Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Photo byJames Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is expected this evening to detail his plans for a long-term plan to balance Alaska’s expenses and revenue.
“There will be a temporary, seasonal sales tax concept put forward for discussion with the legislature,” Dunleavy said Wednesday during a cabinet meeting open to reporters.
Will state lawmakers approve that idea?
“I don’t have the answer to that until we start having discussions,” he said.
Since 2015, Alaska’s annual budget process has frequently been snarled by low oil prices that have made it difficult for legislators and governors to balance the state’s books without spending from savings.
Alaska relies on oil revenue for almost a third of its general-purpose revenue, and for most of the past decade, the price of North Slope crude has been relatively low.
Alaska has never had a statewide sales tax, and it hasn’t had a statewide income tax since 1980.
Since 2018, the state’s No. 1 source of general-purpose revenue has been the proceeds of the Alaska Permanent Fund, followed by oil.
Dunleavy’s proposal will mark a major shift for the governor, who is term-limited and in the final year of his second term. For his first seven years in office, the governor has attempted to resolve the long-term imbalance in state finances by cutting services and spending.
On the rare occasions that legislators have passed new tax measures, Dunleavy has vetoed them, saying he will accept no tax bills that are not part of a complete fiscal solution.
The governor is expected to unveil his proposal for a complete solution on Thursday. He said he views any tax measures as a temporary “bridge” until the North Slope begins producing more oil and a proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline comes to fruition.
“The proposal and the fiscal plan has multiple components, and basically what it is, it’s a road map to inject stability, especially over the next five years when revenue is not quite what will be in the out-years,” he said.
In addition to proposing a statewide sales tax, the governor is expected to propose bills changing oil taxes and the Permanent Fund dividend.
“There’s always room for negotiation, but there’s two sides. That (goes) both ways,” he said.
Dunleavy’s remarks came during a Wednesday cabinet meeting that saw the leaders of state departments praise Dunleavy and point to ways in which the state’s position has improved since he entered office.
Crime is down, commissioners said, statewide employment is expected to reach a new historic high this year, and the state’s gross domestic product is also up.
Alaska remains near the bottom of national rankings in educational performance and violent crime, but Dunleavy said he wanted to emphasize that many of the state’s problems are improving.
“We wanted to make sure that people in Alaska know that … there’s a lot happening. These people are working hard. State employees are working hard. There’s a lot going on,” Dunleavy said. “It is a safer place. Is it the safest place in the country? No. That’s a motivator to keep going. We are creating more jobs. Can we, should we, do better? Absolutely. Keep going.”
Members of the Alaska House of Representatives leave their chambers on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska lawmakers opened the second year of their regular legislative session on Tuesday with an ambitious agenda but low expectations amid a tight budget that appears likely to draw the lion’s share of legislators’ attention.
“It’s one big log jam,” said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka.
The Alaska Legislature operates on a two-year cycle between elections; bills are carried over from the first year to the second, but if they don’t pass the Legislature by the end of the second year, they expire and must start all over again.
Speaking Tuesday, members of the coalitions in charge of the House and Senate said they hope to address pensions for public employees, the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline, a long-term plan to balance state expenses and revenue, elections legislation and a handful of other major topics — all while dealing with an annual state budget that’s tightly constrained by the price of oil and a reluctance to enact legislation that will raise revenue.
On top of that, there are two newly appointed members of the state House, two members of the House who switched to the Senate, and new leaders in both the House and Senate’s minority caucuses.
The regular session is scheduled to end May 20.
Topic No. 1 is the state’s annual budgetary balancing act
“I think the big topic always is the budget,” said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham.
In December, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a $7.75 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 plus additional spending in the current fiscal year.
Alaska lacks the revenue to pay for that spending, so the governor has proposed spending $1.8 billion from savings.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, noted that the governor’s budget proposal calls for a large Permanent Fund dividend.
Reduce the governor’s proposal to $1,000 per recipient, and the deficit disappears — but only if you don’t include additional expenses that the governor left out of his budget, Hoffman said.
The Legislature could use savings to balance the budget, but members of the Senate majority believe the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve — the state’s primary savings account — shouldn’t be used for recurring expenses.
“I’ve said it a couple of times, we shouldn’t be spending those dollars on one-time items,” Hoffman said.
If that position holds, the governor’s budget will need to undergo major changes before becoming final.
It takes 45 votes — 30 in the House and 15 in the Senate — in the 60-person Legislature to spend from the Constitutional Budget Reserve.
Getting those votes has historically been a challenge because it will require members of the majority caucuses to compromise with members of the minority caucuses.
In prior years, the Legislature has deadlocked over the issue, driving the state to the brink of a government shutdown.
“The budget is in an environment that’s fiscally constrained, and it’s going to be challenged by additional expenses that we’re going to see in the supplemental measure. That’s our top priority,” Edgmon said.
Governor’s veto of transportation projects looms large
One of the “additional expenses” that has legislators worried the most is funding for the state’s annual transportation construction budget.
Last year, Dunleavy vetoed a chunk of that budget because lawmakers intended to pay for it by diverting money from previously funded projects. Legislators did not take up a veto override during their August special session.
That’s left a hole of about $70 million needed to unlock ten times that amount of federal money.
Filling the hole will likely require spending from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, which needs a supermajority in the House and Senate.
“There are businesses that are going to close if the next construction year is not funded, and so I’m pretty concerned about it,” said Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage.
Stedman called it a “significant issue.”
“We do have a deficit in this current fiscal year, and it is very difficult to deal with the three-quarter vote. … So we’ll wait and see what the governor’s proposal is to fix the mess he created,” Stedman said.
More than 20 groups representing a variety of organizations across the state have been urging lawmakers to act on the issue, going so far as to launch a statewide ad campaign that asks Alaskans to also join the lobbying effort.
Without quick action, the groups say, there will not be enough time to put money to work during the summer construction season.
Members of the Alaska House’s all-Republican minority caucus pose for photographs on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Governor expected to reveal fiscal plan during State of the State
Shortly after opening their session on Tuesday, lawmakers formally invited Dunleavy to deliver his annual State of the State address at 7 p.m. Thursday.
That’s unusually early, but Dunleavy is expected to use the speech — his final State of the State before leaving office in December — to unveil a comprehensive plan to bring state expenses and revenue into alignment over the long term.
That’s likely to require significant new taxes or major budget cuts: A 10-year plan published by the governor’s office in December showed that the state will need to raise as much as $1.6 billion in additional money per year to keep state services at current levels in 2035.
Since oil prices plunged in 2015, state legislators and governors have been unable to fully resolve a fiscal gap that has bedeviled the state.
“It’s something that’s been on the docket for a long time, but it comes with a certain level of controversy, angst and maybe outright resistance,” Edgmon said.
Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said lawmakers initially expected the governor to propose a handful of bills, “but now there’s going to be an omnibus bill that has all of the issues in it,” he said.
House and Senate leaders were briefed on the outline of the governor’s plan earlier this week without receiving details.
Stevens, Edgmon and other legislators reserved comment on the governor’s ideas until they see the full text.
“It’s impossible to opine on it at this point without seeing the bills, without seeing what he’s truly putting forward,” Edgmon said.
Newly confirmed Sen. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, shakes the hand of Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, on the first day of the session at Jan. 20, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Veto override vote possible on Thursday
Hours before the governor talks about a comprehensive fiscal plan, legislators will vote on an incremental bill that would provide funding for education programs across the state.
The House and Senate passed Senate Bill 113 last year but Dunleavy vetoed it. If lawmakers override the governor, online companies would be required to pay corporate income taxes in Alaska for services delivered in Alaska.
Current law allows them to pay those taxes at the site of their server farms or other physical offices.
“I think Senate Bill 113, quite frankly, is a litmus test for where we’re going to go with the fiscal plan,” Edgmon said.
Pension bill awaits attention in the Senate
On Friday, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee will begin hearing a bill that would re-establish a pension plan for state employees and teachers.
The House passed the bill last year, leaving the issue in the hands of the Senate, which passed a similar bill in 2024. While Dunleavy has previously voiced opposition to the idea of a pension revival, a narrow majority of legislators appear favorable to the idea, saying it is important for Alaska to offer competitive benefits when hiring prospective workers.
Rep. Garrett Nelson, R-Sutton, introduces his wife and youngest daughter (standing at background) on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, the first day of the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
New legislators and legislators take their seats
Last year, Sens. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, and Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, resigned from the Legislature to cover statewide office. Dunleavy appointed Reps. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, to fill those Senate seats.
Rauscher and Tilton sat as senators for the first time on Tuesday, while their replacements sat as representatives for the first time in the House — longtime legislative aide Steve St. Clair and Sutton Community Council member Garret Nelson.
Both are stalwart Republicans and aren’t expected to significantly change the mix in the state House, where they will sit in the 19-member, all-Republican House Minority caucus.
The House is controlled by a 21-person coalition of Democrats, independents and two Republicans.
The House’s Republican minority has a new leader this year — Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, who replaced Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, during the legislative interim. Johnson gave up her position on the powerful House Finance Committee — a hurdle for any bill with a price tag — in order to take her role as the face of the minority.
Replacing Johnson on the finance committee is Rep. Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla.
Some members of the House minority were unhappy with Johnson’s election as leader in part because that vote took place before St. Clair and Nelson were appointed. Since then, Johnson has been confirmed with a second vote, and any division among members of the House has quieted.
In the Senate, Shower’s departure required the selection of a new leader for the six-person, all-Republican minority caucus there. Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, was elected to that role by his fellow minority Republicans.
The Senate continues to be led by a 14-person coalition that includes nine Democrats and five Republicans.
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)
Legislators prepare to take up natural gas pipeline issues
The proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline will be the top priority of the Senate Resources Committee, Giessel said on Tuesday.
Developers of that project have said they intend to make a go/no-go decision on the pipeline’s first phase early this year, and Dunleavy has floated the idea of a large state property tax break in order to encourage the project.
On Tuesday, members of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee voted to spend up to $250,000 to hire Pegasus Global to advise the Legislature on the pipeline project. The Legislature already has an advisory firm, GaffneyCline, on contract, but that firm’s parent company, Baker Hughes, plans to get involved with the pipeline project.
NOTN- Juneau for Democracy and the ReSisters held a peaceful pop-up protest in Juneau yesterday evening in solidarity with nationwide demonstrations which are being held due to recent federal immigration enforcement actions.
Juneau for Democracy invited residents to gather at The Whale for what the group called a candlelight vigil, to show support for people protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across the country.
The event is part of a wave of protests that have followed several shootings and lethal confrontations with ICE agents, particularly in Minneapolis.
Protestors sang “This Little Light of Mine” in the lightly falling snow, posting on their social media to bring songs, poems, love and determination to share.
NOTN- Lawmakers, their families and members of the public are invited to gather today at Centennial Hall for the annual legislative welcome, marking the opening day of the Alaska Legislature.
The reception is hosted by the Alaska Committee with support from Travel Juneau, the City and Borough of Juneau and dozens of local businesses. Organizers say the event has been held for nearly three decades and is intended to offer a bipartisan welcome to legislators arriving in the state’s capital for the session.
“The Alaska committee was formed in 1995 and we’ve been doing the reception just about since the very beginning.” Said Wayne Jensen from the Alaska Committee, ”We want all the local community members to come and say hi and welcome to the Capital City. It’s their Capital City.”
According to Jensen, being the Capital City is both a privilege and a responsibility.
“’That responsibility is to be as friendly as we can, and as hospitable as we can and make everything work well for the legislators and the State government.” Said Jensen.
Travel Juneau, the city’s marketing organization, assists with coordination for the event, including catering and use of Centennial Hall, according to Liz Perry of Travel Juneau.
“What we do is, we’re your front and center alongside the Alaska committee, to help make those invitations for people to come down and visit the Capitol, take a look at the building itself. The building is historic, and have a chance to talk with their legislators, if they have not had the opportunity to do so in their hometowns, and promote this as a great Capital City.” Perry said.
Organizers said the welcome also serves as an opportunity to promote in-state travel, noting that many Alaskans from other regions, even Anchorage and Fairbanks, have never visited Southeast Alaska or the Capitol.
Local businesses and organizations will contribute food, gift bags and promotional items for legislators and staff. The city also participates by providing passes to local amenities such as Eaglecrest Ski Area, city pools and public transit.
“We prepare a bag for each one of the offices, and it’s just a way to say welcome to Juneau.” Perry said, “So it can be anything from artwork to books to candy, or an offer of some kind. And we look forward just to saying thank you to our legislators.”
Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, speaks during the commissioning ceremony for the Coast Guard icebreaker Storis on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 230-196 on Thursday to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years and reverse massive cost increases that went into effect with the new year.
The reversal must still be approved by the U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump before becoming effective.
Alaska’s lone member of the House, Republican Rep. Nick Begich III, voted against the extension, as did 195 other Republicans.
Seventeen Republicans voted for the extension of subsidies that were enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, joining all of the chamber’s Democrats.
The House’s Republican leaders opposed the extension, but a handful of Republicans signed a petition in December to force a vote.
Begich did not sign that petition, and on Wednesday, he joined other Republicans in an unsuccessful procedural vote intended to block Thursday’s decision.
In a written statement explaining his vote on Thursday, Begich said extending subsidies would not fix the problems he sees with the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. “The health insurance system created by Democrats under Obamacare has proven completely unaffordable for the American healthcare customer,” the statement said. “An extension of Obamacare COVID subsidies does not fix what is broken.”
He said he would like to see reforms to the Affordable Care Act, without which he said the extension “has no credible pathway forward in the Senate.”
In December, Begich voted in favor of a Republican-proposed alternative to the extension. That alternative, which focuses on drug costs, would not stop or reverse the new cost increases and has thus far been rejected by the Senate.
The Congressional Budget Office reported that the alternative would reduce health insurance premiums for insured Americans but would also reduce the number of Americans who are insured.
“I remain committed to working on reforms that lower costs, expand access, and improve outcomes for all Americans,” Begich said in his statement. “Temporary extensions without meaningful reform are not the solution. Real reform that puts patients first is.”
In December, Alaska’s two U.S. Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan — both Republicans — joined Senate Democrats in an unsuccessful attempt to advance a condition-free extension similar to the one passed by the House on Thursday.
That was a change in position for Sullivan, who had previously opposed extensions that were not coupled with changes to the Affordable Care Act.
Begich and Sullivan are each up for election this fall. Sullivan does not have a Democratic Party-backed opponent yet, but former U.S. House Rep. Mary Peltola is widely expected to enter the race this month.
Begich is being opposed by Anchorage pastor Matt Schultz. Alaska Democratic Party Chair Eric Croft said by email that Thursday’s vote will be a campaign issue in the fall.
“After allowing lifesaving ACA tax credits to expire on December 31, Nick Begich doubled down on his betrayal of Alaska families and blocked the extension of these credits,” he wrote. “We cannot afford these health care price hikes, and we won’t forget about Nick Begich’s betrayal this November.”
Capital Transit, submerged in pooling water, photo courtesy of CBJ
NOTN- Winter is far from over, and the next phase of Juneau’s extreme winter weather is coming in the form of an atmospheric river, which is expected to bring heavy rain to Southeast Alaska through the weekend, and this is raising concerns about flooding as rain falls on to an already deep snowpack that has clogged storm drains, flooded roads and pooled on highways and strained local infrastructure.
The system is forecast to arrive late tonight and persist through early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service Juneau.
In Juneau, forecasters are predicting the storm will begin as snow and transition to rain Friday morning, totaling roughly 1 to 4 inches.
The rain will fall on the already deep snowpack across much of the central and northern Panhandle, increasing water pooling in streets and low-lying areas where blocked storm drains prevent proper runoff, there is also increased risk of possible isolated landslides for the southern panhandle.
Governor Mike Dunleavy has verbally approved Juneau’s disaster declaration, activating the state’s public assistance program.
Under the declaration, the state is assisting Juneau with clearing snow from roofs of critical public facilities, including schools, water treatment plants and Bartlett Regional Hospital.
Crews will also help dig out storm drains and fire hydrants to reduce flooding and maintain emergency access. However, officials emphasized that the assistance does not extend to private homes or businesses.
Emergency managers said conditions will continue to be monitored closely as the storm develops and additional updates will be issued as needed.
The deadly landslide that crashed through the outskirts of Wrangell on the night of Nov. 20, 2023, is seen from the air on the following day. The landslide killed six people and blocked a major road, the Zimovia Highway. The slide was triggered by heavy rain carried north by an atmospheric river. (Photo provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Future assessments of U.S. landslide hazards could include the study of risks posed by atmospheric rivers, which caused extreme precipitation that was linked to recent deadly slides in Southeast Alaska.
The added focus on atmospheric rivers is one of the main updates in a bill that would reauthorize the National Landslide Preparedness Act. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, passed the U.S. Senate on Monday and is now to be considered by the U.S. House.
Atmospheric rivers are long and transitory bands of moisture and heat, likened to rivers in the sky. They carry that moisture northward from more southern latitudes, and they can dump vast amounts of rain for several hours or even days.
“You can very rapidly saturate soils in the right conditions,” said Rick Thoman, a scientist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
When such large amounts of warm southern moisture hit the steep mountainous regions of Southeast Alaska, they can cause sudden downhill flows, Thoman said.
“It’s really that intense amount of rain that atmospheric rivers deliver that’s the link to landslides,” he said.
Numerous landslides in the United States have been triggered by atmospheric rivers’ extreme precipitation. Those events include the 2023 slide in Wrangell that killed six people, the 2020 slide in Haines that killed two people and the 2015 slide in Sitka that killed three people.
Extreme precipitation events from atmospheric rivers are tied to shallow-seated landslides such as the deadly events that struck Southeast Alaska in recent years. Other types of Alaska landslides are caused by more deep-seated slope failures triggered by glacial retreat, permafrost thaw or a combination of those forces.
Also passed on Monday by unanimous consent in the Senate was another Murkowski-sponsored and disaster-focused bill, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act. That bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, supports the federal program that maintains earthquake measurement resources and equipment and equipment and early warning systems.
“Earthquakes and landslides are active threats that have taken lives and damaged property across Alaska in recent years,” Murkowski said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Our passage of these bills puts us on track to ensure that federal agencies have the resources they need to help keep communities safe both back home and around the country. I thank my colleagues for working cooperatively to pass these measures and urge the House to take them up and send them to the President as soon as possible.”
Students begin their first day of school at the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy program at Harborview Elementary School in Juneau on Aug. 15, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
It was a difficult and consequential year for Alaska schools, educators and students.
While Alaska lawmakers passed the first significant education funding increase since 2011, the state rode a federal funding rollercoaster as funds were frozen, released, disputed and appealed.
Western Alaska students and families also endured the devastating storm disaster of Typhoon Halong. Hundreds of students, as well as teachers, were displaced from their homes and forced to move and adapt to new schools across the state.
Here are some of the top stories of the year:
A state education funding fight culminated when the Alaska State Legislature passed a historic override of a veto by Gov. Dunleavy to enact a boost to per student funding for K-12 schools in a one-day special session in August.
Education was the top priority of the Legislature and Gov. Dunleavy this year, and an embattled topic throughout the legislative session, with an ongoing dispute around funding for schools and education policy changes sought by the governor to address lagging school performance and test scores.
Gov. Dunleavy vetoed two education funding bills during the session, citing a lack of policy changes he favored to boost homeschool and charter school options, and address test scores. In April, he vetoed a bill increasing the BSA by $1,000, calling it a “joke” and insisting that policy changes be included. Legislators introduced and passed another bill increasing funding by $700 per student in late April. In an effort to compromise, they included many of the governor’s priority items, including charter school changes, incentives for reading programs, and establishing an education task force to recommend further education policy changes.
Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, holds her hand to her chest on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, after the close vote on overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of education funding. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
Dunleavy vetoed the education funding increase out of the final budget in June. The legislature came back in August to override the veto. It was the first time since 1987 that Alaska lawmakers have overridden an appropriations veto by a sitting governor.
School officials said the additional $50.3 million in per student funding, known as the base student allocation, is essential to help maintain class sizes, hire and retain teachers, and create stability for students.
“We’re extremely excited. A lot of our administrators were texting and very excited about getting it overturned today, so that made Valdez very happy,” said that city’s school superintendent, Jason Weber, in August after the veto override vote.
The Trump administration froze millions in funding for Alaska schools, later releasing some funds. But Alaska is also embroiled in an ongoing dispute with the U.S. Department of Education around impact aid, which could cost the state $80 million
Over the summer, as school districts grappled with uncertainty around a state funding increase, the Trump administration announced a freeze of over $46 million in funds for Alaska schools, including for instruction and migrant education programs, which support students who miss class due to seasonal work like fishing. The Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the Kuspuk school districts joined a nationwide lawsuit challenging the withholding of congressionally approved funds as unlawful.
“These are not extras. These are the programs that give our students a chance,” said Kuspuk School Superintendent Madeline Aguillard. “When the federal government walks away from its obligation, it is not a delay. It is denial. Denial of access. Denial of progress. Denial of the futures our students have a right to pursue.”
The empty playground at 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)
In late July, the federal government released $5 billion of the $6.8 billion in K-12 funding.
The state is involved in an ongoing dispute with the U.S. Department of Education, which claims the state has failed a disparity test – allowing no more than a 25% gap between the highest and lowest funded schools. The state has appealed the finding, with over $80 million in federal impact aid at stake. A decision is expected in 2026.
The Trump administration also froze more than $6 billion in congressionally-approved funding for adult education and workforce development funding in July. In Alaska, it prompted immediate cuts to programs and staff layoffs. The state had been awarded over $1.1 million in grants last year, and the frozen funds in July were a shock to programs and students that included GED classes, literacy and civic education, English language classes and workforce development.
Hundreds of students, as well as teachers, were displaced by the devastation of Typhoon Halong from Western Alaska and relocated to schools around the state.
The devastation of Typhoon Halong forced an estimated 2,000 residents to evacuate Western Alaska communities in the largest mass evacuation in state history, and education officials across districts worked quickly to re-enroll students and provide support services at schools across the state.
More than one hundred students relocated to Bethel, remaining in the regional hub of Western Alaska and the Lower Kuskokwim School District. An estimated 140 students enrolled in the Anchorage School District, which worked to keep storm displaced students together, including enrolling a number of students at the Yup’ik immersion program at College Gate Elementary School. ASD also provided transportation from emergency shelters, health services, meals and translation services for Yup’ik speaking families.
“They’re going through trauma and it’s going to take a lot of work. But we’re going to put that in, because these kids are worth it,” said Anchorage Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt at an Oct. 21 school board meeting. “And they deserve a wonderful education that we want to offer them, in ASD, for as long as they’d like to be here.”
Other students re-enrolled in schools where they relocated across the state, including in Nenana and Fairbanks areas, the Kenai Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna Valley Borough, as well as boarding schools like Mt Edgecumbe High School. Teachers and staff displaced by the storm also were re-assigned, with the majority staying in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, according to the superintendent.
Many of the district’s 22 village schools also served emergency shelter to residents as Typhoon Halong hit, and as relief centers in the days and weeks after the storm as the recovery effort got underway.
An Alaska Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III, assigned to the 176th Wing, arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, with approximately 300 evacuated residents from western Alaska, Oct. 15, 2025. (Alaska National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy greets a child during the governor’s annual holiday open house on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2022 at the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks / Alaska Beacon)
Framed by the fireplace in Alaska’s governor’s mansion earlier this month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy shook hands and posed for pictures in the final holiday open house of his two terms as Alaska’s top elected official.
Dunleavy is prohibited from running for another term, and 14 candidates have already signed up to run for his office in the 2026 elections. One of those candidates, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, stood next to Dunleavy at the open house, smiling alongside her husband.
“It started what I think is going to be a real pipeline,” Dunleavy said. “It’s something that the state has dreamed about for decades, ever since the trans-Alaska oil pipeline came into being.”
Since January, when Glenfarne announced it was buying into the long-pursued Alaska LNG pipeline project, it’s announced a series of preliminary agreements from international companies interested in buying gas.
To date, it doesn’t have firm deals for either buying or selling, and it is expected to make a go/no-go decision on the first phase of the project — a pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska for in-state use — within the next month.
“I think in January there’s going to be some major announcements that will solidify that this pipeline as a go,” Dunleavy said.
Dunleavy said he’s also been pleased with rising forecasts for Alaska North Slope oil. In November, the federal Energy Information Administration predicted that North Slope production would grow 13% in 2026, reaching levels that haven’t been seen since 2018.
“That’s good for Alaska as well,” Dunleavy said, “because of the renaissance on the Slope.”
The state’s unemployment rate is holding below 5%, he noted.
“When you look at the turmoil across the country and you look at the turmoil across the world, I think Alaska is in pretty good shape. … We have a lot of resources here, and I think we have a lot of great people,” he said.
Asked for the lowest point of the year on a statewide basis, Dunleavy said: “You’re always dealing with disasters. Under my tenure, there’s been 73 declared disasters … we had the issue out in Western Alaska, and so we have to add now a typhoon to our mix of volcanoes, earthquakes and so forth.”
Dunleavy himself was affected by the recent Matanuska-Susitna Borough windstorm disaster, and his wife couldn’t attend the holiday open house as a result.
“We lost some of our roofing on a building or two out there, and the heat went out,” he said.
While disasters are part of living in Alaska, he said Typhoon Halong was something extra.
“I would say that whenever a disaster impacts people at the visceral level, at the local level, at their household level — we got hit hard with that typhoon,” he said.
For much of the year, as in his conversation with reporters, the governor preferred to focus on the positives.
Earlier this year, Dunleavy said the arrival of the Trump administration was “like Christmas every morning” for Alaska.
Since Trump was sworn into office, his administration has relaxed restrictions on oil and gas drilling on the North Slope. It has advanced the Ambler Access Project, which promises to open a large mining area in Northwest Alaska.
The Interior Department has also pushed forward the road between Cold Bay and King Cove and proposals to explore for oil in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Dunleavy administration has been enthusiastic in its support of those actions, but most have been tied up in federal court and will be for months or years.
The ANWR drilling issue, for example, won’t even come before a federal judge until late 2026, according to a status update published this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
The Trump-backed Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress this year will deliver millions of dollars in construction projects to the state, and other legislation will provide millions more, but other projects — particularly those involving renewable energy and projects intended to deal with climate change — were eliminated.
“Christmas every morning” entailed other metaphorical bits of coal for Alaska this year: The extended government shutdown left thousands of Alaskans unpaid for over a month, and the cuts instituted by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency caused significant amounts of uncertainty.
In the long run, DOGE doesn’t appear to have significantly affected the number of federal jobs here: The latest available figures show more federal employees in the state than there were at the start of the year.
While some federal grants targeted by DOGE have since been restored, many were not. Public radio stations and arts organizations laid off staff and curtailed their work.
Tariffs, visa issues and a prolonged dispute with Canada threatened the summer tourist season, but a feared Yukon boycott never appeared, and the number of cruise ship passengers traveling to Alaska increased slightly, to a new record high of more than 1.7 million.
At the holiday open house, Dunleavy said there’s plenty to look forward to in the coming year and in the years once he leaves office.
“There’s just a whole host of things — the possibility of data farms, artificial intelligence, and how that’s gonna revolutionize not just the world, but here in Alaska, I think we could become a data transportation center because of our proximity on the globe. So I think you’re going to see a number of announcements throughout the year that I think will set the stage for a great several decades going forward,” he said.
NORAD- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, NORAD tracks everything that flies in and around North America in defense of our homelands. On Dec. 24, they have the very special mission of also tracking Santa.
NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955 when a young child accidently dialed the unlisted phone number of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, believing she was calling Santa Claus after seeing a promotion in a local newspaper.
The commander on duty that night, was quick to realize a mistake had been made, and assured the youngster that CONAD would guarantee Santa a safe journey from the North Pole.
Thus a tradition was born that rolled over to NORAD when it was formed in 1958. Each year since, NORAD has reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions across the globe.
Thanks to the services and resources generously provided by numerous corporate contributors and volunteers, NORAD Tracks Santa has persevered for more than 60 years.
Each year, the NORAD Tracks Santa Web Site receives nearly fifteen million unique visitors from more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Volunteers receive more than 130,000 calls to the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline from children around the globe.
Children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
