The Alaska Democrats’ latest attempt to seize firearms comes with House Bill 89, introduced by Reps. Andy Josephson of Anchorage and Sara Hannan of Juneau. It will be heard in the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday at 3:13 pm.
HB 89 would implement a law that permits the government to seize firearms based on vague standards of evidence.
The state could implement ex-parte hearings to take away a citizen’s Second Amendment rights without due process, NRA says. The individuals would then bear the burden of having to petition the court for the return of their property once the order has been vacated, adding cost to the citizen to get property back from seizure.
The State Affairs Committee is chaired by Rep. Ashley Carrick of Fairbanks, who is in favor of stricter gun control, as was her former boss, former Rep. Adam Wool, who introduced gun control laws.
The bill is opposed by the NRA and Gun Owners of America, and the courts are less supportive of taking the guns away from people who haven’t been convicted of anything. In divorce situations, red flag laws are often used as threats against men by the women in the divorce. Lawyers leverage the fear factor against men, forcing them to agree to settlements demanded by their soon-to-be ex-wives.
There are two committees of referral, State Affairs and Judiciary. To date, there are no fiscal notes, amendments, or sponsor statements associated with the bill, which most Republicans will oppose due to the infringement on Alaskans’ rights to bear arms.
Alaska’s education system is at a crossroads. Declining enrollment and increasing financial pressures demand difficult decisions from parents, school districts, and the state. Without aggressive action on multiple fronts, including closing and consolidating under-attended schools, we risk diminishing educational opportunities for students while continuing to strain state resources.
During debate on HB69, I will be offering an amendment aimed at reducing the number of school districts from 54 to 30 by 2027. While some may resist this change, the reality is clear: The current system is unsustainable. Consolidation of school districts—and the resulting reduction in administrative overhead—is one necessary step toward improving efficiency and ensuring that education dollars are directed where they belong: into classrooms, teachers, and student services.
I want to outline why district consolidation is necessary, address some of the key concerns, and present a path forward for improving efficiency without sacrificing local control. Surveys I have seen show that more than 80% of Alaskans feel we need to consolidate our districts so this is important to Alaskans.
Over the past 25 years, some estimates suggest that Alaska has lost approximately 4,056 students, with Fairbanks alone accounting for about 2,812 of those losses. This decline, coupled with ongoing budget shortfalls, has forced many districts to consider closing schools and consolidating programs. While some consolidation has already occurred at the school level, we have yet to seriously address the inefficiencies at the district level.
Lets face it: Alaska’s falling birth rate is hitting us hard, shrinking our student numbers year after year, and it’s high time we stop pretending this won’t force our hand. Fact is unless and until we further develop our resources, our population growth rate, including birth rate, will continue to decline. Fewer kids means fewer desks to fill, and if we don’t consolidate districts, we’ll be stuck with a patchwork of half-empty schools, wasting money on overhead instead of teaching the next generation.
Smaller districts often lack the resources to offer advanced coursework, specialized programs, or extracurricular activities that larger districts can provide. They also suffer from often huge administrative burdens that consume scarce funding—money that should be spent on improving the education outcomes for our children.
My research suggests that consolidating districts could reduce total administrative costs by 10 to 20% annually. These savings could be reinvested directly into classrooms, addressing the persistent achievement gap in our schools. With Alaska’s K-12 achievement scores averaging a C- (or worse, depending on the metric used) nationally, we cannot afford to continue diverting precious resources away from instruction.
But this is not just about money; it is about priorities. We must find efficiencies and summon the will to prioritize the focus on our children’s educational outcomes rather than the bureaucratic bloat of the education-industrial complex.
Beyond cost savings, consolidation offers an opportunity to expand and improve education across the state. Larger districts can provide a wider range of courses, including Advanced Placement and career training programs, which prepare students for both college and the workforce. Historically, many rural schools have been unable to offer these opportunities due to staffing and funding limitations. However, with Alaska’s ongoing investments in high-speed broadband access to village schools, we now have the infrastructure to support efficient longer-distance administration and high-quality remote learning—regardless of physical distance. The opportunity is here; we just need the political will to seize it.
I understand that consolidation raises concerns, particularly for rural communities. Increased travel distances, loss of local identity, and fears about reduced community involvement are valid considerations. That is why my amendment includes key safeguards to minimize disruption:
Geographic Considerations: Merging districts will prioritize proximity to ensure reasonable travel distances for parents, students, and staff.
Public Input: At least five public hearings per affected district will be required, ensuring that communities have a voice in the process.
Rural Education Protections: Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAAs) will remain a critical part of the system to preserve educational access in remote areas.These measures will ensure that consolidation is accomplished thoughtfully and with direct community involvement at every stage.
Alaska’s 54 school districts far exceed the number found in states with similar populations. The entire state of Hawaii is one school district. Many states facing declining enrollment have successfully consolidated districts, improving efficiency while maintaining strong local education systems. Nationally, the average student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, while in Alaska, it is 18:1—suggesting that we have room for efficiency gains without negatively impacting student outcomes. Moreover, the trend nationwide has been toward administrative consolidation, ensuring that resources are focused on students rather than bureaucracy.
We cannot ignore the financial and educational challenges ahead. By engaging all stakeholders—parents, educators, and lawmakers—we can develop a plan that balances efficiency with the need to preserve community identity. Consolidation is not about taking away local control; it is about shifting local control to parents and principals closer to schools while ensuring that every student, regardless of location, has access to the best possible education.
The goal is a smarter, more sustainable system that prioritizes student success over administrative waste. I remain committed to working with all stakeholders to make that vision a reality and have hope that this common-sense amendment will resonate with every member of the Alaska House.
Rep. Kevin McCabe serves District 30 (formerly called District 8), the Big Lake area.
How many state workers from Indiana does it take to screw in a light bulb? One.
How many state workers from Alaska? Five. For every one state worker in Indiana, Alaska has five.
Alaska comes close to quadrupling the number of state employees per capita of that of 11 other states. It doubles the number of state employees of all but 8 states. Alaska’s 245 state employees per 10,000 residents is by far the highest in the nation.
That is 2.4 state workers for every 100 Alaskans, and 1.2 state workers for every 50 Alaskans. This does not count federal, municipal, university, or school district employees.
The state may be short on daylight in the winter, but state workers? Not so much.
In light of Alaska’s Jabba the Hutt-like morbidly obese state government, some are questioning Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s call for creating an entire new department — a Department of Agriculture.
Dunleavy’s pitch for his new department doesn’t seem to offer any reasonable rational explanation of how a new government agency would increase agriculture in the state.
Former Republican President Ronald Reagan once described three typical ways government impacts an industry. “If it moves tax it, If it keeps moving regulate it, and if stops moving subsidize it.”
Since Dunleavy says he wants to grow state agriculture, his newly created agency, as least under his watch, probably won’t tax or increase regulation on farmers. Which leaves subsidies.
On his Facebook page the governor wrote: “Alaska imports 95% of its food, but we don’t have to. Creating a dedicated Department of Agriculture will give our farmers the support they need to grow more food right here at home. “
Does “support” mean subsidies? If so, does the state need an entire new department just to hand out free cash to farmers?
Most comments on the governor’s Facebook page have ridiculed the idea of creating a new Department of Agriculture.
“Haha because another government department is always what helps the free market to grow,” wrote Jake Amberson.
“While I believe your heart is in the right place… Alaska history is littered with failed agricultural attempts,” posted Jim Taylor.
“There are already agricultural loan programs through the gov’t. We already have a Alaska Farm Bureau. No more Gov’t!! Farmers are NOT stupid. They don’t need someone from the Gov’t telling them how to raise meat and crops. NO to dept of agriculture. NO,” posted Deena Benson.
Not all posts rejected Dunleavy’s idea.
“Farmers need the ability to speak directly to the governor and the legislature, a commissioner will give them this option,” wrote Tarn Coffey.
If Coffey is correct, wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper if legislators and the governor promised to take farmers calls instead of hiring a bunch of new state employees to do so.
Dunleavy’s pitch to grow state government by creating a new department is curious and somewhat politically tone death in light of the widely popular DOGE movement on the federal level.
The nation is finally waking up to how wasteful and bloated government has become thanks to President Donald Trump and the head of DOGE, billionaire Elon Musk.
The irony in all of this is when the dust settles, it will be Dunleavy who will be responsible for holding the line on spending over the next two years in Alaska.
Legislative Democrats and turn coat Republicans like Senators Cathy Giessel and Rob Yundt have big tax and spend plans for the state and only Dunleavy can stop them with his veto pen. I believe he will.
Even if voters disagree with the governor on his plan to create a Department of Agriculture, they should keep in mind he’s the only guy standing between a radically left leaning tax and spend legislature that if successful, would bankrupt the state.
The governor is expected to veto proposed new oil taxes, giant increases in education spending, and the financially suicidal return of pensions for state employees.
Dunleavy should save the day. And he seems to have little legislative support for his plan to create a Department of Agriculture.
Dan Fagan reports and writes columns for Must Read Alaska. He’s covered Alaska politics for close to 30-years. He currently hosts a morning drive radio talk show on 1020 am 92.5 and 104.5 fm on KVNT. For news tips, email Dan at [email protected]
Talk about growth of government in a shrinking population: Over the last 10 years, while Democrats increasingly took over the Anchorage Assembly, the Assembly has increased its own operating budget by more than 234%. Its budget went from $1.3 million in 2015 to $4.4 million for last year. The number of its full time staff increased nearly 60% (from 12 to 19).
By contrast, over the same period of time the Mayor’s Office budget has increased 8%, but with the same number of positions.
Democratic members of Congress have upped their use of profanity in an effort to be more relatable to Americans, Politico reported Sunday.
The upsurge in swearing comes as Democrats face criticism for their conduct during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, when they remained seated and rarely applauded during Trump’s address, even when Secret Service Director Sean Curran presented Devarjaye “D.J.” Daniel, who is battling brain cancer, with credentials during the speech. One Democratic strategist told Politico that some of the increased use of profanity by Democrats was an affect, rather than being “authentic.”
“If the first time you’ve used a cuss word in public is reading off a script, it’s probably not authentic and not something you should do,” Democratic advisor Lis Smith, who reportedly was responsible for an “R” rating for a documentary about former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign due to her facility for salty language, said after over 20 Senate Democrats read the same script on a video posted to social media that included the word “shit.”
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas unleashed two notable instances noted by Politico. On Feb. 25, she told White House senior advisor Elon Musk to “fuck off” during a media interview, before sayingsomeone should “slap” her to “wake me the fuck up” when talking with a reporter after she walked out of Tuesday’s speech by Trump.
Crockett also posted a contrived dance video to social media before Trump’s address.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, known for cussing at times, questioned where the profanity came from when asked for comment by Politico. “Goddamn it, tell me who started that?” Fetterman asked Politico.
Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, an ex-Marine, pointed to his military service as a reason for his colorful language. according to Politico.
Democrats have appeared to struggle with messaging since Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5, 2024, presidential election.
Democrats have also made widely-panned outreach on social media. Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Lauren Underwood of Illinois, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Judy Chu of California, Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Susie Lee of Nevada took partin an 18-second video similar to the character selection screens of the arcade and console franchise that influencer Sulhee Jessica Woo posted on Instagram Wednesday evening.
A Quinnipiac University poll found only 21% of respondents approved of congressional Democrats, compared to a 40% approval rating for Republicans in Congress.
The Freedom Foundationon Saturday launched the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a new organization designed to provide educators with an alternative to traditional union membership. The initiative follows the success of the Freedom Foundation’s annual Teacher Freedom Summit, which has engaged more than 500 educators from 35 states over the past two years.
The Teacher Freedom Alliance aims to bring together teachers nationwide to restore educational values and challenge the necessity of traditional teachers’ unions. The organization promotes a vision where educators can exercise their First Amendment rights without union influence.
“Public employees are leaving their unions in record numbers, frustrated by the funding of radical agendas driven by union bosses,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “The Teacher Freedom Alliance offers an alternative for pro-America educators who seek to restore traditional values in the classroom and provide students with the high-quality education they deserve—free from political influence and union control.”
The Teacher Freedom Alliance was established in response to increasing dissatisfaction among educators regarding the direction of public education, which many believe is influenced by the agendas of traditional teachers’ unions. The new organization is committed to supporting teachers in their mission to develop free, moral, and responsible citizens. Unlike unions, TFA offers its resources and community at no additional cost to educators.
The Teacher Freedom Alliance is dedicated to:
Promoting traditional educational values.
Providing teachers with superior resources.
Fostering a school culture where educators feel empowered to advocate for themselves and their students.
With growing concerns over union leadership’s political spending and ideological influence, TFA presents itself as a viable alternative for teachers who seek a focus on academic excellence over activism.
It’s not even spring, much less summer, but Democrats are already following the instructions of House Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who said they would take the fight to the streets.
Across the country, the dealerships for Tesla have become a target, and are being shot at, vandalized, and even charging stations have been set on fire, as violent Democrats disagree with the Trump Administration’s taking over government, rooting out the Deep State, and putting Elon Musk at the head of the department of Government Efficiency to vastly restructure the federal government and reduce the $36 trillion national debt.
The Leftist media has claimed repeatedly that Musk has fired tens of thousands of federal workers, when in fact, he doesn’t have the singular authority to fire them; the firings are being done by the Trump Administration, which oversees the executive branch.
Musk owns the Tesla car manufacturing company, a leader in electric-driven vehicles. In one attack at a Tigard, Ore. Tesla dealership, showroom windows were shot out and a Model X was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail.
In Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, Secret Service had a gunfight with a man near the White House who had travelled from Indiana, and brandished a gun at officers. That man is now in the hospital.
Over the weekend, pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized one of President Donald Trump’s golf resorts, the Turnberry in Scotland, scrawling red spray-painted letters across the building in support of terrorists who control Gaza. Scotland is Trump’s mother’s ancestral homeland and the location of one of his signature resorts.
Vice President JD Vance on Saturday was approached and followed closely by shouting pro-Ukrainian protesters in Cincinnati, Ohio while he was walking with his three-year-old daughter. Vance wrote about the experience on X:
“Today while walking my 3 year old daughter a group of ‘Slava Ukraini’ protesters followed us around and shouted as my daughter grew increasingly anxious and scared,” Vance wrote. “I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. (Nearly all of them agreed.) It was a mostly respectful conversation, but if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a s*** person.”
During the first Trump Administration, the left became increasingly violent, particularly during the final year of office when he was running for reelection. The riots that developed after the death of drug addict and wife-beater George Floyd was second-most destructive period of local unrest in United States history, only overshadowed by the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
More than $128 million of federal taxpayer money was spent on at least 341 grants to fund gender ideology initiatives under the Biden administration, according to an analysis of federal data by the American Principles Project.
In, “Funding Insanity: Federal Spending on Gender Ideology under Biden-Harris,” APP says it “found how the federal government has been spending hundreds of millions of YOUR MONEY on the Gender Industrial Complex!”
APP says it identified the grants by searching the USA Spending database. The data, which is available for free, is categorized by federal agency; notable grants are highlighted.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department awarded the greatest amount of funding totaling nearly $84 million through 60 grants.
The Department of State awarded the greatest number of grants, 209, totaling more than $14 million, according to the data.
Other agencies awarding taxpayer-funded gender ideology grants include:
U.S. Agency for International Development, nearly $18 million through 8 grants;
National Endowment for the Humanities, more than $2.6 million through 20 grants;
Department of Justice, $1.9 million through three grants;
Institute of Museum and Library Services, $1.87 million through 13 grants;
Department of Education, $1.67 million through two grants;
Department of Agriculture, $1.6 million through five grants;
Department of the Interior, more than 1,000,000 awarded through two grants;
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than $548,000 through 4 grants;
Inter-American Foundation, more than $490,000 through two grants;
National Endowment for the Arts, $262,000 through 13 grants.
APP also identified 63 federal agency contracts totaling more than $46 million that promote gender ideology. They include total obligated amounts and the number of contracts per agency.
The majority, $31 million, was awarded through USAID. The next greatest amount of $4.4 million was awarded through the Department of Defense.
The Trump administration has taken several approaches to gut USAID, which has been met with litigation. The Department of Defense and other agencies are also under pressure to cut funding and reduce redundancies.
Notable grants include:
$3.9 million to Key Populations Consortium Uganda for promoting “the safety, agency, well-being and the livelihoods of LGBTQI+ in Uganda;”
$3.5 million to Outright International for “the Alliance for Global Equality and its mission to promote LGBTQI+ people in priority countries around the world;”
$2.4 million to the International Rescue Committee for “inclusive consideration of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual characteristics in humanitarian assistance;”
$1.9 million to the American Bar Association to “shield the LGBTQI+ population in the Western Balkans;”
$1.4 million for “economic empowerment of and opportunity for LGBTQI+ people in Serbia;”
$1.49 million to Equality for All Foundation, Jamaica to “Strengthen community support structures to upscale LGBT rights advocacy;”
More than $1 million to Bandhu Social Welfare Society to support gender diverse people in Bangladesh.
One of the grants identified by APP, which has since been cancelled, was $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to study menstruation and menopause, including in biological men.
According to a description of the grant summary, funding would support research, extension, and teaching to address “growing concerns and issues surrounding menstruation, including the potential health risks posed to users of synthetic feminine hygiene products (FHP);” advancing research in the development of FHP that use natural materials and providing menstrual hygiene management; producing sustainable feminine hygiene sanitary products using natural fibers; providing a local fiber processing center for fiber growers in Louisiana, among others.
It states that menstruation begins in girls at roughly age 12 and ends with menopause at roughly age 51. “A woman will have a monthly menstrual cycle for about 40 years of her life averaging to about 450 periods over the course of her lifetime,” but adds: “It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate.”
All federal funding was allocated to state agencies through the approval of Congress when it voted to pass continuing resolutions to fund the federal government and approved agency budgets.
The Trump Administration has cracked down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives wherever and however it can. Several publicly funded universities have, as a result, scaled back or done away with DEI programs, to avoid the risk of losing federal funding.
However, it appears DEI will likely assume a different form rather than disappear outright.
A recent lecture at the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows how the shape-shifting will be done.
On Feb. 21, the University of Alaska Board of Regents voted to scrap all things related to DEI from university websites, titles, and office names in order to align the university system with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
The board made its decision ahead of a lecture scheduled to be held at UAF called “A White Guy’s Road to Decolonial Pedagogy,” to be given by Kevin Gannon, a liberal history professor and political activist at Queens University, a private institution in Charlotte, NC.
Mysteriously, the name of Gannon’s lecture was changed to “Critically Reflective Pedagogy” on the UAF website. Hyperlinks with the original title can still be found online.
Similarly, a page that displayed UAF’s statement of its commitment to inclusivity has been taken down or moved.
“As a unit of a Land, Sea and Space Grant institution, we acknowledge the university system’s role in forming and maintaining colonial structures of power through land seizure and assimilation via education,” the page, which is still visible through a digital archive, reads.
The substance of Gannon’s talk was consistent with both UAF’s inclusivity statement and concepts at the core of DEI.
“This lecture uses personal vignettes to illustrate how an educator whose identities come from culturally dominant and privileged places might encounter, and embrace, a decolonizing practice for teaching and learning,” a description on the UAF website explains.
A spokesperson for the university told Must Read Alaska that Gannon was “a guest lecturer and that the event was hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning at UAF.” At the time of this article’s publication, they were unable to provide more information as to why the title of the lecture was changed.
Critics consider this pedagogical approach controversial because it pits groups against one another on the basis of race, tribe, or ethnicity, and characterizes certain institutions as fundamentally racist.
Indeed, in a blog post, Gannon describes himself as an “abolitionist,” that is, he supports the elimination or dramatic reduction of policing and the prison system. He also says that he is “a strong proponent of DEI work and the people doing it.”
UAF offers just one example of how DEI might adapt to the changing political landscape.
Last July, Microsoft disbanded its DEI team, which seemed to herald a hard about-face. But come January, in response to mounting pressure from the Trump administration and conservative activists, chief executive Satya Nadella wrote in the company’s annual report that the values associated with DEI “ensure our work force represents the planet we serve.”
Major U.S. firms like Apple, Costco, Delta Air Lines, and JPMorgan Chase have also redoubled their commitment to DEI, while others have disbanded their DEI offices as pressure mounts to disassociate from race-based policies and practices.
