The USA Cycling Track Team Pursuit team of Olivia Cummins, Olympian Kristen Faulkner (Homer, AK), Bethany Ingram, and Emma Louise Jimenez Palos won Gold on Thursday, February 19, 2026 at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. The USA team beat Canada in the qualifying round of the 4,000 meter race and Mexico in the finals to bring home the Gold medal. This was the first competition for these riders to race together as Team USA.
On Saturday, February 21, 2026, Kristen Faulkner won Gold in the final round of the Cycling Track Individual Pursuit against fellow Team USA rider and 2025 Pan Am Gold medalist Emily Ehrlich. Faulkner caught Ehrlich in the 4000 meter head-to-head race about three quarters of the way through the race for the automatic win. This was Faulkner’s first international competition in the Individual Pursuit and secures her an automatic berth representing the U.S. in the World Cycling Championships in 2026.
In the wake of the January 23, 2026, overturning of the drilling rig Doyon 26 on Alaska’s North Slope, response teams have made substantial headway in cleanup and deconstruction efforts, as detailed in recent updates and official reports. The incident, which occurred on a gravel road approximately 6.5 miles northwest of Nuiqsut, involved the massive rig—nicknamed “The Beast” for its nearly 10 million-pound weight—tipping over during transport for ConocoPhillips operations. This led to a spill of about 4,000 gallons of diesel and 600 gallons of hydraulic oil onto the tundra, accompanied by a brief fire that was swiftly contained by emergency responders. Fortunately, all personnel were accounted for, with no serious injuries; eight individuals received treatment at nearby clinics and were released. Nearby infrastructure, including pipelines roughly 202 feet away and the community’s natural gas supply, sustained no damage, and the seasonal fuel haul proceeded without interruption.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Situation Report 3 (SitRep 3), issued on February 4, 2026, provides a comprehensive snapshot of the early response. Under a Unified Command led by Doyon Drilling, Inc. and including the EPA, DEC, North Slope Borough, and Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, efforts focused on source control, with no ongoing leaks observed. Initial actions included delineating the spill area using visual, infrared, and aerial methods, deploying sandbags to curb migration, and constructing a snow fence to contain contaminated snow. By then, crews had recovered 111 gallons of product through water flushing and vacuum trucks. The site, within critical habitat for polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, muskox, and ptarmigan, showed no wildlife impacts, though an Arctic fox and collared muskox were spotted. Air monitoring was established, and weather challenges—like below zero temperatures and blowing snow—delayed some activities. The report outlined a three-phase plan: Phase 1 for containment and mitigation, Phase 2 for rig inspection and removal, and Phase 3 for final remediation. Resources at risk were noted, but no threats to waterways, like the nearby Nechelik Channel tributary, or the community were identified.
By February 19, 2026, Phase 2 had advanced significantly, with over 2,475 gallons—more than half the estimated spill—recovered. Approximately 30% of the rig had been deconstructed, starting with the derrick, and parts were loaded for transport via a newly built ice road and pad to minimize tundra damage. Site evaluations continue in real-time, with deconstructed components slated for cleaning and recycling. No immediate risks to air quality, water sources, wildlife, or infrastructure persist, and a third-party investigation into the cause is ongoing.
ConocoPhillips has adapted swiftly, shifting operations to the Doyon 142 rig, which shares a similar modular design, to limit delays in exploration and development. This pivot highlights ERD’s role in sustainable growth. “This project opens a new era we call ‘growth without gravel’ where we can use extended reach technology to access 60 percent more acreage from a single pad, dramatically reducing our footprint,” said Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska.
Stakeholders emphasize collaborative efforts to ensure full recovery, with ongoing monitoring and public updates via the Unified Command. As Alaska’s oil industry navigates environmental and operational hurdles, this incident serves as a reminder of the Arctic’s challenges, yet also of the sector’s resilience and commitment to safety.
If you thought Alaska’s destiny was in the hands of Alaskans, think again. The 2024 IRS filings paint a picture that is both stark and troubling: the state’s political and economic landscape is increasingly being steered, not by our local industries, communities, or elected leaders, but by an intricate web of out-of-state progressive donor networks. Networks that aren’t content with writing checks, they are buying influence, shaping narratives, and redirecting our state’s future from resource-driven growth to grant-dependent activism.
We’ve been warning about this for years, but now the numbers are out in black and white.
The “Alaska Influence Pipeline” report, along with IRS Form 990 filings from 2024, reveals that millions of dollars from national progressive funds, primarily connected to Arabella Advisors (which rebranded as Sunflower Services in late 2025) flow through nonprofit intermediaries to finance a highly coordinated anti-development campaign in Alaska.
And make no mistake, this is not just about “climate awareness” or “social equity.” This is about reshaping Alaska’s economic priorities in ways that serve donors in D.C., New York, and Silicon Valley, not the people who actually live here in our state!
The Mechanics of Influence: How Out-of-State Money Moves In
The system is vertically integrated, sophisticated, and, frankly, scary in its efficiency.
Here’s how it works:
National Funders — Arabella Advisors (Sunflower Services), New Venture Fund (NVF), Tides Foundation, Sixteen Thirty Fund, NEO Philanthropy, Hopewell Fund, and Western Futures Fund, collect and pool donations from major philanthropic players like George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, and foundations such as Ford and Hewlett. InfluenceWatch reports Arabella alone raised $6.5 billion from 2005–2021.
Pass-through Grants —These national funders then funnel millions into Alaska-based advocacy groups via annual grants, explicitly earmarked for anti-development campaigns. 2024 numbers alone are staggering: NVF gave over $625,000, Tides $523,000, Sixteen Thirty $728,000. Layer on support from Hopewell and NEO Philanthropy, and you see a funding structure designed to endure.
Local Recipients — Groups like, United Tribes of Bristol Bay ($325,000 from NVF), Alaska PIRG ($208,000 from Tides), The Alaska Current ($100,000 from NVF), and 907 Initiative (funded by multiple sources) receive these grants and direct them toward litigation, voter mobilization, and media campaigns. Workforce training for Alaskan oil, mining, or construction? Not a dime.
Indirect Control —Through these grants, national donors influence elections, policy debates, and public opinion. Voter mobilization efforts like Get Out the Native Vote ($150,000 from Tides) target Indigenous communities with messaging that aligns with anti-fossil fuel agendas, leaving real Alaskan voices marginalized.
It’s an elaborate puppet show, with Alaska caught in the middle. And the strings are long, reaching far beyond Juneau.
Who’s Really Pulling the Levers?
The leadership and boards of these organizations read like a who’s who of progressive philanthropy.
Arabella Advisors / Sunflower Services: Founded by Eric Kessler. Current CEO Himesh Bhise oversees operations post-2025. Former CEO Sampriti Ganguli. Board Chair Gail Steans. Senior leaders include Bruce Boyd and Allan Williams.
New Venture Fund: President Lee Bodner (formerly Arabella MD). Board includes Thomas Gibian (Chair/Secretary), Akilah Massey, Katherine Miller (Treasurer/Vice-Chair), Chuck Redmond, and Adam Eichberg.
Tides Foundation: CEO Janiece Evans-Page. Officers include Diane Peters (Chief Legal), Karen Caldwell (CFO), Sajit Joseph (Chief Digital). Board Chair Brickson Diamond.
Sixteen Thirty Fund: President Amy Kurtz. Board includes Dara Freed (Treasurer), Douglas Hattaway (Secretary), Eric Kessler (Director), Jeff Cherry, and Latoia Jones.
Hopewell Fund: President Anna Brower. Board Chair Lee Bodner. Directors include Andrew Schulz and Marissa Padilla.
NEO Philanthropy: President Michele Lord (retiring Dec 2026). COO Erin Ballard. CFO Su Hyun Lim. Board Co-Chairs Kerrien Suarez and Kristen Ruff.
Western Futures Fund: President Michael Hennesy, Secretary Christopher Hirsch, Treasurer Jeremy Krones.
The overlap is telling. Many of these players rotate through boards or maintain advisory roles across multiple organizations. The result? A near-monopoly on progressive funding influence, perfectly orchestrated to maintain a constant anti-development narrative.
Alaska’s Local Recipients: The Frontline
These national networks don’t just fund abstract policies—they fund people and groups directly shaping our state’s economy. Here’s the roster of key 2024 recipients:
United Tribes of Bristol Bay: $325,000 from NVF for anti-mining campaigns.
Alaska Wildlife Alliance: $100,000 from NVF, blocking resource extraction.
Spruce Root / Sitka Conservation Society / Alaska Sustainability Initiative: $50–100K from NVF; anti-development advocacy.
Alaskans for Posterity: $200,000 from NVF, $200,000 from Sixteen Thirty; political messaging.
AEDC Advocacy Fund: $190,000 from NVF; legislative influence.
907 Initiative: Multiple funders, including WFF; campaigns targeting Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Alaska PIRG: $208,000 from Tides; regulatory opposition.
Media Outlets: The Alaska Current ($100,000 from NVF) amplifies anti-development narratives.
Voter Mobilization: Get Out the Native Vote ($150,000 from Tides) and Alaska Progressive Donor Table ($302,500 from Sixteen Thirty).
Other Policy Groups: Better Jobs for Alaska, The Alaska Center, Alaska Jobs Coalition, ACLU of Alaska Foundation, all receiving layered funding to maintain continuous campaigns.
And don’t overlook tribal utilities like Puvurnaq Power Company ($301,757 from NVF) and Atmautluak Tribal Utilities ($100,000 from NVF), framed under “climate-transition” projects, subsidized by grants rather than market-driven development.
The Timeline That Matters
It’s not just who is funding whom, it’s when. 2024 marks a ramp-up in preparation for the 2026 Senate races:
Early 2024: NVF disperses $625,000, including $325K to United Tribes of Bristol Bay.
Mid-2024: Tides grants $523,000. Includes $150K to Get Out the Native Vote and $208K to Alaska PIRG.
Late 2024: Sixteen Thirty Fund disperses $728,000. WFF revenue surges to $8.7M, funding 907 Initiative’s attacks on Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Ongoing 2024: NEO and Hopewell layer grants to groups like 907 Initiative and ACLU of Alaska to sustain campaigns.
Alaska has been under the Arabella network’s radar since at least 2020, including ranked-choice voting campaigns funded via Sixteen Thirty. 2024 demonstrates escalation: this is no longer occasional influence; it’s a full-on takeover of the local political narrative.
Who Feels the Impact?
The report and public filings suggest influence on three fronts. Politicians, Communities, and the Economy.
Politicians: Sen. Dan Sullivan is the primary target. 907 Initiative, funded by Tides/Arabella/WFF, launched campaigns like “Doormat Dan” and “Yes Man Dan” highlighting his pro-fossil fuel stance and votes on health care, attempting to paint him as out of touch with Alaska. Progressive ads have hit him on ACA subsidies and Medicaid cuts. Other lawmakers face pressure from Alaska Center and Progress Alaska on renewable energy and tax policies.
Communities: Indigenous leaders in Bristol Bay are courted via grants, which the report argues suppress local voices in favor of donor-driven agendas. Groups like SalmonState are allegedly used to weaponize issues like salmon protection against development.
Economy: Funding is carefully structured to prioritize litigation, delays, and narrative shaping over job creation or infrastructure development. The “chilling effect” is real: permitting challenges, populist pressure, and lawsuits deter companies, shift economic priorities away from local industries, and leave Alaska increasingly reliant on grant money instead of investment.
The Ironic Twist
These networks loudly decry “outside corporate influence” in Alaska politics, yet every dollar sustaining their anti-development campaigns comes from national, often anonymous donors. Millions of dollars from billionaires and foundations in New York, California, and abroad dictate which projects live or die in Alaska. This is ideological outsourcing at its finest, and the 2024 filings prove it in cold, hard numbers.
I’ll finish my Rants with “Its Alaska’s Choices,” what’s at Stake
Let’s be honest. Alaska is at a crossroads. Every grant, every lawsuit, every voter mobilization effort has consequences. The 2024 IRS filings reveal a system where local autonomy is steadily ceded to donors with philosophical agendas. Workforce development in oil, gas, mining, and construction? Ignored. Infrastructure projects? Delayed. Our economy? Shifted from local initiative to grant dependence.
If you care about Alaska’s future, its jobs, its communities, its self-determination, you need to understand who is really calling the shots. National progressive donor networks have been quietly reshaping our debate for years, and 2024 marks a decisive escalation.
The question now isn’t whether Alaska can resist this influence, it’s whether we WILL sit back and let it happen in silence. It’s time to wake up. We’ve been telling you this was coming. Now, the numbers prove it.
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), in his annual address today to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature in Juneau, laid out a vision for the “Alaska Comeback,” highlighting the state’s resilience and its historic opportunities to grow after several years of federal policies that targeted Alaska’s economy and jobs. Sen. Sullivan detailed progress being made toward long-sought goals, including an energy renaissance on the North Slope, advancing the Alaska LNG project, and strengthening Alaska’s central role in national defense through a historic military and Coast Guard build-up. He also emphasized major wins for Alaskans delivered by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, outlined efforts to confront the fentanyl crisis and improve public safety, highlighted continued work to support Alaska’s fishermen and coastal communities, and underscored a historic federal investment to transform Alaska’s health care system to better reflect the realities of delivering care in the nation’s most rural, high-cost state.
Key themes from the address:
Alaska Comeback Theme Alaska has overcome challenges like statehood, the 1964 earthquake, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline through unity. Now recovering from 70 Biden-era executive orders stifling the economy, a new era of progress begins with energy renaissance, gas line development, military buildup, and tailored health care.
Making it Happen: Alaska EO and the WFTCA The Trump administration’s Day One executive order unleashes Alaska’s resources, ending federal restrictions. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act (WFTCA), dubbed the “Alaska Opportunity Act,” delivers major wins, including mandatory leases and revenue splits. Sullivan’s team conducted over 60 town halls to explain and implement it.
Resource Development The WFTCA stabilizes investment by mandating leases in NPR-A, ANWR, and Cook Inlet, aiming for nearly 1 million barrels/day by 2034 via projects like Pikka and Willow. It shifts federal revenue to 70-30 state-favoring split by 2034 and boosts timber and minerals.
AK LNG Sullivan promotes the Alaska LNG project internationally and with federal leaders, highlighted in the executive order and supported by DOE financing. Recent progress includes Air Force data centers on bases to boost gas demand. He urges bold collaboration for affordable energy, jobs, and revenue.
Taxes and Child Care Comeback The WFTCA allows first-year business write-offs, prevents $4T tax hikes, saves families $7,500-$11,000 annually, deducts $12,000 for seniors, and eliminates taxes on tips/overtime. It enhances child tax credits, dependent care, and business incentives for child care facilities.
Military Build-up
Alaska Military Comeback Reversing drawdowns, Alaska sees billions in investments: expanded 11th Airborne Division, F-35/F-22 squadrons, tankers, missile defense radars, Ted Stevens Center, new runway, Nome port, and Adak Navy base reopening. Marines plan expansion.
Coast Guard Comeback Historic $25B investment funds 16 icebreakers, 22 cutters, 40 helicopters, and infrastructure in multiple communities, including $300M for Juneau. Potential for four more Alaska-homeported icebreakers spurs shipbuilding jobs in Kodiak, Seward, Ketchikan.
Safer Communities Crime rates drop, but fentanyl overdoses killed 400 Alaskans last year. WFTCA’s $100B border security reduces supply; Sullivan’s “One Pill Can Kill” campaign addresses demand through education.
Fisheries Legislation like Save Our Seas cleans oceans; bans on Russian/Chinese seafood combat unfair practices. Salmon Task Force and Bycatch Reduction Act tackle declines via research and tech.
Health Care Obamacare failed Alaska; reforms include PBM curbs and premium credits. WFTCA’s Rural Health Transformation Program delivers $1.4B over five years, doubling the fund and prioritizing rural needs.
Two Visions D.C. Democrats targeted Alaska provisions in WFTCA; Republicans fought to preserve wins. Alaskans should recognize allies.
Echoing TAPS builders, Sullivan calls for unity to build gas lines, military, health care, and jobs for future generations, fulfilling Alaska’s promise of opportunity.
In less than a month, ballots for Anchorage’s Municipal election will be mailed to homes. Once ballots start to arrive, people will begin filling them out. Traditional polling places will not be open and are not an option for voting on April 7th, “Election Day.” Hence, we have approximately 26 days to make sure our friends and neighbors are aware of our opportunity to flip the Anchorage Assembly from radical Leftist to a conservative majority.
Since recommending who to vote for in each district three weeks ago, I’ve heard a mix of optimism, skepticism, and outright pessimism that conservatives in Anchorage will be able to pull this off.
Voter apathy is real, and the behavior of our Municipal officials has only encouraged its metastasis. Not many trust local Anchorage elections anymore, beclouded as they are with mail-in voting, ballot curing, and computer tabulation of votes. The ability of election observers to effectively oversee vote counting has been severely limited by the Municipal Clerk and the Assembly’s Marxist Nine since they rewrote Title 28 of Municipal Code in 2021. This occurred – coincidentally, I’m sure – shortly after Anchorage elected a conservative mayor.
Add to these coincidences the operations of dark money groups such as 907 Initiative and Ship Creek Group. These benevolent political mercenaries canvass Anchorage with their seemingly neutral “report cards.” I am sure it is coincidental that their “report cards” all laud liberal causes and bash conservatives. In 2025 the voter turnout in Anchorage’s municipal election was an abysmal 25.38% of registered voters.
I can’t blame anybody for being skeptical of our chances of flipping six seats on the Assembly this year. The Left and its union allies are consistently outperforming us by working together without infighting and apparently convincing their constituents to vote in large enough numbers to maintain their iron grip on our local government.
Do we give up? Mope our way through the next 40 days, resigned to imminent failure?
Admitting defeat is not an option in my book. But I do admit that we cannot succeed in reclaiming Anchorage if we trust solely in our own efforts. We need God’s help.
Entrusting political causes to Almighty God and asking His help in ordering human affairs is, and should be, the norm in the United Sates of America. From the first Continental Congress to the 119th Congress convened in January 2025, our representatives have opened their meetings with a prayer (not a land acknowledgement!). No less than us, they needed God’s help, protection, and guidance as they sought to order the civic life of a new nation.
Our nation is rooted in love and gratitude to God, from Whom we derive our inherent dignity and rights under the Natural Law. As President Trump noted in his February 18thAsh Wednesday Presidential Message: “the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving have been foundational to our strength from the earliest days of our national story. From the Colonists who turned to prayer and fasting in the heart of the Revolutionary War to the unmatched compassion and generosity of America’s churches, hospitals, and charitable institutions, these righteous acts have always stood at the center of our identity, our heritage, and our way of life.”
If this battle for Anchorage seems hopeless because there’s a mountain of manmade obstacles, let’s turn it over to God who made both mountains and men. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I’ve been driven to my knees many times in my life by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” In addition to political action, pray in the privacy of your home, pray with your families, pray with your friends. Pray with your fellow parishioners when you gather at church, pray in the public square, pray before you begin any endeavor with the political action group to which you belong. If you’re running for public office, pray every day with your campaign team.
Ask God to forgive our sins and shower His mercy upon us as we seek to re-order our civic life in Anchorage. We’ll be in good company.
Theresa Bird is a wife and homeschooling mother of nine. She earned her BA in Philosophy at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH. She lives in Anchorage.
Lisa Murkowski continues to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, despite overwhelming support from the American people and her RINO partner in crime, Senator Collins (R-MA), flipping in support of it. We know Senator Murkowski is being dishonest when she argues that she is boldly standing up for the US Constitution by opposing this bill, leaving us to wonder what her real motivation might be. It could be that she hates President Trump so much that, since he is supporting the SAVE Act, she is willing to be on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue to hurt him politically.
Maybe she secretly hopes that by opposing the SAVE Act, she is enabling the Democrats to take control of the House in November so that they can fulfill their promise to impeach the president. If this is what she desires, it could happen. Historically, the political party that opposes the president typically picks up seats in midterm elections. The current House majority is only 5 seats (218/213), and the president’s party typically loses 28 House seats. If this year follows that trend, the House will flip to Democratic control. You might think this unlikely, but in the 2018 midterm election, the first time he was in office, Democrats took 41 seats and control of the House away from the Republicans. It could happen again.
Perhaps this is what the Machiavellian Murkowski is counting on. Last month, Congressman Shri Thanedar, a Democrat from Michigan, introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump. With the current Republican majority in the House, that impeachment attempt will go nowhere. However, if history holds, and after the November election, the Democrats hold a 235/198 majority in the House, you can certainly expect another impeachment attempt that the House will approve, and the Senate will have to consider.
I do not believe that this impeachment would successfully remove President Trump from office, but that isn’t the point of it. If the House votes to impeach him again, it would be a successful strategy in attacking the President’s agenda, which may be what Murkowski is counting on. If the House votes to impeach the president, forcing the Senate to conduct an impeachment trial, it will effectively halt any further implementation of the president’s programs.
One example of how this would work is the number of open US Attorney positions. There are 93 US Attorneys in this country, who are appointed by the president and require confirmation by the Senate. As of today, 51 of those positions are filled with interim or acting US Attorneys awaiting confirmation. They can only serve for a limited time without Senate approval. Multiple interim US Attorneys have failed to get a Senate confirmation hearing and have had to resign. Halting approval for US Attorneys is an effective tool the Senate can use to halt any prosecution of crimes committed under previous administrations.
If the House should impeach the president, the Senate would stop approval for any new US Attorneys. They would use a faulty excuse, like it would be inappropriate to proceed with the president’s appointments, knowing that President Trump might be removed from office. They will say this knowing full well that there is no way there will be enough votes in the Senate to remove President Trump. They have already tried to do this twice, with no success, and this will simply be a tactic used to impede the president.
Lisa Murkowski is a smart politician and knows that a tactic like this will tie up the president in impeachment hearings for the next two years, effectively stopping his presidency in its tracks. However, it all depends on Democrats winning control of the House, something that might not happen if the SAVE Act passes. That may be why she does not support it.
I have no idea why Murkowski hates the president to such an extent. Maybe it is because she benefits from voters who can’t prove their citizenship to win elections in Alaska. Perhaps it was because President Trump supported Kelly Tshibaka in the last election against her, and now she wants to pay him back. Maybe Lisa is just a liberal who hates strong conservatives because they oppose her worldview. Whatever her reasons, if Murkowski is successful in stopping the SAVE Act from passage, it will not only flip the House to Democratic control but will effectively end Donald Trump’s presidency. That may be all the motivation that a staunch leftist like Murkowski needs to do what she is doing.
It is hard to believe, but the fate of the nation rests on the opposition of one feckless liberal idiot from Fairbanks. God help us all.
Greg Sarber is a lifelong Alaskan. He is a petroleum engineer who spent his career working on Alaska’s North Slope. Now retired, he lives with his family in Homer, Alaska.
A recent report from the Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), funded by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration at a cost of $90,000, has sparked debate over potential fiscal solutions for the state. The study updates a 2016 analysis and evaluates 11 options to address Alaska’s structural budget deficit, including reductions in spending, adjustments to the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), and the introduction of income taxes, sales taxes, or increases in taxes on oil and corporations.
The report concludes that increases in oil and corporate taxes would have the least economic impact, potentially resulting in 40 to 140 job losses per $100 million raised. In contrast, reductions in government spending or the PFD could lead to greater effects, with up to 1,000 jobs lost per $100 million in deficit reduction.
The study acknowledges that PFD cuts are regressive, disproportionately affecting low-income households, as the dividend represents a significant portion of income for some Alaskans. It also examines progressive income taxes, which would result in higher-income individuals paying substantially more—ranging from 35 to 2,000 times the amount paid by lower-income residents.
No wonder conservative voices are pushing back. An editorial in the Anchorage Daily News commended our Republican Gov. Dunleavy for proposing a broad-based tax such as a seasonal sales tax (4% in summer targeting tourists and 2% in winter). However, it highlighted concerns about linking this to a guaranteed PFD, which could maintain a deficit by taxing residents while distributing funds.
Gov. Dunleavy’s omnibus plan, outlined in Senate Bill 227, includes modest adjustments to oil taxes, the elimination of the corporate income tax to encourage business growth, and reliance on major oil and gas projects for revenue increases. The sales tax component, however, is described as regressive in the report. The plan also depends on a constitutional amendment to guarantee the PFD, requiring two-thirds legislative approval.
Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski, who has previously advocated for larger PFDs through legal action, commented at a news conference last week: “As I sit here, I’m not even sure there’s 50% approval for anything on the PFD. You’ve got some people who support a much higher PFD. You’ve got some people who support no PFD.”
In early February 2026, Alaska faces a $1.5 billion deficit in the proposed FY2027 budget, with $7.75 billion in spending and limited strategies to address the gap beyond projections on oil prices. Even with revisions to the 10-year plan, annual shortfalls of $200-300 million are anticipated after revenue measures, according to legislative analyst Alexei Painter.
The ISER report notes that inaction has reduced GDP by 2-3% over the past decade due to fiscal uncertainty. Lead economist Brett Watson described an “Alaska Disconnect,” where economic growth can strain the budget by attracting new residents who require services without corresponding broad-based revenue sources. For instance, an influx of 100,000 tech workers would necessitate additional PFD payments, schools, and infrastructure without proportional tax increases.
Remember the 2016 ISER study that helped birth the Percent-of-Market-Value (POMV) draw from the Permanent Fund? It showed similar proposals, PFD cuts regressive, oil taxes low-impact, but back then, we used it to cap draws and fund services without new taxes.
Long time policy and budget commentators like Brad Keithley have analyzed Gov. Dunleavy’s sales tax proposal, noting that 24-26% of revenue could come from non-residents, but it would still burden families unless exemptions are included. Even with adjustments, shortfalls persist, and alternatives like income taxes would primarily affect Alaskans.
The report’s data indicates that wealthier households would pay five to fourteen times more in sales taxes than the poorest, though the latter would lose a higher percentage of their income. It suggests options like seasonal sales taxes to shift 2-5% of the burden to non-residents and eliminating corporate taxes to stimulate economic activity, aligning with elements of Gov. Dunleavy’s plan.
The deep-pocketed elites and their legislative puppets, across both parties, block real reform because they benefit from no personal income tax, a gift from the Permanent Fund’s creation. Meanwhile, they philosophically oppose taxing to fund dividends, seeing PFD cuts as the easy out. But that’s cowardice! True conservatives like Dunleavy fight for the PFD as a return of resource wealth to the people, not government coffers.
Look at the history from Gov. Bill Walker’s 2016 veto slashing the PFD in half amid a $3-4B deficit, to Dunleavy’s 2019 standoff where he vetoed $444M to push for a full $2,910 check, only to get forced into $1,606.
Enough is enough. Dunleavy’s right to sacrifice political goodwill for a plan that stabilizes finances without socialist income taxes. But let’s go further, and axe wasteful programs, protect our oil sector (which funds 90% of unrestricted revenue), and enshrine the PFD constitutionally before the Democrats and RINOs turn it into another entitlement slush fund.
Alaska’s future relies on restrained government spending rather than expanded taxes or distributions.
On Friday, February 13, U.S. Representative Nick Begich’s office announced secured federal funds for “critical Community Project Funding (CPF) investments and infrastructure funding” for six Alaska communities.
The funding is part of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill.
Receiving the most amount of money is the City of Kodiak, who has been granted $5 million to upgrade its St. Hermans harbor.
Next, the City of Soldotna will receive $2.387 million to improve transportation infrastructure for Marydale Avenue.
The Petersburg Borough will receive $2 million to improve harbor protections and reduce storm damage.
$1.75 million goes to the Municipality of Anchorage to construct a new electric substation as part of the Port of Alaska Modernization Program.
The City of Ouzinkie will receive $1.1 million to modernize its harbor infrastructure.
Lastly, the City of Homer will receive $250,000 to replace aging float systems critical to operations at Homer Port Freight.
Alaska Watchman’s piece on baby boxes confronts a specific horror: a newborn left outside in an Alaska winter. That danger is real. The article notes HB 64 expands safe-surrender options through secure, climate-controlled baby boxes to keep panic and secrecy from becoming a death sentence. If lowering that final barrier, fear, saves even one life, it is a tool worth taking seriously.
But the article’s power, its focus on shocking and rare cases of infant abandonment, risks narrowing the public imagination. The last twenty years of infant loss in Alaska is not defined by abandonment (as few as 3 by some records, Alaska Public Media, 10/13, KTOO, 01/22, and Anchorage Police 11/24).
Alaska’s broader reality is quieter and larger. Infant death overwhelmingly comes from neonatal complications, congenital conditions, and from post-neonatal causes like sudden unexpected infant death. These deaths do not spark the same immediate outrage as a baby found outside, but they fill the real ledger of loss. If we only respond to the most visible tragedy, we protect our feelings more than we protect Alaska’s children.
Then there is the other ledger, upstream, quieter, and year after year numerically dominant: abortion. Alaska’s own reports put induced terminations in the low thousands annually. Regardless of one’s moral framework, any serious “life and death” discussion must admit the largest volume of life ended in Alaska is not a newborn left in the cold, but lives ended before birth. For some, that comparison will be morally decisive. For others, it will be contested. But it cannot be ignored if the conversation is to be about reality rather than rhetoric.
Alaska’s modern abortion regime has two distinct roots: statutory legalization and later constitutional entrenchment.
Statutorily, Alaska was an early mover. In 1970, Alaska joined a small handful of states that repealed major anti-abortion restrictions and permitted abortions more broadly often described at the time as allowing abortion “on request” (typically prior to viability and, in Alaska’s early framework, with a residency requirement). That legislative shift matters because it places Alaska among the pre-Roe states that liberalized abortion law through state action rather than federal compulsion.
The second foundation is judicial and constitutional.
In Valley Hospital Association v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice (1997), the Alaska Supreme Court struck down restrictions by a quasi-public hospital by treating abortion as protected under Alaska’s privacy clause (Article I, Section 22). Yet the opinion’s “chicken-and-egg” schizophrenia remains: it talks as if reproductive rights are fundamental, as if abortion is constitutional, and then as if it exists only because it is folded into privacy: three rationales for the same result. This move ridiculously locks the issue into constitutional interpretation rather than ordinary legislation.
In terms of “levels” by trimester, Alaska’s official Induced Termination of Pregnancy (ITOP) reporting organizes gestation by weeks, but the picture converts cleanly. In the last 20 years, Alaska Department of Health records disclose over 29,000 induced terminations occurring. The week-bands show that 26,000 to 27,000 were at or before 13 weeks, 1,700 to 2,300occurred at 14–20 weeks, and very small number later than that.
When the State opens the door to meandering morality, when it treats fundamental duties as negotiable, reframes evil as “complex,” or replaces clear norms with procedural loopholes, human nature rarely rises to the occasion. It adapts downward. People tend to do what is permitted, then what is tolerated, and eventually what is normalized. The boundary of conscience shifts to match the boundary of law; responsibility is externalized (“the system allowed it”), and the exceptional becomes routine.
In that environment, tools like baby boxes are not merely compassionate conveniences, they are emergency guardrails erected because we already know what human beings do when shame, fear, or desperation meets moral ambiguity: they look for the quiet exit, the hidden solution, the path of least resistance. A society that wants fewer tragedies cannot only build softer landings after the fall; it must also restore moral clarity so fewer people approach the ledge in the first place.
A sober takeaway is this: baby boxes are not the answer; they are an answer to one specific kind of failure: the moment a frightened or coerced parent believes there is no safe exit. In that sense, the Watchman article is right to treat baby boxes as a emergency off-ramp intervention: they do not solve the upstream crisis, but they can prevent a worst-case outcome.
If Alaska wants to be serious about the sacredness of human life, the ethic must be comprehensive, not selective. It should include baby boxes as a harm-reduction safeguard. It should also include relentless work on the dominant causes of infant death, prenatal care access, maternal support, neonatal resources, and safe-sleep education. And it should include a clear-eyed confrontation with why so many pregnancies end in abortion, and whether Alaska’s institutions are offering women in crisis anything more substantial than slogans.
The moral test is not whether we can be shocked by a newborn abandoned in winter. The test is whether we can build a society that makes that act less likely, makes infant death less common, and makes choosing life, before and after birth, more possible for the desperate, the poor, and the frightened.
