The Democrat majority in the Alaska House of Representatives has told the Republican minority to sit down and shut up. They make the rules to advantage the Democrats.
House Republicans who were assigned to serve on Finance subcommittees as assigned Finance members are not allowed to sit at the table with the voting members of the subcommittee and are not allowed to speak. They can only watch the proceedings — essentially giving them no role at all.
However, when Rep. Andy Josephson took over for Rep. Bryce Edgmon during Thursday’s subcommittee meeting on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s budget, he was allowed to sit in as a voting member, since Edgmon was trying to leave town. Josephson is in the Democrat majority, but not on the subcommittee. It’s a rule violation that was brought to the attention of the committee by Rep. George Rauscher, who said he had never seen that done before — the plug-and-play of a legislator who was not a voting member of the subcommittee.
Watch the committee meeting here as the double-standard is revealed by Rauscher:
The rule that co-chair Rep. Sara Hannan cited allows the majority to, indeed, slide in any of its Finance Committee members if there is an absence on a subcommittee of a member of the majority. That way the Democrats can ensure that no alternate Republicans will ever be allowed to sit at the table.
The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, without once consulting with the resource development business community or tax experts, is considering a resolution that supports a tax singling out one American-owned oil company: Hilcorp, the company that is pouring millions of dollars in investment into the North Slope.
The Yundt Tax, a new approach to Alaska tax policy that targets one business, is the brainchild of Democrat Sen. Bill Wielechowski, but is being sponsored by Wasilla Republican Sen. Rob Yundt. It is at attempt to ratchet up the income tax on the company that took over BP’s operations on the North Slope at a time when BP was struggling to make Prudhoe Bay investments profitable. Since taking over, Hilcorp has remitted taxes that far exceeded state projections for Prudhoe Bay per-barrel tax and royalties:
The MatSu Borough Assembly has many ties to Sen. Yundt, who served on the Assembly until leaving for Juneau.
Maxwell Sumner, who took Yundt’s place on the Assembly after Yundt went to the Senate, is the brother of former Rep. Jesse Sumner, who is believed to be supporting the Yundt Tax. Sumner and Yundt are close friends.
Dee McKee, who has served on the Assembly for years, is the mother of Yundt’s chief of staff, Ryan McKee. She will likely have to recuse herself from voting on the matter when she returns from medical leave.
Stephanie Nowers, who recused herself on Tuesday because her husband’s company works with the company she said would be impacted, also serves on the Assembly.
The matter was sneaked onto the Assembly’s consent agenda, but Assemblyman Bill Gamble asked that it be pulled from the agenda because he felt he needs to study the matter further, since oil tax law is complicated. Some members were not in attendance, including Assemblywoman McKee.
Consent agenda items are supposed to be for noncontroversial items. But there’s little legislation in front of the Legislature this year that is more controversial than the Yundt Tax.
Assemblyman Ron Bernier read from notes that appeared to have been provided him by Sen. Yundt’s office, advocating for the tax, and what he read had significant misinformation contained in it. He proceeded to argue for the resolution, even though the actual motion on the table was to simply move the item to the March 18 regular agenda.
Bernier said Hilcorp pays no tax to the state, when it, in fact, pays hefty production tax and royalties, just not income tax. Then Bernier got some more notes sent to him and started reading them, continuing his argument, and the notes claimed that in 2021 the governor supported similar legislation, which he did not disclose was part of a separate major tax restructuring with multiple facets to it. He was falsely asserting that Hilcorp pays no taxes to the state. That is true, and 11,000 other S corporations do not pay income tax. It’s not a loophole — it’s the law.
In the end, the controversial resolution was pulled from the consent agenda and is now on the March 18 agenda.
Watch what happened in this video clip:
In the MatSu Borough, both House District 28 Republicans and the Valley Republican Women of Alaska have passed resolutions opposing the Yundt Tax.
Yundt is supported by legislative Democrats led by Sen. Wielechowski, who has been trying to get higher taxes on oil companies for his entire legislative career.
It’s unclear how much the extra tax on Hilcorp might gain for the state — or whether it could actually cost the state. The analysis has not been done. It may be that if the tax is enacted, Hilcorp will then ask for certain benefits in its Cook Inlet leases, which it now does not get but that other companies do get. The company could use the same equity argument that Sen. Yundt is offering, which says that all companies are the same and must be treated equally.
Yundt represents the district in Alaska that had the highest no vote on the last ballot initiative to raise taxes on oil companies. In 2020, his district voted 74% against the oil tax ginned up by Democrats and lawyer Robin Brena.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski went on the attack again on Thursday, this time reproaching the Trump Administration for its cuts to the notorious program USAID. The program is known for humanitarian assistance, but is also believed to have served as a funnel for CIA operations overseas. During the Biden Administration, USAID spent $1.5 million to advance DEI initiatives in Serbia and $3.2 million last year to a subsidiary of BBC, BBC Media Action.
“This week, I met with some Alaskan USAID employees. They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by OPM and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what the world looks like without humanitarian assistance from the United States,” Murkowski said. “Although I support measures to find inefficiencies within the agency, USAID’s mission to keep people healthy and safe in even the most remote corners of the world should not be eliminated. Dr. Peter Kerndt, an Alaskan physician who has dedicated his career to treating tuberculosis in Alaska and around the world, shared with me, ‘America is great, because America is good.’ It is imperative we not lose sight of that,” Murkowski said.
Taxpayer funding for USAID had ballooned under the Biden Administration, from $26 billion in 2019 to $42.4 billion in 2023. Check the official numbers here.
In 2024, Mexico received over $58 million in USAID funding, and Guatemala received $189 million. USAID gave Venezuela $211 million and funneled $61 billion to Ukraine. Syria, which has been on the State Department’s list of terrorist states, received $512 million in USAID funds.
The US debt stands at nearly $36 trillion. For each American man, woman, and child, that’s $108,000 in debt owed to other countries. But for every actual American taxpayer, it’s over $323,000 owed.
The Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has thus far saved taxpayers about $170 billion, according to USDebtClock.org
Murkowski is upping her social media activity as she prepares to release her memoirs in June, titled “Far From Home.” She is positioning herself as the anti-Trump, anti-DOGE Republican in the Senate in a way she has not done in the past, siding with the president of Ukraine against Trump in the middle of a sensitive negotiation earlier this year.
The House Rules Committee passed House Bill 69, which will increase the K-12 budget by more than $250 million this year for a total of $807 million by Fiscal Year 2031.
Now the bill is to be heard on the House floor on March 6 at 10 a.m.
Here is the fiscal note:
Screenshot
That K12 funding comes with no accountability for results.
When minority committee members asked where the funding would come from the majority responded that the finance committee would determine that. Funny thing, that committee has already passed HB69 out of its committee with no source of funding!
Rep. Sarah Vance of Homer offered an amendment that would require the districts to post their budgets and audits on-line so citizens could determine where the funding goes, classroom or other functions. Representative Kopp (R, Anchorage) was concerned with the administrative burden it would put on districts. Apparently, the public’s need to know is not as important as bureaucrats’ workload. The amendment failed 4-3.
Rep. Cathy Tilton of Wasilla wanted to amend the bill to fund correspondence students at a full 1.0 factor vice the current 0.9 factor. Why should a correspondence student count less than a brick & mortar student?
Rep. Chuck Kopp then said, “I firmly believe in school choice and competition. But school choice does not require equal funding.” Does that mean you can have school choice even within the public K-12 system, but you have to pay for it?
Kopp went even further when he stated, “I’m going to err on the side of fiscal conservatism.” Yet he wants to spend a quarter of a billion dollars next fiscal year with absolutely no accountability for results. And that quarter billion dollars grows to $807 million by 2031.
Rep. Vance stated that our correspondence students are very cost-effective because they reduce the financial burden on school districts requiring no infrastructure as brick & mortar students do.
The amendment to equitably fund correspondence students failed with Representatives Louise Stutes, Chuck Kopp, Bryce Edgmon and Cal Schrage voting “no.”
Vance then offered a lengthy amendment which would increase the BSA by $300, increase the career/technical education factor from 1.015 to 1.04, reward schools for increasing reading achievement, provide teacher bonuses, and allow the State Board of Education to authorize charter schools.
More importantly, the amendment would provide funding to correspondence students for career/technical education and special needs. It also funds correspondence students at a factor of 1.0.
Rep. Edgmon objected that Vance’s amendment basically mirrored the governor’s current K-12 bill.
Vance’s amendment failed.
Rep. Mia Costello of Anchorage offered an amendment that would provide incentive grants to schools whose students showed an increase in reading proficiency. The grant would give $450 for each student that showed progress. It would also include students from grades K-6 versus the current K-3.
Costello’s amendment passed with Reps. Vance, Tilton, Costello and Kopp voting “yes.”
The entire $808 million bill passed out of the Rules Committee with Reps. Stutes, Kopp, Schrage, and Edgmon voting “yes”.
Alaskans, I’m proud to introduce HB 123, “An Act relating to vehicle rental taxes; relating to the issuance of subpoenas tied to tax records; and setting an effective date.”
This is a big step forward in how Alaska handles vehicle rental taxes, especially for those using online platforms such as Turo.
And at the heart of this bill is something simple but powerful: a tax cut for Alaskans.
Right now, the state imposes a 10% excise tax on passenger vehicle rentals, and that includes rentals through Turo. But here’s the kicker — Turo, unlike traditional rental car companies, doesn’t collect or remit this tax. Instead, it falls on individual car owners (the “hosts”) to handle it. Most of these folks aren’t tax experts; they’re just regular Alaskans looking to make a little extra cash. Because of this, there’s confusion, inconsistent enforcement, and a lot of hosts who don’t even know they owe anything.
Worse still, the state has gone after some hosts aggressively, garnishing their bank accounts to collect unpaid taxes. That’s not right, and it’s certainly not working. The system’s broken, and HB 123 is my attempt to fix it.
Here’s the good news: We’re dropping the vehicle rental tax from 10% to 9% for all passenger vehicle rentals. But that’s not all: Person-to-person car rentals will see a special cut, dropping from 10% to 7%. That’s real relief for both businesses and renters. For traditional rental car companies, this cut means they can invest in growing their business, hire more employees, or lower their prices. For everyday Alaskans looking to rent a car, this means more affordable options, whether you’re renting from a traditional company or through a company like Turo.
But HB 123 is more than just a tax cut. It’s about fairness and protecting Alaskans. For years, the state and Turo have been locked in a legal battle over whether person-to-person rentals should be subject to the 10% tax. The state argues that both Turo and its hosts should be collecting and remitting the tax, while Turo says, “Hold up, we’re not a rental company—we’re just a platform connecting people.”
This legal gray area has left hosts in limbo, trying to figure out their tax obligations on their own. Some have even been hit with back taxes they didn’t know they owed. That’s unfair, and it’s time to put an end to it.
Last year, Senate Bill 127 attempted to resolve this issue. It proposed a compromise—cutting the tax to 8%, allowing Turo to collect it, and wiping out retroactive penalties. The bill passed with bipartisan support, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it, arguing that taxing a “new industry” wasn’t good policy.
The problem, however, was that the tax already existed. SB 127 just sought to make it fairer. And after the veto, we were left with the same mess. Turo still wasn’t collecting taxes like it does in other states.
That’s where HB 123 steps in. It provides a clean slate for Turo hosts — blocking the Department of Revenue from chasing back taxes on rentals that occurred before this bill takes effect. If you’ve already paid your taxes, you won’t face any new penalties.
We’re also making it easier to collect taxes. Platforms like Turo will only be responsible for collecting taxes if they’ve got the correct information from the hosts. And if they’ve made a good-faith effort to get that information, they’re off the hook. This streamlines the process and keeps red tape to a minimum. We’re even addressing local taxes, like Anchorage’s 8% rental tax. Turo hosts have been required to pay this tax since 2020, and this bill aligns state and local rules to make enforcement simpler and more consistent.
Bottom line: HB 123 cuts taxes for both traditional rental car businesses and Turo-type hosts, eases the burden on small businesses, and gives Alaskans the protection they deserve. It’s a fairer, simpler system that saves renters money, helps businesses grow, and puts this long-running Turo mess to rest. No more surprise back taxes or legal uncertainty hanging over the heads of Alaskans.
This is a win for Alaska. It makes car rentals more affordable, boosts competition, and helps locals who are working hard to make a living. It’s practical, it’s fair, and it’s built for the future of Alaska’s rental market.
That’s what I’m here to do—cut through the bureaucracy and deliver real results for you.
Rep. Kevin McCabe serves District 30 (formerly called District 8), the Big Lake area.
After Rep. Al Green of Houston repeatedly created a ruckus in the House Chambers during Tuesday’s joint session to hear the annual address the president, the House has voted to censure him.
Green shouted and shook his ornate cane at the president and was repeatedly admonished to come back to order by Speaker Mike Johnson, but he instead moved into the aisle and kept shouting that the president doesn’t have a mandate. He was disagreeing with the speech by President Donald Trump.
Congressman Dan Newhouse of Central Washington led the resolution, which passed on a mostly partisan vote, 224-198, with two not voting, and 10 Democrats voting to censure.
“President Trump’s address to Congress was not a debate or a forum; he was invited by the Speaker to outline his agenda for the American people,” Newhouse said. “The actions by my colleague from Texas broke the rules of decorum in the House, and he must be held accountable. We can and must do better, and it is critical that we reprimand this behavior and restore respect for the institution, each other, and the people that sent us here to work for them.”
Republicans argued that Green didn’t just heckle Trump, but yelled repeatedly, waved his cane around in the air, ignored the speaker’s warnings three times, and appeared to self-victimize with the intention of being removed and making himself a martyr.
Democrats said that his removal violated his right to free speech. In an attempt to disrupt the reading of the censure of Green, Democrats start singing “We Shall Overcome” on the House floor on Thursday morning.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough finance committee plan to renew the Dominion voting and tabulator contract will be heard on Thursday, March 5, shortly after the Borough Assembly convenes at 5:30 p.m.
The public can testify by phone by calling the Assembly ahead of time at 907 459-1401, or people can sign up in person before the meeting. They can also sit in the gallery and wait until the end of scheduled testimony to speak on the matter.
The proposed measure amounts to $219,489 and is a sole source contract, which means it will not go out for bid. It covers programming costs, licensing fees, and annual warranties and the ballot tabulation system of the borough’s Dominion voting machines. The measure is a result of a contract modification signed in March of 2022, and appears in the 2024 budget under licenses and fees. The voting machines are funded by property tax dollars.
According to the modification, item 2, the borough agreed to the following: ” … to the amounts listed in paragraph 1 of this Modification #2 and all amounts due and owing under the original Agreement and Modification #1 thereto, the Borough will pay the annual election support services, annual license and annual warranty fees, per the attached quote, dated January 10, 2022, upon invoice.”
This action locks the borough into using the Dominion systems for another five years and would make it difficult for the borough to move toward hand counted ballots as the voters have in the Mat-su borough.
Candidate Alexander Rosales is learning the hard way how viscous politics can turn even for a seat on the Anchorage school board. Rosales is challenging school board incumbent and the teacher’s union backed Margo Bellamy for her seat.
Rosales has been labeled a white nationalist and Nazi sympathizer.
Liberal agitator Ivan Hodes, who has a long history of attacking conservatives as racists, has unleashed a barrage of accusations against Rosales.
Hodes is calling for Bellamy supporters to show up Thursday night at a Hillside Home and Landowners Association (HALO) candidate forum at the Alaska Zoo and confront Rosales for his “White Nationalists” ways.
Labeling conservatives “White Nationalists” is a common tactic among many on the left but seems to be losing its effectiveness. Especially from vicious partisans like Hodes who have a long history of making such attacks. Hodes’ social media posts are loaded with racially obsessed accusations.
On a recent post on the liberal social media platform, BlueSky, Hodes accuses Republican Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River of naming her dog after a Nazi sympathizer. That so-called Nazi sympathizer is conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who heads up Turning Point USA, a prominent conservative group. Hodes also accused DOGE head Elon Musk of being a Nazi.
Hodes clearly seems obsessed with Rosales with dozens of negative and nasty posts about the candidate. Most accuse Rosales of either being a Nazi or a racist.
As of this writing, Margo Bellamy has yet to condemn Hodes’ unfounded and vicious attacks on her challenger, Rosales.
Rosales is an Air Force veteran and has never run for office before. He says he’s taking the attacks in stride even though he has received death threats. He is of Hispanic heritage, with a father born in Mexico and a grandmother who was in Dachau concentration camp in Germany. His great grandparents were in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He said he is decidedly anti-Nazi.
“It’s frustrating because people in my campaign are also getting threats as well,” said Rosales. “I’m OK with people attacking me, but it’s unfair for my supporters.”
Rosales says Bellamy can’t run on her record so she has to rely on unfounded personal attacks from surrogates like Hodes.
“We are last in the nation with test scores and near the top in education spending,” said Rosales. “They’re talking out of the side of their mouths. They have to attack me. That’s their only play.”
Rosales says he’ll keep working hard sharing his message. As a father, he says doing better with education is important to him. He says our kids deserve better than this low ball political mudslinging.
“I hope their attacks don’t work, but it’s going to take me getting in front of as many people as I can showing them I am not the person they say I am,” said Rosales.
If Hodes is successful in getting a strong showing of Bellamy supporters for Thursday night’s candidate forum, Rosales could be walking into a political buzz saw. Rosales says he’s ready and does not regret his school board candidacy and his first foray into politics.
“There’s always the haters coming out,” says Rosales.
Dan Fagan reports for Must Read Alaska and hosts a morning drive radio show between 7 and 9 a.m. on 1020 am 92.5 and 104.5 f.m. on KVNT. For news tips email him at [email protected].
The audacity of Democrats to lecture President Donald Trump last week for being rude and disrespectful to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy became even more ridicule-worthy when they threw a kicking-and-screaming temper tantrum during Trump’s speech to the joint body of Congress on Tuesday.
Democratic senators sided with Zelenskyy and condemned Trump and Vice President JD Vance as “shameful” and “disgraceful” last week.
They should know because they set the standard. The bar for decorum has now been set lower than ever. It’s practically as low as British Parliament.
This has been their bad behavior habit for some time, however. During Trump’s State of the Union address in 2018, Democrats booed and jeered. In 2019, they heckled and booed.
And in 2020, not only did they hiss and boo, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her white suffragette suit, stood up behind Trump and ripped up her copy of his speech, so that the media could take in the full meaning of her intent to humiliate Trump on live camera.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi rips up a copy of President Trump’s State of the Union Address in 2020.
There was a bit of payback from one Republican last year, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wore a red ball cap that had “Make America Great Again” printed on it. She heckled President Joe Biden during his speech, yelling out “Say her name,” after Biden talked about raped-and-murdered Laken Riley, but who did not use her name. She nearly got the hook, but not quite.
Her outburst it was nothing like this year’s Democrats, who went beyond the “loyal opposition” phase and showed themselves to be “Antifa in a suit.”
On March 4, 2025, throughout the speech by Trump the Democrats held bingo paddles: “FALSE,” “SAVE MEDICAID” AND “MUSK STEALS.”
Congressional Democrats set a new low in decorum for a State address.
The bingo paddles — or were they auction paddles? — were far more disruptive than MTG’s red hat ever was in 2024, and the hat almost got her ejected that year.
But even more disrespectful and shameful in 2025 was the shouting, booing, and hissing by the Democrats, some of whom walked out midway through the 100-minute speech.
What viewers heard on the audio on television was only half of the raucous noise being made on the Democrats side of the aisle, where a dozen Democrats were absent and another handful walked out. It was loud in the chamber.
Only one of the Democrats, however, was ejected — Rep. Al Green from Houston, who stood and shook his cane while screaming at the president. Speaker Mike Johnson finally, after a couple of warnings, ordered him to leave and he was escorted out.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas also walked out the chamber after standing up with fellow Democrats who had the word “RESIST” printed on the backs of their shirts.
Rep. Greg Casar of Austin, who was sitting with Rep. Green, held a sign that said “MUSK STEALS” throughout the speech. He might find himself subject to a lawsuit.
This year, Rep. MTG wore a red hat, just like she did last year. Only this time, her hat said “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING.”
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said that in the 13 State of the Union addresses he has been to, Republicans always stood to welcome the guests of the president, whether it was Obama, Trump, or Biden.
But on Tuesday, the Democrats would not stand to recognize the family of Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant in Georgia. Even the Georgia Democrats would not stand for their own constituents.
The Democrats also refused to acknowledge a 13-year-old survivor of brain cancer, who the president introduced and highlighted as an honorary member of the Secret Service, in recognition of the boy’s long-held hopes of becoming a police officer.
In fact, anyone who was there as a guest to be introduced on Tuesday got the silent treatment from the Democrats, many of whom were thumb-scrolling through their X feed on their phones.
The president won the night. The Democrats self-owned and exhibited their worst instincts. But the parallel spectacle of them lecturing Trump about respect and decorum for President Zelenskyy, all while they plotted and planned to disrupt the president’s annual address is the lesson in hypocrisy that America needed to witness to fully understand just how far the Democratic Party has fallen.
Trump broke the Democrats on Tuesday. He knew they came loaded for bear, and he was ready for them. He knows he has nothing to gain by trying to play nice, and everything to lose. There is no time to waste for him.
This time, he simply allowed Democrats to show the public who they really are.
And they did.
Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of Must Read Alaska.
