Alaska is a land of unmatched potential and opportunity. It always has been, and it always will be if we choose the right policies and priorities.

This past week, I fulfilled my constitutional and statutory duties to introduce a budget for the 2026 fiscal year that will begin next July 1. The budget follows the law by fully funding education and the Permanent Fund dividend and provides funding to address the top priorities of my administration: public safety, energy and resource development, food security, and increased affordability for the necessities of life including housing and child care.

Alaska’s existence as a state is based on our enormous resource potential. We don’t have to tax each other or pit the PFD against other state needs if we’re pursuing every opportunity that’s available. Whether it is the AKLNG Project, the North Slope, timber, critical minerals, emerging energy technologies, and new markets to monetize carbon through sequestration and natural offsets — Alaska has it all. We have everything we need, and everything the world needs.

There is tremendous opportunity for Alaskans to be realized by unlocking our trillions of cubic feet of natural gas on the North Slope, especially as our Railbelt utilities face a shortage of supply from Cook Inlet. This budget includes the funds necessary to move to the next step in the process to meet the energy needs of Alaskans and the energy demands of the world.

Energy demand is skyrocketing through the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and supercomputing, and, like so many natural resources, Alaska has everything the world needs from copper for transmission lines to rare earths for computer chips, and the ability to power it all.

President-elect Donald Trump is ready to pick up where he left off, and if we combine the right state policies with a federal administration that understands what Alaska needs, we can be a state like no other that’s the envy of the nation, and the world.

To realize our destiny as a state like no other, Alaska must be a safe place for everyone no matter who they are or where they live, where every family can afford to live, and where every parent can be sure that their child is getting the best education possible.

The budget I’ve introduced continues to build on the progress we’ve made since 2019 when we repealed catch-and-release policies and began to rebuild our ranks of Alaska State Troopers and Village Public Safety Officers.

According to the most recent reports, over the past five years, our overall crime rate has declined by 31%; violent crime dropped 5% in 2023 and is down 16% in the last five years to the lowest level since 2015; and sexual assault has declined by 20.2% since 2019 and by 15.5% last year alone.

Despite this progress, we still have much work to do to bring down crime rates that remain well above the national averages. I’m proposing continued investments in public safety with more trooper and VPSO positions, additional child crimes investigators for rural Alaska, and resources to improve emergency response and rescue capabilities with a new aircraft and reopening the Talkeetna Trooper Post.

As has been the case for many years, we will again have a conversation on education funding. However, more money alone is not the answer. Legislation is forthcoming that will address both funding and measures aimed at improving outcomes.

This is not an either-or proposition, and we can’t be captured by any special interest that demands money without accountability for outcomes.

We can respond to concerns over education funding as we build on the early successes under the implementation of the Alaska READS Act and the research that shows our charter schools are the best performing in the nation. We must ensure that additional resources benefit classroom instruction and that parents, who are the best suited to determine how their children are educated, have those choices.

I believe in the Alaska Dream; I believe in Alaska’s potential to achieve its dreams. I’m ready to work with anyone and everyone to enact the policies required to achieve it.

Mike Dunleavy is the 12th governor of Alaska.

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A proposed Alaska state budget issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy this week includes a preliminary funding plan for maintaining or improving the state’s infrastructure.

The capital budget, as it is known, differs from the operating budget — which funds state services — because most of it is made up of one-time funding appropriations that cover projects to be completed in the coming year.

The governor’s budget proposal — which serves as a starting point for lawmakers’ crafting of the state’s upcoming budget — numbers hundreds of pages of proposals and ideas. Much of the operating plan remains unchanged from the current fiscal year. The budget covers the 2026 fiscal year, which starts in July.

Here are some of Dunleavy’s ideas.

Funding for computer systems

Dunleavy’s capital proposals include millions of dollars in funding to improve not just Alaska’s physical infrastructure, but also the computer systems that are used for state services. Alaska’s aging computer systems have been blamed in recent years for major delays in the approval of applications for food assistance and for delays and errors in the payroll of state workers.

Dunleavy is requesting $7 million for a statewide attendance management system that will improve payroll services for the state’s 14,000 public employees. According to budget documents, the current system “does not adequately address the complex timekeeping needs arising from various bargaining units and special agreements.”

“The existing process involves over 200 event codes and significant manual input, leading to inefficiencies and increased potential for data entry errors,” the department said in its request. Last year, a union representing 8,000 state employees alleged that hundreds of its members were paid incorrectly that year due to errors made by the state payroll division.

The Department of Administration, which oversees the payroll division, stated that the new system will reduce the error rate, in part by reducing reliance on paper forms.

This year’s budget request also includes nearly $4.5 million for a new Permanent Fund dividend application system. Among other changes, the new system is expected to use artificial intelligence in order to “improve operating efficiencies.” This year’s request comes after lawmakers already approved earlier this year a $7.5 million appropriation for the project. In total, the new dividend application system is expected to cost nearly $12 million.

Dunleavy is also requesting $8 million for a new case management system in the Department of Law. The department stated that its current system for tracking civil cases “is not compatible with moving to the cloud” and its criminal division system “is unable to keep up with the amounts and types of evidence and experiences connectivity issues with the court system.”

The Department of Law is expected to request an additional $5 million to complete the full project next year, for a total cost of $13 million to update the Department of Law’s case management system.

Reopening a shuttered Talkeetna trooper post

The administration wants $2.4 million to reopen an Alaska State Trooper post in Talkeetna that closed in 2016.

The state announced in 2015 it would close the Talkeetna trooper post to save about $80,000 annually. Following the 2016 closure, the sergeant, four troopers and one administrative assistant who were assigned to the Talkeetna post were reassigned to the Mat-Su West post, 45 minutes away from Talkeetna.

But this time, Dunleavy is not proposing that those positions be returned to Talkeetna. Instead, he is proposing to create five brand-new positions, at an annual cost of nearly $1.5 million, including a sergeant, three troopers, and a criminal justice technician.

The Department of Public Safety says the Mat-Su has seen significant population growth, but law enforcement “lacks sufficient capacity to effectively respond to calls” in Willow, Talkeetna and Trapper Creek.

The deployment of troopers in the Mat-Su has been contentious. The borough has long opposed funding its own dedicated law enforcement department.

Adding village public safety officers — if they can be found

Dunleavy’s budget proposal also includes $1.2 million to hire five additional Village Public Safety Officers on a temporary basis, but not all currently funded positions are filled, according to the Department of Public Safety

If the requested funding is approved — and the positions are filled — that would bring the total number of officers to 90, from a low of 38 in 2019. But the number of positions would still be lower than the peak of more than 100 officers in 2012.

Though the department currently has 85 funded VPSO positions, there were only 71 filled positions as of June of this year, an increase of only two from the previous year.

The village officers provide law enforcement, fire suppression, search and rescue and emergency medical services in the communities where they work.

The proposed additional positions come through grant funding, meaning they could be discontinued in the following fiscal year, depending on the length of the grant.

“Attracting and retaining VPSOs remains a persistent challenge due to high turnover rates, remote postings, and the extensive training required. This challenge is exacerbated by infrastructure limitations and resource constraints in many rural communities,” the department stated.

Progressing on the West Susitna access road

Dunleavy is asking for $2.5 million to put toward the controversial West Susitna Road Project.

The road project’s full cost was previously estimated at $350 million for a 100-mile route that numerous mining companies have eyed for potentially lucrative deposits. Dunleavy has continued to push for the road to be built despite opposition from some residents of the region, including by dissolving a public oversight board whose members were skeptical of the project.

Critics say the project threatens salmon habitat and the wilderness character of an undeveloped part of the state. Dunleavy and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority say it would open access to minerals, timber, coal and renewable energy sources, along with recreational opportunities.

Lawmakers had previously appropriated $8.5 million toward the project. The funding is intended for AIDEA, which oversees the planned project for the state, to obtain the necessary environmental approvals for its progress.

Clearing homeless camps

The administration wants $500,000 in the operating budget to hire contractors to clear vacated homeless encampments from the side of state roads.

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities says the number of abandoned camps are growing in state rights-of-way. Contractors would clear debris, waste and hazardous materials, state transportation officials said in a budget request. The department said it will focus on “critical areas” that have “posed ongoing challenges.” It said that using contractors rather than department employees would be cost effective.

Making room for burials

The Anchorage Cemetery is nearly full, so Dunleavy is asking for $1 million in state funds to purchase and establish the Eagle River Cemetery. The request comes after Dunleavy vetoed the same amount of funding for the cemetery in last year’s budget.

Anchorage voters rejected earlier this year a $4 million bond that would have established cemeteries in Eagle River and Girdwood.

Body armor for troopers

The Department of Public Safety wants $750,000 to outfit Alaska State Troopers with new protective gear. The department says the funds would be used to buy new ballistic shields, and to replace “expired body armor,” which “presents significant risks.”

Additionally, the capital request would replace “outdated” shotguns used to deploy less-lethal rounds. The department says those shotguns “have demonstrated a 60 percent failure rate.”

”Without this new equipment, troopers will continue to face considerable risks from high-caliber firearm assaults, and the continued use of failing less lethal shotguns may result in increased reliance on lethal force,” public safety officials said in their budget request.

Boosting University of Alaska Fairbanks

Dunleavy is asking for $5 million in funding for the University of Alaska Fairbanks to achieve R1 status, given to the nation’s top research institutions. The request comes after Dunleavy vetoed a similar funding amount approved by the Legislature earlier this year.

According to the budget request, the $5 million grant “has the potential to transform Alaska’s economy” in part by attracting top students and faculty. Alaska is one of only five states without an R1 research university.

Studying Alaska king salmon

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game wants $22 million over five years to study king salmon numbers across the Gulf of Alaska.

In March, a federal fisheries agency launched a year-long review to determine if Alaska king salmon should be listed as an endangered species. The review was triggered when the Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group, filed a petition that argued the prized fish is at risk of extinction.

The department’s capital request notes that king salmon “run sizes have generally been decreasing and ocean conditions have been changing, sometimes dramatically.” As a result, some king salmon fisheries across the Gulf of Alaska have been closed or severely restricted for over a decade, the department said.

The five-year study is intended to provide up-to-date information on king salmon stocks to help “sustainably manage” Alaska’s fisheries, state officials said.

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The icy weather that closed Mat-Su Borough schools this week might add extra school days to the school calendar, due to a recent policy change by the state’s education commissioner.

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in 2020, the Mat-Su Borough School District quickly responded with remote learning. With remote learning, students could log in from their homes and be taught through online teleconferences. After students returned to school, at the end of the pandemic, remote learning remained as a learning option. It was used for those days when school was closed, due to poor weather conditions.

Until last week, remote learning was counted as a day in session for students. This meant no extra days were required to be added to the school calendar. According to Alaska state law, the school term in Alaska is 180 days long, with 10 days reserved for in-services and other events. If school closures result in less than 170 days of school, those days must be made up.

Deena Bishop, the commissioner of the state Department of Education and Early Development, said last week that the department is reconsidering whether to count “e-learning” due to unanticipated school closures toward the minimum number of instructional days required by state law.

Bishop, a former MSBSD superintendent, made the comments during a state Board of Education meeting on Dec. 5 — when schools in Anchorage and parts of the Mat-Su Borough declared a remote learning day due to freezing rain.

Bishop said that weather-related school closures were part of a broader problem of increasing school absences. She indicated that absenteeism might be a factor in students’ underperformance in school.

Bishop sent a letter on Dec. 7 to school superintendents indicating that remote learning days should not be expected to count as school days. In response, MSBSD officials swiftly announced that remote learning days are no longer an option for bad weather.

It’s likely that students celebrated this week when school was canceled due to icy roads. Rather than log in to the classroom in the morning, they were granted a day off. Students may not be celebrating in the spring however, when they find that the school term ends a few days later than expected.