Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Home Blog Page 1116

Republican input not welcome: House Democrats block dozens of amendments on operating budget

Suzanne Downing
-
22
Republican input not welcome: House Democrats block dozens of amendments on operating budget

It’s a mess in the Alaska House of Representatives today, as the Democrat-led majority blocked as many as 30 amendments that were yet to be offered on the State Operating Budget, House Bill 69. It appeared that the Republican minority was having too much success getting their amendments through during a marathon session in the House over the weekend. Speaker Louise Stutes put an end to it.

The Saturday House session lasted over eight hours. But on Sunday, the process was delayed and delayed, which shows the difficulty of having what is a nearly evenly split House, where every vote counts. The Democrat-controlled majority is exceedingly fragile. When Rep. Sara Rasmussen Rep. Kelly Merrick started voting with Republicans on some amendments, Rep. Geran Tarr simply exited the floor, making it impossible to get a majority vote. A “call on the House” was placed a couple of times to round her up from her hiding place.

On Sunday, the House majority was voted to stay in “third reading” on the budget, meaning dozens of proposed amendments would not be heard, even though they had been filed by the deadline. The Republican minority briefly left the House floor in disgust to caucus privately.

Normally, those minority members excluded from the House Finance budget process are allowed to offer amendments on the House floor. That is usually their only opportunity. But not today.

House Speaker Louise Stutes had a difficult time maintaining her composure and conducting business, clearly exhausted by the long days. At one point during the Saturday session, she uttered “Jesus,” in exasperation under her breath, but it was clearly audible by microphone. There were a number of “point of orders” that had tried her patience and limited skill set.

A few Republican amendments passed.

One, Amendment 19, by Rep. David Nelson, add funds to the Department of Law, using $200,000 from the Alaska Gasline Development Agency, all for the purpose of defending Second Amendment rights of Alaskans against the Biden Administration.

Rep. Sarah Vance’s Amendment 26 passed, reducing red tape with online applications.

Rep. George Rauscher amendment to eliminate legislators’ per diem after the first 121 days passed.

And Rep. David Eastman had a successful amendment — the Capitol Building must open to the public no later than Day 121 of this session.

House Minority Leader rose to speak to her disappointment in the process, which had disenfranchised over half of the state, whose representatives were not allowed to make floor amendments to the budget.

This is a developing story.

Can legislators hold two state positions?

Anchorage Daily Planet
-
8
Can legislators hold two state positions?

By ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

Excuse us for asking, but how is it that two Alaska legislators appear to each be holding two state positions at the same time – something barred by the Alaska Constitution? Where is the news media?

Reported only by MustReadAlaska.com, Democrat Rep. Liz Snyder, District 27, is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives since last year and is advertising for enrollment for a class she will teach this fall at the University of Alaska Anchorage under her aka name, Elizabeth Hodges.

Snyder’s public official financial disclosure shows she was paid up to $100,000 last year by the University of Alaska, the website reported.

Democrat Rep. Geran Tarr, District 19, lists herself as adjunct faculty member at UAA. Her financial disclosure shows she made between $2,000 and $5,000 last year for classes at UAA, while she was a legislator, the website reports. She’s been teaching classes there since 1999, and has been a legislator since 2013.

Here, in part is what the constitution says: No legislator may hold any other office or position of profit under the United States or the state.

Kaboom! Seems clear to us.

What is not so clear is why the mainstream news media in this state is so deeply asleep that lawmakers can flout the constitution under their noses. It leaves us to wonder: What else is going on?

Read more at the Anchorage Daily Planet.

Fact-checking Dunbar: Anchorage’s operating budget cannot be cut?

Suzanne Downing
-
20
Fact-checking Dunbar: Anchorage’s operating budget cannot be cut?

In a recent televised debate, mayoral candidate Dave Bronson said that he will find ways to trim the municipal budget so the city can make property tax rebates to those who had to pay those taxes during the months that their businesses were closed by order of the mayor during 2020.

It’s a matter of fairness, Bronson said: To shut down businesses and then charge them property tax during the shutdown is morally wrong.

His opponent, Forrest Dunbar, who came into office in 2016 and voted in favor of ever-expanding budgets under his political mentor Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, says no tax rebates will be allowed under the Dunbar administration. He also claimed the budget is actually already cut, and he challenged Bronson to name where he’d cut.

“If we want to be an economically competitive city with the rest of the world, with the rest of the country, we have to offer unique quality of life. That means safe streets, good schools, things like parks and trails,” Dunbar said. “We can’t have huge cuts to these services and expect people to want to move here, to remain here, to start businesses here or to retire here.”

Anchorage, under Berkowitz and Dunbar, has developed a unique quality of life. It is not known for safe streets, and even it’s once fabulous parks and trails are no longer bragging points, since many residents find them unsafely occupied by drug-addled vagrants. Dunbar, who is not married and has no children, may not be in touch with just how low-performing the public schools in Anchorage have become.

Dunbar was in lockstep with Berkowitz, who had been elected the year prior and served until his fall from grace and hasty resignation on Oct. 23, 2020. The men, and the majority-liberal Assembly grew the budget by over $69 million during those years, a 14.3 percent increase in just five years. Dunbar also successfully pushed passage of a beverage tax during his tenure on the Assembly.

If the budget had kept pace only with inflation, the Anchorage budget would today be about $540 million, but instead it has increased beyond the rate of inflation from $481 million to $550 million.

For comparison, the cold climate city of Buffalo, N.Y, has a budget of $519 million for an equivalent population of 261,310, while the cold-climate city of Lincoln, Neb. has a budget of $210 million for a population of 289,102.

Former Mayor Dan Sullivan found he had to trim the budget in 2009 after he inherited an untenable fiscal crisis from former Mayor Mark Begich, who had drained every savings account to pay for his pet projects. Sullivan proceeded to ask all department heads to offer ways to cut their budgets by a few percentage points, and he also rolled back executive employee salaries by 5 percent. He also reduced staffing through attrition and retirements.

According to the Alaska Policy Forum, there were 2,940 full-time employees and 390 part-time or seasonal/temporary employees in the Municipality. The average salary and benefits cost for full-time employees is $128,162, as of 2017. Some data points are captured in the APF study of the 2017 Anchorage Municipal payroll.

That, of course, was before the Muni added the latest cost-driver, an equity officer hired from Tacoma, Washington for over $115,000 a year.

[Read: Equity officer hired from Tacoma]

Must Read Alaska rules the statements by Dunbar as Fact-Free.

No CourtView: Malware attack forces Alaska Court System to take services offline

Suzanne Downing
-
7
No CourtView: Malware attack forces Alaska Court System to take services offline

The Alaska Court System temporarily disconnected online services, including its website and the ability to look up case information in CourtView. The servers holding the information were attacked by malware, the court system said in a press release Saturday night.

“At this time, the court system does not believe any confidential court documents or employee information has been compromised, but will promptly notify any affected individuals if that occurs. No customer credit card information was compromised.”

The court system is working with a cybersecurity company to respond to the incident and prevent any further system breaches, the press release said, having disconnected its servers from the internet to stop any additional incursions. This impacts the public’s ability to:

  • access the Alaska Court System website, except for the homepage;
  • access to CourtView, the court’s case management system which includes listings of all filings, orders, andhearing dates;
  • send email to any court email addresses, including filing documents by email;
  • receive email from court email addresses;
  • eFiling through TrueFiling;
  • submit online juror questionnaires;
  • participate by Zoom in hearings or meetings;
  • participate in hearings by video from jail facilities that use Polycom systems;
  • make online payments for bail or filing fees ; and
  • send citations through TRACS.The following systems will continue to work:
  • phone, fax and Zoom phone numbers;
  • internal email between ACS employees;
  • courtroom recording system;
  • electronic file access by judicial officers in eFiling locations; and
  • courthouse security systems and building access

It is unclear when the courts will reconnect to the internet. The court system is committed to continuing operations while remedying the cybersecurity incident.

Emergency hearings and essential proceedings will occur including: arraignments, domestic violence hearings, Child in Need of Aid emergency hearings, bail hearings, mental health commitment hearings, emergency guardianship proceedings, and search warrant requests.

Other proceedings may occur and the court will notify parties of any schedule changes. Most hearings will happen telephonically. All scheduled jury trials will continue as planned. The court system will be unable to update its website regularly while online services are down.

Phone numbers for individual courthouses are the best way to contact the court system. Updates and more information aboutaccessing services and court calendars will be made on the court system’s Facebook page and Twitter account ; you do not need Facebook or Twitter accounts to see updates.

Sen. Sullivan weighs in on FBI raid at Homer residence in search of Pelosi laptop

Suzanne Downing
-
35
Sen. Sullivan weighs in on FBI raid at Homer residence in search of Pelosi laptop

Sen. Dan Sullivan today wrote that he was concerned about the FBI raid on the home of a couple in Homer, Alaska. On his official Facebook page, he urged people to not jump to conclusions and to remember that law enforcement agents have a tough job.

That said, Sullivan wrote, “the FBI and Department of Justice have enormous power over American citizens, and unfortunately, Alaska has a history of overzealous federal agency actions. For example, the illegal and corrupt prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens remains a source of distrust between federal agents and the Alaskan people,” Sullivan said.

“As part of the U.S. Senate’s oversight responsibilities, I will be asking FBI Director Christopher Wray and the special agent in charge of the Alaska field office about the recent federal law enforcement actions in Homer, and if these actions infringed upon the civil liberties of the Alaskans involved,” he said.

On April 28, Paul and Marilyn Hueper and two of their houseguests were handcuffed and interrogated after FBI agents, Capitol Police, and other unknown law enforcement agents busted down the door to the Hueper’s home, searching for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop. The Hueper’s believe it was a case of mistaken identity. Although they went to the Trump rally on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., they maintain that their actions were legal and they did not enter the Capitol, as they were accused of doing by the agents.

According to Marilyn Hueper, the search warrant was not produced until long after the agents had violated the sanctity of their home, searching through Marilyn’s wardrobe for clothing that matches that of a person of interest.

Paul Hueper said he took a photo of his wife walking up the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, but they were no closer than 100 yards (91 meters) from the building entrance itself. He posted that photo on Instagram, and from the back, the hair and coat are similar to that of the woman the FBI are apparently seeking.

The woman the FBI are seeking, who is not Marilyn Hueper.

[Read: FBI break into Homer, Alaska home looking for Nancy Pelosi’s laptop.]

Fact-checking Dunbar: Did he vote to open Anchorage due to election? (He says ‘no’)

Suzanne Downing
-
11
Fact-checking Dunbar: Did he vote to open Anchorage due to election? (He says ‘no’)

In a debate with mayoral candidate Dave Bronson on Tuesday, Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar said that his co-sponsorship of an ordinance that relaxed the Anchorage emergency order restrictions on businesses was not a calculated political move.

Dunbar said it was something he had been thinking about for some time and that he was encouraging the city to move from “mandates” to “recommendations.”

The Anchorage full vaccination rate for Covid is below 50 percent, and Dunbar had said two weeks earlier the rate needs to be 70 percent before he’d be willing to relax the restrictions.

Alaska’s News Source–KTUU’s Mike Ross asked Dunbar if, given the mayoral runoff in two weeks, Dunbar could understand how his vote looked political, rather than scientific.

Watch the video:

Dunbar replied, “The truth is, two weeks before that I was also having conversations with the health department trying to get these things turned into recommendations because we saw the trajectory of the vaccine.”

But two weeks earlier, Dunbar had a completely different story on the record at the Assembly. He spoke at length about the need for restrictions on businesses, gatherings, and sports, and he was hoping the city could open by June if everyone behaved. He said the State of Alaska was going to have an emergency declaration for most of the year.

“There’s no declaration at the state level. But the governor asked for one. The governor asked for one to go into the fall and even into the winter. But the Legislature was so caught up in partisan bickering that they failed to pass it in time.”

Dunbar wasn’t reading the political tea leaves. The governor didn’t want the emergency lockdowns to go into the fall or winter and neither did most of the Legislature. In fact, as soon as he signed the disaster declaration on April 30, he then signed a proclamation ending the disaster.

[Read: Governor signs disaster order, then proclamation ending disaster]

But Dunbar two weeks ago was prepared for a long emergency through the summer:

“So the state has asked for and is now moving towards a much longer emergency declaration than what we were asking for. I don’t think we need to go that long, because I actually do believe have we are going to get to 70 percent. We are going to be able to remove these E.O.s [emergency orders.] We’re going to be able to do it this summer. I hope we can do it before June, but even if we don’t I think we can move toward reducing these things,” Dunbar said of the restrictions during an Assembly meeting two weeks ago.

“But right now I don’t want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We have come so far. We’ve got our deaths down to zero per week, which is tremendous. I will support extending this because again, I think it makes sense,” Dunbar said. And with that, he said he would be a yes vote to continue the emergency orders that severely damaged businesses in Anchorage.

This week, he did a 180 and proposed to remove the restrictions except for the mask mandate, which is still in effect. The mayoral runoff election ends on May 11 at 8 pm.

Dunbar is running on a theme of fact-based leadership. Must Read Alaska rates this Dunbar statement as Fact-Free.

[Read: Dunbar: “I didn’t say that.”]

[Read: Is Anchorage safer with Dunbar at the helm?]

House Finance denies statutory PFD

Suzanne Downing
-
34
House Finance denies statutory PFD

The Alaska House Finance Committee on Thursday said no to an amendment that would have set the Permanent Fund dividend at about $3,000 this year, honoring the statutory formula. On a vote of 8-3, the amendment by Rep. DeLena Johnson of Palmer was voted down.

“By not paying the full, statutory PFD, it’s allowed us to kick the can down the road,” Johnson said. “With that in mind, this [statutory formula] still is the law.”

Among those voting against following the statutory formula for the dividend calculation was Johnson’s fellow Republican Rep. Sara Rasmussen of District 22, following in the footsteps of her predecessor Jason Grenn, who also voted against a full PFD.

Also opposing were Reps. Andy Josephson, Bart LeBon, Daniel Ortiz, Steve Thompson, Adam Wool, Bryce Edgmon, and Kelly Merrick.

Nikiski Rep. Ben Carpenter, a Republican, and Nome Rep. Neal Foster, a Democrat, voted in favor of it, along with Johnson, the Republican maker of the motion.

The Operating Budget moved from committee and is subject to amendments on the House Floor. A vote on the operating budget is expected this weekend. Capitol observers say they expect more PFD amendments before the final vote on the budget.

Sen. Reinbold sued by Chugiak woman for blocking her on Facebook

Suzanne Downing
-
26
Sen. Reinbold sued by Chugiak woman for blocking her on Facebook

Alaska State Senator Lora Reinbold is suppressing free speech, says Bobbie McDow of Chugiak. The woman says Reinbold has removed McDow’s comments from Reinbold’s “Senator Lora Reinbold” page because McDow has posted messages critical of Reinbold’s position against wearing face masks during a pandemic.

“State Senator Reinbold’s mindlessness is not surprising: she has accused Alaska Airlines of ‘mask tyranny,’ been banned from Alaska Airlines for violating its mask policy, publicly criticized Governor Dunleavy’s vaccination efforts in Alaska, and been banned from parts of the Capitol for violating basic COVID-19 guidelines,” the lawsuit says.

“Now, State Senator Reinbold is violating the Alaska constitution by discriminating against Ms. McDow based on her viewpoint. Because of her viewpoint, Ms. McDow is banned from commenting on posts on the public and interactive ‘Senator Lora Reinbold’ Facebook page. She is also banned from liking or otherwise reacting to State Senator Reinbold’s posts, from replying to or liking the comments of other users, from conversating with other users, and from messaging State Senator Reinbold,” the lawsuit states.

Because the page is labeled “government official,” McDow, who is a registered Democrat, points out that she is being blocked from expressing herself on an official government site.

Her complaint documents in detail the political and interactive nature of Reinbold’s Facebook page, including Reinbold’s many calls to action regarding issues she is championing.

In 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the interactive portion of a public official’s Facebook page is a “public forum,” and that means an official cannot block people from it just because of the opinions they hold.

That case involved a member of a board of supervisors in Virginia. Supervisor Phyllis Randall briefly blocked a critic from her official Facebook page and also deleted a comment he had made about her board’s use of public funds.

This new complaint, as filed by the Northern Justice Project in cooperation with Alaska Legal Services, using a template from Alaska Legal Services is listed here:

McDow-v.-Reinbold-ComplaintDownload

Dunleavy signs disaster declaration bill HB 76, then a proclamation: Covid disaster over

Suzanne Downing
-
19
Dunleavy signs disaster declaration bill HB 76, then a proclamation: Covid disaster over

With no fanfare, Gov. Mike Dunleavy today signed HB 76, the disaster declaration that enables a robust and nimble statewide Covid-19 response.

Then, with Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum, Senate President Peter Micciche, and House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton at his side, Dunleavy signed a proclamation declaring the disaster over.

It all happened within a few minutes during the deadline day for preserving incoming federal dollars for the pandemic mitigation efforts.

“Today I took immediate action to end the COVID-19 disaster declaration. Alaska is in the recovery phase where an emergency declaration is no longer necessary,” said Gov. Dunleavy. “Our systems are fully functioning with vaccine distribution, adequate testing, and health care capacity. It is important our focus remains on getting Alaska’s economy back on track and welcoming summer tourism throughout our great state. I am confident in our state’s future as we move forward.”

HB 76 was masterfully and patiently crafted. Conservatives who didn’t want a continued disaster declaration condition in the State of Alaska understood the ramifications of not having HB 76, and the fiscal consequences for the state.

With HB 76 and the ending the disaster declaration, Dunleavy ushers in the acceptance of federal Covid relief funds without risk of chargeback to the state treasury.

Some estimates placed the chargeback costs in 2021 at $100 million. The legislation also ensures the uninterrupted continuation of the State’s vaccine distribution and Covid-19 management programs, which includes enhanced SNAP benefits to Alaskans for help with their food bills. HB 76 contains a comprehensive liability protection for Alaska businesses, and bans the use of any federal Covid-19 relief funds to be used for abortions in Alaska.

The governor’s actions follow recommendation by DHSS Commissioner Adam Crum that concluded the public health emergency disaster declaration is no longer needed.

Crum signed a Public Health Order, directing DHSS to continue taking all necessary actions to address the Covid-19 pandemic, including leading Alaska’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts by facilitating cooperation between local health officers, state agencies, tribal health authorities, and the Federal Emergency Management Administration. 

“While Covid-19 is still present in Alaska, the urgent nature of the pandemic has passed and we are no longer anticipating the widespread emergency that Alaska faced earlier in this pandemic,” wrote Commissioner Crum in a memo to the governor. “As a result of the state’s early containment efforts, we have established a comprehensive public health infrastructure to respond to Covid-19 that will remain in place as we continue to strive to keep infection rates low, testing availability high, and protect the capacity of our health care facilities to address cases of Covid-19, while accommodating all medical and health related issues that the residents of our state encounter.”

Thousands of Alaskans who are suffering due to the economy would have been left high and dry, and the state would not be able to have a nimble response to vaccine distribution. The red tape involving medical response would hobble the ability to keep a lid on a highly contagious virus that can be deadly or debilitating. The conservatives trusted the governor that he would not keep Alaska in a state of disaster, although the previous disaster declaration expired on Feb. 14.

That’s why many of them signed on to the bill, or at least signed on the critical “effective date.” The governor worked with both liberals and arch conservatives to come to a happy medium so Covid costs will be reimbursed by the federal government.

HB 76 is a success story for the state, according to many inside the Capitol. One lobbyist said: “It shows the Republicans can be both principled and pragmatic. They could have destroyed this bill and then Biden would have sent a payment-due notice for all of our Covid-related costs. Instead, they worked with the governor to get to a reasonable agreement.”

“I am proud to stand with Gov. Dunleavy as Alaska transitions back to normalcy. Today, we celebrate the end of the emergency declaration thanks to innovative solutions in the Senate’s version of HB 76,” said Senate President Peter Micciche. “In collaboration with the administration and the House, this bill was designed to manage us out of the pandemic, while still protecting Alaskans. It will provide critical economic support to those harmed by local government actions, helping them rebuild their lives and regain financial independence. The emergency declaration is dead, and the tools are here for businesses to reopen, students to return to the classroom, and for all to enjoy the freedom of a pre-Covid Alaska.”

In Must Read Alaska’s research, never before has a governor of Alaska had to proclaim the end of a disaster. The end result of HB 76 and the proclamation that followed is that in Alaska there are, at least on the state level:

  • No mandatory testing
  • No quarantine
  • No restrictions on businesses
  • No mask mandates
  • No shutdowns

In Anchorage, there is still a mask mandate via order of the mayor.

1...1,1151,1161,117...1,777Page 1,116 of 1,777

About us

Must Read Alaska is news of people, politics, policy, culture, and happenings in Alaska.

Contact
4021 West Hill Road,
Homer, AK 99603
[email protected]

The latest

Opinion: They Don’t Really Care About Us

Columns 0
By Michael Tavoliero Alaska’s political class keeps treating the Permanent...

BREAKING NEWS: Assassination Attempt at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Politics 4
This evening, April 25, 2026, President Trump and other...

New Parking to Improve Access to Hooligan Fishing Spots

The 907 1
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT...

© Must Read Alaska