The board of the Kenai Peninsula Republican Women’s Club has voted unanimously on Thursday to endorse Kelly Tshibaka for U.S. Senate and to request the State Central Committee of the Alaska Republican Party do the same.
The announcement was made on the heels of news that District 21 Republicans on Wednesday had overwhelmingly voted to endorse Tshibaka during the district meeting in Anchorage.
The KPRW endorsement makes four women’s clubs associated with the Republican Party to have announced endorsements for Tshibaka — the Republican Women of the Kenai, Anchorage Republican Women’s Club, and Valley Republican Women of Alaska are the other three.
Tshibaka is running as a Republican against Murkowski, who has held the prestigious office since 2002, when former Sen. Frank Murkowski appointed her to the seat, as he won the governor’s race.
The state central committee meets on July 10 in Fairbanks and there appears to be a push by Republican women’s clubs to have the party endorse Tshibaka. Both Kenai clubs have passed a resolution asking the State Central Committee to endorse her.
At its last meeting , the Alaska Republican Party passed a resolution by an overwhelming majority(77 percent), censuring Murkowski, asking her to not run as a Republican, and withdrawing all party resources from her. That means no party club, affiliate group, or state party officer can aid Murkowski’s reelection campaign. The party also, at the same March meeting, resolved to find someone to run against Murkowski.
Tshibaka won former President Donald Trump’s endorsement last week.
President Joe Biden and the “Gang of 10” U.S. senators announced they had come to an agreement on an infrastructure spending package.
With the support of senators including Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitt Romney of Utah, Biden stood in the driveway of the White House and told reporters, “We have a deal. I clearly didn’t get all I wanted. They gave more than I think maybe they were inclined to give in the first place.”
The details of the deal are not clear, except that it looks to spent $1.2 trillion over eight years, with nearly $1 trillion to be spent within the first five years.
An estimated $579 billion would be for roads, bridges, and tunnels, and it’s unclear how much of the day-care spending was preserved as infrastructure, as requested by hardline Democrats trying to shove social programs through as a new definition of “infrastructure.”
One document shows some of the spending commitments to be voted on by the full Senate:
Repurpose unused relief funds from 2020 emergency relief legislation
State and local investment in broadband infrastructure
Allow states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastrucrue
Extend expiring customs user fees
Reinstate Superfund fees for chemicals
5G spectrum auction proceeds
Extend mandatory sequester
Strategic petroleum reserve sale
Public-private partnerships, private activity bonds, direct pay bonds and asset recycling for infrastructure investment
Macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment
President Donald Trump presented an infrastructure plan to Congress in February 2018. It had $200 billion in federal funding and $1.5 trillion from the private sector. Democrats opposed the plan because of its reliance on state and local funding and private investments.
In 2020, the Trump Administration offered a $1 trillion infrastructure plan. The mainstream media then reported it as a campaign gimmick during a presidential election year.
Anchorage District 21 Republicans endorsed Kelly Tshibaka for U.S. Senate at its meeting on Wednesday. It was the first in-person meeting of the year.
Tshibaka is running against Sen. Lisa Murkowski. She has earned the endorsement of three Republican women’s clubs in the state and District 21 is the first district to also endorse Tshibaka.
District 21 is the old Anchorage establishment district, with longtime party members. It is considered a very moderate district, whose state representative is Democrat Matt Claman. The chair of the district is Win Faulkner. The vote was not unanimous but was overwhelmingly in support of Tshibaka.
Tshibaka last week announced that she had won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Geran Tarr took to social media on Wednesday to describe to her friends and constituents the bullying tactics used by members of her own caucus and the Alaska Democratic Party. Her post shows just how involved the party is in trying to make legislators vote certain ways. It’s a 180-degree difference from the Alaska Republican Party, which works to elect lawmakers and then hopes for the best.
Tarr described at length how she had been bullied by Rep. Zack Fields and leftist blogger Jeff Landfield. The two men were part of a leg-wrestling, pingpong and beer party in the Capitol complex this winter while the Capitol was closed to the public.
Tarr on Wednesday said that she would not, in fact, be accepting per diem for special session, just as she did not in 2019. She has issues with the way the Legislative Council has interpreted statute, which says no per diem can be awarded if the budget has not passed. The council has decided that after the budget is passed, all the back-pay per diem can then be paid, and Tarr believes this is flouting the law.
But more to the point, she explained how Democrats have bullied her, including The Alaska Center for the Environment, a political group that she had formerly considered a friend; Tarr is a hard-left environmentalist with values in line with the Alaska Center for the Environment, a surrogate group for the Alaska Democratic Party.
“When I wouldn’t join a caucus this year because the very dysfunctionality you’re seeing right now and the unwillingness of some of my colleagues to compromise, my colleague Rep. Zach Fields, made up a story that I was upset about a committee chair position. This is a position I had previously suggested a Republican for in an effort to get the legislature organized,” Tarr explained.
“First, he tried to get at least two colleagues to call people who had supported me in an effort to put pressure on me. I’m grateful that those two colleagues said no to that kind of nonsense.
“Then, since that wasn’t low enough, he called the Alaska Democratic Party, a union leader, and a prominent Democratic leader to put pressure on me. This was pretty disappointing as I felt they did put pressure on me and didn’t even ask me what the real story was.
“Then, since that wasn’t low enough, he tried to make it about race, and called the NAACP, the Alaska Black Caucus, and some neighbors. This was a mixed bag as some believed his made up story, but neighbors knew immediately it was nonsense,” Tarr wrote.
The Alaska Black Caucus was just awarded $1.1 million by the Anchorage Assembly to do this kind of work.
“Then, since that wasn’t low enough, he got The Alaska Center to start a phone bank into our district and continue to spread the made up story. This was extremely disappointing as this is an organization where I’ve known the executive director for over 20 years and have worked with closely in my legislative work. I didn’t even get a courtesy call to see if the story he was circulating was true, they just started making calls,” Tarr continued.
“The outcome here was something that lifted my spirits in a way I can hardly describe. Every conversation I had with neighbors included things like we trust you, we know you’re working hard for our area, we know you’re doing the right thing, and you go girl. My relationships with you are important to me and are ones where I’ve worked hard to build trust and the trust you placed in me was an incredible feeling.
“Then, Jeff Landfield, never to be outdone in the category of misogynistic behavior, wrote a blog post spreading the lie and calling me racist. This was very upsetting, not because he said things about me, he always does that, but because my brand new colleague and the Chair of the Committee being referenced was now involved in this nonsense. Instead of just being able to celebrate his accomplishment as a new legislator, now he was swept up in something that wasn’t even true. This was really upsetting to me and I shared that with Speaker Stutes. Her idea was to call Jeff into her office so I could tell the truth and she thought he would issue a retraction or an apology. I never believed he would do that, but the fact that she was willing to stand up for me was something that had never happened before so I took her up on the opportunity. The three of us sat in the Speaker’s office where both she and I explained this had nothing to do with a committee chair and everything to do with me trying to create a more functioning legislature. I wasn’t surprised at all when his response was that he wouldn’t be issuing a retraction or an apology because he said he had tried to call my office the day it happened and since he didn’t hear back for me he felt comfortable with what he wrote. I was so grateful my colleague accepted my apology for this nonsense and even more grateful later when he let me write him a letter of recommendation for a training opportunity. I would suggest this is one of the reasons that reading the blogs is not a good use of your time.”
The State Division of Personnel released a list on Wednesday afternoon of numerous state functions that will not stop even during a government shutdown created by the dysfunction in the Legislature. Many of the functions to remain active are related to public safety, but other workers, who are paid through various secondary means, will also stay on duty.
As the second special session opened in Wednesday, it appears more likely that Speaker Louise Stutes would not be able to lead her body to an agreement before the July 1 shutdown date.
The House is in disarray over the budget’s effective date clause and the Constitutional Budget Reserve, and Stutes has just six days to repair the situation. This is her first year as Speaker. The Republican House members, who are in the minority, appear resolute in their stance that the Constitutional Budget Reserve should not be used to bludgeon certain districts in order to get certain legislators to vote on a Permanent Fund dividend that is less than one third of the legally set “statutory dividend.”
Many Alaskans will not really notice much difference during a shutdown, at least for a while, if their interactions with government are few and far between. They may see more people at their favorite fishing spot, but unless they interact with state services, things may appear normal.
Unlike the dire predictions of Sen. Natasha Von Imhof a week ago, people will not bleed along the side of the road after an accident because Troopers and medics won’t arrive, and bridges will not collapse on July 1.
Von Imhof warned last week:
“I hope the folks at home fully understand the consequences of today, the action. A no vote means the budget doesn’t pass. Twenty-two thousand people, state workers, will be out of work July 1. That does not include the tens of thousands of teachers and university employees in the state of Alaska. Everyone at a job will not be paid … Hey, you drive over a bridge, I suggest you hold your breath and pray, ’cause it could fall on ya, because no one’s going to be around to fix it. If you want a permit to mine? Nope, not gonna happen. If you’re on food stamps and you call up and ask someone to process your application, no one will answer the phone. If you’re on Medicaid and you need emergency surgery, no one will authorize it because no one will answer the phone. Medicaid will be shut down. You call a state Trooper, I’m sorry, you’ll be sitting by the side of the road bleeding.”
None of that is true. It is legislative theater. The entire clip can be seen here:
This week, Von Imhof blamed the governor for not signing the budget that passed (without an appropriate effective date) by saying, “Gov. Dunleavy not doing everything in his power to keep his own government operational is like having an atheistic Pope.”
But apparently, Dunleavy is doing much to keep government operational. In the list released Wednesday, all emergency functions will continue, and so will justice, corrections, and even the investment managers for the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. Things like the Office of Archaeology will be closed, to be certain.
In the Department of Administration, for example, the Public Defender Agency will remain open, along with Office of Public Advocacy and the satellite service running the Emergency Broadcast System.
There will be reduced staffing for Retirement and Benefits, the Division of Motor Vehicles, which will have workers to support law enforcement and courts, and reduced statewide and department support services necessary to fulfill critical functions, such as IT support, Personnel, HR, Finance.
The only hearings that will be scheduled in the Office of Administrative Hearings will be for child support, Medicaid and public assistance, and substantiation of child abuse and neglect.
Most functions of the Division of Motor Vehicles, and the Alaska Public Offices Commission will be closed.
In the Department of Commerce, only these services are scheduled to go dark: Power Cost Equalization Payments, Alaska Energy Authority – Project Development, Alternative Energy and Efficiency Alaska Energy Authority Rural Energy Assistance, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Investments, Tourism Marketing, Economic Development, Pass Through Payments (Fisheries Taxes, Payment in Lieu of Taxes, National Forest Receipts), Serve Alaska/AmeriCorps, Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing – new licenses and other functions not related to life, health, safety, Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, excluding enforcement, revocations, and suspensions.
In the Department of Corrections, just a few services are being stopped July 1, including: Recidivism Reduction Grants, Domestic Violence Program, Education Programs, Vocational Education Programs, and Chaplaincy Services.
In the Department of Fish and Game, a small number of services will close: EVOS Trustee Council, Habitat, Advisory Committees, Hunter Education, and Public Shooting Ranges. Most other functions of Fish and Game come from fees, so they pay for themselves outside of the Operating Budget.
As for Health and Social Services, most functions are open including Medicaid (Federal Mandate), General Relief/Temporary Assisted Living. Emergency Programs. Essential Newborn Health Screening, Juvenile Justice, Child Protective Services – foster care; front line case workers (Federal Mandate) Alaska, Psychiatric Institute (federal component through Medicaid), Pioneer Homes (federal component through Medicaid).
Health and Social Services offices that will not operate during the shutdown are: Community Initiative Matching Grants, Human Services Community Matching Grant, Assessment and Planning, Quality Assurance and Audit, Children’s Services Training, Senior Residential Services, Senior Benefits Payment Program, Community Health Grants, Emergency Medical Services Grants Tribal Assistance Programs, Residential Licensing – new licenses, Permanent Fund Dividend Hold Harmless, Early Intervention / Learning Programs.
In the Department of Labor, the offices to remain open include Unemployment Insurance (Federal Mandate), Disability Determination (for Social Security benefits).
Labor Department closures are things like Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) except existing family housing, Labor Market Information, Vocational Rehabilitation, Wage and Hour Administration, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission Workforce Services (Alaska Job Centers)
The Department of Law criminal prosecutionsand child protection divisions will be fully operational during a shutdown. Other functions may be reduced partially.
In the Department of Natural Resources, the only offices to be shut down are: Office of History and Archaeology, Agriculture Revolving Loan Program, North Latitude Plant Material Center, EVOS Trustee Council Projects, Public Information Center, Recorder’s Office, Office of Project Management & Permitting Agriculture.
In the Department of Public Safety, just a few areas will be closed during the shutdown: Alaska Wing Civil Air Patrol, Alaska Police Standards Council, Alaska Fire Standards Council.
In the Department of Transportation, safety and commerce functions continue. All international airports remain open, and airport police and firefighters will be on duty. Also functioning will be State of Alaska Part 139 and Rural Airport Operations (Federal Mandate), Alaska Marine Highway System, Emergency/Critical Road Maintenance, Traffic Signal Control Contracts, State Equipment Fleet Operations Support, Police/Fire/Other critical services, and the Whittier Tunnel (Normal Operations, Limited Maintenance Activities)
The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution thanking former Police Chief Justin Doll. They passed another one thanking former Fire Chief Jodie Hettrick. They thanked Robin Ward, the manager of the Heritage Land Bank. All were retiring with the changing of the guard in Anchorage, as incoming Mayor Dave Bronson takes the reins. All of those resolutions were in the Assembly meeting packet.
But then there was the unnumbered resolution, slipped in at the last minute.
The Anchorage Assembly didn’t put it on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. And neither the members nor the Municipal Clerk included the flowery resolution in the meeting packet available online. It was a secret.
The public sitting in the audience never saw it coming, wasn’t prepared to give public testimony about whether it was appropriate, or even put up more than a rather solitary “boo.” The public cannot even see a copy of this particular resolution because it’s still invisible. You can hear it read aloud by Assemblyman Chris Constant below.
The unannounced, but carefully planned glowing endorsement of former disgraced Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson was read into the record and approved as a resolution.
Berkowitz resigned in October after a scandal involving a former news anchor and some nude selfies. Quinn-Davidson, who was Assembly chair, took over as mayor and served for eight months. During their combined reign, Anchorage slipped into an economic spiral that is still impacting the community today. The Assembly’s Leftist majority, led by then Acting Chair Felix Rivera, blocked election for a new mayor and instead, Anchorage lived under an acting mayor, an acting Assembly chair, and a vacant Assembly seat for eight months.
The Assembly, in its recognition of the Berkowitz-Quinn-Davidson era didn’t give each of them their own recognition, but combined the resolution into one laudatory summation of all the good things that Berkowitz and Quinn-Davidson had done for Anchorage, as though they were one administration.
Quinn-Davidson stepped to the podium to accept. For the first time in over 10 months, the plexiglas sneeze barrier that the Assembly had put in front of the podium was gone, and Quinn Davidson was there to receive the thanks of her colleagues on the Assembly, where she will return to her unfilled seat.
Assemblyman Constant had to remind the audience that it was inappropriate to boo as he read the long list of accomplishments ascribed to the two mayors. At the end of the presentation, there was polite applause from mainly the staff in attendance.
Although drilling and exploring in the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge still seems like a far-off prospect, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which owns many of the leases that were sold by the federal government last year, is going ahead with seismic studies, with the thought that someday it may be able to sell those leases.
There were some members of the public who were less than pleased. Rick Steiner, a consultant with Oasis Earth Environmental Sustainability and long a foe of oil, said the leases are not valid because AIDEA isn’t the kind of agency mentioned as appropriate to bid on the leases. He said only publicly traded agencies and municipalities were mentioned in the ANWR legislation, not a public-private corporation like AIDEA. He was wrong, of course, many types of corporations or agencies that have public oversight may participate.
But Rick Whitbeck, of Power the Future, gave an epic statement during his public testimony, saying that oil and gas will be with us for a long time.
“To my eco-extremist friends on the line, let me be clear,” Whitbeck said. “AIDEA’s leases are binding, regardless of how you feel. Feelings don’t override facts. Feelings shouldn’t change good policy, nor should feelings affect what AIDEA’s board does today.”
He then asked the board to pass the resolution, numbered G21-18, and “continue to fight for Alaska’s jobs and energy future, and continue to make prudent decisions in the best interests of our state. “
Before he was done, he reminded the Left that he knew they were listening on the line:
“And to my friends who are members of the radical environmental movement in this state, oil and gas isn’t going away anytime soon. And when you receive your next Permanent Fund Dividend, make sure to thank an energy worker. They’re bound to tell you, You’re Fracking Welcome!! Have a great day, everyone.”
The resolution passed unanimously. AIDEA will spend $1.5 million on seismic studies.
It’s been a good month for the Alaska Black Caucus. The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday awarded the newly restarted group a $1.154 million no-bid award to do outreach to the community regarding the Covid-19 vaccine availability.
That’s on top of an earlier award of $437,500 in federal relief fund to help the group purchase a building for its nonprofit activities. Together, that’s nearly $1.6 million to the fledgling organization.
The Alaska Black Caucus is arguably a surrogate for the Alaska Democratic Party. Its President Celeste Hodge Growden signed the recall petition against Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and has been a political activist for a long time, working on various campaigns for Democrats and as a legislative aide to Bettye Davis. She was an aide to Sen. Mark Begich and worked in his office when he was mayor of Anchorage as his Equal Opportunity Office director.
It’s also a group that is now a big beneficiary of Covid-19 relief funds that could have gone to help struggling businesses pay their property taxes.
The $1.1 million appropriation has no deliverables except to reach out to the community to spread the word about how to get a Covid-19 vaccination. This, at a time when everyone who wants a vaccination has gotten one. About 42 percent of Alaskans have been vaccinated, and nearly 70 percent of Anchorage residents over the age of 65 have been vaccinated. Black Alaskans lag in getting the vaccine, however, but the data is not especially good in this department.
The grant agreement with ABC will support “community outreach and education, data collection and analysis, vaccination clinics, and other services related to COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and mitigation efforts. The purpose of the program is to: Improve efforts and increase access to COVID-19 testing in the community; Build capacity to increase access to COVID-19 vaccine in the community; Implement strategies that decrease health inequities, as well as other COVID-19 related recovery and prevention strategies.” Most certainly it is also to do political work.
The award fulfills the wishes of Assemblyman Felix Rivera who last year stated that the CARES Act funds had to be used to address racial inequality or they would not receive his vote.
Although there appear to be no deliverables in the grant, the group has put together a website with information about vaccines. The website states that the ABC strongly recommends people get the vaccine.
Other groups receiving funds included the Alaska Literacy Program, for similar vaguely defined services.
For the $238,937 sole source grant, the ALP will “support work within English Language Learners communities and one-on-one with individuals to increase trust of the COVID-19 vaccine, assist with access to the vaccination, and provide access to accurate COVID-19 health information. The grant agreement amount is for $238,937 for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.”
The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center also received a grant, for $2,447,984. The agreement with the Municipality is that the group will do staff training, facility renovation, equipment, technology upgrades, and client engagement “to improve COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and mitigation efforts.” The grant extends from March 15 through June 30, 2022.
Another group receiving a sole source grant is the Conquer COVID Coalition, for a total of $1,260,000 for services related to COVID-19 testing and vaccination access for the Municipality of Anchorage Health Department. This grant is to pay for public relations campaigns to increase testing and vaccination.
The Conquer COVID Coalition is made up of a number of businesses and nonprofits based in Anchorage, everything from the Downtown Partnership to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, and GCI to the Lucky Wishbone restaurant.
United Way of Anchorage also received a grant for $3,682,417 for services related to testing and vaccination access.
President Joe Biden continued to follow through on his campaign pledge to enact leftist environmentalism this month when he suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The decision was cheered by leftist environmental groups as a victory for wildlife and social justice, supposedly protecting indigenous tribes from the alleged devastation of oil and gas drilling hundreds of miles from their homes. Biden Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy celebrated the move as “an important step forward fulfilling President Biden’s promise to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
The Trump administration had opened the door to drill on the Refuges’ coastal plain, a nearly 1.6 million-acre stretch on Alaska’s north coast. The 1.6 million-acre patch along the north slope is less than 10 percent of the total refuge that stretches 19.6 million acres across northeast Alaska, a total about the size of South Carolina.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that below the surface of the North Slope’s 1.6 million acres temporarily opened for leasing, known as the 1002 Area, lie between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil. If opened for operations, it could become the most productive oil field in the country at a time gas prices are soaring to seven-year highs under the new administration.
Yet on June 1, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed an order to bring leases to a halt, claiming “inadequate study” of the drilling’s impact by the prior administration. “The Secretary shall review the program and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program,” the order reads.
The Gwich’in Tribe, who live south of the massive wildlife refuge, claimed Biden’s decision to reverse course was a win for their “tribal sovereignty” by protecting the primary caribou herd in the region, a key regional food source.
“The Gwich’in Nation is grateful and heartened by the news that the Biden administration has acted again on its commitment to protecting sacred lands and the Gwich’in way of life,” said Gwich’in Steering Committee Executive Director Bernadette Demientieff on the heels of Haaland’s order. “After fighting so hard to protect these lands and the Porcupine caribou herd, trusting the guidance of our ancestors and elders, and the allyship of people around the world, we can now look for further action by the administration and to Congress to repeal the leasing program.”
The Gwich’in have played a prominent role in keeping ANWR free of development, partnering with leftist groups to keep these millions of acres of U.S. land unused indefinitely. Writing in The Hill, Finis Dunaway, a history professor at Trent University and author of “Defending the Arctic Refuge,” summed up the Gwich’in’s more than four-decade crusade to ensure the absence of development on one of the nation’s last known major reserves of oil and natural gas.
The Gwich’in Steering Committee — founded by Gwich’in from Alaska and Canada in 1988 — reframed public perceptions of the refuge, helping grassroots audiences to see the Arctic coastal plain as vital to Indigenous food security and cultural survival. Their leadership and advocacy widened support for protection of the refuge, encouraging religious and faith organizations, humans rights groups and many others to fight for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. These unlikely alliances fostered grassroots involvement that proved critical to the numerous close calls and impossibly narrow victories that followed.
In other words, the Gwich’in have been fundamental to preventing of any sort of development on the nearly 20 million acres of pristine wilderness in the name of “environmental justice” since 1988.
Yet only four years earlier, that the same tribe, which in fact lives outside the refuge, tried to lease their own lands within the habitat of the Porcupine caribou for oil exploration.
