Alaska

Bill would relax food stamp income eligibility requirements for Alaskans

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2024

Bill would relax food stamp income eligibility requirements for Alaskans

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska senators gathered public testimony Tuesday in Juneau on a bill that would relax certain eligibility requirements for receiving federal food assistance, including increasing the income limit and doing away with an asset test.

If passed, the household income requirements for SNAP food benefits would increase from 130% of the federal poverty guideline to 200%, a move that many other states have already made under the broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) policy. The measure would also streamline the documentation process by doing away with the assets test and adopting other federal guidelines. Current state citizenship and work requirements would remain in effect.

SB 149, sponsored by Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, was referred to the Health and Social Services Committee in May.

“The current structure that SNAP is being administrated with kind of disincentivizes work and so by allowing families to save and get off the program, and also by eliminating the benefits cliff, it will incentivize and allow working families to be able to take that second job, to be able to accept raises,” said Ron Meehand, the director of government affairs at the Food Bank of Alaska. “Right now, if you make even a dollar more [per hour], you ultimately end up losing benefits and can end up worse off.”

The bill highlights food insecurity in the state, citing issues with the food supply, dependency on imports and a SNAP backlog, which is thousands of applications deep. Alaskans wait as long as 10 months for their applications to be processed.

“By addressing the limitations of the current system and aligning with modernization efforts, BBCE emerges as a timely and strategic solution to the challenges faced by working families and seniors in Alaska,” Giessel wrote in the bill’s sponsor statement. “It is not merely a policy adjustment but a transformative step towards building a more reliant and prosperous future for Alaska and its residents.”

The current SNAP program serves one in eight Alaskans, Giessel said in Tuesday’s Health and Social Services Committee meeting. There’s a fiscal note in the bill which would require money for two additional staff, she said.

If it passes, the effective date would be July 1, 2025.

Source link

Related Topics:alaska anchorage backlog Featured food insecurity food stamps Juneau Sen. Cathy Giessel snap

Click to comment

Alaska

Delta Junction resident pinned beneath vehicle in crash dies, troopers say

Published

6 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Delta Junction resident pinned beneath vehicle in crash dies, troopers say

A Delta Junction resident died Friday after being pinned by a vehicle in a crash along the Richardson Highway, Alaska State Troopers said.

Troopers were notified of a crash with one person pinned just after 8 a.m. Friday, the agency said in an online update. The crash involved a semi and a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, troopers spokeswoman Tess Williams said, and it occurred around Mile 267 of the Richardson Highway just north of Delta Junction.

First responders extricated Murphy Mackenzie, age 32, and tried administering life-saving measures, but Mackenzie — who had sustained significant injuries — was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. Mackenzie’s next of kin was at the scene, according to troopers.

The crash closed the highway for hours Friday “due to the investigation and complexity to remove the crashed (semi) tractor,” troopers said.

Troopers said they found no indication of impairment or foul play. The agency believes road conditions may have been a contributing factor in the crash, Williams said.

The investigation is ongoing, according to Williams.

Source link

Alaska

Relief teams pull out of Western Alaska as storm response shifts to recovery

Published

24 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Relief teams pull out of Western Alaska as storm response shifts to recovery

Bethel, Alaska (KTUU) – The State of Alaska announced Friday that its West Coast Storm Operations will now transition from response to recovery efforts.

Several organizations, including Team Rubicon, will begin winding down their efforts.

Team Rubicon’s remaining volunteers will leave on Sunday after the organization spent four weeks in the region.

The veteran-led volunteer group spent several weeks coordinating donations and working on infrastructure repair and cleanup.

“There’s obviously a huge need left, and so there’s a lot of local contractors and groups that are going to be able to continue work throughout. Unfortunately Team Rubicon just is not able to do that. And so what our goal is, was two parts. One, do as much good work as we could during the four weeks that we were here. And the second part is, make sure we’re establishing a really good network,” said Jason Taylor, Team Rubicon Incident Commander.

He said he hopes the their group is invited to come back to Western Alaska in the spring to continue doing recovery work.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Source link

Alaska

Alaska oil production poised to jump 13% next year, EIA says

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Alaska oil production poised to jump 13% next year, EIA says

Alaska could see a boom in oil production next year, a sharp reversal for a state that has seen decades of declining production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EIA estimates in a forecast released this week that Alaska could see a 13 percent rise in production compared to 2025 — the largest annual increase for the state since the 1980s — thanks to two new projects on the North Slope.

ConocoPhillips’ Nuna project came online in December 2024 and is expected to produce 20,000 barrels a day at its peak. Pikka Phase 1, jointly owned by Santos and Repsol, is slated to start production in early 2026 and could reach peak production of 80,000 barrels a day later that year.

The state last year averaged about 421,000 barrels a day in production, according to EIA, and could be roughly flat this year. The agency estimates that oil production could grow to 477,000 barrels a day next year. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, cheered the forecast in a statement.

Source link