On July 1, the LGBTQ+ flag is still flying at Anchorage City Hall, even though Pride Month ended June 30. It may become a permanent feature under the current leadership of the city.
Today is also Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s first anniversary as mayor. Last week she presided over the raising of the rainbow and transgender flag over Anchorage as a part of the Pride Month celebrations, where she made sure the municipality had a strong presence, paid for by taxpayers.
The 41 illegal immigrants who were briefly being housed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex have been relocated to prisons in the Lower 48.
Alaska took the inmates in to help relieve overcrowding in a Tacoma ICE facility. Earlier this month, six of the inmates were then relocated, and the final 35 inmates left on Monday.
Their stay in Alaska was part of a renegotiated agreement that the State of Alaska Department of Corrections has with ICE, under which illegal immigrants who are awaiting deportation processes can be housed in Alaska prisons when space is available.
The ACLU-Alaska, Socialists, and Democrats decried the move, and the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to expose the matter as a violation of human rights.
Local left-leaning media has insinuated that Department of Corrections released the inmates based on the pressure from the ACLU, but the housing of the inmates was always a temporary measure and their removal from Alaska was under the control of ICE and was part of standard operations to get illegal aliens out of the United States as quickly as possible.
By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO
Alaska’s K–12 education system is collapsing under the weight of a bloated, centralized bureaucracy. Per Bob Griffin’s “Why aren’t teachers more upset?” June 30, 2025, MRAK piece, despite spending nearly $3 billion annually, about 5% of the state’s GDP, Alaska ranks near the bottom nationally in academic performance.
How many times and over how many years have writers at Must Read Alaska sounded the alarm? We have all diligently exposed the truth that Alaska’s education system is collapsing, not because of a lack of funding, but because it’s become a taxpayer-funded money tree for special interests instead of a pathway to student success. And yet, despite these warnings, how many Alaskans have looked the other way, stayed silent, or failed to act? The real shame isn’t just in the system’s failure.
It’s our collective complacency that allowed it to happen.
Griffin adroitly points out, in the 2023–24 school year, only 19.6% of K–12 education expenditures went to classroom teachers, according to the National Education Association. That means over 80% of the state’s education budget was diverted to non-instructional spending, including administration, facilities, and bureaucracy.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal for direct teacher bonuses rightly targeted this imbalance, acknowledging that the current system shortchanges educators while rewarding inefficiency.
The Alaska Education Reform and Local Control Act (see MRAK, February 21, 2025, “Alaska Education Freedom and Local Control Act Would Establish Parent Education Accounts And More”) offers a twofold solution: massive cost savings and improved academic outcomes. The numbers are revealing. Alaska spent $576 million to pay 7,315 teachers in 2023–24, while total K–12 spending reached $2.93 billion. A reasonable administrative and managerial expense for Alaska’s K–12 system should be no more than $234 million per year. Anything significantly higher is a sign of bureaucratic bloat and misplaced priorities.
The remaining funds did not enhance education. They sustained an administrative empire.
Just like the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, all 54 school district boards, and NEA-Alaska, none of these institutions teach a single child. Instead, they operate as part of a massive government money redistribution scheme. A scheme that the Alaskan public has largely been misled into supporting, driven by the loudest and most politically entrenched voices in the room.
Per-student spending nearly doubled between 2004 and 2024, from $11,432 to $22,747, yet teacher salaries only increased 51.3%, lagging the 59.7% rate of inflation. The financial discrepancy is not only unsustainable, but also morally bankrupt.
Is anyone listening to the warnings from Bob Griffin, Kevin McCabe, Suzanne Downing, David Boyle, and others? Alaska’s education system is not just failing; it is intellectually and financially bankrupt. The crisis is real, and without bold reform, we are condemning another generation of children to a future of dependency and decline.
Compounding the problem is Alaska’s underutilization of facilities. The Anchorage School District (ASD) projects only 12,000 K–5 students by 2029, despite maintaining capacity for 25,000. Yet instead of consolidating space, ASD is spending $50 million to expand Inlet View Elementary, while other half-empty campuses suffer from over $1 billion in deferred maintenance. Compare this to Winterberry Charter School, which built its entire facility for just $3.5 million. The contrast is clear: community-driven schools deliver results at a fraction of the cost.
This stark difference in outcomes is no accident. As Bob Griffin highlights, Alaska’s charter and correspondence schools educate more students with fewer staff and at significantly lower costs. These schools average 110 students per teacher. This frees up traditional schools to operate at an extremely low 13.5 student-to-teacher ratio. Yet instead of learning from this efficiency, Alaska’s education system continues to sink billions into buildings and bureaucracy, sidelining the very students and teachers it claims to serve.
The Alaska Education Reform and Local Control Act proposes a structural reset that puts students and communities, not bureaucracies, at the center of education. In 2023–24, Alaska spent $576 million on teachers, just a fraction of the $2.93 billion total K–12 budget. Administrative and managerial costs alone accounted for an estimated $234 million. By cutting just 10% of overall non-instructional spending, including waste in bloated district offices and underutilized facilities, the state could free up nearly $300 million per year. That’s money that could go directly into teacher pay, student programs, or back into the pockets of Alaskans through tax relief. In real terms, this isn’t just a reform, it’s a recovery of misused public funds for the benefit of children, educators, and taxpayers.
Importantly, the Act is also grounded in strong legal precedent. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot exclude religious schools from publicly funded education programs. This decision, alongside Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (2017) and Carson v. Makin (2022), reaffirms that education funding must follow students regardless of whether they choose secular or religious institutions. These decisions strengthen the constitutional foundation of the Alaska Education Reform and Local Control Act and support policies that prioritize parental choice and student needs over bureaucratic preservation.
Governor Dunleavy’s direct bonus plan for teachers was a step in the right direction, recognizing that educators are the cornerstone of student success. But more than one-time bonuses are needed. We must overhaul the way Alaska delivers education. With targeted reinvestment into teachers and streamlined, community-focused governance, we can improve Alaska’s bottom-five national rankings in math, reading, and graduation rates.
This is more than an efficiency issue, it’s a moral one. Alaska’s education system, as currently designed, dooms too many of its children to lives of dependency, poverty, and disillusionment. It fails to prepare them for the economic and civic responsibilities of adulthood. It traps families in a cycle of low expectations and limited opportunity.
If we do nothing, we condemn another generation to academic failure and economic dependence. But if we act to support and pass the Alaska Education Reform and Local Control Act, we will save our children, restore purpose to public education, and reclaim a future of independence, prosperity, and dignity.
This is not just a conservative proposal. It is a necessary revolution. For the sake of Alaska’s children, teachers, and taxpayers, it’s time to stop funding failure and start funding the future.
Michael Tavoliero writes for Must Read Alaska.
In the end, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill, a budget and priorities package crafted by Republicans. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote. All Democrats voted against the bill, along with Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine.
Lasting about 28 hours, it was the longest vote-a-rama in Senate history. The bill, being a reconciliation bill, only required a simple majority.
The bill contains the largest tax cut for middle-class and working-class families. There will be no tax on tips or overtime hours worked. There’s a massive investment in border security and removing illegal criminal aliens.
The bill extends the Trump tax cuts from his first administration, doubles the child tax credit to $2,000 from $1,000, doubles the standard deduction, creates the 20% small business deduction, and doubles the death tax exemption.
“The Senate’s passage of HR1 marks a turning point for energy independence and Alaskan prosperity. By streamlining permitting and unlocking access to our vast oil, gas, and critical mineral reserves, this bill gives Alaska the tools to power America while creating high-paying jobs for our communities. It’s a win for national security, a win for our state’s economy, and a win for every family struggling with high energy costs,” said Brett Huber, of Power the Future.
Nagruk Harcharek, president of the Voice of Arctic Iñupiat (VOICE) sent a statement of support:
“The Senate’s vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included provisions that will restore the opportunity to have local control and self-determination in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The reconciliation bill offers opportunities to strengthen our economy, invest in our communities, and uphold our Indigenous culture. Today’s development reaffirms that Alaska’s North Slope – which the North Slope Iñupiat have stewarded for thousands of years – is vital to our nation. Going forward, it is imperative that federal and congressional decisionmakers engage regularly and often with our regional and local elected leaders to ensure that our Indigenous perspective is included in the policymaking process. Through cooperation, we can drive forward lasting progress for America and the North Slope Iñupiat.”
Reportedly, Murkowski won concessions for rural hospitals, doubling the amount from $25 billion to $50 billion.
The bill must return to the House of Representatives for a final agreement on changes made in the Senate.
President Trump, in advance of the final votes, wrote that the OBBB, as it is known, “gives the largest Tax Cuts and Border Security ever, Jobs by the Millions, Military/Vets increases, and so much more,” and warned that failure to pass the bill would result in a “whopping 68% Tax increase, the largest in history!!!”
Before the bill passed, Sen. Chuck Schumer was successful in a motion to remove the name “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” from the bill’s title.
This story will be updated.
A key provision to block Medicaid funding to abortion provider Planned Parenthood will remain in the One Big Beautiful Bill after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Monday that the language indeed complies with the chamber’s strict budget reconciliation rules.
The provision, which would bar Medicaid reimbursements for one year to “prohibited entities” that perform abortions was revised late Friday by GOP leaders in an effort to meet the criteria of the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which the Parliamentarian is supposed to follow. That rule limits what can be included in reconciliation bills, which are bills that can pass with a simple majority and cannot be filibustered.
The language does not specifically name Planned Parenthood, but it is the only national organization impacted by the restriction.
Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine broke from Republicans and joined Democrats in supporting an amendment by Washington Democrat Sen. Patty Murray that would have restored the funding. The Murray amendment was defeated 49-51.
On Tuesday morning, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said she is the ground at the Capitol for the Senate vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill, “a historic move to end forced taxpayer funding of Big Abortion. If it passes, it’ll be the biggest pro-life victory since Dobbs!”
The Parliamentarian’s ruling clears the path for Senate Republicans to include the one-year Planned Parenthood funding ban in the final bill, which they aim to pass using the reconciliation process without needing Democratic support. As of this writing, the Senate is moving into its 28th hour of voting on amendments to the bill, as Democrats seek to abort the bill entirely. Vice President JD Vance is on hand to break a possible tie vote.
Politico reported Monday that “Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s ability to pass the “big, beautiful bill” is hinging on Sen. Lisa Murkowski.”
Murkowski has been the subject of “an intense whip effort by GOP leaders over the past couple of hours as they try to offer her reassurances on Medicaid and food assistance. Thune, Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso talked to Murkowski on the floor for roughly an hour overnight. Thune and Murkowski huddled briefly in his office, and they were mum on details when they emerged shortly before 4 a.m.,” Politico reported.
Murkowski was holding out in an attempt to get more Medicaid money for Alaska and to preserve grants for so-called green energy.
Attorney General Treg Taylor announced Monday that Alaska has reached a settlement with TTAM, the nonprofit entity poised to acquire most of 23andMe’s assets — including customer DNA data — through federal bankruptcy proceedings in Missouri.
“I’m pleased that my office’s aggressive approach to protecting Alaskans’ privacy paid off,” said Attorney General Taylor. “But I know there are a lot of people out there who don’t realize that the samples and data they gave to 23andMe could soon be controlled by a different entity. If you know somebody who took a 23andMe test, I encourage you to make sure they are aware of their right to have this sensitive information deleted.”
The agreement guarantees that Alaskans will receive privacy protections beyond those offered to residents of other states. According to the settlement, only those Alaskans who affirmatively consented to data or DNA sample sharing with third parties—or agreed to have their samples “biobanked”—will have that information accessed by TTAM.
For Alaskans who did not opt in, their personal data will not be shared with TTAM unless they later provide explicit consent.
Alaskans who previously consented to sharing their genetic data or biobanking their samples still have the right to request that 23andMe destroy the samples and delete their personal information. These requests can be made through individual 23andMe account settings.
Per the court’s order, TTAM may assume control of the data as early as 8:59 pm Alaska time on July 7. However, even after the transfer, TTAM has agreed to permanently honor deletion requests from former 23andMe users.
For Alaskans who never provided additional consents to 23andMe, data deletion may be requested immediately. Otherwise, the data will be automatically deleted after 12 months.
The settlement is reflected in the Alaska only terms described in the last pages of the court’s order, available at this link.
Additionally, Alaskans who believe they may have a claim against 23andMe, whether related to the 2023 data breach or other issues, must file a proof of claim. Forms are available online and must be submitted electronically or by mail no later than 4:59 pm CT on July 14 to be considered.
By BOB GRIFFIN
Governor Dunleavy was right to propose direct bonus payments to teachers. He understands that most of the money we dedicate to K-12 gets intercepted before it makes it to classroom teachers.
In the 2023-24 school year, Alaska spent $576 million for salaries for 7,315 teachers statewide, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. That was just 19.6% of the total $2.93 billion in K-12 expenditures Alaska made that year, according to the National Education Association (NEA). That means over 80% of what Alaskan’s spent on educating their kids went to buildings, bureaucracies and other elements, instead of direct compensation for teachers.
Between 2004-2024 average Alaska teacher salaries increased just 51.3% according to the NEA, while Alaska inflation was 59.7%. At the same time, overall, per student spending in Alaska increased 99.0% from $11,432/student to $22,747/student.
The actual spending on K-12 for kids in traditional brick-and-mortar schools in Alaska was closer to $28,000/student/year because of 23,000 correspondence school students who only accounted for about 4% overall K-12 expenditures.
In 2023-24, the 7,315 teachers in Alaska were charged with educating 119,096 students in Average Daily Attendance (ADA) — or 16.3 students per teacher. The actual student to teacher ratio for Alaska kids in traditional brick-and-mortar schools is significantly lower — when considering the 23,000 correspondence school students.
Correspondence programs average ratios of 110 students per teacher. That means the more traditional schools in Alaska only had 13.5 students in average daily attendance per teacher – slightly lower than the US average of 13.9 according to the NEA.
The trend of teachers becoming a smaller share of overall expenditures not unique to Alaska. It literally takes more than twice as many adult employees to educate our kids as it did a few decades ago – and the results are arguably worse.
No other industry sector has experienced this level of productivity implosion. In 1950 it took 52 school employees per 1,000 students to run US schools. In 2020 it took 135. It would be hard to imagine a grocery store staying in business very long if they had to pay for more than double the number of checkout clerks they had in 1970’s, for a store of the same size.
Underutilization of facilities is also robbing resources from classrooms. The Anchorage School District currently has the capacity for roughly 25,000 students in K-5 elementary schools. By their own projections, ASD will have only around 12,000 kids in those schools by 2029 — when considering the large number of K-5 kids in correspondence and charter school programs that are not housed in ASD facilities.
When combining facility underutilization with the rapid escalation in the cost to build and maintain school building, we can start to build the picture of how we diverting more resources away from our educators and their classrooms.
In 2015, ASD did a major renovation of Airport Heights Elementary School — extending some classrooms, adding a multi-purpose room, a music room and mechanical room. That project cost a little over $20 million, including planning. The previous year, Winterberry Charter School was able to construct their entire campus, from and undeveloped site, with roughly the same student enrollment as Airport Heights, for $3.5 million.
With the backdrop of severe underutilization of elementary floorspace, ASD is now in the middle of a $50 million project to double the size of Inlet View Elementary School, while the remaining underutilized ASD campuses have more than $1 Billion in deferred maintenance.
Alaska dedicates a lot of resources to K-12 – about 5% of our state GDP — higher than every other state except Wyoming. That’s a higher percentage of GDP than the US government contributes to defense spending.
The quality of teachers is critical to success of students. Teachers in Alaska and across the US, should be upset that buildings and bureaucracies appear to be a higher priority than their pay.
Bob Griffin is on the board of Alaska Policy Forum and served on the Alaska Board of Education and Early Development.
The US Department of Justice on Monday announced criminal charges against 324 individuals — including 96 licensed medical professionals — as part of the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. The operation spanned 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices and targeted alleged schemes that sought to defraud federal health care programs of more than $14.6 billion.
No cases were reported in Alaska, but transnational gangs and cartels figure strongly in this law enforcement sting.
The coordinated effort is touted as the largest in the DOJ’s history for health care fraud. It involved federal and state agencies across the nation, including the FBI, DEA, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The cases included fraud related to opioid distribution, telemedicine abuse, genetic testing, durable medical equipment scams, and money laundering operations tied to transnational criminal organizations.
In one of the most significant cases, a network of foreign-owned companies submitted $10.6 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare using the stolen identities of more than one million Americans. The DOJ said 12 of the 19 defendants were arrested, including several captured in Estonia and at US border crossings, as part of “Operation Gold Rush.”
Among the 324 defendants charged were doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who allegedly engaged in fraudulent billing practices, illegal kickbacks, unnecessary medical procedures, and the distribution of opioids. More than 15 million pills of controlled substances were allegedly diverted in the schemes, which impacted vulnerable populations across the country, including Native American communities and the homeless.
Authorities also seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets linked to the fraud schemes. Civil actions were brought against 20 additional defendants involving $14.2 million in alleged fraud, and civil settlements with 106 defendants totaled $34.3 million.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in a related enforcement measure, reported that it had prevented over $4 billion in fraudulent payments and suspended or revoked billing privileges for 205 providers leading up to the Takedown.
The DOJ is also launching a new Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center to integrate data analysts from multiple agencies using cloud computing and AI to identify and respond to fraud in real time — part of an initiative tied to a presidential executive order to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs.
“The Criminal Division is intensely committed to rooting out health care fraud schemes and prosecuting the criminals who perpetrate them because these schemes: (1) often result in physical patient harm through medically unnecessary treatments or failure to provide the correct treatments; (2) contribute to our nationwide opioid epidemic and exacerbate controlled substance addiction; and (3) do all of that while stealing money hardworking Americans contribute to pay for the care of their elders and other vulnerable citizens,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Division’s Health Care Fraud Unit and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices stand united with our law enforcement partners in this fight, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the integrity of our health care programs for the American people.”
“The scale of today’s Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable,” said Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins of HHS-OIG. “Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”
“Health care fraud drains critical resources from programs intended to help people who truly need medical care,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to pursuing those who exploit the system for personal gain. With more than $13 billion in fraud uncovered, this is the largest takedown for this initiative to date. Together, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable who steal from the American people and undermine our health care systems.”
The DOJ emphasized that this year’s operation reflects a continuing, aggressive approach to uncovering and prosecuting health care fraud. Since 2007, the Department’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force has charged over 5,400 defendants for schemes totaling more than $27 billion in fraudulent billing.
“This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Make no mistake – this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”
“As part of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, HHS will aggressively work with our law enforcement partners to eliminate the pervasive health care fraud that bedeviled this agency under the former administration and drove up costs,” said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Alaskans visiting Washington state will find gas prices shockingly high, as that state is nearing $1 a gallon gas tax.
Starting July 1, Washington’s gas tax climbs once again — for the 21st time. The new hike brings Washington’s base gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon, plus the estimated 40 cents per gallon from the state’s Climate Commitment Act, a carbon pricing program passed in 2021. That totals an eye-watering 95.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and over $1.01 per gallon for diesel.
Before that hike goes into effect, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Washington state is approximately $4.45, significantly higher than the national average of $3.21 per gallon, and higher than what Anchorage drivers typically pay, which is $3.56 a gallon.
This latest increase in Washington state stems from a 2025 legislative package that included a 6-cent hike in the state’s gas tax. Though the tax itself is nothing new — it’s been around since 1921, when a gallon of gas was taxed at just one penny — the economic context has changed drastically. So has the way Washington residents get around, with a rising number of drivers switching to electric vehicles, which don’t pay gas taxes at all, shifting the tax burden to the poor. The new legislation will now adjust it upward for inflation every year.
Washington leans on its gas tax to fund infrastructure, roads, ferries, and transit projects. In recent years, however, the landscape has shifted. As EV adoption grows and fuel efficiency improves, traditional gas tax revenues are becoming less reliable. There are more than 180,000 electric cars on the roads now in Washington state — still a small fraction of the vehicles, but growing.
To compensate, lawmakers added revenue from the state’s Climate Commitment Act, which operates under a cap-and-invest model — essentially a carbon pricing system that auctioned off emission allowances. The proceeds act as an indirect tax on fuel consumption, and in 2025, it’s estimated to add roughly 40 cents per gallon to fuel costs. Washington’s total tax burden at the pump is among the highest in the country, exceeding $1.10 per gallon for gasoline.
To compare, the gas tax in Alaska is 8.95 cents per gallon for gasoline and diesel, which is the lowest in the United States. This rate includes state excise taxes and related fees paid at the pump.
In addition to the state tax in Washington, motorists in all states pay s a federal excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel.
Based on fuel consumption data from the US Energy Information Administration, in 2022 Washington state used approximately 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline and 0.6 billion gallons of diesel.
This brings is more than $2.991 billion annually to the state.
As the state tax approaches the $1-per-gallon mark, it places an a larger burden on rural communities, lower-income drivers, and those who can’t afford to transition to electric vehicles.
And tomorrow, that gets just a little heavier for those in Washington state who do not drive electric cars.