 

Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, sponsored the amendments and said with increased parental control measures, parents and guardians will be able to intervene on potentially predatory behavior or victimization of children. 

“The fundamental question is: Do parental rights supersede the rights of predators?” Fields said on the House floor Wednesday. “And do parental rights supersede the rights of multi-national corporations, which we have heard knowingly target children with addictive, destructive algorithms. We know that.”

Targeted advertising to minors on social media would also be prohibited, as would content targeting minors, addictive design or features that “encourages or rewards a minor user’s excessive or compulsive use of the platform or that exploits the psychological vulnerabilities of a minor user,” according to the bill. 

Families or the state would be able to bring civil legal action against social media companies for harm due to such violations under the bill, and companies could face a penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation. 

“I don’t care how hard it is. We should not back down from Big Tech when it comes to protecting our children,” Fields said. 

The amendment passed with a 28 to 12 vote, with supporters and opponents spanning party lines.

Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, the youngest member of the House, opposed the provision. 

“I absolutely agree that social media can be harmful for youth, especially given the vast environment, where there are a lot of different strangers and people on the internet. I also know I’m probably one of the only people in the body who very much grew up online,” she said Wednesday on the House floor.  

“I’ve wrestled back and forth with these types of policies, especially as it relates to age verification or requiring consent from a minor,” she said, and added that she shared concerns about first amendment and privacy rights. “But I just don’t believe that age verification through government regulation is the right way.” 

Vance, the sponsor of the bill, also opposed the increased parental controls provision citing First Amendment concerns. 

Lawmakers also voted to approve a provision levying civil penalties on any AI organization that facilitates users creating AI-generated CSAM of up to $1 million for each instance. 

Rep. Calvin Schrage, D-Anchorage, sponsored the amendment which was passed unanimously. 

“I think this is something that creates an incentive for these large companies to curtail or at least put some controls and protections around what I think can be a very powerful and useful tool, but is so often used today for really malicious, nefarious and, I would say, disgusting purposes,” Schrage said. 

The bill would also prohibit the distribution of generated sexual depiction of adults without their consent or participation. It would also prohibit distribution of a “forged digital likeness,” known as “deep fakes” often used as misinformation, revenge pornography, scams or blackmail. 

The bill now advances to the Senate.

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