ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – More reaction is pouring in from the latest federal governmental cuts, from the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which include federal grants and loans provided to initiatives across the nation.

On Monday, Alaska’s News Source reported on the executive order and how it will impact museums in Alaska. The Alaska Library Association and the Alaska Black Caucus are reacting, saying that the federal cuts will hurt members of the community.

Alaska Black Caucus

The Minority Business Development Agency is a federal agency that promotes the growth of minority business enterprises through expanding programs, policies, and research.

Yolandous Williams, Chair of the Board for Alaska Black Caucus, says the shuttering of the agency will negatively impact business opportunities in the state.

“Loss of opportunity, loss of jobs, loss of growth, and loss of people in our community. People will abandon the state because there’s no opportunity for me here. There’s no equity for me here,” Williams explained.

He also said the shuttering of the agency is a clear message from the administration.

“I’m going to make sure my corporate America gets taken care of, all those that are going to support me, whether I’m in my office or not, all the favors that I’ve cashed in,” he said.

The cuts have been a part of President Trump and DOGE’s core messaging promising budget cuts to the federal government.

Williams says he isn’t against having the debate over federal cuts, however, he says that by cutting access to the funding the president is setting the progress the black community has made back by 20 years.

“This is going to take two decades to rebuild, that’s how bad it’s going to hurt people,” he said.

The Alaska Black Caucus isn’t the only organization speaking out against the federal funding cuts, the Alaska Library Association is speaking out against cuts to the Institute for Museum and Library Services saying they will hurt small community libraries.

Alaska Library Association

“It’s going to have a really detrimental impact on library services all over the state,” President-elect of the Alaska Library Association Theresa Quiner said.

Quiner said because Alaska is a remote state with many small communities, the smallest ones will feel the loss of federal monies first. The Native American Library Services Basic Grant is given to around 38 tribes in Alaska.

“Through the Native American Library Services grant that we get, we pay for our Alaska Digital Library subscription. So, that’s how we provide eBooks and audiobooks to the community,” Quiner said.

One example of a native community that benefits from the grant, according to Quiner, is one with hardly 100 residents.

“Nondalton Tribal Council gets this Native American Library Services grant,” she said. “$10,000 is a lot of money in a community that small and I can’t imagine that they would be able to replace that funding easily from somewhere else.”

One program that is funded by the various grants provided by the institute is set to expire in December and without federal funding it won’t be renewed.

“The Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) is going to be eliminated completely in December if we lose these funds,” Quiner explained. “These are the databases provided by the state and these are a lot of educational resources for people of all ages, including children.”

The Alaska Library catalog is a part of SLED and allows areas without a local library to ship a book to them from the Juneau library. It will also be impacted by the cuts.

“For small libraries that have a really tiny budget to purchase books, this makes us able to actually meet the reading needs of the people in our community because we could never afford to buy the same quantity of books that the Anchorage Library could,” Quiner explained.

More programs that are facing federal funding cuts include ones that help engage children in reading like The Battle of the Books.

“Another service we will not be able to provide to the state anymore is the Talking Book Center, which makes reading materials available for people with visual impairments,” she explained.

Quiner said the benefits a library provides to a community are immeasurable.

“We do children’s programs, we provide computer access, and internet access in places where internet is prohibitively expensive,” Quiner said. “We also act in some ways, as you know, homeless shelters and as social services agencies because people just don’t have anywhere else to go for help.”

Sen. Sullivan on federal program cuts

On Thursday, Senator Sullivan addressed the Alaska State Legislature where he acknowledged the topic of cutting federal programs, saying he understands the pain that many families are facing, but that this type of overhaul has been done before, and that America will rebound.

“These are difficult decisions. Job losses are always difficult on the family, in communities, especially in tight-knit states like ours,” Sen. Sullivan said. “There has been a successful historical precedent. President Clinton launched the National Partnership for Reinventing Government during his first year in office. Its goal was to dramatically shrink the government and make it more efficient, which he did during his presidency. That initiative saved over $108 billion, and it eliminated over 426,00 federal jobs.”

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