Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, discuss the state’s budget and fiscal situation in Juneau on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Sean Maguire / ADN)
JUNEAU — The Alaska House’s budget is stuck, with disagreements on the size of the Permanent Fund dividend, school funding and the size of the budget itself.
The House Finance Committee last week advanced its draft budget with a statutory PFD and a $1.9 billion deficit. The spending plan was set to be debated on the House floor this week. But leadership of the Democrat-dominated House majority say they will not send an unbalanced budget to the Senate.
“I’m really reaching out to the minority. Let’s negotiate,” said House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, at a Tuesday media conference. “Let’s talk about some things that we can do to make ends meet in a way that doesn’t eviscerate basic services.”
Legislators are facing a $680 million deficit over two fiscal years based on status quo spending. That assumes lawmakers approve a roughly $1,400 dividend and a $174 million school funding boost.
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However, some members of the Legislature have supported a larger school funding increase: over $250 million per year to pay for a $1,000 boost to the $5,960 Base Student Allocation, the state’s per-student funding formula. Advocates have said that is desperately needed for a public school system in crisis.
To pay for that, some lawmakers have supported a smaller, $1,000 dividend to free up state revenue.
The nonpartisan Legislative Finance Division has estimated that with a $1,000 BSA boost and a $1,000 dividend, the House’s budget for the next fiscal year would still be roughly $167 million in deficit.
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson, a co-chair of the House Finance Committee, said Tuesday that the House majority was committed to the $1,000 BSA boost.
“We heard from scores of Anchorage citizens about the importance of that, and we have their back,” he said, referring to a packed town hall meeting over the weekend. “Come hell or high water. We’re going to stand for that principle,” he said.
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Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy in December proposed a budget with astatutory dividend following the 1982 statutory formula. If approved, eligible Alaskans would receive a roughly $3,900 dividend this year. But a statutory PFD would also lead to a roughly $1.9 billion deficit.
The House’s draft budget currently contains a statutory PFD at a cost of $2.5 billion — by far the largest outlay in the spending plan.
The last time the Legislature approved a statutory PFD was 2016. Since then, legislators have determined the size of the dividend through the budget-making process.
The House majority has a one-seat margin, which effectively gives each member a veto over the budget. The caucus is split on the dividend, meaning Republican minority members will likely be needed to help pass the budget, and to draw from savings to fill the current fiscal year’s shortfall.
”We’re all in a pickle,” Edgmon said Tuesday. “It’s not just the House majority. It’s the House minority, it’s the governor, it’s the Senate majority, it’s the Senate minority. We all own the situation in front of us.”
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The House’s budget process has been marked by acrimony and finger-pointing between the majority and the all-Republican minority. Leadership of both caucuses have not articulated clear plans for how they want to balance the budget.
Anchorage GOP Rep. Mia Costello, the House minority leader, suggested at a separate Tuesday media conference that the minority has been largely shut out from budget debates.
“We are willing to be a part of the conversation, and we want to move forward, and we’re not often given that opportunity,” she said.
Anchorage Republican Rep. Chuck Kopp, the House majority leader, countered that the minority needs to come to the table.
“We need a House minority that’s willing to step up, take some very hard votes and agree that you can’t duck the question on the size of the dividend. It’s like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic when you’re going down,” he said.
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The Senate majority has introduced revenue measures to bridge the state’s deficit, including by raising oil taxes. But those measures appear to face long odds of passing through the narrowly divided House.
Adding to the fiscal uncertainty for lawmakers: Congress has signaled it could make deep cuts to programs such as Medicaid. Additionally, President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners has sent the Permanent Fund and oil prices sliding, which could balloon the state’s deficit further.
Lawmakers have few good options to reduce the deficit and balance the budget.
Fairbanks GOP Rep. Will Stapp, a minority member, said Tuesday that both the statutory PFD and the $1,000 BSA boost would need to be reduced. Palmer Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson suggested recent budget additions should be pulled back.
But, when pressed on Tuesday, House majority and minority members did not offer specifics about how to reduce the deficit beyond generalities about budget cuts and working together.
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Typically, the House takes the lead on the annual operating budget, which funds state agencies and programs, and the Senate takes the lead on the capital budget, which funds infrastructure and maintenance projects. The spending plans are then exchanged and legislators finish work on the other chamber’s budgets.
The House and Senate had planned on exchanging budget bills on April 11. But that is being delayed with the House at a standstill.
Josephson, who manages the House’s operating budget, said Tuesday that the majority caucus anticipated the budget being on the House floor next week. That is typically the final step before legislation advances to the Senate for its consideration.
Dunleavy has been all but absent this year from the state Capitol and legislative debates. Edgmon urged the governor’s office and his Senate and House colleagues to work together.
“We’ll get through this, but if you leave us to our own designs, we are going to be stuck in this morass that unfortunately is going to carry forward into what none of us want — that’s a special session,” he said.
The following is courtesy of the U.S. Department of the Interior:
The Stikine River is an international wild salmon river shared by Alaska and British Columbia that flows from the boreal forest of Northwest British Columbia into the temperate rainforest of Tongass National Forest and the Stikine LeConte Wilderness Area in Southeast Alaska. Photo by Colin Arisman I colinarisman.com.
Stikine River Federal Subsistence Chinook Salmon Fishery Closed
For Immediate Release:
April 24, 2025
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WRANGELL, Alaska, April 24, 2025 – Wrangell District Ranger Victoria Houser, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, is closing the federal subsistence Chinook Salmon fishery in the Stikine River from May 15?June 20. The preseason forecast for the Stikine River is 10,000 large Chinook Salmon (greater than 28 inches in total length). This is below the escapement goal range of 14,000 to 28,000 large Chinook Salmon.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has also taken actions in the state-managed fisheries to reduce the harvest of Stikine River Chinook Salmon. The closure of the Chinook Salmon fishery does not affect other Stikine River federal subsistence fisheries beginning June 21.
For additional information, please contact Houser at 907-874-7560 or Tongass Subsistence Program Manager Robert Cross at 907-723-8653. Maps and additional information on the Federal Subsistence Management Program can be found on the web at www.doi.gov/subsistence or by visiting www.facebook.com/subsistencealaska.
For interviews and information to be used for publication, contact Tongass Public Affairs Officer Paul Robbins at 907-228-6201.
JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate is eyeing over $100 million in budget cuts, but a more than $85 million shortfall remains in the Senate’s draft spending plan.
The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday unveiled its new version of the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The spending plan has a roughly $1,400 Permanent Fund dividend, and plans to pay a $172 million increase in school funding, closely matching what was appropriated last year for schools.
Legislators are grappling this year with a dire fiscal outlook due to diminished oil revenue. The Legislature is facing a $680 million-plus deficit over two fiscal years based on status quo spending.
Lawmakers say they have few good options to balance the budget.
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Leadership of the Democrat-dominated Senate majority has opposed drawing from savings to fill the projected deficit for the next fiscal year. Senators have instead introduced new revenue measures, including oil tax hikes, to balance the budget. But the House has shown little interest in those proposals.
Bethel Democratic Sen. Lyman Hoffman, who manages the Senate’s operating budget, sent a memorandum to senators in March directing them to look for cuts and not to fund new programs.
Additionally, Hoffman said that the Senate should reject additions to the baseline budget proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, except for Medicaid spending. Over $60 million in requests from the Dunleavy administration were rejected by Senate subcommittees, Hoffman’s staff said Thursday.
The Senate is calling for over $100 million in agency reductions in its draft budget:
• After years of increases, the Alaska Department of Corrections would see an almost $32 million cut from the spending plan proposed by the Dunleavy administration for the agency. Reductions include a $7.5 million cut to Spring Creek Correctional Center, with the intention to close a housing unit.
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• Almost $18 million would be cut from the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. The fund provides over 50% of state revenue each year. Senators are calling for a 10% reduction in staff not involved in making investment decisions for the fund.
• The Alaska Department of Health would see a $14 million cut, including $4 million cut from a new virtual call center used to pay Alaskans state benefits.
• The Alaska Department of Public Safety would see an almost $12 million budget cut. Dunleavy had proposed reopening an Alaska State Troopers post in Talkeetna, but that was rejected in the Senate’s draft budget along with additional Village Public Safety Officers in the Arctic.
• The University of Alaska would see an almost $10 million cut, largely from rejecting salary increases that are not part of labor agreements. Almost $8 million would be cut from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, largely by not replacing state vehicles as quickly as planned.
Jason Brune, chair of the Permanent Fund’s board, said trustees are concerned the proposed budget reductions could impact the corporation’s ability to “maximize” the value of its investments. But Brune said trustees recognize the budget process is ongoing.
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“There is an opportunity to work together with the Legislature to ensure that optimal funding is available for the investment management work we do for the Permanent Fund and the other funds entrusted to our care,” he said.
Additionally, the Senate is looking to make smaller budget reductions that could prove contentious.
Last year, the Legislature voted to defund the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. unless it secured financing for a long-sought gas pipeline. This year, the Senate is planning to cut $2.5 million from the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.’s budget with plans that the agency be largely funded by private sources.
Frank Richards, president of the AGDC, told lawmakers on Wednesday that if that cut is approved, the agency would continue representing the state’s interests in the planned pipeline with “very few assets.”
“It would make it a challenge to be able to perform the functions to properly act as a minority owner in a major, significant project development,” he said.
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Senators report making tough budget decisions during the subcommittee process.
Juneau Democratic Sen. Jesse Kiehl, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, warned earlier in the month that the Senate’s “austere” budget would still see a sizable fiscal shortfall.
The Senate’s draft budget has the same $1,400 Permanent Fund dividend as the House. But in general, the Senate’s current spending plan is markedly different from the budget approved by the House earlier in the month.
The House’s operating budget advanced with most of Dunleavy’s budget requests intact, along with spending added by legislators. The House’s budget advanced with a projected $259 million deficit for the next fiscal year as Republican minority members complained that the Democrat-dominated House majority had done enough to cut the budget.
The House included a one-time, $253 million school funding increase in case a permanent $1,000 boost in per-student spending is not approved this year. The Legislature on Tuesday failed to override Dunleavy’s veto of a $1,000 Base Student Allocation increase.
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The Senate’s draft budget contains a $172 million one-time school funding increase. That would roughly match the same school funding boost the Legislature approved last year.
Additionally, the Senate rejected an unallocated $79 million cut to the budget approved by the House. That would have directed Dunleavy to reduce the budget from wherever he chooses. But the Legislature’s attorneys warned that move would likely be unconstitutional.
Earlier in the month, the Senate advanced a stripped-down capital budget. The spending plan, which funds infrastructure and maintenance projects, would draw $120 million less from the state treasury than the capital budget proposed by Dunleavy.
Despite the Senate’s planned budget reductions, a more than $85 million projected deficit remains for the next fiscal year. That could balloon as labor agreements are finalized with state agencies, lawmakers said.
Hoffman concluded Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee meeting by telling members that “there still has to be work that needs to be done on this budget in order to have it balanced.”
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“We are still in deficit mode,” he added.
The regular legislative session must end by midnight of May 21.
The Alaska Afterschool Network is a coalition of nonprofits that work together, fostering quality afterschool programming for students throughout the state. Each year, the organization awards community leaders who stand out when it comes to creating and facilitating a variety of afterschool programs. The recipients are named an “Alaska Afterschool Superhero” and receive a superhero cape in the mail. This year, the Alaska Afterschool Network named Denali Arts Council Director Michelle Crow as one such superhero.
She said she almost didn’t believe it when she first got the call.
“I thought they were joking at first because they’re like, we’ll mail you your superhero cape,” she said.
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The Alaska Afterschool Network said they’re awarding Crow for her dedication to “fostering artistic youth engagement” through various afterschool and summer activities and workshops.
According to Crow, sometimes the work can be draining, but being recognized like this is a reminder she’s doing the right thing.
She said, “It just feels so good and just kinda reminds me why I’m doing this.”
She added she’s excited for this summer’s programming and encouraged people to keep an eye out for more Denali Arts Council events.
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