Alaska
What to expect from the 34th Alaska Legislature
Votes are still being counted, but lawmakers in the Alaska Legislature have already formed majorities and are outlining their priorities.
Here’s what to expect from the 34th Alaska Legislature.
In the House, the times are a-changin’
The House looks poised to flip from Republican-led control to a coalition made up mostly of Democrats and independents. That means, assuming the majority holds, Alaskans can expect a very different set of priorities from the last two years.
The leadership put out a list of their top four in an announcement naming the chamber’s leaders. No. 1 is a balanced budget that doesn’t exceed the statutory 5% annual draw on the Alaska Permanent Fund.
No. 2 is “stable public education funding to reduce class sizes and improve outcomes,” according to the news release announcing the new caucus.
“We have a situation where schools aren’t being able to meet their core functions, their core requirements in terms of providing a quality public education,” said the bipartisan majority’s speaker-to-be, Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. “We want to take a good, hard look at that.”
Close behind is what the incoming House majority is calling “retirement reform.” Hundreds of positions across the state are vacant, from teachers and police officers to snowplow drivers and ferry workers. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, the incoming House majority leader, said one reason for that is the state’s 401(k)-style retirement system.
“We went from being the most attractive state in the union for teachers to, we’re at the very bottom of the list with no social security, no pension, and a 401(k)-only [retirement plan] where, after a 25 year career, you’re lucky if you have $80,000 in your account,” Kopp said.
Last session, the Senate passed a bill that would have moved public-sector workers back to a defined benefit pension plan from their current so-called Tier IV plan, which functions similarly to a 401(k). But, citing dueling financial analyses of the plan that came up with wildly different cost estimates, the Republican-led House majority caucus prevented the pension bill from reaching the House floor.
Edgmon stopped short of endorsing last session’s Senate pension plan — but he said it’ll get a “hard look.”
Republicans hold out hope for House control
Republicans have consistently said the Edgmon-led coalition is getting ahead of itself — there are some races that aren’t quite settled as of the latest update Saturday afternoon, including an House race where incumbent Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage, leads Republican challenger David Nelson by a handful of votes. They’re hopeful that they might be able to come up with a majority led by Republicans.
At the same time, at least some House Republicans share some of the same goals of the Democrat-heavy bipartisan coalition — even if they don’t necessarily agree on the best way forward. Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, who was in the Republican-led majority last time around, said the 401(k)-style plan is clearly in need of improvement.
“I think the Tier IV system is probably inadequate for many Alaska employees, you know, state and local, teachers, et cetera,” Stapp said. “You should certainly look to enhance the retirement system to ensure that you can better retain employees in Alaska, although I will say that really needs to be couched in actuarial risk.”
Stapp said his biggest priority is addressing energy costs, another of the Edgmon-led coalition’s four goals.
In the Senate, meet the new boss, same as the old boss
The leadership of the Senate looks almost identical to the past two years. It has the same president, same Rules Committee chair, and the same majority leader: Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage.
“I see the priorities being pretty much what they were last year with slight modifications,” Giessel said.
For now, Giessel said it’s a bit too soon to say exactly what the Senate will prioritize — majority lawmakers are planning a retreat before the session to talk things through. But like House leadership, Giessel said a balanced budget is at the top of the list, along with reining in energy costs. And Giessel said she’d, of course, be “thrilled” to carry a pension bill through the Senate again, as she did during the last session.
Boosting education funding for public schools, just like the House, is another big focus for the Senate majority. Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, who chaired the Senate Education Committee last year, said a boost in per-student funding would go a long way toward helping Alaska’s students do better.
“We know that the base student allocation is how our schools are able to deploy the right tactic and technique when needed and necessary,” Tobin said. “That is going to be a strong focus over the next two years, helping ensure that our schools have the resources to do the things we’re asking them to do.”
Another priority for Senate leadership is election reform. The Senate Rules Committee chair, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said he’d like to revive elements of bills that have stalled in the closing days of recent legislative sessions.
“I think that the big issues continue to remain the witness signature requirement, ballot curing, and then just ensuring the security and integrity of the election process,” Wielechowski said.
The Senate majority looks a lot more secure than the House’s bipartisan caucus, but it might be a bit smaller this time than last. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, said she’s optimistic the all-GOP minority will reach the five-member minimum to get seats on Senate committees, which could give them more influence.
“Having a seat at the committee tables is one more opportunity to be able to get things done,” Hughes said.
Alignment in the House and Senate sets up conflicts with the executive branch
The bipartisan Senate majority last session frequently found itself at odds with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Now that the majorities in the House and Senate will likely be in relative alignment, that could set up some conflicts with the executive branch.
But Edgmon, the incoming House speaker, said he’s optimistic.
“There’s common ground out there that we can all sort of get to,” he said. “The challenge will be to try to find it and to work towards getting something through the legislature that the governor can ultimately support, that we think meets the objectives of everyone.”
At the same time, it’s also not clear exactly who will be in the governor’s mansion come January — there’s no shortage of speculation that Dunleavy will leave to join the Trump administration, which could scramble the dynamics.
The 34th Alaska Legislature convenes Jan. 21.
Eric Stone covers state government, tracking the Alaska Legislature, state policy and its impact on all Alaskans. Reach him at estone@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @eriwinsto. Read more about Eric here.
Alaska
Man with same name as Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan can appear on GOP primary ballot, state’s Supreme Court rules
The battle of the Dan Sullivans is on.
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Monday that a man with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan can challenge the sitting lawmaker in the state’s GOP Senate primary in August. The high court upheld a ruling from a lower court judge that cleared the way for Daniel J. Sullivan to appear on the primary ballot, reversing a decision by state officials earlier this month that he was ineligible because he was allegedly trying to confuse voters.
The state Supreme Court directed Alaska’s Division of Elections to decide how Daniel J. Sullivan should be listed on the ballot “within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law.”
The conflict is taking place in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate elections. The sitting Sen. Sullivan is running for a third term, but former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is vying to challenge him, setting up what could be an unusually competitive race in a deep-red state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in almost 20 years.
The senator has called his same-name competitor a “sham candidate” and accused him of trying to trick voters and help Democrats flip the seat. Daniel J. Sullivan — a retired teacher and former U.S. Forest Service employee from Petersburg, Alaska — has denied those allegations and insisted he is both qualified and genuinely interested in running for Senate.
About two weeks ago, the Alaska Division of Elections determined that the challenger Sullivan could not appear on the ballot, arguing his paperwork “was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead.”
In a letter to the candidate, Director Carol Beecher pointed to the fact that Daniel J. Sullivan had initially requested to appear on the ballot as “Dan Sullivan,” the same name format as the senator. She also wrote that he hadn’t previously been affiliated with the state Republican Party, had a website design that “appears to be deliberate[ly]” similar to the senator’s campaign site and had worked with a political consultant with links to Democratic candidates.
Daniel J. Sullivan asked a state court to reverse the decision. On Friday, Judge Thomas Matthews ruled in his favor, finding the non-senator Sullivan met the requirements to run for U.S. Senate and the state didn’t have the authority to exclude him based on “good faith.”
“The court does not minimize the Division’s concern that voters should not be misled,” the judge wrote. But he added that “Alaska election law gives the Division tools to address that concern,” including regulating how candidates appear on the ballot.
With ballots set to be printed this week, the issue was appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court on an expedited basis, with both sides filing court papers over the weekend.
The state Division of Elections asked the high court to overturn Matthews’ ruling, arguing it would “leave Alaska constitutionally required to permit bad-faith ballot access.” The agency said it reached its conclusion about Daniel J. Sullivan after it received a complaint from the National Republican Senatorial Committee “credibly alleging” he was seeking to “cause voter confusion” and made a “bewildering” request to appear on the ballot with the senator’s middle initial.
If Daniel J. Sullivan is permitted to remain on the ballot, the state asked the Alaska Supreme Court to allow it to print his full name and list his party affiliation as “nonpartisan” to “ensure voters are not forced to guess between two nearly identical names.”
The Alaska Republican Party and several GOP-led states filed amicus briefs siding with Alaska.
Daniel J. Sullivan’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued the state “lacked any basis in Alaska law to exclude Mr. Sullivan from the ballot” and didn’t have the power to look into his “private motivations.” They wrote that state law doesn’t give officials the power to keep qualified candidates off the ballot due to potential confusion.
“[All] that Mr. Sullivan asks here is to be listed on the ballot, and the Division is obviously empowered to do so in a non-confusing manner,” his lawyers wrote.
Following oral arguments, the high court sided with Daniel J. Sullivan in a two-page order late Monday, and said it would issue a fuller opinion at a later date.
Jeffrey Robinson, an attorney for Daniel J. Sullivan, told CBS News his legal team is “grateful” for the Alaska Supreme Court’s decision to “affirm Judge Matthews’ well-reasoned, thorough order vacating the Division’s unlawful decision to exclude Mr. Sullivan as a candidate.”
“We expect that the Division will act in full compliance with existing Alaska ballot design law in its preparation of the ballots,” Robinson said in an email.
The senator’s campaign spokesperson, Nate Adams, said: “We’re disappointed in the court’s decision because as the sham candidate Dan J. Sullivan’s lawyers made clear in their legal arguments, the only reason he is running is to deceive voters and manipulate Alaska’s election system.”
“However, we are encouraged by the fact that the Director of the Division of Elections will be able to use her expertise to differentiate between the Petersburg fraud and the incumbent — Senator Dan Sullivan — to the benefit of Alaska voters,” Adams said.
The first Jesuit missionaries in Alaska sailed up the Yukon River in 1887. By the turn of the 20th century, the religious order of the Catholic Church had as many as 50 Jesuits in the state.
Now, only two remain. And by the end of June, there will be none.
The Jesuits’ nearly 140 years in the state was honored at an event at Bethel’s Immaculate Conception Church on June 16. A procession of priests wearing long white gowns with red hems walked down the aisle to open the event. The Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Stephen Maekawa, thumped the ground with a shimmering silver staff known as a clozier as he approached the altar.
“My brothers and sisters, we gather together to celebrate this wonderful and blessed occasion to acknowledge the love of God and the work of God through the 139 year mission of the Society of Jesus of the Jesuit fathers,” Maekawa said to open the event.
A traditional Catholic mass followed, with readings in both English and Yup’ik. During the sermon, Maekawa acknowledged the vastness of the Fairbanks diocese, and the tremendous amount of work done by the Jesuits to establish it.
“All of the 46 churches of the Diocese of Fairbanks that we currently have were established by either the Jesuit fathers or by direction of a Jesuit bishop,” Maekawa said. “We have a long history of the Society of Jesus’ presence and ministry here in all of Alaska.”
The Jesuits are an order within the Catholic Church, akin to the Dominicans or Franciscans. They have a reputation for taking on some of the Catholic Church’s most remote assignments.
That missionary spirit brought the Jesuits to the Yukon River in 1887, where they built churches, schools, and ministries. Without their work, Catholicism may not have taken root in huge swaths of Alaska, particularly among Alaska Native communities.
But the Jesuits leave a complicated legacy. Their methods of converting Native people to the religion, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, created generational traumas still felt to this day.
Fr. Sean Carroll is the provincial of the Jesuits West Province, which oversees Alaska and nine other states.
“Thank you for all that you have taught us about who Jesus is and how to love and serve Him wholeheartedly,” Carroll said. “I also thank you for your patience with us. For there have been times when we have sinned and when we have hurt you.”
Missionaries, including the Jesuits, forcefully converted and assimilated Alaska Native people into Western culture and religion. Students at Jesuit-run boarding schools were forced to abandon their Native languages and physically punished when caught speaking languages other than English. Native dancing and drumming were also banned.
The Jesuits West Province maintains a list of 150 Jesuits with credible claims of sexual abuse against minors or vulnerable adults. A quarter of the accused Jesuits served in Alaska at some point in time.
“I ask for your forgiveness for all that we have done that was not rooted in Christ and love for Him, and for when we did not value your culture nor recognize the presence of God in you,” Carroll said.
Carroll gave the order to withdraw from the state last spring. A big issue was the recruitment of Jesuits willing to travel and serve in remote villages. He told the congregation that the Jesuits’ work would continue, just without a permanent presence.
Fr. Rich Magner is one of the two remaining Jesuit priests in Alaska. His last day serving Chevak, Hooper Bay, and Scammon Bay is June 30.
“We all always knew coming in, or should have known, that we’re not going to be here forever. It’s going to be mission accomplished at some point,” Magner said. “And then we hand it off to the diocese that we’ve helped create, and so that’s a good feeling.”
Magner’s next stop is a Clinical Pastoral Education residency in Tacoma, Washington.
The other remaining priest, Fr. Tom Provinsal, first came to Alaska in 1968 to teach. A fond memory, he said, was meeting Elders that practiced traditional subsistence lifestyles.
“Some of the grandmothers, their fingers were just all bent with arthritis and stuff like that, you know, their whole lives they’ve been working out in the cold and the wet, doing food, sewing, all that kind of stuff,” Provinsal said. “I’d say I just feel very privileged to have come when I did come and to see that.”
Provinsal returned in 1975 as a priest and has served in the region ever since. After moving away, he plans to take a five month sabbatical. What happens next, he said, is in God’s hands.
Two lines formed in the aisle for communion at the end of the mass. After taking communion, Bethel’s Parish Administrator Susan Murphy gave a final thank you.
“It’s difficult to say goodbye to people who have been a part of our lives for so long,” Murphy said. “We know that you have done what was yours to do, and have taught us to do what is ours to do. We are grateful.”
Dominic Hunt, a Yup’ik deacon that flew in from Emmonak for the event, led the congregation through a final prayer.
“Bless them with your wisdom, that they may be a word of hope, a world in need. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen,” Hunt said.
About 70 people posed for a photo on the altar – priests, deacons, parishioners, Elders and children — many of them smiling, some standing quietly.
The photo doesn’t tell the whole story. But it’s a moment when gratitude, grief, and memory all shared the same room.
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.
The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.
The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.
According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.
This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
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