As the first cruise ship of the season, the Norwegian Bliss, is scheduled to arrive in Juneau on April 14, the US Forest Service said it is prepared to welcome thousands of visitors to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Centerand surrounding recreation area that is managed by the federal agency.
The Forest Service has announced it is fully prepared for the influx of tourists, ensuring a high-quality experience at one of Southeast Alaska’s most visited natural landmarks.
In collaboration with local partners and organizations, the agency has developed a plan to maintain staff presence and visitor services, despite ongoing staffing challenges of having several employees laid off due to the Trump Administration’s goal of reducing government expenditures.
“Our goal is to maintain the unique and memorable experience visitors have come to expect by adapting to staffing changes and ensuring the area remains accessible and safe,” said Juneau District Ranger Michael Downs.
To support the plan, minor reductions have been made to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center’s typical summer hours of operation. Throughout April, the center will be open intermittently. Starting May 4, it will be open Sunday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm, and closed on Saturdays. However, the surrounding recreation area, including paths and trails, will continue to operate daily from 6 am to midnight.
A collaborative team, including Forest Service staff, Discovery Southeast employees, volunteers, and cultural representatives from the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida, will help manage the visitor center and grounds. Their responsibilities range from visitor safety and resource protection to education, crowd control, and support for tour operators. The team will also manage bear-human interactions and maintain the area’s trails, campsites, and facilities, Downs said.
While indoor restrooms will only be accessible during visitor center hours, five portable toilets in the recreation area will remain open 24/7. An additional bathroom near the parking area will be available from 8 am to 7 pm daily.
Staffing support will also come from across the Forest Service, including personnel from the Juneau Ranger District, the Tongass National Forest Supervisor’s Office, and the Alaska Regional Office.
The projected 1.7 million cruise ship passengers for Southeast Alaska in the summer of 2025 is expected to set a new record, surpassing the previous high of 1.65 million passengers recorded in 2023.
Fava beans are cold-weather-tolerant legumes with a sweet, nutty flavor that thrive in some regions of Alaska. They are a nutritious, protein-rich addition to salads, soups, stews, and side dishes, and the beans are a delicious, satiating snack on their own.
I attended the Chilkat Valley Gardening Conference in Haines, where more than one speaker mentioned the nutritional value of fava beans and their ability to thrive in the local climate. Foundroot, a local seed company, even provided participants with complimentary seed packets of fava beans. I left the event inspired to learn more about fava beans.
Fava beans are said to be high in protein, with one cup of cooked fava beans containing nearly a third of your daily protein requirements. They are also known to be high in fiber, folate, manganese, iron, and phytonutrients. According to Healthline, eating fava beans regularly may help with weight loss, the immune system, bone health, anemia, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and symptoms of Parkinson’s.
The potential health advantages of favas are impressive, and these legumes also serve as a versatile pantry staple. While fresh green favas from the garden are a culinary treat, you don’t have to wait until August, when the garden’s first harvest arrives, to enjoy them. Fava beans are commercially available in canned, dried, and roasted varieties.
Fava bean salad with Alaska hydroponically grown greens.
Topping off a leafy green salad with fava beans is a delicious way to enhance it, adding substance with a boost of protein. In the salad pictured above, a hydroponically grown salad mix with spinach and arugula is complemented by avocado, fresh peppers, canned fava beans, and a tahini-lemon-dill dressing. The salad remains equally filling and flavorful with fresh or roasted fava beans, which contribute a nutty flavor and satisfying crunch.
Roasted fava beans
Roasted fava beans are a healthy snack that can be enjoyed on the trail or between meals as a quick pick-me-up, offering a nutritious option to help maintain your energy levels.
The adaptability of fava beans allows for them to be used in easy substitutions with various types of beans. Scroll on down to find a chili recipe featuring fava beans. This chili not only showcases their unique flavor, but it is also a hearty and satisfying meal in one bowl. To create your own version of the recipe, change it up by adding your favorite game meats, vegetables, and spices.
Fava bean stalks during the Skagway growing season. Photo credit: Skip Elliott
If you are interested in growing fava beans, there is still time to acquire your seeds and prepare for planting.
Skip Eliott began cultivating fava beans in the Dyea area of Skagway in 1976. He noted that England has a long-standing tradition of growing fava beans, known there as broad beans, and he observed many similarities between the English maritime climate and that of Southeast Alaska. He has achieved remarkable success with his crops and believes that fava beans are exceptionally resilient and tolerant of cold weather.
His target date for planting his favas is May 7 every year, regardless of soil temperature. He says he plants them directly in the ground in a raised bed that measures 4 feet by 12 feet. Skip puts three rows in the four-foot-wide bed, planting each seed six inches apart. He plants only one seed in each hole, around 1 to 2 inches deep, and has a 90% germination rate. The bed is maintained using no-till gardening techniques, and fabric is used to control weeds. He also installs a horizontal trellis with a 6-inch by 6-inch mesh about 2½ feet above the bed to support the stalk as it grows.
Fava bean trellis. Photo credit: Skip Elliott
Skip says he enjoys spreading the word about how delicious fava beans are and how well they adapt to some of Alaska’s microclimates. He added that fava beans “are a great vegetable, and you don’t have to do anything to them. They put out blossoms that smell great and have a beautiful white flower. The bugs get into the flower sometimes, but the pests don’t seem to affect the plant. I have two harvests. The early favas taste the best. When they get ripe, the pods start to brown, and that is when the favas are sweet. I harvest for the first time in August, leaving about a third of the pods behind, and then I harvest again in September. You can even get a third harvest from them.”
He exclusively plants Vroma fava beans due to their shorter growing season and high yields. Skip estimates that two raised beds, each measuring 4 feet by 12 feet, provide more than enough fava beans to meet the annual legume needs of two people.
Fresh fava beans. Photo credit: Skip Elliott
After harvesting the fava beans, Skip enjoys eating them when they are fresh. Most people remove the thick hull from fava beans before consuming them from the pod. He removes the beans from the pod but leaves the hull intact.
For long-term storage, he removes the pods, blanches the fava beans in boiling water for about four minutes, dries them, and then freezes them in pint-sized bags. Skip does not remove the hulls from the frozen favas, noting that he enjoys the texture, which he compares to eating kernels of corn. He simply warms the frozen favas, serves them with butter, and also adds them to soups.
“They are firm with a nutty taste and go with anything,” Skip stated as he described fava beans. He went on to say that they are “dense with lots of great texture.”
At the end of the season, he uses scissors to cut the stalk of the fava beans, transferring them to his compost, leaving the roots intact. Skip mentioned that it is beneficial for the bed to retain the roots because, “The roots have nodules, where bacteria that fix nitrogen in the soil reside.” This process enhances soil fertility, making it more productive for future crops. By maintaining these roots, he ensures that the beneficial bacteria continue to thrive and contribute to a healthier ecosystem in his garden.
After hearing numerous positive discussions about fava beans at the Chilkat Valley Gardening Conference and learning about effective gardening techniques from Skip Elliott, we will include them in our garden this summer. A packet of Vroma fava beans has been added to our seed order for the season, and I eagerly await the last of the snow to melt and the soil to warm. With visions of lush green stalks thriving in the garden and hopes for a bountiful harvest, I look forward to incorporating fava beans into new culinary options from the garden to the table.
Until that time, here’s a fava bean chili recipe to keep you warm as we wait for the last of the snow to melt.
Fava bean chili
Fava Bean Chili
Ingredients:
1 to 1 ½ pounds of game meat (or substitute beef)
1 pint bone broth (or substitute stock or bouillon)
8 ounces dried fava beans (or substitute 2 each 14-ounce cans of fava beans)
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 garlic head, minced
2 to 3 large bell peppers, diced
12 to 16 ounces of tomatoes, diced (or substitute one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes)
8 tablespoons of butter
3 teaspoons salt, divided (more or less to taste)
2 teaspoons black pepper, divided (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon chili powder (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon ground cumin (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
For garnish:
1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped (or substitute parsley)
4 ounces of cheddar cheese, if desired
Preparation Time: ½ to 1 hour depending on if dried or canned fava beans are used.
Simmering Time: 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Fava beans require 40 to 50 minutes simmering time in addition to the chili’s simmering time.
Servings: Approximately 10
Note: Double batches make excellent leftovers for the freezer.
Preparation:
Dried fava bean preparation is as follows:
Preparing the fava beans.
Soak: Prepare the dried fava beans by soaking them in water overnight. Alternatively, you can bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the fava beans, continuing to boil for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and drain the fava beans. Add cool water to the fava beans to bring them to room temperature. Then drain and rinse the fava beans.
Remove the hulls: To remove the hull, pinch the fava bean. This process requires a significant commitment of time and can take up to half and hour. Some hulls may be particularly tough to remove, necessitating more force A fishbone tweezer or crab fork can be useful for breaking open the tougher hulls.
Cook the fava beans: Place the hulled fava beans in a large pot over high heat with approximately 8 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Simmer for 40 to 50 minutes until the fava beans start to become tender, but not soggy.
Drain: Remove the fava beans from the water and set aside.
Chili Preparation:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan on medium heat, add the game, and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper each. Stir occasionally as the meat browns. When thoroughly cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large pot, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Then add the diced onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions start to caramelize. Add the garlic and stir for one to two minutes until the garlic starts to becomes aromatic and become translucent.
Add the bell peppers and stir, allowing them to cook for two to three minutes until they start to soften. Then add the diced tomatoes and stir until well incorporated.
The next step is to add the tomato paste, bone broth, and spices and stir until combined.
Finally, add the browned meat and fava beans. If needed, add water to the desired consistency.
Bring the chili up to a boil, then turn it down and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until flavors combine.
Taste the chili and adjust the seasoning as desired. Then garnish with cilantro or parsley and cheese if desired.
Enjoy this delicious chili variation featuring fava beans!
Brenda Josephson is a Haines resident. She holds degrees in Culinary Arts and Food Business Leadership from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. She enjoys spending time fishing, foraging, and savoring Alaska’s abundance of natural and wild foods with her family.
Let me just say it straight: Rep. Nellie Jimmie’s vote to cut the PFD was wrong.
I don’t doubt her heart is probably in the right place, but when she stood on the House floor and gave an emotional and theatrical speech about the hardships in her village of Toksook Bay, high fuel prices, tough living, and the real struggles of rural Native families, she forgot one thing, the Permanent Fund dividend belongs to all of us, not just some of us.
That dividend is not a handout, it is not welfare, and it is not “free money.” It is your share, your slice of the oil and gas that comes out of Alaska’s ground. It is put in a fund that was voted on by the people, and meant to be shared equally by every resident, Native and non-Native, rich or poor, young or old. That is what “dividend” means: “an individual share of something distributed.” Simple as that.
Now, Jimmie says she cut the PFD to help her people, but guess what, that vote did not just hurt folks in urban Alaska, it hurt Gussuks and rural folks too.
Do you think a single mom in Palmer is not struggling to keep the lights on? Do you think the guy working three part-time jobs in Soldotna does not need that money just as bad? What about the veterans living off-grid, hauling water and burning wood, with no access to Indian Health Service clinics, no tribal corporation dividends, and no subsistence rights? They do not get Power Cost Equalization, they do not get free health care, and they sure do not get marine mammal hunting rights. But they get the PFD … when it is not gutted in the state Capitol.
In 2023, 150,000 Alaska Natives used Indian Health Service; some ANCSA corporation shareholders pulled in checks worth thousands. Rural communities got help from the Power Cost Equalization program, safe water grants, and all kinds of targeted spending.
And that is fine, I am not here to knock it. Native communities deserve support, but you cannot stand on the floor and say your people are the only ones hurting and then vote to cut the one check that goes to everyone, no matter where they live or what their last name is.
A full statutory PFD last year would have been much higher than the $1,702 paid last year; that number represents a fraction of what Alaskans are rightfully owed.
For many families, even that dividend was over $7,000. That money matters; it pays for fuel oil, groceries, school clothes, car repairs, or even just getting caught up on bills. For a lot of us, it is the only time all year we get ahead. Jimmie’s vote said some folks’ pain matters more than others, and that is not how this is supposed to work.
Furthermore, this theft is decimating our local corporations’ ability to keep their shelves stocked. When the full dividend flows, it injects real cash into local hardware and lumber stores, the kind of products that hardworking Alaskans actually need and can afford. You won’t see quest cards buying up the materials required to fix a leaky roof or build a new deck. Without that steady influx of cash, these businesses struggle, and that hurt ripples through our communities and our economy.
The PFD was built to unite Alaskans, it is the only thing left in this state that still treats everyone equally. You do not need to belong to a tribe, you do not need to work for the government, you just need to live here and you get your cut of the wealth. That is the promise, that is the contract. And when a legislator breaks that, it cuts deeper than just dollars; it breaks trust.
In 2024, 70% of Alaskans said they wanted the full PFD or more; that is not just Republicans or Democrats, that is everybody. Gov. Jay Hammond warned us about this, and he said Alaskans would rise up with a “militant ring” if politicians tried to take our dividend, and he was right. This is not some pet project, it is the foundation of economic fairness in Alaska, and we are not going to let it get chipped away, one vote at a time.
Nellie Jimmie floor speech:
So, to Rep. Jimmie, I say this: I understand your passion, but you missed the mark. The PFD is not just for one group, it is not for buying favor or trading votes. It is a promise to every single Alaskan. We all live with hardship in this state, we all pay the price of isolation, high costs, and broken systems. Do not take from one neighbor to help another, especially not when the law says otherwise.
I have lived the 11 years in Quinhagak, previous 27 in Bethel and the 10 before in the Athabascan village of Copper Center. I have lived the rural life most of my life. If you want to help your people, that is great; so do I. But let us start by following the law and paying the full dividend for ALL people, then we can talk about how to build a budget that works for everyone, not just a select few.
Willy Keppel is a longtime trapper and fur trader in Western Alaska.
Because most of us don’t have the time nor the inclination to listen to Legislature’s meetings and press conferences, I’ve compiled some statements from the House Majority presser last week, which reflect their true feelings and beliefs regarding the Alaska budget.
The House Majority leadership, consisting of Reps. Bryce Edgmon, Chuck Kopp, Louise Stutes, and Andy Josephson, voiced their true feelings and beliefs at a press conference this week addressing the budget.
House Speaker Edgmon said there were “extenuating circumstances” that have caused the budget crisis. He blamed global issues such as the sharp decline in oil prices and changes in the federal government funding. Nowhere did he take responsibility for the current fiscal crisis, although he has been in office since 2007.
Edgmon said we need an increase in K-12 education funding because “our schools are telling us they are desperate to have.”
Does that sound like reason enough to spend an additional $253 million on K-12 without any accountability on increasing student achievement? Speaker Edgmon might also want to look at the Legislative Finance analysis, which states that the state has increased funding by 34% to K-12 since 2006, outpacing inflation.
Edgmon then went on to blame the House Minority on the House Finance Committee by saying, “We need to work together.” He was dismayed by the fact that the minority had so many members on that committee — five of the 11 are Republicans.
House Rules chairperson Stutes of Kodiak said that “all options are on the table.” I’m not sure if this meant a full PFD and no additional funding to the K-12 system or no PFD at all. (It was settled on Friday, with a drastically cut PFD.)
Rep. Kopp chimed in saying, “We are facing the $64,000 question.” He focused on the large statutory PFD saying, “The PFD is two times what K-12 spending is.”
Kopp then said, “I ran supporting a balanced budget.”
It’s nice that he supports that constitutional requirement. He has no other choice.
Kopp followed up by saying, “Do we need new revenue, or do we need to put a handle on the size of the PFD we are paying.” That may mean taxes on Alaskans and a smaller PFD which is also a tax. And that smaller PFD hurts the low income Alaskans the most.
Kopp closed by saying that, “We need a House Minority that’s willing to step up and take some very hard votes and agree that you can’t duck the question on the size of the dividend.”
Nothing like blaming the other side when you seem to be losing the game.
Rep. Josephson, House Finance chairman, stood up for his Finance Committee Democrats saying, “I’m proud of my committee. We had lots of meetings. I’m proud of this budget.”
He continued, “We still have a dividend that is obviously unaffordable. I am troubled by that.” He blamed the lack of cooperation on the Minority Republican committee members.
But he didn’t stop there.
“We heard from scores of Anchorage citizens about the importance of HB 69 and we have their back. And we’re gonna, come hell or high water, stand for that principle,” Josephson said.
It isn’t really clear what that “principle” is. Maybe the principle is funding K-12 education with no clear education reforms to improve student achievement. It probably also includes that he wants to ensure his reelection and gets support from the National Education Association.
The press conference moved to the question segment. The first question was concerning how much of this disagreement with the minority was about K-12 funding. The answer was, “BSA growth is not the problem in this budget.”
That sums up the House Majority’s position. They would rather take the PFDs from Alaskans to pay school personnel more.
Rep. Josephson talked about how he “respects” living in rural Alaska. He seemed to pander to the rural members in his caucus who favor a statutory PFD.
“I am very sympathetic in the disparity in income” in the rural areas, he said. The trouble is, “We are not ready for Alaskans to invest in their state government.” He doesn’t seem to remember the PFDs that were reduced from the statutory requirement over the past few years were used to “invest in their state government.”
Josephson summed up his position by saying, “We just have a significant math problem.” Surely, he went to public school and had difficulties with the new math curriculum.
Then a reporter asked why should Alaskans pay more for government and not the oil companies. Rep. Kopp showed concern that current oil prices were going much lower but we also have new oil coming online. He did not want to jeopardize this revenue, both new and old, by imposing new taxes on oil. He knows where the money really comes from funding the state government.
Kopp then said, “I’m all for a needs-based dividend and do we need to inflation proof the dividend. Do we put a geographical differential in the dividend?” I guess that means that those in the rural areas would get a larger PFD than those who live in the urban areas. Remember, many of those living in the rural areas pay zero to fund their local schools. He summed up by stating that he would file a bill tomorrow if he had the 21 votes on changing the PFD formula.
Rep. Josephson staunchly supported the current Percent Of Market Value formula by saying, “I will lay down on the train tracks for the 5% POMV.” Looks like the Alaska Railroad has a new mission!
Josephson further stated that, “We need to entertain cuts as well. It’s not going to be Medicaid cuts. We need to look surgically what need to be cut.” Just pandering to his constituency. He voiced that in the final analysis he suspects that something more surgical will be done and that may include the state’s vacancy factors. He might just want to lead by example by suggesting cuts to his legislator pay. That would be “surgical.”
These are some of the more important statements from the House Majority leaders which should give you an idea of what these various legislators stand for and the principles they embody.
Speaker Edgmon blames the House Minority, the global downturn in oil prices, and listens to the education industry demands for more money.
Rep. Kopp believes the PFD is too large and it may have to be changed based on where one lives. He also believes we may need “new revenue” aka taxes.
Rep. Josephson just loves to have finance committee meetings. He also says he will die (on the railroad tracks) for the POMV!
Finally, Rep. Stutes only has one thought: Put all options on the table.
Listening to press conferences is much more entertaining than listening to those lengthy committee meetings. You might just want to try listening.
Vic Fischer not only supported the recall of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, he was the co-chair of the Recall Dunleavy Committee, which began in 2019, driven by hardcore leftists who would not accept the will of the voters.
Fischer, a former state senator before that a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, actively participated in the effort, including submitting signatures to the Division of Elections and speaking out against Dunleavy at every occasion. He also endorsed Ballot Measure 1 in 2020, an increase of the tax on oil. Both efforts failed.
House Bill 79 recognizes the contributions of Fischer to Alaska by naming the Shoup Bay State Marine Park in Valdez after him.
Shoup Bay State Marine Park is located five miles southeast of the Port of Valdez and is where the largest tsunami wave of the 1964 earthquake – measuring over 200 feet in height – was recorded. Today, Shoup Bay State Marine Park attracts 100,000 visitors a year.
Democrat Reps. Zack Fields, Alyse Galvin, Andy Josephson and Andrew Gray are the sponsors of HB 79. They ignore the great cost to the state of Fischer’s political adventures in attempting to recall a governor after he had been in office for only three months.
Of those bill sponsors, Rep. Galvin and Rep. Josephson signed Fischer’s petition to recall the governor.
Fischer was born in Berlin in 1924 and had dual US and Russian citizenship. He escaped the Nazis and while he was not explicitly a socialist, his political activities and life-long affiliations showed socialism ran through his veins.
In 2022, he endorsed Democrat Les Gara for governor. He died in 2023 at the age of 99.
The bill passed the House on Friday. Here’s how the vote went down:
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance announced a series of key staffing updates Friday, including the appointment of Susanne Fleek-Green as her new chief of staff beginning in June.
Fleek-Green, held the same role under Mayor Ethan Berkowitz from 2015 to 2017, was state director for Democrat Sen. Mark Begich, and has, since those days, been the superintendent at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve for the National Park Service.
She replaces outgoing Chief of Staff Katie Scovic, who lasted less than a year in the role. Scovic came from Agnew::Beck, an Anchorage consulting firm that gets lots of contracts from the city to study things.
Another addition to the mayor’s team is news writer Emily Goodykoontz, who will be press secretary.
Goodykoontz comes from the Anchorage Daily News, where she has been covering City Hall since 2020. She was previously in Oregon, and her time at the ADN has been marked by the newspaper’s signature left-leaning slant in support of the progressive agenda, and against all conservatives.
Goodykoontz has essentially been doing public relations for LaFrance and the liberals on the Assembly since she arrived from Oregon. Now, it will be her official duty.
The ADN provides a proving ground for leftists in politics in Alaska. Former ADN writer Aubrey Weiner spent a brief time at the newspaper before going to work for Assemblyman Chris Constant and then Agnew::Beck, and then drifting over into running a leftist political group backed by dark money, the 907 Initiative, which attacks conservatives. He, too, came from Oregon; like Goodykoontz, he is a graduate of University of Oregon Journalism School. Former editorial page editor Tom Hewitt landed a job with Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins, another hard leftist.
Also joining the mayor’s team is Diana Bo, who will become the staff assistant to the mayor in mid-April. Bo has worked in the Municipality’s Human Resources Department since 2023. She will be the first point of contact for visitors to the Mayor’s Office.
In September, Mayor LaFrance sent out a press release saying her office was fully staffed with the hires of Thea Agnew Bemben [principal at Agnew::Beck] as special assistant, Berett Wilber as creative director, and Ronni Weddleton as executive assistant. But apparently the office was not “fully staffed,” as these new hires indicate.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Friday held forth on the floor of the Senate to talk about how Congress must stop President Donald Trump, who is trying to correct a trade imbalance. He raised the tariffs on China to 145%, and has a big negotiations going on with much of the world right now as he attempts to restart manufacturing in the United States, and stop the use of slave labor in China.
“To say that this has been a dizzying week in Washington, DC is probably an understatement,” she said.
“I think it’s time for Congress to reassert itself. We owe that to those that we represent, as well as to this institution, for the long-term good of the nation,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Those she represents voted for Trump by 13.1% in 2024. His net approval rating, according to Morning Consult polling, is net positive in 31 states. In Alaska, his net approval rating is +9, even with him restoring the name of Mount McKinley.
Earlier this week, Murkowski and three other Republicans wrote a letter in defense of the so-called “clean energy tax credits” in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, a climate change law, urging her colleagues in the Republican majority to not repeal them.
She is the de facto leader of the anti-Trump Republicans in a state where she is out of step with the majority of voters.
Here are her remarks on April 10, pushing back on anything Trump may try to do to fix the structural imbalance of the economy:
I think it’s time for Congress to reassert itself. We owe that to those that we represent, as well as to this institution, for the long-term good of the nation. pic.twitter.com/M464e8WTid
Three missing Republican House members was all it took for the Alaska House Democrats to take advantage of the situation and pass an amendment to the state operating budget that stripped over $1,900 from every Alaskan’s full Permanent Fund dividends.
The House Democrat-run majority, with two Republicans who belong to it, knew there were three Republicans who would missing on Friday afternoon, and so held the budget question until later in the day, and also made sure all Democrats were not on planes out of Juneau. Every single Democrat was present.
Missing were Republican Rep. Elexie Moore, Rep. Mike Prax, and Rep. Will Stapp, all who might have voted no. All three had excused absences, which gave Democrats the small window needed to shrink the PFD.
The amendment passed 20-17. They were able to pass with the majority of those present, not the full majority. Being absent is essentially a “no” vote.
For several weeks, the House has had “No-Floor Fridays,” which is a phrase for not having any bills for consideration. But this Friday was different. A full slate of bills was on the calendar, including, quite surprisingly, the operating budget, which had passed from the Finance Committee. The two rural Democrats on the Finance Committee were not in agreement to cut the PFD, and so because of errors made by Finance Chair Rep. Andy Josephson, the full dividend was in the final package.
The Democrats sat on the budget and then sprang into action with one amendment on Friday, with the knowledge the Republicans were short a few members.
Speaker Bryce Edgmon had already promised there would be no amendments to the operating budget until Monday, and then he went back on his word. Amendment No. 1 was the reduced PFD, and it was packaged and ready to go.
The House Democrat majority, in a press release, called it an “affordable and sustainable PFD of approximately $1,400.”
In actuality, that means the annual dividend paid to Alaskans as their share of oil will be used instead to pay for a $1,000 increase to the base per-student funding for school districts, which had already passed the House and Senate, but which the governor says he will veto. Proponents of the larger school budget say that schools are dealing with inflation, meaning they cost more to run.
Unacknowledged by those small-dividend proponents is that Alaskans, too, have been dealing with inflation, and that a tax on the dividend hurts the poorest Alaskans the most.
But the spin from the House Democrat-led majority was to blame it on the Republicans:
“The intention was to wait until Monday to begin the amendment process as would normally occur. However, after the events last night in the House Finance Committee made painfully clear, any attempts at finding middle ground would continue to come up short. With that in mind, it became clear that it was the only path forward to maintain funding for essential services, provide for a meaningful permanent BSA increase, and a healthy but sustainable PFD for Alaskans,” the Democrat-led majority wrote in a press release.
In the end, the Democrats cleverly outsmarted the Republican minority. Not a single Democrat left Juneau on Friday afternoon’s flight, because there was a game afoot, and they knew three missing Republicans were all they needed to shrink the dividend, rather than shrink the government.
Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River explained it well in a post on X: “Tonight on the House floor it was a contentious political maneuver by the Democrats to take the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). The Democrat Majority in the House went back on their word to delay amendments until Monday, they cut the dividend by more than 25%. As a member of House Finance Committee, their own Democrat members wouldn’t pass it out of finance. This was timed strategically to exploit the absence of several Republican Minority members who were excused. Thank you Representative Neal Foster for voting No to NOT reduce the PFD.”
The governor cannot add funds back to the reduced Permanent Fund dividend. By law, he is only allowed to veto, but cannot add funding that the Legislature cuts.
Anchorage Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel, whose day job is as the executive director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, said that she will resign from the nonprofit later this year.
During her dual roles, the Anchorage Assembly has awarded millions of dollars to the agency, which is the coordinating group for many of the various charities who serve people living without secure shelter.
Zaletel, who is vice chair of the Assembly, is also leaving her position on the Assembly, as she did not run for reelection in April.
Last week, Must Read Alaskapublished the 2023 audit of her homelessness coalition, which revealed many flaws in financial management of the organization, some of which were serious.
Zaletel is also the subject of a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination by a former employee, who said the workplace environment was toxic and the organization was financially mismanaged.
Zaletel has been a polarizing figure in local politics, particularly because of her dual roles as appropriator and the head of a nonprofit that gets millions of taxpayer dollars and appears to have little to show for itself.
In fact, during her tenure, there has been a 54% increase in the homeless population of Anchorage, far from the organization’s goal of homelessness being “rare, brief, and one-time.”
Zaletel is also known for never putting her hand on her heart or saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of Assembly meetings. She has sponsored an ordinance, however, mandating that the woke “land acknowledgement” statement be posted prominently on the wall wherever the Assembly meets.
