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Report: Nearly half of all federal funding for tribes at risk under ‘big beautiful’ bill

Serina Fast Horse, left,of Sicangu Lakota & Blackfeet Tribes, talks with Jacy Bowles, of Xicana and Diné descent, as they walk to the former Elwha Dam site during the 2023 Tribal Climate Camp on the Olympic Peninsula, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, near Port Angeles, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

AP- A new report from Portland State University found that budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s new spending bill threaten nearly half of federal funding allocated to federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native nations last year.

Roughly $530 million of the $1.19 billion allocated to Northwest tribal nations in fiscal year 2024 — used to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to Native American and Alaska Native tribes — is at risk of being cut. The congressionally allocated funds serve myriad functions for tribes in the Northwest, including providing clean drinking water, affordable housing, schools, transit and land management. Funding is decided by Congress on a yearly basis and can be disbursed over a period of time that exceeds the calendar year it is allocated.

“All across the board tribes are worried about the funding cuts that are happening right now,” said Serina Fast Horse, who is Lakota and Blackfeet and serves as the co-director of the Northwest Environmental Justice Center, which provides grant application assistance and advising to Indigenous communities in the Northwest.

Fast Horse says there are serious concerns among Northwest tribes about further cuts to vital programs ranging from health and wellness to early childhood education. The report warns of vulnerabilities to programs and grants that tribes rely on for resilience in the face of climate change, like improving home weatherization, managing forestland and renovating aging homes. Federal dollars to help Northwest tribes bolster their infrastructure against the increasing threats from wildfire, drought and sea-level rise could also be slashed.

The Portland State report found millions in Clean Air Act funding could also go away — the Environmental Protection Agency earmarked nearly $2 million in 2024 for Northwest tribes in a series of grants for monitoring air quality and pollution. Much of the congressionally allocated funding has yet to be distributed to tribes and is now at risk of being cut altogether.

The report demonstrates how proposed major reductions across the federal government, including at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, could reverberate across Indian Country.

Tribal officials shared concerns that drastic cuts could cause the federal government to fall short of trust and treaty obligations that mandate the federal government support tribal services, uphold tribal sovereignty and protect tribal treaty resources — responsibilities that courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have repeatedly upheld.

“All the funding reductions addressing clean water, air and dealing with climate change have impacts on the Tribes’ culture and treaty protected resources,” said William E. Ray Jr., chair of the Klamath Tribes.

Researchers declined to disclose specific projects at risk of elimination for fear of retaliation, and a number of tribes and tribal organizations declined to comment to InvestigateWest, citing similar concerns.

“Trump and Congressional Republicans are wreaking havoc on Tribal communities with their ‘Big, Ugly BETRAYAL’ of a law that arbitrarily cuts many programs supporting folks in Indian Country, where chronic underfunding is already impacting services and exacerbating disparities,” said Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat.

He added that the federal government plays an outsized role in funding essential services to tribal communities, including health care, education and public safety, and that the Inflation Reduction Act took important steps in advancing funding for water infrastructure and environmental programs for tribes.

In 2024, Clean Air Act related funds were used to fund 15 projects for 12 Northwest tribes. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Tulalip Tribes are some of the Native American nations set to receive research grants for improving air quality and pollution monitoring. Among 12 tribes selected for funding, several of them focus on minimizing exposure to poor air quality and harmful pollutants to their elderly and medically vulnerable residents. Other tribes intend to study impacts of pollutants on important first foods — culturally significant staple foods consumed before colonization — that officials say are critical to improving health outcomes for their citizens.

Researchers at PSU examined 469 programs impacted by President Trump’s reversal of former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14008, which sought to address climate change and created a number of environmental justice initiatives. Sixty of the programs identified by researchers were specifically named in the Republican-led spending bill for cuts, and 17 of those provided funding directly to tribes. The programs accounted for roughly 35% of all federal investments in tribes in 2024. The report says not all of the funding will be cut, but a significant portion of it could be.

The cuts come at a time when Native Americans and Alaska Natives already have limited access to federal services and funds, according to a December 2024 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog. It found when tribes had to compete with other entities for federal funding, they may receive a small portion of the total amount, and that limited access to federal services and funds contributes to known disparities for Native Americans and Alaska Natives compared to other Americans.

Of the $20.15 billion in federal funding that went to tribes between 2010 and 2024, tribes within the boundaries of Idaho received a total of $304.56 million, Washington tribes $1.81 billion, Oregon tribes $690.76 million, and Alaska Native tribes received $2.35 billion.

Other programs at risk of being cut include the EPA’s embattled Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program, which funded initiatives by states, tribes and local governments to support activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health impacts.

Under that program, in 2023, the EPA awarded the Tulalip Tribes $977,000 to work in conjunction with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation to create a tool to detect which homes are at greatest risk from wildfire smoke infiltration and dangerously hot weather, which are growing issues affecting both communities.

While the federal government has repeatedly affirmed its obligations to tribes, actual allocations remain disproportionately small compared to population figures. In 2024, Native American tribes received just 1.7% of federal energy and environment spending, despite Native people making up 2.9% of the U.S. population.

Between 2010 and 2024, tribes within the bounds of Idaho, Washington and Oregon received roughly $2.81 billion in federal investments in energy and environmental infrastructure, which represents roughly 14% of the $20 billion in allocations made to tribes nationwide.

The researchers determined that programs funded under the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s 2022 climate, health and tax law, are at particular risk of being eliminated. The funding allocated to tribes under the IRA represented a historic investment in infrastructure in Indian Country, more than doubling energy and infrastructure investment from $1.51 billion nationwide to $3.94 billion in 2024, around .04% of total federal grant spending obligations for 2024.

“When you put them in the context of how much money the federal government actually spends on certain things, it’s pennies on the dollar,” said Sophie Lalande, a co-author of the PSU report.

Soon after taking office and without consulting Congress, the Trump administration suspended some grants that tribal communities used heavily, such as community change grants, distributed by the EPA’s Offices of Environmental Justice and of External Civil Rights Compliance during the Biden administration, to support climate resilience and clean energy. Distributed as a part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the grants were suspended as part of the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The grants helped tribal communities in the Northwest tremendously, according to Fast Horse.

“They were providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to communities for infrastructure improvements, like access to clean drinking water and climate resilience hubs, just really essential pieces of community development for health and safety of communities,” she said.

The report stresses a multiplier effect from investments made in tribal communities. Infrastructure dollars invested on tribal lands often serve as anchors for broader local development, since tribal lands often share regional infrastructure like power grids, roads or water systems with non-Native communities, with the power of dollars rippling outward into surrounding rural towns and cities.

Bobby Cochran, a researcher with Portland State University and senior project manager at the National Policy Consensus Center, co-authored the report.

“We just haven’t made a major investment in infrastructure since the ’60s or ’70s, so this wasn’t fluffy,” he said. “It’s really important stuff that was just trying to play catch-up.”

___

This story was originally published by InvestigateWest and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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Hurricane-force storm developing in Gulf of Alaska, warnings Issued for panhandle

NOTN- A powerful storm system developing in the Gulf of Alaska is expected to bring hurricane-force winds to Southeast Alaska, forecasters said on Thursday.

Satellite imagery shows the system strengthening as it tracks toward the southern Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau. Winds over the gulf are expected to reach 75 mph with gusts up to 92 mph).

A Hurricane Wind Warning has been issued for the Gulf, while a High Wind Warning is in effect for areas of the southern Panhandle from Baranof Island through Frederick Sound South.

Officials urged residents to prepare by checking on family and friends, securing vessels and loose outdoor items, and monitoring updated forecasts at weather.gov/juneau.

“We will continue to watch the development of this system closely and make updates as needed,” forecasters said in a post Thursday.

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Radiothon raises $35,000 for Cure for Cade

4-year-old Cade Jobsis

NOTN- When Emma’s son, Cade, was just five months old, she noticed he was falling behind on developmental milestones. Doctors told her he was “just a late bloomer.” But after years of searching for answers, specialists diagnosed Cade with SPG50, an ultra-rare genetic disease that slowly robs children of the ability to control their bodies.

The Juneau community has rallied behind Cade’s cause, A daylong radiothon hosted by KINY on Saturday raised $35,000 to support 4-year-old Cade Jobsis.

The event, ran from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featured prizes such as a helicopter ride from NorthStar Helicopters, an Eaglecrest ski pass, and a yearlong membership to the Rainforest Playzone.

Funds will support Cade, who was diagnosed at just 2 years old with SPG50, a rare form of hereditary spastic paraplegia that causes progressive loss of mobility. Fewer than 100 cases are known worldwide.

His mother, Emma, said her family spent years searching for answers before receiving Cade’s diagnosis. Doctors initially told them there was no treatment.

“There’s only around 100 cases in the world, and because of that, there really isn’t any interest in treating this disease or developing treatments for a disease that’s so rare.” Said Cade’s mom, Emma Jobsis, “So when we left the hospital after hearing his diagnosis, the doctors basically told us, there’s nothing we can do. Take him home, love him, he’s going to fade way in front of your eyes, basically. And we were distraught, as any parent would be.”

Because of the disease’s rarity, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies have shown little interest in funding development. Instead, families like Cade’s are leading grassroots efforts to raise millions for research.

“We decided we just have to do it by any means necessary, we have to raise the money and get this drug through clinical trials, because I can’t live with the fact that the next mom is going to be sitting in the office hearing what
I heard when there’s a drug that exists, but you just can’t get access to it because it’s not approved.” Jobsis said.

Emma said the Juneau community’s response has been overwhelming.

“My town has pulled off something incredible that I never expected. This kind of showing up from my community.” Said Jobsis, “People that I’ve never met in my entire life are texting, emailing, calling, telling me they heard my story, they heard about Cade, and they want to help. And it’s just, it’s so surreal to feel like the community backs you in such a huge way.”

Listeners heard interviews with Cade’s family and others around the world affected by SPG50, as well as with the Canadian father who helped create the experimental gene therapy.

“I have found so much good in people through this process, through this fundraising and advocacy, I’ve felt so much compassion and generosity.” Jobsis said, “Leaning on each other, that’s what it means to be in a strong community. And I’m so grateful to be here and to all Juneau and beyond, supporting us in this way.”

Organizers say the true prize was seeing the community come together for Cade’s future. Donations can still be made at cureforcade.com.

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Alaskans face massive health insurance cost increases unless Congress acts before year end

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage is seen on Jan. 26, 2025. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

More than 25,000 Alaskans who buy health insurance through the federal marketplace will face massive and possibly unaffordable cost increases if federal subsidies expire at the end of the year.

“I do think it’s important to recognize that we should be seeing thousands of people likely lose coverage from this,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association.

In a panel discussion last month, local experts in Juneau laid out the stark reality for Alaska, which has the highest health care costs in the nation. 

Speaking to a room at Juneau’s convention center, they said if federal subsidies end, the cost of health insurance would rise so much that many Alaskans will go uninsured, discouraging them from getting checkups that could prevent serious illnesses. Hospitals would see a larger number of emergencies from uninsured people, straining them. It might even lead to an exodus from the state, as people seek alternative options and cheaper places to live. 

“I worry about that,” said Kim Champney, executive director of the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities. “Because I think people will decide to leave Alaska because we have the most expensive health care in the country.” 

Anton Rieselbach, with the Juneau Economic Development Council provided an analysis of cost estimates for Juneau. In Alaska’s capital city alone, 1,389 people receive health care via insurance plans bought through the federal marketplace. Right now, those Juneauites pay an average of $124 per month. If those subsidies expire, that will rise to $1,008 per month, an increase of more than 700%.

The council, a nonpartisan organization devoted to economic growth in the capital city, is worried about what will happen if the subsidies expire.   

“We want people to be working and spending money, generating economic activity,” Rieselbach said, “but this just places another huge burden on people’s ability to spend their money in other arenas besides health insurance.”

A problem years in the making

The upcoming problem stems from federal subsidies enacted by Congress in 2021 and extended through the end of 2025. Those subsidies, known as “enhanced premium tax credits,” were applied on top of subsidies included in the original Affordable Care Act, which established the federal insurance marketplace.

Now, almost anyone who buys an individual health care plan through the marketplace gets some kind of subsidy.

Generally, that includes people whose employers don’t provide health insurance, self-employed people, and people who retired early and aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, which insures people with disabilities and people 65 or older. 

Subsidies helped expand the number of people on federal marketplace plans from 11.4 million in 2020 to 24.3 million this year, allowing millions of Americans to get regular health care.

They also came at a high cost to the federal treasury: Extending them for another 10 years would cost $335 billion. 

But if subsidies end, Alaska would be exceptionally hard-hit. The state has the highest health-care costs in the nation, which means unsubsidized insurance rates are high. 

Of the 28,736 Alaskans who have health insurance policies through the federal marketplace, 25,170 receive the enhanced subsidies, according to figures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

If the enhanced subsidies expire, the poorest Alaskans will still see their plans subsidized. Middle-class Alaskans would be hard hit.

According to estimates published in March by the Alaska Division of Insurance, a single 50-year-old who earns $58,650 per year would see their monthly health insurance cost rise from $282 per month to $407 per month for a “silver” plan. If they have a “bronze” plan, their costs wouldn’t change.

But Alaskans who earn more than 400% of the federal poverty line — $78,000 per year for an individual — would see their costs skyrocket.

In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.

That same 50-year-old would go from paying $534 per month for a silver plan to $1,415 per month. Under a bronze plan, their cost would go from $9 per month to $890 per month.

Lori Wing-Heier, the director of the Division of Insurance at the time of those estimates, called the increase “pretty horrific” for affected Alaskans. 

“It’s an insane amount,” said Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, talking about the increase.

This spring, Mina sponsored and the Alaska Legislature passed House Joint Resolution 9, a bipartisan letter asking Congress to extend the subsidies.

Across the state this year, the average monthly premium for Alaskans of all ages and all plans was $971.43, but the average subsidy was $866.28, the Division of Insurance said in March. 

Kosin, of the hospital and healthcare association, said his group thinks it’s “really important” to extend the enhanced subsidies. 

Insurance is based on the concept of sharing risks and costs. The more people in an insurance pool, the better it works. Subsidies encourage healthy people to be a part of the health insurance pool, he said. If people drop off, the cost of caring for any individual person is spread among fewer members, and rates go up.

An extension relies on congressional action

For the moment, Alaskans only have estimates of what will happen if the subsidies expire. Open enrollment on the federal insurance marketplace starts Nov. 1. There’s a “window shopping” period at the end of October that will give a sneak preview.

People must sign up by Dec. 15 to get insurance coverage that starts with the new year. Miss that deadline, and Jan. 15 is the deadline to get coverage that starts Feb. 1.

Kosin said he’s heard the argument that Alaskans could afford health care before the enhanced subsidies came into effect, and so there won’t be many people who drop their coverage.

That fails to take into account the way health insurance costs have gone up since 2020, he said.

In 2023, 2024 and 2025, the average cost of a health insurance marketplace plan in Alaska rose by more than 16% each year. In 2023 alone, the cost went up by an average of 18.4%.

“If there truly is a doubling or tripling of premiums, especially at once, I think I would have to guess it would be a higher percentage than a fifth of the population that would consider themselves priced out of the market,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski knows plenty of those people.

“If you are a 60-year-old couple (earning about) $82,000 in Alaska, you would be looking at a premium increase … without enhancements, of $44,556. My husband and I are over 60. Now, granted, we’re not on the exchange, but I have a lot of friends are in that category, and I don’t know very many of them that could swallow an additional $44,000 a year to pay for their insurance if they’re on the exchange,” she said in a Sept. 17 phone call.

Murkowski is among the members of the U.S. Senate who have been trying for months, without success so far, to find enough votes to extend the subsidies.

Impending government shutdown

The issue has now gotten entangled with the impending government shutdown. Senate Democrats have demanded — among other things — a permanent extension of the health care subsidies, without changes, in exchange for their votes on keeping the federal government open.

Sen. Dan Sullivan also supports an extension of the subsidies, but “there’s no way I would ever vote for that,” he said of the Democratic plan.

“I do think there’s bipartisan support to get this done. We’ve just got to power through these different issues,” he said by phone.

He identified three hurdles for the subsidies. 

“It’s how long you extend them; are there pay-fors (budget cuts to compensate for the cost of the extension) … but the most important and complicated — and we just did a deep dive on this, and I do think there’s bipartisan support on this, is reforms,” Sullivan said.

“We are looking at ways to reform the system to make it work for the people who need it and are using it honestly, but have a disincentive against those who have been abusing it,” he said.

“We’re getting there. It’s complicated. I think the reform piece is going to be the most complicated, but I’m hopeful, and I’m putting a lot of effort into it,” Sullivan said.

Murkowski is more interested in a straight extension without changes. She introduced a standalone two-year measure and voted against both Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the government open, saying one of her conditions was an extension of the subsidy.

Speaking by phone this month, Mina noted that an extension has the support of groups as far afield as the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

“I think if you’re directly on the insurance marketplace, you should be concerned. But also, if you care about economic diversification and startups, you should also be concerned,” she said.

If the marketplace doesn’t work, she noted, it would increase the costs of health care for everyone in the state because hospitals are required to treat people regardless of their ability to pay. If people can’t pay, that means their costs get shifted to people who can, increasing the health insurance rates of everyone, not just those on the marketplace.

“What I fear is that we’re regressing to the state that we were in (a decade ago) when we had all of these news articles about people paying like, $800, $1,000 a month for their health insurance, and we were able to stabilize that and find solutions to help people,” Mina said. “We’re just going backwards in that regard.” 

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Fat Bear Week kicks off with online voting to crown the most oversized ursine

FILE – In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP, File)

AP-  After gorging all summer on sockeye salmon, the portliest brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula will battle it out to see who will be named the fattest of them all in the wildly popular online voting contest called Fat Bear Week.

Those casting votes online starting Tuesday will choose between 11 mammoth brown bears and the winner of last week’s competition for cubs, named “128 Junior.” She’s a cub of “Grazer,” the two-time defending Fat Bear Week champion at Katmai National Park and Preserve who is looking for a third title.

The contest, which began in 2014, is meant to showcase the resiliency of the brown bears, who pack on the pounds each fall to survive the harsh winter, mostly by gobbling salmon on the Brooks River in the remote preserve about 300 miles (482 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage by plane. The public can watch the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding on their favorite creature.

How to vote for Fat Bear Week

The 12 contestants announced Monday will face off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, with the winner declared Sept. 30.

The first round features eight bears squaring off in four separate contests. The four winners advance to the second round, where they face four bears that received first-round byes.

There are about 2,200 brown bears within Katmai, a 6,562-square-mile (16,997-square-kilometer) park on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. To be featured in the contest, the bears must frequent the area of the main Brooks Camp.

The contest has some colorful characters

The contestants include a number of colorful characters, from a bear nicknamed “Flotato” for a stomping dance it does, to one that will place its paw over its heart like she is pledging allegiance to the flag while waiting for fish to arrive.

Two of the contestants were once dominate males now adjusting to new realities. One was once at the top of the bear hierarchy but now is the old man of the river. The other is adapting to life with a broken jaw that will never heal properly.

A full list can be found here.

Voting is not all about weight

The brown bears at Katmai are among the largest in the world. Mike Fitz, a naturalist for explore.org who started the Fat Bear Contest at Katmai when he was a ranger there, said that the only bears that are bigger are on nearby Kodiak Island.

A male bear at Katmai weighs about 700 to 900 pounds (318 kg to 408 kg) mid-summer and can bloat to over a 1,000 pounds (454 kg) by September or October, thanks to successful foraging. But even a 1,400-pound (635-kg) male isn’t unusual.

Female bears are about half to two-thirds the size of adult males.

But the contest isn’t always just about how big the bear is, and the past two years prove that point with “Grazer” defeating “Chunk,” one of the biggest bears on Brooks River.

Voters could consider the challenges some contestants have had to overcome, such as female bears who protect their young and produce milk for the cubs while also fattening up for winter themselves.

Abundant salmon equals fat bears

Even though factors other than girth can be considered when voting, this might be the year when weight does play a role.

Brooks Falls is famous for brown bears snagging salmon out of the air as the fish try to jump upstream to get to their spawning ground.

That didn’t happen much this year, as an exceptional salmon run reduced the need for bears to compete for fishing spots at the falls.

“We are kind of expecting really to have some of the fattest bears we’ve ever seen in the event,” Fitz said. In fact, officials refer to one contestant as “cruise ship” because of its sheer plumpness.

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Alaska Landslide Inventory tracks hazard risks, high wind and rain continue across southeast.

Screenshot of Alaska Landslide Inventory Map

NOTN- In response to landslides in Alaska, the state established the Landslide Hazards Program in 2022 to assess and communicate landslide risks. A key part of this program is the Alaska Landslide Inventory, a database compiling mapped landslides from published geological reports and newly identified events reported in the news or detected through aerial imagery.

first reported by Alaska Public Media, the inventory classifies landslides by type, including slides, falls, flows, spreads, and thaw-related events, and includes metadata such as kinematic features, and event dates.

While the database is not complete, its goal is to serve as a resource for planners, researchers, and the public to identify landslide-prone areas and reduce economic losses and fatalities.

Users are encouraged to review the methods and limitations of the database, which will be updated periodically as more landslides are mapped and additional data become available.

Over the weekend, Auke lake Trail saw two landslides due to heavy rainfall and intense wind gusts, and for the second time in two years an apartment complex on Gastineau Avenue was evacuated last Wednesday after a landslide caused two trees to fall beside the apartments.

Landslide and downed trees along Auke Lake Trail

Intense weather will continue through late this evening according to the National Weather Service, bringing wind gusts up to 70 mph and heavy rain.

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Murkowski: Help for health care, public broadcasting, is needed in shutdown-averting budget plan

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks at an Aug. 4, 2025, news conference in her Anchorage office. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s three members of Congress differed on a series of votes Friday intended to keep the federal government funded past the end of the month, and avert a government shutdown.

Alaska’s sole U.S. House Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, voted in favor of a seven-week budget extension, but that measure died in the U.S. Senate when lawmakers were unable to garner the 60 votes needed to pass the U.S. House measure or an alternative proposed by Democratic members of the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, was absent from both votes. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against both proposals.

“I voted against both measures as I felt that they were not serious (enough) to meet the situation that we are currently in today,” she said in a recording provided by her office.

The Republican-controlled House passed its stopgap funding bill 217-212, with one Democrat voting for it and two Republicans voting against it.

“The House did its job,” Begich said in a written statement afterward. “We passed a responsible, short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open and give Congress time to complete the appropriations process. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats chose obstruction over solutions, blocking this clean measure.”

Murkowski and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, voted against the House-passed plan, while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, voted for it. Eight senators did not vote, and the measure died 44-48.

The Democratic counterproposal failed 47-45.

Murkowski said that counterproposal included “a Christmas list” of Democratic ideas, including items that would have reversed big parts of the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill Act” from earlier this year, which contained core tax cuts and spending policies of Trump’s second presidential term. Murkowski and Sullivan voted for that bill, which was later signed into law.

On the other side of the coin, Murkowski said the Republican plan failed to include an extension of subsidies for health care plans passed through the federal insurance marketplace, something that is critical for Alaskans. It also didn’t include additional funding for public broadcasting or opposition to President Donald Trump’s unilateral budget clawbacks, known as recissions.

“I’m going to be busy in the next 10 days, trying to build a level of consensus that keeps the government open, because there is no side — no Republican, no Democrat, the White House — nobody wins when there is a government shutdown,” she said.

“It’s possible that my proposal will equally annoy both sides, but maybe, just maybe, it will get the conversation going in a way that advances serious discussion and positive outcomes,” Murkowski said.

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Alaska’s 2025 Permanent Fund dividend will be $1,000 and arrives starting Oct. 2

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

 People line up outside of the downtown Anchorage Permanent Fund Dividend office on March 31, 2023, the last day to submit applications. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

This year’s Permanent Fund dividend will be $1,000, an amount set by the Alaska Legislature in House Bill 53, the state’s annual operating budget bill, earlier this year.

Ordinarily, lawmakers allocate an amount of money for the dividend, which makes individual payments dependent upon the number of recipients. 

The Alaska Department of Revenue then announces the final amount in September.

This year, lawmakers set a specific dividend amount, which turned the Alaska Department of Revenue’s fall announcement, released Friday, into an anticlimax.

Alaskans whose PFD applications were filed electronically, whose applications were approved as of Sept. 18, and who requested direct deposit, will begin to receive their payments Oct. 2. 

Those whose applications are approved by Oct. 13 will receive their dividends starting Oct. 23.

That includes people who applied for the dividend on paper forms or requested paper checks.

Paying a $1,000 dividend to all recipients was expected to cost $685.3 million, making it one of the largest single expenses in Alaska’s annual state budget.

Only the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development ($1.4 billion) and the Alaska Department of Health ($1.1 billion) are more expensive.

The 2026 dividend is expected to be larger, if lawmakers agree to spend from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve. 

Since 2020, lawmakers have approved larger dividends in election years than in non-election years.

The Alaska Permanent Fund, an $83 billion state trust fund, is the largest source of general-purpose revenue for state services, paying for between 50-60% of state operations in an ordinary year. Oil revenue, by comparison, supplies only about a third of state revenue. 

Since 1982, a portion of the fund has been paid out to Alaskans in an annual dividend. The payment was set by formula until 2016, when lawmakers — facing severe budget shortfalls — began setting it by fiat. The formula remains in state law, but legislators are not obliged to follow it.

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Retreating Alsek Glacier reveals new island in southeast Alaska

This satellite image provided by NASA Earth Observatory shows the retreat of Alsek Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska, as it loses contact with a land mass known as Prow Knob, center right, revealing an island, Aug. 6, 2025. (NASA Earth Observatory via AP)

AP- A retreating glacier revealed a new island in Alaska this summer, as lake water filled in to surround a land mass once hugged by ice.

Mauri S. Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College in Massachusetts, had anticipated for some time that the Alsek Glacier in southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve would detach from the land mass referred to as Prow Knob. As the glacier has retreated, it has eroded a basin now filled by Alsek Lake, which is fed by the nearby Alsek River, glacier melt and icebergs, he said.

Pelto for years has used satellite imagery as part of his work chronicling changes in glaciers, and he had been checking images of the area at least once a month as he watched for the separation to occur, he said. It appears to have happened sometime between late July and early August.

Glacier Bay has over 1,000 glaciers, according to the park. While many glaciers in Alaska are retreating, not many new islands of size are revealed by their retreat, Pelto said. Prow Knob is roughly 2 square miles (5 square kilometers), and its highest point is just over 1,000 feet (304.8 meters), he said.

Imagery from the early 1980s, shared by NASA Earth Observatory, shows the Alsek Glacier largely surrounding Prow Knob, with Alsek Lake on one side. The glacier at that time shared a connection with Grand Plateau Glacier, the images show.

Over time, the lake has expanded as the glaciers have retreated. Alsek Lake is one of three lakes next to glaciers in the region that has seen marked growth since the 1980s, Pelto said.

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Trump cuts to University of Alaska programs for Native students worse than previously announced

By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

The campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks is seen from the air on Sept. 20, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Officials at the University of Alaska said this week that previously announced cuts to federally funded programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students will be worse than initially thought. 

At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the canceled funding will amount to an estimated $8.8 million, and University of Alaska Southeast programs will also be affected but to a lesser degree. 

“​​It was quite a shock, because there was no forewarning to this,” said Bryan Uher, interim vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education at UAF in a phone interview Wednesday. 

Uher said the elimination of the grant funding for the University of Alaska Fairbanks affects programs at the Bristol Bay campus in Dillingham and in Fairbanks at the Community and Technical College focused on career training and workforce development, as well as student services. 

In total, for the five-year grant programs, Uher said the cancellation is estimated at $8.8 million of $12.9 million in grant funding previously awarded.

“This award funding is unique in that it funds faculty for new program development, and then it also funds staff for student support — so advisors, outreach, individual wellness coordinators, admissions, graduation – student services, essentially,” he said. 

Uher said new programs in development that will be impacted — for students in person or through distance education — include American Sign Language, information technology technician training and private pilot ground school, helping students train for their pilot’s license.

Uher said those programs will continue through this academic year, and then the university will evaluate whether or how to continue them. University officials say they were given one year to close out grant-funded programs. 

UAF includes campuses in Fairbanks, Dillingham, Bethel, Nome and Kotzebue. Uher said while these programs must have at least 20% Native students to be eligible for the funding, they serve a wider student population, especially student services at rural campuses that serve wider regions of rural Alaska. 

“They provide follow-ups, financial aid support like, how do you apply for financial aid? Are there scholarships out there?” Uher said. “They provide financial literacy to students. So it really is a comprehensive service that we provide to these students who are not living in or located in urban centers like Fairbanks or Anchorage.”

An estimated 17% of the University of Alaska student population identified as Alaska Native in 2024, or 3,254 students statewide, and roughly 1.3% or 266 students identified as Native Hawaiian. 

UAA and UAS expect less impact

University of Alaska Anchorage has grant-funded programs for Native students, but officials say they are not expecting them to be affected.

University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Aparna Palmer said in a university-wide email Monday that a grant-funded program on its Sitka campus to support student services is already set to end this month, and the university is authorized to continue to spend remaining funds for another year. 

“I want to assure you that we will continue to support the many ways in which we are rooted in Alaska Native culture, history, language, and arts,” Palmer said, adding emphasis by underlining her statement.

Palmer said programs and courses in Indigenous studies, as well as support for Indigenous students, will continue. “Our programs and courses in Indigenous Studies at UAS are strong and will continue to thrive and grow. The UA President, Pat Pitney, and I are fully aligned on this,” she said. “Our Native and Rural Student Center will continue to be a space that provides support for Alaska Native students while welcoming all students.”

Faculty union president Jill Dumesnill, professor of mathematics at UAS, said by email on Monday that the announcement also disrupts future programs, faculty positions and student services.

“Writing these grant applications takes an enormous amount of faculty time and effort, and the Sitka proposal would have provided two additional faculty on the Sitka campus. That loss is significant because there are currently no Alaskan Native faculty members on the Sitka campus,” she said. “You don’t make campuses welcoming simply by calling them welcoming.”

Alaska’s U.S. Senators say they’re working to fund higher education

U.S. Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a statement Wednesday that the funds are already legally authorized by Congress, and support students as well as address workforce shortages in the state. 

Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)

“I am working with my colleagues to reinforce to the administration that these are statutory grant programs authorized and appropriated by Congress that align with the President’s goal of providing career technical education to the next generation for high-impact workforce needs such as fisheries, healthcare, skilled trades, and energy,” Murksowski said.

“As Alaska partners with this administration on several large-scale and exciting projects that can help transform our state, we need a local workforce trained to meet this moment,” she said. “Cancelling these funds takes us further away from that objective.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, also repeated the impact on career training and workforce development education.

“Senator Sullivan and his team are in touch with the Department of Education regarding these grants. The University of Alaska serves thousands of students across the state, including Alaska Natives, and provides critical programs, such as job training and technical education, that build up Alaska’s trained workforce. President Trump’s Day 1 executive order to ‘Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’ makes it clear we must be training the next generation to power projects like the Alaska LNG pipeline and keep these good-paying jobs in Alaska,” said spokesperson Amanda Coyne by email on Tuesday. 

“Senator Sullivan will continue to work with the administration to fund secondary education and job training to continue building up Alaska’s economy and workforce,” she said. 

Alaska’s U.S. House Representative Nick Begich did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. 

The announcement follows the Trump administration’s move to cancel $350 million in congressionally approved grant funding for minority-serving institutions last week, saying the funds will be allocated elsewhere. 

There are an estimated 5 million students enrolled in 800 minority-serving institutions nationwide. The grant funding is aimed at supporting students of color and from low-income backgrounds to pursue and complete higher education.

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