Tag: Governor mike dunleavy

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Alaska Senate proposes draft operating budget with a $1K PFD plus a $150 energy relief payment

The Alaska State Capitol is illuminated by the rising sun on the morning of Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

The Alaska State Capitol is illuminated by the rising sun on the morning of Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday proposed an operating budget for the next fiscal year, with a $1,000 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend plus $150 energy relief payment per eligible Alaskan. 

The committee’s draft budget takes a more conservative approach to uncertainty around the state’s revenue forecast for next year — driven by rising oil prices due to the Iran war – than the proposed budget passed by the Alaska House passed earlier this month, and eliminates the deficit.

State forecasters have projected a $500 million boost in state revenues, and senators have expressed caution around state spending and a willingness to focus funds to tackle aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance, particularly upgrading school facilities. 

“The most fundamental thing we have to remember is that the state doesn’t have the resources to do all the things we need to do and that Alaskans need us to do,” said Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, a member of the finance committee on Thursday. He said the greatest challenge for the Legislature is prioritizing. 

“And so I think we did that effectively,” Kiehl said. “I think it makes a few really crucial, really targeted investments.”

The Senate’s draft budget removed the House’s proposed $158 million one-time education funding boost, and instead appropriates up to $100 million for K-12 schools subject to oil revenues averaging $95 per barrel for the rest of this fiscal year ending on June 30.

Alaska has no personal income or state sales tax, and so roughly 60% of state funds for the general purpose budget comes from the Alaska Permanent Fund, the state’s sovereign wealth fund currently valued at $86.3 billion, and roughly 30% comes from state oil revenues. 

The draft Senate operating budget is based on an average of $73 per barrel for the next fiscal year starting in July, whereas the House draft budget is based on an average $75 per barrel projection. 

The draft budget contains some changes to the House version and additions across departments. It would double funding for disaster relief to $48 million, and increase fire suppression funding from $47.5 million to nearly $61 million. It funds an additional $29 million for school districts and $20 million for communities to offset rising fuel and energy costs; $30 million for community assistance programs; $5.3 million toward a renewable energy fund; $3.5 million for the Alaska Marine Highway system’s ferry maintenance and staff salary increases. It also boosts funds for public employees retirement from $75 million to $106 million, and increases funds for teachers’ retirement system from $157 million to $164 million, among others. 

The budget also contains $650,000 for a state audit of the Alaska Department of Corrections to evaluate cost drivers, as the department’s budget has ballooned in recent years.

Kiehl said while he’d like to see more investment in services like in the state’s foster care system, homelessness programs, energy and schools, he said the state can’t bank on unknown revenues.

“We have to be careful not to treat a temporary boost in the price of oil, which will probably last more than a year as though it were permanent, increase. That’s not responsible,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok and a member of the finance committee, said he’d like to see a more conservative budget, but he also wants to avoid a large supplemental budget as seen this year. He said he supports the budget based on an average $73 per barrel estimate. 

“I’m pretty comfortable with that number. I just don’t want to be back in that same position as we have this year, where we are $500 million upside down for supplemental,” he said.

Cronk said he supports targeted funding for renewable energy projects, education and deferred maintenance for schools, rather than expanding state department budgets. “I just think we should focus on making sure we have a fiscally responsible budget all around and not adding money to programs that continue in future budgets.”

The budget also includes a number of supplemental items, or costs incurred this year outside the budget. Those include $5.2 million for Alaska Pioneer Homes, $1.25 million for Village Public Safety Officer operations, $1.5 million for the Department of Law’s criminal division, $543,000 for court settlements and $4 million to defend a lawsuit challenging the state’s health care system for inmates in the corrections system. 

Cronk said while he would like to see a maximum Permanent Fund dividend, it’s not possible within the state’s current financial picture. 

“The whole PFD issue is very controversial, no matter which way we go on it,” he said. “We should be paying a full PFD, but the budget, the numbers, don’t allow that right now.”

The Senate’s draft budget overall cuts nearly $450 million from the operating budget, compared to the House draft version. However, the Senate’s proposal leaves $50 million of headroom for additional expenses next year, but that’s after accounting for a $360 million capital budget for state infrastructure projects. The Senate passed a nearly $250 million capital budget on Tuesday, which is now being debated in the House where likely additional projects will be added. 

The proposed budget, unveiled as amendments to House Bill 263 will continue to be debated in the Senate Finance Committee and further amendments are due by Friday, before going before the full Senate for a vote. 

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Groups sue Alaska election officials, allege the sharing of voter data with DOJ was unconstitutional

FILE - A sign hangs outside the director's office of the Alaska Division of Elections, March 19. 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
FILE – A sign hangs outside the director’s office of the Alaska Division of Elections, March 19. 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

AP-Voting and civil rights groups sued Alaska elections officials Wednesday, alleging that their sharing of the state’s full voter registration list with the U.S. Department of Justice violates the state constitution.

Alaska is one of at least 12 states that has provided or said it would provide detailed information about its voters — including date of birth, driver’s license number or partial Social Security number — to the Trump administration, according to the Brennan Center. Alaska and Texas also signed agreements when they shared data in which the department outlined plans for its own analysis of voter files, its plans to flag voter list issues and directions for removing voters deemed ineligible.

Several other states provided the data, but refused those agreements, as part of a wide-ranging effort by the Justice Department to obtain detailed voter data from every state. Some elections officials have expressed concern the information being sought could be used by the Trump administration to search for possible noncitizens.

The Alaska lawsuit was filed in state court against state Division of Elections officials by the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Alaska Black Caucus. It alleges the handing over of personal data on the voter list violates the right to privacy under the state constitution. It also says the memorandum of understanding violates due process by allowing the Justice Department to flag voters for removal “without any apparent notice or process for impacted voters to challenge those decisions.”

The lawsuit names as defendants Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the division, and division Director Carol Beecher.

Sam Curtis, a spokesperson with the state Department of Law, said by email that it would be premature to comment on specific claims raised in the lawsuit. But Curtis said the department has previously explained in public hearings that state law “expressly permits the sharing of this information for authorized governmental purposes. That statute is on the books, and we will defend it.”

“Alaska statutes contain numerous provisions that allow the sharing of otherwise non-public or confidential information with law enforcement,” Curtis said.

The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, ACLU Voting Rights Project and the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The Justice Department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia to try to force the release of the data, according to a tally by the Brennan Center. Judges have rejected those efforts in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and most recently, Rhode Island. A judge in Georgia dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit after ruling it had been filed in the wrong city. It was subsequently refiled.

In the Rhode Island case, Justice Department attorneys acknowledged the department was seeking unredacted voter information so it could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status.

In addition to the state court lawsuit in Alaska, at least four federal lawsuits have been filed around the U.S. seeking to stop the Justice Department from collecting information from unredacted voter registration files or to prevent states from taking steps to cancel or suspend people’s voter registrations based on the federal project.

During a legislative hearing in Alaska last month, Rachel Witty, an attorney with the state Department of Law, told lawmakers the state had a “compelling interest” to comply with the federal request.

“To ensure the integrity of elections, there was a mutual interest in maintaining voters rolls that were accurate and current,” she said.

The Alaska lawsuit describes the process under state law for maintaining voter rolls and states that there are only limited circumstances under which a voter’s registration can be promptly canceled — “upon death or conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude.” It says that while elections officials have said they will only remove voters “to the extent allowed by state and federal law,” that interpretation is “irreconcilable with the plain language” of the agreement signed with the Justice Department.

The plaintiffs are asking a judge to void the agreement and require the elections division to make “reasonable efforts” to ensure the immediate destruction by the Justice Department of any hard copies and electronic versions of the list that was shared.

“Rather than fiercely defending the rights of Alaska’s voters, our Division of Elections acceded to federal overreach,” Eric Glatt, legal director for the ACLU of Alaska, said in a statement. “Now, we are asking the court to step in and ensure that DOE upholds its constitutional and legal obligations to Alaskans.”

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Alaska Senate committee unveils crime bill package in final weeks of the legislative session

Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, speaks Wednesday, April 23, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, speaks Wednesday, April 23, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

With only four weeks left of the legislative session, the Senate Judiciary Committee has merged several bills into a wide-ranging omnibus crime bill. Even with the tight timeline, some lawmakers are optimistic about its chances for passage before the end of the session.  

The new draft omnibus crime package combines ten bills ranging from raising the age of consent to increasing criminal penalties for AI-generated child sexual abuse material into one large bill supporters hope will have the momentum to pass both the House and the Senate in the next 28 days. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, introduced the 55-page omnibus bill on Friday, saying the bills have a stronger prospect as a package.

“I think that increases the likelihood we’ll be able to pass it,” he said in an interview on Monday. 

With one month to go in the second year of the two-year legislative cycle, this is the last opportunity for bills to be passed by the 34th Legislature. 

The draft omnibus crime bill was added to House Bill 239, sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, who spoke in support at the hearing on Friday.

“This bill has grown, it’s gone from the sports car to the school bus” he said. “Policies I all support as a bill sponsor.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy sponsored two bills included in the omnibus package, but did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. 

The bills included are in various stages. Some have passed the House, while others are being considered by various committees in the House and Senate. Several lawmakers who sponsored bills now included in the omnibus package agreed that politically it could increase chances of passage by May 20. 

Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, sponsored a bill that would create state felony penalties for AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It unanimously passed the House last month.

“I’m excited that it’s included in the omnibus bill, because that shows intent by the Senate to pass the bill,” Vance said on Monday. “So I have great confidence that it will cross the finish line.”

But Claman, who is running for governor, has drawn public criticism for the process of how the omnibus crime bill was put together this session. 

Advocates for raising the age of consent — along with the Anchorage Daily News editorial board — criticized Claman for holding a bill to raise the age of consent to 18 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed unanimously by the House last year, in order to be included in the omnibus bill. Critics urged Claman and the committee to pass the bill and allow it to move forward as a stand alone bill toward a full Senate vote and final passage.

Claman has argued that despite limited time left in the session, the bills included have been vetted and the combination package will garner more support among legislators and the governor to pass in the last few weeks of the session. 

“I’ve been in the Legislature now since 2015, and so in the last 11 years, we’ve passed 11 different bills relating to public safety,” he said. “So I think there are ten different measures that we put into the bill, and if we tried to do them all individually, probably wouldn’t get them all passed.”

Claman pointed to an omnibus crime bill, House Bill 66, enacted in 2024, with support from Gov. Mike Dunleavy and across political affiliations. “That’s certainly, I think, the best example,” he said. “So I do have confidence we’ll get it passed.”

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, speaks Friday, April 26, 2024, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, sponsored House Bill 101, the bill that would raise the age of consent from 16 to 18 years old. Backed by advocates for sexual violence prevention, he said the change in law is essential for protecting teens from sexual exploitation and abuse. Under current law, it’s legal for an adult to have sex with a 16 or 17 year old. But when they are assaulted, teens must prove that they did not consent. 

Despite previous disagreement and pushing for a stand alone bill, Gray said Monday he will back the omnibus crime bill in order to see the law changed. 

“If that happens, inside an omnibus crime package that has other bills that are also worthy of passage, I’m fine with that,” he said. “I just want the policy to change.”

The draft omnibus crime bill now contains ten bills that previously stood alone:

  • House Bill 239 — would increase criminal penalties for hit and run incidents so that drivers that cause a death and knowingly failing to stop and render assistance, and establishes mandatory sentencing of four to seven years for a first hit and run felony conviction
  • House Bill 101 — would raise the age of consent from 16 to 18 years old, with provisions to allow consent to sex with someone up to six years older than them. The draft bill also allows 16 and 17 year olds to consensually exchange sexual or explicit messages within the six year close-in-age gap without penalties.
  • Senate Bill 247 — would create state criminal penalties for creating AI-generated images or video that depicts sexually explicit or obscene content involving anyone under 18 years old
  • House Bill 62 — Sponsored by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the bill would establish a statewide tracking system for sexual assault examination kits, expedite processing times, and ensure that survivors can privately monitor the status of their own kit. 
  • Senate Bill 100 — Also sponsored by the governor, and would establish the crime of organized theft, including mail theft and medical record theft
  • House Bill 242 — would redefine criminal law to prohibit any sexual contact or assault by a health care worker during professional treatment, changing the current law which only applies to patients being unaware of sexual contact or assault for criminal charges to apply. 
  • Senate Bill 17 — would establish the crime of airbag fraud for knowingly selling, installing or manufacturing a counterfeit airbag in a vehicle 
  • House Bill 81 — would establish minor marijuana related convictions to remain confidential on individuals personal records, under certain criteria
  • House Bill 384 —  would expand confidentiality agreements between victims and service providers by updating the definition of “victim counseling center” to include tribal organizations
  • Senate Bill 233 — would reassign the Controlled Substances Advisory Committee from being administered by the Department of Law to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. 

The new version of Vance’s bill focused on AI-generated child sexual abuse material included in the bill is closer to her initial proposal. Social media controls for minors added by the House were stripped out of the Senate version. Vance said she supports the amended version given First Amendment protections around social media. 

“I think that was a wise decision right now, because Alaskans are very mixed on how they feel that we should address social media,” Vance said. 

Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, is the sponsor of House Bill 242, and said she supports her bill being included in the Senate omnibus, but she is still pushing to advance her standalone bill in the House.

Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, speaks on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, speaks on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

“I need people who didn’t serve on the two committees that heard it in the House to understand it,” she said, as the Senate draft will come back to the House for a concurrence vote. “It still helps to educate on the issue.”

Hannan’s legislation follows a high profile case in Juneau last year where the court dropped several charges against a chiropractor because under current law part of the legal definition of sexual assault by a medical provider requires the alleged victim to be unaware the assault is happening. 

“Right now, the victim needs to be unaware, and the perpetrator needs to know that they are unaware,” Hannan said Tuesday. “So to change that in statute, I think is an important policy statement for us to make.”

Hannan said significant policy bills typically take several years to get through the Legislature, with public input, debate and support gathering. But she expressed confidence in the support for the omnibus crime bill in the weeks ahead. 

“We’re running the clock down,” she added. “The only downside, from my perspective, is the advocates and the victims that were directly involved in the case that inspired this bill. You know, they get more acknowledgement when it’s the standalone bill… But in the end, if the goal is to change the policy, there’s no downside to it.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue to hold hearings on the crime bill this week and its members have until Friday to introduce amendments before it advances to the Senate floor for a vote. Claman said he expects that to be in the last week of April. 

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Anchorage mother drives national push to prevent fentanyl deaths

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Sandy Snodgrass gives a presentation on her advocacy work and raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl at the Alaska State Capitol on Apr. 15, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

An Anchorage mother whose son died from a fentanyl overdose is continuing to champion national and statewide action to raise awareness around the dangers of the synthetic opioid and prevent future deaths.

On Wednesday, Sandy Snodgrass was recognized with a legislative citation of honor at the Alaska State Capitol by Anchorage Democratic Senator Bill Wielechowski for her advocacy work. 

In December, Snodgrass attended the signing of a package of legislation, including Bruce’s Law, which directs federal funds toward youth education and community-based treatment and recovery programs. It’s named after her son who died in 2021 and was sponsored by Alaska’s U.S. senators and signed by President Donald Trump.

Sandy Snodgrass is honored with a legislative citation by Sen. Bill Wielechowski for her advocacy work to raise awareness around the dangers of fentanyl on Apr. 15, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Sandy Snodgrass is honored with a legislative citation by Sen. Bill Wielechowski for her advocacy work to raise awareness around the dangers of fentanyl on Apr. 15, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

“This is a different world we live in with fentanyl now,” Snodgrass said in a lunchtime presentation  after receiving the award. “We live in a world where one pill, one half pill can kill you. And it’s not a tolerance, you know, it’s one time and you can die.”

Trained as a clinical psychologist, Snodgrass founded the Alaska Fentanyl Response Project aimed at raising awareness about overdose deaths, particularly among young people, sharing stories of those who have died and advocating for legislation and resources for prevention and addiction treatment. 

“I talk about it as a three legged stool,” she said. She described demand reduction, law enforcement and treatment as the three legs of the stool. “And if we don’t do all three, the stool will fall over,” she said. 

She said her focus is demand reduction. “So I am not law enforcement,” she added. “I don’t have a treatment center. But I did have a child that died from fentanyl poisoning, and so I can tell my story to anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

“You can never die from an illicit drug if you never try an illicit drug,” she said. 

Snodgrass’ son, Robert Bruce Snodgrass, died at the age of 22 in 2021, during a wave when Alaska saw the highest increase in opioid deaths nationwide, a 75% increase from 2020 to 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, clinically prescribed for pain, and is more potent than other opioids like morphine or heroin. As little as two milligrams — an amount the size of a few grains of salt — can be fatal. 

The Alaska wave of fentanyl deaths peaked in 2023, according to state data, with 357 reported deaths. Last year, there were 245 deaths reported from 2024 to 2025, according to the most recently available data, with the majority in Anchorage.

Sandy Snodgrass holds a photo of her son Bryce, who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021. President Donald Trump signed the photo when he signed a package of legislation, including Bruce's Law, to direct funding to prevention education and treatment and recovery programs in Dec. 2025. Snodgrass is seen at the Capitol on Apr. 15, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Sandy Snodgrass holds a photo of her son Bryce, who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021. President Donald Trump signed the photo when he signed a package of legislation, including Bruce’s Law, to direct funding to prevention education and treatment and recovery programs in Dec. 2025. Snodgrass is seen at the Capitol on Apr. 15, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Thousands more non-fatal overdoses were reported each month, with many surviving thanks to the use of emergency naloxone, known as Narcan, a life-saving drug that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose. 

She said it’s a difficult message to convey the risks to young people, like her son.

“Bruce was an Alaskan boy, through and through — all the Alaskan things. He was a free solo mountain climber. He was a certified mountain guide. He was an extreme sport, high adrenaline young man, just like so many of our Alaskan boys and girls, he lived on the edge and loved it,” she said.

She said she thought she’d get a call about him being injured in some kind of rock climbing accident. “That’s not the call I got. He was safe out there. He was not safe less than a mile away from our home in Anchorage,” she said.

Snodgrass said she’s glad to see law enforcement investigating more fentanyl overdose deaths as drug induced homicides, and recent legislative action to increase criminal penalties to second degree murder. But she said she recognizes it can be accidental. 

“That guy, whoever gave my son the drugs, is almost as much a victim as my son is. He likely didn’t know there was fentanyl. He likely didn’t want to kill my son. He did not do it intentionally. But that’s what happened. So I don’t call it ‘accidental overdose,’ I call it poisoning,” she said. 

She said she mentioned the idea of fentanyl as a “chemical weapon” and a “weapon of mass destruction” to President Trump when they met in the Oval Office in December — weeks later he issued an executive order designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

It directs attorneys general to pursue prosecutions of fentanyl sales, including manufacturing, distribution and illicit sale of precursor chemicals, and directs the military and Department of Homeland Security to consider fentanyl in its response to chemical incidents and to conduct counter-fentanyl operations. 

Snodgrass cited estimates of hundreds of people dying across the U.S. every day from overdoses. An August 2025 estimate by the CDC showed 77,648 drug overdose deaths occurred in the 12 months ending in March 2025. Fentanyl remains the leading cause of overdose deaths. 

“We’ve got to change that,” she said. “It’s as if a jet airliner, a jumbo jet airliner, was crashing in this country every single day, day after day after day.”

Sandy Snodgrass gives a presentation on her advocacy work and raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl at the Alaska State Capitol on Apr. 15, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Sandy Snodgrass gives a presentation on her advocacy work and raising awareness of the dangers of fentanyl at the Alaska State Capitol on Apr. 15, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Snodgrass said she’s especially focused on doing more school presentations and raising awareness in rural Alaska, which she said drug dealers target for the high retail prices for fentanyl.

“When this reached my son in Anchorage, I was shocked, and the fact that it’s now reaching our rural communities to the extent that it is, is shocking,” she said, citing recent deaths in Nome, Dillingham and Togiak. 

“I could not get over the statistics in Togiak of the number of seizures that the DEA was making, 3,000 pills at a time in a backpack on a plane to Togiak. Togiak has 800 people in it. It just was terrifying to me,” she said. 

“It devastates the community to lose even one person. And so the numbers coming out of those rural communities are terrifying. They’re horrible, and it just keeps happening,” she said. 

Snodgrass said she’s supportive of Senate Bill 288, sponsored by Sen. George Raucher, R-Sutton, that would require opioid abuse and prevention curriculum for students in grades 6 through 12, during an annual drug awareness week known as Red Ribbon Week. It’s currently being considered by the Senate Education Committee. 

“They’re innocuous little pills, unless someone tells you that pill is going to kill you, or could potentially kill you,” Snodgrass said. “It’s a little blue pill, and it looks harmless, and you may take it to change the way you feel. That’s all they’re doing. And so the only thing I can do as one person is keep telling that story over and over and over again, and so that’s what I’m here to do.”

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Alaska Senate committee advances draft capital budget, boosting funds for school maintenance

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, is seen in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. A co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Hoffman is in charge of the state's capital budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, is seen in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. A co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Hoffman is in charge of the state’s capital budget. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska Senate Finance committee advanced a draft capital budget on Tuesday that would put nearly $250 million toward state facilities and maintenance projects next year.

The draft budget adds $88 million to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed capital budget of $159 million, with the largest additions going toward K-12 schools and university facilities maintenance. 

That was a focused effort by the finance committee, said co-chair Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, who called funding for education facilities maintenance a “heavy concentration” on Wednesday. 

Earlier this year, students and school officials testified to lawmakers that decades of deferred maintenance has reached crisis levels — with many rural school districts in particular grappling with deteriorating facilities, failing water and sewer systems — which they say is degrading student and staff morale. Lawmakers have expressed support and increased funding in recent years, but point to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s history of vetoes as a roadblock for funding education.  

The Senate draft includes $57.8 million in additional funding toward K-12 school maintenance through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and $17 million toward the University of Alaska. It also includes $5.7 million for the Alaska Court System’s facilities and $8 million for community infrastructure and workforce development programs through the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. 

The Legislature relies on state ranked lists to prioritize where to direct funding to capital projects for K-12 schools, the university system and the court system. 

For K-12 schools, the state’s current major maintenance list totals over $400 million needed for 103 school projects and repairs. Stedman said he recognized this year’s capital budget will only fund a fraction of those.

“Hopefully we get a quarter of it done, or something like that, but it’d be nice to retire the entire list,” Stedman said. 

The draft budget would fund the top 15 school projects on the list, plus funds for three other schools in need of emergency fuel tank repairs. The top projects range from roof and boiler replacements to septic systems, fire suppression and safety upgrades in schools from Fairbanks to the Aleutian Islands. 

In order to distribute funds more widely, members of the finance committee reduced funding for one project in Galena, in the Western Interior of Alaska, from roughly $35 million to $5 million for renovations to the Sydney C. Huntington Elementary and High Schools. They also allocated $17 million towards rebuilding the school in Stebbins in Western Alaska, after it burned down in 2024.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School student housing in Sitka is seen on Oct. 6, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Mt. Edgecumbe High School student housing in Sitka is seen on Oct. 6, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

The Senate draft also adds nearly $14 million in funding for the state-run Mt. Edgecumbe High School, which has been the focus of public attention and concern after a quarter of students disenrolled this year. The additional facilities dollars include $10 million to remodel the dining hall, $3.1 million to replace dorm windows, $460,000 to replace dorm furniture, $50,000 to replace mattresses and $125,000 to replace aging laundry machines. 

Finance members added $17 million to fund the top nine projects across the University of Alaska system — three projects each within the three major campuses. 

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, serves on the finance committee and his district includes University of Alaska Southeast. He described the proposed funds as a “nickel” compared to the “colossal” deferred maintenance needs of the university system. 

“That’s been built by Legislatures and Boards of Regents for 40 years,” he said on Wednesday, adding that it is a shared responsibility to put funding towards repairs and upgrades.

“The Constitution makes them a separate body within the executive branch that puts a lot of responsibility on them, too, more than the general state government,” he said “So university major maintenance is its own huge problem.”

The draft budget also includes $5.7 million for upgrades to state court facilities, mostly targeted to Anchorage and Sitka. It contains nearly $10 million for workforce development programs geared at the construction and oil and gas sectors, including for the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center and Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward. 

An amendment to add $25 million to the draft budget for the Port of Anchorage, sponsored by Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River, was voted down on Tuesday by a 5 to 2 vote. 

Before voting against the proposal, finance co-chair Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, said during committee deliberations the priority this year is to fund as many school maintenance projects on the list as possible, saying “schools are falling apart” and must be maintained to prevent further deterioration.

“Students that are trying to learn deserve better,” Hoffman said. “And if we are not able to provide this major maintenance, we are going to see these schools continue to crumble, and the financial burden to the state of Alaska will be hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild schools.”

More funding for school maintenance and other capital projects could be added by the Alaska House of Representatives, who will take up the draft budget bill after it’s approved by the Senate in the coming weeks.

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Alaska Gov. Dunleavy joins Arctic research commission as focus turns to security

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks to reporters during a news conference on Monday, May 19, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks to reporters during a news conference on Monday, May 19, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has been appointed to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission at a time when the federal agency is pivoting from its longtime focus on environmental science to more emphasis on military defense and economic development.

Dunleavy is an ally of President Donald Trump. Dunleavy’s presidential appointment, announced by the commission this week, comes five months after Liz Qaulluq Cravalho’s position on the commission was terminated. Cravalho is vice president of lands at NANA Regional Corporation, the Alaska Native corporation for the state’s northwest region. She was initially appointed by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 and reappointed in 2024.

The commission, created in 1984, advises the president and Congress on research policy. Its seven commissioners are appointed by the president.

Dunleavy is the first sitting governor to be appointed to the commission, which advises the president and Congress on Arctic research. Past Alaska lieutenant governors have served on the commission, but not during their time in state office. Mead Treadwell chaired the commission prior to being elected in 2010 as lieutenant governor in the Parnell administration, and Fran Ulmer chaired it after serving as lieutenant governor in the Knowles administration and after serving as chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage.

In 2019, his first year in office, Dunleavy used his veto powers to cut state funding of the University of Alaska system by 41%, an action that at the time was characterized as devastating to the university’s Arctic research, among other activities. Much of the funding was later restored through a compromise Dunleavy made with the university.

In a statement released by the commission, Dunleavy praised the role of Arctic research, saying it helps Alaskans.

“Alaska sits at the forefront of the Arctic, and our communities, resources, and strategic position make us essential to advancing responsible research, economic development, and national security in the region,” he said in a statement released by the commission. “I look forward to working with fellow commissioners to ensure that Arctic research reflects the needs of Alaskans while strengthening America’s leadership in the Arctic.”

The Trump-appointed chair of the commission, speaking Wednesday at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage, said the organization is “tremendously thrilled” to have Dunleavy as a member.

Thomas Emanual Dans, appointed by President Donald Trump as chair of hte U.S. Arctic Research Commission, speaks at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage on April 15, 2026. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Thomas Emanual Dans, appointed by President Donald Trump as chair of hte U.S. Arctic Research Commission, speaks at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage on April 15, 2026. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

“We’re super excited about that,” said Thomas Emanual Dans, appointed in December. “We’ve got the very experienced hand and voice at our commission, and we’re looking to do big things here.”

A pivot to security needs

Dans, who also served on the commission during the first Trump administration, expressed an expansive view of the Arctic that he likened to that of 19th century explorers.

“We want to create the conditions that really unleash human flourishing. We want more. We want human life. We want people to have big dreams,” he said.

Rather than focusing on pure science, the commission is focused on security, as Dans described it.

“Security is probably the overriding, overarching theme of things,” he said.

But security has several facets, he said. It includes military security, international security, energy security and community security, “which can be interpreted broadly in terms of health and well-being” for Arctic residents and others in the nation and the world, he said.

Dans, who lives in Texas and spent most of his career in finance, served on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission during the first Trump administration. But his comments on Wednesday indicated some gaps in his Arctic and Alaska knowledge.

He mentioned Russia’s Wrangel Island, off the northern coast of Siberia, as a security threat. Wrangel island “is close to Alaska here,” he said in his speech. “And for a long time it was incorporated as part of the United States. Today we face missiles pointing at us from Wrangel Island.”

Canadian government brochures and fliers, displayed April 15, 2026, at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage, describe that country's countribution to U.S. national defense. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Canadian government brochures and fliers, displayed April 15, 2026, at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage, describe that country’s countribution to U.S. national defense. U.S. Arctic policy now has a stronger emphasis on national security. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Wrangel Island was never part of the United States. There is a place with a similar name – Wrangell Island – that is located in Southeast Alaska. Since 2004, Russia’s Wrangel Island, located 300 miles from the nearest point in Alaska, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for its Arctic biodiversity, including the world’s largest concentration of Pacific walruses.

A decade ago, Russia built a military base on the island with a focus on radar systems to monitor airspace. The military use of the island is part of Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic, which has worried U.S. officials, and it is also considered to pose a potential threat to the natural resources there.

In his Arctic Encounter Summit comments, Dans hailed the planned expansion of the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet, saying the fleet has “gone from zero to maybe 14.” However, the Coast Guard for decades has operated two polar-class icebreakers: the Healy, which performs annual missions in Alaska and the wider Arctic, and the Polar Star, which usually sails in the Antarctic. The Coast Guard recently acquired another icebreaker for Arctic operations. Originally an oil industrial vessel called the Aiviq, the ship was renamed Storis and commissioned in a Juneau ceremony in August. The fleet is poised to expand: there was funding for more than a dozen new icebreakers in the Trump administration spending bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Concerning Russia, which holds more Arctic coastline and land than any other nation, Dans urged more cooperation and communication. “I’d love to have the younger generation in Alaska learn Russian,” he said.

Within a few miles from the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, where Dans spoke at the Arctic Encounter Summit, classes were being conducted in Russian language at elementary, middle and high schools through the Anchorage School District’s Russian immersion program. It was launched as a full-time program in 2024, according to the school district.

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Alaska House passes draft operating budget with a $1,500 PFD

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Reps. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, Zack Fields, D-Anchorage huddle with members of the House majority caucus during a break in debates on the operating budget on Apr. 9, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a draft budget for the state’s operations next year, with a $1,500 Permanent Fund dividend for eligible Alaskans. It includes a nearly $158 million one-time funding boost for public schools and tens of millions for disaster relief, transportation and public assistance programs.

Members passed House Bill 263, the operating budget bill, along caucus lines by a 21 to 19 vote on Tuesday. 

Lawmakers spent four days debating amendments — additions, cuts and reallocations to the draft budget — on the House floor, amid deep political divides around state priorities, war-driven oil revenues and how to balance paying for government services versus distributing cash to Alaskans through the dividend. 

The draft budget now moves to the Senate for consideration, where it’s likely to be further revised. 

“I feel relieved,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee that drafted the budget, after the vote on Monday.

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee which drafted the operating budget, speaks to what's included in the budget on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee which drafted the operating budget, speaks to what’s included in the budget on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

“But the difficulty we’re in is that overall, the war in Iran, which is most unfortunate, is very helpful to budgeting,” he said. “But the Alaska people are hurting more, right, particularly when it comes to fuel prices. So that’s a problem as well.”

As Alaska has no personal income tax or state sales tax, more than 60% of funds for the general purpose budget comes from an annual draw from the Alaska Permanent Fund and roughly 30% comes from state oil revenues. 

Lawmakers have been closely watching Alaska oil prices, as they surged in recent weeks due to the Trump administration’s war on Iran. State forecasters project a potential $500 million boost in state revenues next year, but lawmakers are divided on what that should mean for state spending.

The all-Republican House minority caucus advocated for putting money towards a statutory Permanent Fund dividend, but the multipartisan majority coalition pushed the balance towards spending on state services.

Members of the all-Republican minority caucus Reps. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks are seen in the House during a break in the debate on the operating budget on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Members of the all-Republican minority caucus Reps. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks are seen in the House during a break in the debate on the operating budget on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

The House draft operating budget made revisions to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed $7.75 billion budget unveiled in December, which included a $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend and a $1.8 billion draw from state savings. 

The House draft opted not to tap into the state savings account. The House draft does include a deficit of roughly $180 million, but that total may change depending on revisions in the Senate. 

Fairbanks Republican Will Stapp criticized the deficit as an “unfunded” budget. “It’s underwater,” he said Monday. 

The draft budget contains increased funding across divisions: nearly $158 million in a one-time funding increase for public education, including nearly $11 million earmarked for student transportation; $33.3 million for Medicaid rate increases; nearly $55 million for fire suppression and $38 million for disaster relief; $17.5 million in heating assistance; $23 million for Alaska Department of Corrections staffing and tens of millions in transportation, public assistance programs like child care, infant learning programs, senior services, public health and public safety grants, among others. 

House lawmakers rejected a roughly $3,800 Permanent Fund dividend proposed by the House Finance committee, which would have cost nearly $2.5 billion and was contingent on a draw from state savings, which requires approval of three-quarters of lawmakers.

House lawmakers instead approved a $1,500 Permanent Fund dividend that will cost the state $992 million. 

Members of the multi-partisan House majority caucus expressed support for the draft budget that focused on public programs and services to enhance future benefits. 

“Education, child care, parents-as-teachers, Head Start — moving upstream to try and give our youngest, our most precious resource in the state of Alaska, the best start that we can give them,” said Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, acknowledging that it is a balancing act for lawmakers. 

Republican minority legislators also proposed spending increases, which included $2 million for the Alaska Department of Public Safety to establish a new Trooper post in Talkeetna, and $2 million for a sport fish hatchery in Fairbanks. Both failed along caucus lines by a 21 to 19 vote. 

Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, criticized the House draft budget in a statement following its initial approval on Monday.

Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, speaks on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, speaks on the House floor on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

“The budget passed by the Majority is a betrayal of the Alaskans we were sent here to represent,” said Johnson. “While Alaskans face one of the most unaffordable years of their lifetimes, this Majority has chosen to fund government agencies at record levels, while leaving families and communities behind.”

Minority lawmakers introduced nearly 50 amendments on the House floor over three days, which varied from cutting additional funding for education, funds for teacher recruitment and for community and regional jails, to cutting travel budgets and reallocating public employee salaries for vacant positions to add funding for school maintenance. Most of them failed along caucus lines.

The minority’s most strident call was for a maximum Permanent fund dividend. 

“The removal of the statutory dividend that equates to removing $42.5 million dollars from the economy of my district,” said Rep. Sara Vance, R-Homer. 

While lawmakers refer to the statutory dividend of roughly $3,800 per Alaskan, in 2017 the Alaska Supreme Court ruled lawmakers may ignore the formula since it’s not in the state Constitution. Since then, legislators have typically reduced the dividend to balance state expenses and avoid drawing from savings. 

Boost to education funding

The House draft adds $158 million in one-time funding for Alaska schools, equivalent to an additional $630 per student. 

That’s in the case that various education bills that provide a sustained increase to per student funding, through state’s formula boosting the base student allocation, fail to pass this year. Those bills are currently under consideration in education committees. 

Lawmakers said they decided on the additional $630 per student after assessing the current deficits of the five largest school districts by student population. Many districts are grappling with decisions on school closures, staff cuts and increasing class sizes to address large budget shortfalls this month — including the potential closure of three schools in Anchorage, three schools in the Matanuska Susitna Borough, four schools on the Kenai Peninsula and two of the four elementary schools in Ketchikan. 

Josephson said one-time funding this year for schools seems to be more viable than an attempt to permanently raise the per student funding formula, given the governor’s history of vetoing education funding increases — including three vetoes last year alone, one which the Legislature overrode in a special session last August.

Members of the House huddle with staff members in deliberations on the operating budget on Apr. 9, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Members of the House majority huddle with staff members in deliberations on the operating budget on Apr. 9, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

“It’s far from a panacea, right? It’s far from anything that is the real solution. But I think if superintendents had it, they’d be delighted to have it,” he said. 

Members of the House approved an amendment to earmark $10.9 million of that $158 million for school districts’ transportation for students, to help offset rising costs due to a war-driven rise in fuel prices.

Representatives from Northwest and Western Alaska objected to the transportation earmark, saying they were unsure if the funding would be allowed for student flights in their rural districts, which are off the road system. Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, sponsored the amendment, and said all districts would be eligible for their transportation of students, whether by road, air or ferry. It was approved by a 33 to 7 vote. 

Lawmakers also debated earmarking an additional $10 million from the remaining one-time education funding for career and technical education grants for school districts, but the proposal narrowly failed by a 20 to 20 vote. 

With a little over a month left in the legislative session, the House draft budget now goes to the Senate for consideration and likely further revisions.

On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee introduced a draft capital budget, a proposed $247 million for state facilities maintenance and construction projects, including for deferred maintenance of schools. The draft will go to the House for consideration in the coming weeks.

The legislative session is set to conclude on May 20. 

House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer discusses procedure with House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and House clerks during debate on the operating budget on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
House Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer discusses procedure with House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and House clerks during debate on the operating budget on Apr. 13, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the governor’s budget proposal, it was $7.75 billion not million. 

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Alaska Senate advances bill granting past PFDs to wrongfully convicted Alaskans

Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, speaks Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: Haley Lehman, 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 Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that would grant back Permanent Fund dividends to Alaskans whose convictions are vacated, reversed or dismissed.

Under current Alaska law, people who were sentenced or incarcerated as a result of a felony conviction or certain combinations of multiple misdemeanors forfeit their dividends that year and any following years of incarceration. An amount equivalent to the incarcerated person’s dividend is deposited into a restorative justice account.

Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, the sponsor of Senate Bill 167, said Monday, “The state has a duty and obligation to rectify harm done to those who might have been wrongfully convicted and to those who have been exonerated of a crime.”

The bill would grant past dividends to people whose charges were later dismissed or if their conviction was vacated, their case was retried and they were acquitted. Individuals who qualify would have one year after their charges were reversed or dismissed to apply. Individuals whose charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement in another criminal case would not qualify for back payment of dividends.

When Kawasaki served in the House of Representatives, he sponsored a similar bill in 2017 that passed in that chamber 38-1.

Kawasaki told the Senate that this change would impact “very few people annually,” and would provide a “modest, essential source of income.”

The Department of Revenue was not able to determine the fiscal impact of the proposed legislation since the Permanent Fund Dividend Division does not know how many Alaskans with past vacated sentences will apply for a past year’s dividends. Funding for past PFDs comes from a reserve for prior years’ dividends in the budget.

The bill received support from Tanana Chiefs Conference and the nonprofit After Innocence.

Kawasaki estimated last year that Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, George Frese and Kevin Pease, known as the Fairbanks Four, would receive approximately $103,450 in back PFDs after they were wrongfully incarcerated in connection with the 1997 death of John Hartman.

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Alaska Gov. Dunleavy signs nearly $450M supplemental budget to cover state expenses this year

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters on Thursday, April 17, 2025, with Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, looking on in the background. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed off on a supplemental budget bill that authorizes nearly $450 million in additional state spending this year. 

The budget bill covers additional costs incurred by the state this fiscal year ending in June, including funds for disaster relief, education, corrections and transportation. 

The bill was approved by the Alaska State Legislature two weeks ago. Dunleavy signed the budget on Apr. 2, and transmitted it back to the Legislature on Thursday. 

“I appreciate the Legislature’s support of these proposals,” Dunleavy said in a letter announcing his signature on the bill. “The supplemental budget I have signed into law today enables the State to meet current fiscal year responsibilities and represents prudent and fiscally responsible investments in emergency and fire response, public safety and statewide transportation needs.”

The budget includes $75 million for disaster relief to address the response to the Western Alaska storms last fall, and nearly $100 million for fire suppression, particularly in Interior Alaska. It includes $20 million for the Alaska Department of Corrections overtime expenses, as well as $70 million in time-sensitive funding for transportation — sought by the construction industry to unlock a federal match of $630 million for state construction projects.

It also includes $130 million for the Alaska Higher Education Fund which provides grants and scholarships for students, as well as $34.4 million for Medicaid and $12.8 million for other public assistance programs through the Alaska Department of Health. 

The governor’s office submitted an additional $11.6 million request, but it was submitted too late to include in the budget bill, and will be rolled into the proposal for next year’s budget. 

Additionally, the state is waiting on an appeal decision after failing a federal disparity test for education funding, and could potentially be liable for $72 million in K-12 funding for next year, according to officials with the Legislative Finance Division. 

Oil revenues still uncertain

In the Legislature, the bill was delayed this year amid ongoing debate in the House of Representatives on whether to pay for the larger than usual budget bill out of state savings — an act that requires the approval of three-quarters of legislators.

Members of the House Republican minority caucus objected to spending from a state savings account, the Constitutional Budget Reserve. After the Alaska Department of Revenue projected the state would see an additional $500 million in oil revenue due to a surge in oil prices driven by the Iran war, they argued the state would not need to pull from savings to pay its bills. 

Members of the multipartisan House majority caucus objected to the uncertainty of revenue forecasts and future oil prices, and argued for a draw from state savings to fund the budget bill immediately.

If oil-driven state revenues from now until the end of the fiscal year are not sufficient to cover the $450 million supplemental budget, then lawmakers agreed to draw from state savings. That means oil prices must average approximately $82 per barrel of oil through June for state revenue to cover spending, according to officials with the Legislative Finance Division. 

House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, was among legislators who supported the draw from savings several weeks ago, instead of banking on uncertain future oil revenues. On Friday, he said it seems revenues will cover the budget bill. 

“As appears now, oil prices are continuing to move in an upward trajectory, which means that the bill at the very end could be fully funded,” Edgmon said. “But there’s still a fair amount of time in front of us for oil prices to, you know, continue to be volatile.”

Edgmon said barring a dive in oil prices, he doesn’t expect another vote on drawing from the state savings this session.

“That’s pending a dramatic drop in oil prices, of course, which doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.”

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Alaska House legislator’s aide arrested for DUI in Juneau

Snow falls on the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 16, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

Snow falls on the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 16, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)

The chief of staff for a member of the Alaska House of Representatives was arrested early Sunday morning in Juneau and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. 

Kathryn “Katy” Giorgio, 45, is an aide to Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, and pleaded not guilty to a class A misdemeanor in an initial hearing on Monday. 

Her arrest came less than a week after Forrest Wolfe, a Republican and aide to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, was also arrested for driving under the influence. It was Wolfe’s second DUI arrest and Giorgio’s first. 

Giorgio was released without bail. Ordinarily, DUI release conditions require that accused Alaskans stay out of bars and other places where alcohol is served.

In Giorgio’s case, Judge Kirsten Swanson and the municipal prosecutor agreed to one exception: Giorgio will be allowed to play trombone this week in the Red Dog Saloon as part of an Alaska Folk Fest concert.

Mina declined comment when reached by phone Thursday evening but confirmed that Giorgio remains a member of her staff and that the matter is an internal personnel issue.

Giorgio declined on Thursday to speak at length about the incident but said “it was a bad decision.”

“I was not driving erratically. I was a block away from my house, and it was just an unfortunate situation, and I’m working through the system to do what I have to do,” she said.

In an affidavit submitted to prosecutors, Juneau Police Department Officer Joshua Shrader said he pulled over Giorgio about 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning after observing her car speeding and “driving down the center of the road” in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley neighborhood.

“While Giorgio was searching for her registration,” he wrote, “I noted an open can of alcohol in the center console cup holder. Inside the center console glove box, Giorgio picked up another can of alcohol and attempted to conceal it in a napkin.”

Shrader said both Giorgio and the car smelled of alcohol, and her breath alcohol level measured at 0.126, more than the legal limit of 0.08.

A status hearing on Giorgio’s case has been preliminarily scheduled for April 24. A hearing in Wolfe’s case is scheduled for May 18. According to online court records, both have hired defense attorney August Petropulos. 

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