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Mayor Bronson launches ‘Project Anchorage’ task force

Suzanne Downing
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Mayor Bronson launches ‘Project Anchorage’ task force

Mayor Dave Bronson announced the creation of a task force of business, civic, and community leaders who will help devise strategies and ideas to make Anchorage a more attractive place for tourists to visit, businesses to invest, and residents to live.

The 11-member “Project Anchorage,”  task force will play a critical role in developing policy recommendations that will help enhance Anchorage’s economy and livability in the years to come, his office said.

“The creation of this taskforce – Project Anchorage – comes at a critical point in Anchorage’s history. We can’t go down the path of being a declining oil-boom town,” Bronson said. “I’m compelled to help create an Anchorage that is thriving, dynamic, and growing – a place where our children want to live when they get older. We must implement forward thinking and positive polices that attract talent, increase business investment, and enhance the quality of life for our residents. I’ve charged this taskforce to think big and put all options on the table. We want the 2020s to be Anchorage’s decade!”

The task force will be comprised of the following organizations and entities:

  1. Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
  2. Anchorage Downtown Partnership
  3. Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
  4. Visit Anchorage
  5. Anchorage Parks Foundation
  6. Alaska Hospitality Retailers
  7. A member of the Assembly
  8. Eklutna Inc.
  9. Girdwood Chamber of Commerce
  10.  Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce
  11.  Anchorage Community Development Authority

The task force will rely on the work done by consultant Roger Brooks, who conducted an in-depth survey of Anchorage from the perspective of an investor, visitor, and citizen. AEDC and other organizations brought Mr. Brooks to Anchorage, to help inform leaders on how to make our city, and downtown in particular, a better place for visitors, businesses, and residents.

“Downtown has incredible potential to be a vibrant, connected hub of activity that draws tourists and future residents,” said Assembly Member Daniel Volland. “As an Assembly Member and downtown business owner, I’m excited to work with the Mayor and other stakeholders on envisioning a downtown experience that befits our northern city of the future.”

“As a long-time Anchorage resident and business professional, I look forward to contributing to the taskforce by creating recommendations to improve our community,” said Bruce Bustamante, President & CEO, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. “Now is the time to take action with both short-term and long-term initiatives to improve transportation, connect trails and create wayfinding. I am pleased to be invited and to involve the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce as this effort is critically important to the future of our community.”

“Our city’s ability to generate new investment is directly dependent on our capacity to attract and retain a growing and skilled workforce,” said Bill Popp, CEO, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. “As one of the lead partners that brought Mr. Brooks to Anchorage to assess our city’s approachability to workforce, visitors, and investors AEDC is excited to be a part of this task force the Mayor has formed that will lead the effort to implement the recommendations presented. This effort will be an important part of our success as a city in the coming years that will make our city an even better place to live, work, and play. 

“I want to thank the members of the taskforce for helping our city move forward into a bright future,” Bronson said.

Mayor Bronson has requested the taskforce present recommendations and policy initiatives by the end of 2022, to provide time for evaluation and implementation prior to the 2023 building and tourism season.

Fish, family, food stamps: Rep. Peltola’s ‘SNAP benefits for vets’ bill passes House

Suzanne Downing
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Fish, family, food stamps: Rep. Peltola’s ‘SNAP benefits for vets’ bill passes House

The first bill introduced by Congresswoman Mary Peltola raced through the committee process and was quickly passed by the House of Representatives in just 10 days. Some are calling the bill the Hooked on Handouts Act, but it’s formally known as House Resolution 8888, creating an Office of Food Security for veterans. Rather than increasing veterans’ pay, it gets them to use government programs to survive.

The bill focuses on encouraging veterans to apply for food stamps, or SNAP benefits, or WIC benefits. It sets up the office in the Department of Veterans Affairs and will create a mini-bureaucracy devoted to getting veterans hooked on government benefits.

The bill now will be considered by the Senate.

Peltola’s first bill in Congress: Get more veterans on food stamps
On Second Amendment: Peltola, now representing Alaska in Congress, supports gun control, gets a ‘D’ from NRA

Murkowski, Sullivan introduce Don Young Recognition Act, naming a volcano and two buildings after congressman

Suzanne Downing
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Murkowski, Sullivan introduce Don Young Recognition Act, naming a volcano and two buildings after congressman

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan on Thursday introduced the Don Young Recognition Act, honoring the legacy of the late Don Young, “Congressman for All Alaska.” The legislation designates one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, currently known as Mount Cerberus, as Mount Young.

Mount Cerebus in the Aleutian chain would be renamed Mount Young under the Don Young Recognition Act.

The bill recognizes Congressman Young’s lifelong contributions to Alaska by designating the Federal office building in Fairbanks as the Don Young Federal Office Building and the Job Corps Center located in Palmer as the Don Young Alaska Job Corps Center.

Congressman Young, Dean of the House, passed away on March 18, 2022 after serving Alaska in the House of Representatives for 49 years.

“During Congressman Young’s decades long career of service, he made an outsized impact on our state. He loved the people of Alaska with every ounce of his being. His loyalty and commitment to the betterment of all who call Alaska home was evident throughout his work. He was determined and effective, shepherding critical legislation into law that impact generations,” said Senator Murkowski. “Through this legislation, my goal is that we not only pay tribute to a great man who did so much for our state, but that it ensures that what he has done for Alaskans is not forgotten. Don Young moved mountains for Alaska, it’s only fitting we name one after him–even if it is a bit unpredictable.”

“Don Young left an indelible mark on the state he loved so much through his decades of service in Congress,” said Senator Sullivan. “Having fought so hard for countless federal investments, projects and economic opportunities for Alaskans, it is a fitting tribute for some of these projects and lands to bear his name. Future generations will be reminded of this larger-than-life Alaskan, a true man of the people, who was ceaselessly invested in improving the livelihoods of Alaskans.”

Following Congressman Young’s passing, Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan introduced a resolution which passed the Senate unanimously in March of 2022, celebrating Congressman Young’s life and legacy.

Idaho property owners v. EPA will be first case heard by Supreme Court when new season starts on Monday

Suzanne Downing
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23
Idaho property owners v. EPA will be first case heard by Supreme Court when new season starts on Monday

A case that has strong implications in wetlands-rich Alaska has made it to the U.S. Supreme Court calendar and will be the first case heard by the high court when it convenes on Monday, Oct. 3, for its 2022-2023 term.

The case is Sackett v. EPA and stems from a lawsuit brought by a family in Idaho who was prevented in 2007 by the EPA from building a home on a piece of property that they bought in 2004 in a residential subdivision near Priest Lake, where other homes were built. The Sacketts paid $23,000 for their non-waterfront lot and had received all their local building permits, when the EPA swept in and locked up the land, declaring it a navigable waterway that falls under federal jurisdiction.

This will be the second time the case has gone before the Supreme Court. The Sacketts won a 9-0 victory at the Supreme Court in 2012, in which the court said they had a right to have their case heard by lower courts. That was 10 years ago. Now, nearly two decades after they purchased their land, they will get to argue before the Supreme Court that they have a right to build their home without having to get federal Clean Water Act permits.

The EPA, in its order to stop the ground work they were doing on their property that is 300 feet from the lake, claimed the Sacketts’ construction violated the Clean Water Act because the land was federally regulated “navigable water.” The EPA provided no proof that the land was actually navigable water.

The Sackett property is between two roads, and is not even lakefront property.

Former Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell was the first governor to file a legal brief on behalf of the Sacketts.

The Sacketts are being represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Sacketts’ dispute “has languished in lower courts without resolution. The only progress in the decade since has been the EPA’s removal of the compliance order in 2020,” wrote the foundation.

“With the question of federal jurisdiction—and their homebuilding dreams—still in limbo, the Sacketts are returning to the Supreme Court. This time, they’re asking the court to clarify the scope of the EPA’s regulatory powers under the CWA. At stake is whether the EPA can expand the definition of “navigable waters”—which limits their authority—to include any semi-soggy parcel of land in the country,” the legal nonprofit wrote.

“A win would vindicate the Sacketts’ right to finally build their home and the rights of all landowners to make reasonable use of their property without abuse by overzealous federal regulators,” the foundation wrote.

EarthJustice disagrees, and has filed its own briefs in this case.

“The Sacketts’ case against the EPA, however, is not about a parcel of land, let alone a lake house, but is a coordinated push by industry polluters that want to blow a hole in the Clean Water Act, bulldoze cherished wetlands, and contaminate the country’s streams with waste from mining, oil and gas, and agro-industrial operations as they see fit, just to maximize their profits,” EarthJustice wrote.

Earthjustice’s amicus brief is on behalf of 18 tribes. “We will continue fighting to uphold and strengthen the Clean Water Act,” the group wrote.

Alaska federal disaster assistance increased to 100% of eligible recovery costs after western storm damage

Suzanne Downing
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15
Alaska federal disaster assistance increased to 100% of eligible recovery costs after western storm damage

While the nation’s eyes glued to Florida and Hurricane Ian’s path of destruction, Western Alaska is still recovering from major storm damage that occurred two weeks ago. Although the number of people impacted is smaller than in densely populated Florida, the disaster to some communities is nearly as great, and a flurry of work is under way now, work that is expected to continue for months, even as cold weather sets in.

A C-130 cargo plane should be arriving in Nome today full of building material and other necessities. A barge has arrived in Golovin from Nome with building materials, and Fish and Game is reminding people in Western Alaska that they can use hunting proxies if they are elderly or disabled.

President Joe Biden has amended the disaster declaration for Western Alaska to increase the level of federal funding for the recovery. The federal funding that was set at 75 percent of the total eligible costs, but has now been increased to 100 percent for the first 30 days of the incident period. That is the same reimbursement level that Biden guaranteed for the major disaster caused by Hurricane Ian.

Alaska’s west coast storm, a remnant from a Pacific typhoon, has destroyed several dozen homes and severely damaged others. Many structures that were seasonal subsistence shacks and sheds were also destroyed, as was the subsistence equipment stored in those structures.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared the disaster on Sept. 17, the day the storm hit. By Sept. 21, he issued a request for a Presidential Disaster Declaration. Two days later, the Biden Administration approved the declaration, which has already brought significant aid to the region and activated a comprehensive response from the Federal Emergency Management Agencies.

National Guard

This is one of the largest national guard activation in many years in Alaska. Over 120 personnel from the Alaska National Guard, Alaska State Defense Force, and Alaska Naval Militia Alaska (Alaska Organized Militia – AKOM) are on orders for disaster response and are deploying by aircraft to hub communities and then to local communities to assist with materials for immediate emergency temporary residential repair and storm debris cleanup, including clearing public areas and assisting private residences.

Some 80 members of the National Guard were deployed to Bethel and 30 to Nome, with additional personnel providing support.

Guard teams have also been sent to Hooper Bay, Newtok, Tununak, Golovin, and Shaktoolik, with teams heading to Chevak and Nightmute. The Alaska National Guard is deploying personnel to Koyuk with 5,000 sandbags to rebuild a damaged embankment in the community.

Alaska National Guard and other forces have removed more than 65 tons of debris as of Tuesday from affected communities and worked over 2,000 man-hours. The State Emergency Operation center has extended orders for some Alaska Organized Militia service members through Oct. 7 to meet ongoing response needs in communities.

Department of Environmental Conservation

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is working on reports of local contaminant spills and water/wastewater issues in Branch I and II, which are the southern and middle parts of where the storm hit.

DEC is evaluating community water systems in the storm impact area and is publishing boil water notices as appropriate. DEC has deployed a representative to the Anchorage-based U.S. Coast Guard Incident Command Post to coordinate assessment and clean-up efforts. The Coast Guard completed preliminary environmental impact surveys with DEC. The Coast Guard has assessed 32 communities for pollution concerns and noted significant concerns only persist in Chevak.

The Coast Guard reports that storm impacts have not impacted west coast communities from receiving bulk fuel deliveries with over-the-shore “soft hose” delivery available in places where the usual systems are inoperable.

Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys is in the storm impact area collecting high-water marks to record and calibrate the storm’s historical impact.

The National Weather Service is utilizing the division’s findings to adjust forecasting for impacted communities due to the seawall and sea barrier damages.

Department of Transportation

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has reopened all airports in the storm impact area and is working to repair roads and state facilities.

Crews continue to assess roads across the impacted area and have started drone surveys in several communities. Crews are also assisting local jurisdictions with repairs as possible. Maintenance and Operations Division is repairing damaged portions of the Nome-Council roadway.

DOT is providing contract support for emergency building material deployment in Golovin.

United States Army Corps of Engineers continues to complete surveys in the affected areas. Teams deployed to Shishmaref, Unalakleet, and Kivalina this week for additional site surveys. USACE contractors surveyed the Nome port and determined the port is safe to operate normally, though the west side of the entrance sustained shoaling.

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

ANTHC has received community donated salmon and ANTHC Native foods program manager is storing it prior to delivery to communities in need.

Branch I:
Teams visited the following communities: Chefornak, Chevak, Hooper Bay, Kipnuk, Napakiak, Napaskiak, Newtok, Scammon Bay, and Tununak.

Napaskiak sustained damage to the garbage dump and planned to hire locally to assist with community cleanup. Napakiak sustained damage to the school heating system, which has been offline since the storm, but new parts have arrived and full repairs are planned this week.

Branch II:
Teams completed flights to Golovin, Elim, Unalakleet, Stebbins, Koyuk, and Kotlik last week. State Department of Health is providing the community of St. Michaels personal protective equipment and technical assistance for re-internment of human remains.

Branch III:
The State Emergency Operation Center has been in contact with the Northwest Arctic Borough’s incident management team as well as the communities of Kivalina, Deering, and Wainwright. There are no reports of damage at this time.

Legislative committee’s report on the firing of Permanent Fund director Rodell disappoints partisan Dunleavy critics

Suzanne Downing
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12
Legislative committee’s report on the firing of Permanent Fund director Rodell disappoints partisan Dunleavy critics

For several hours on Wednesday, lawyers hired by the Alaska Legislative Budget and Audit Committee attempted to get through their presentation of their final report to the committee, which had hired them to dig into why Angela Rodell was fired last December by the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees.

But the investigators were interrupted repeatedly by the lawmakers.

Rodell, when she was fired, threatened political retribution against the Permanent Fund trustees, a point that was brought up Wednesday by attorneys for Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, the law firm hired by the committee for $100,000 to investigate whether Rodell herself had been targeted by the Dunleavy Administration.

The partisan lawmakers on the committee completely ignored the fact that Rodell had made a political threat. And they ignored the fact that attorneys found no such involvement by Gov. Dunleavy, as Rodell had alleged to the committee last winter.

The $150,000 of public funds got the committee a 65-page report — costing the state over $1,700 per page. The most damaging finding was that the trustees could have had a better process for firing Rodell, but that finding was softened by the statement that when a board loses confidence in a CEO, the board members don’t have to produce any specific one incident that leads them to fire the CEO. The board’s loss of confidence is legally sufficient. Members of the Permanent Fund Board of Trustees had different reasons, but all but one of them shared a loss of confidence in Rodell. The presentation showed that Rodell had simply not managed the relationship between herself and her bosses.

The conclusions were not making Rep. Andy Josephson happy. A trial attorney himself, he kept interrupting and badgering the presenting attorneys to agree with him that Rodell could easily sue the state for damages for being fired. He kept trying to figure out a way to make the trustees appear they’d done something illegal. The attorneys were not going along with Josephson, however. After all, anyone can sue for being fired.

A few of the committee members — Josephson, Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, and Sen. Natasha von Imhof, especially — felt it was more important that they make extensive and interruptive comments than that the presentation could continue in an organized fashion. This constant interruption appeared to be because they were not getting the answers they wanted.

Attorneys Howard Trickey and Chris Slottee, sitting before the committee and attempting to get through their presentation, were repeatedly quizzed by the legislators who usually also vociferously oppose the governor and who were eager to put words in the attorneys’ mouths and recharacterize their comments for the record.

At times, the presenting attorneys reminded the committee that the specific concerns the Permanent Fund trustees raised about Rodell’s firing would come later in their presentation. If they could get to it.

In one instance that illustrates the willful disregard of facts being presented to them, Committee Chairwoman von Imhof stated on the record that the trustees “only” used the negative comments made by staff members, and had ignored all the positive comments.

That was not what the investigating attorneys had repeatedly told the committee. They said that Permanent Fund Board trustees relied more heavily on the negative comments by the fund’s investment staff than on positive comments made during Rodell’s evaluation.

The attorneys showed professional patience with the committee but were not able to advance through the presentation, as the interrogations and comments by committee members ended up dominating the committee hearing, which lasted several hours.

Takeaways from the official report to the committee:

  • Nothing in the official report paid for by the committee contradicts anything in the independent review paid for by the trustees themselves.
  • The investment staff of the Permanent Fund Corporation were increasingly critical of Rodell’s management, as evidenced by the “360” review that the trustees conducted.
  • Rodell interfered with the board’s own election of its officers, discouraging them from electing Lucinda Mahoney as vice chair.
  • The board could have used a more consistent form of performance measurements throughout the years that Rodell was at the helm and could have provided more clear standards for management performance.
  • There is no credible evidence supporting Rodell’s claim to the Legislature that she was fired by the governor or that he was involved in any way in her performance review or firing.

Rodell was executive director of the fund from 2015 until December 2021. She had been appointed by former Gov. Bill Walker, who had actually wanted to hire his political ally Brian Rogers of Fairbanks, who was then the chancellor of University of Alaska Fairbanks. Rodell had been part of the Parnell Administration as commissioner of Revenue. But Walker was pressured to hire someone with actual investment experience, which Rodell, former commissioner of Revenue has. Her performance reviews were relatively positive until about 2018, when they began to deteriorate and her scores on her evaluations fell year after year.

The Permanent Fund trustees tried to maintain Rodell’s privacy during the process of announcing her firing last December, but she chose to make it a political firestorm, having warned them that she would do so.

deposition-quotes-9.26.22Download

When former board Chairman Craig Richards, who was first appointed by Walker to the board in 2015, and has been reappointed by Dunleavy, was called up in front of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee last winter to describe why Rodell was fired, he demurred out of respect for employment privacy concerns. But the ensuing investigation has shown the board was justified, as it no longer trusted Rodell, and felt she was manipulating the board and pursuing her own political agenda.

Dunleavy reappoints Craig Richards to Permanent Fund Corp. board

All the committee was left with on Wednesday was an idea that Jospheson, von Imhof, and Spohnholz advanced: They want the Legislature to take control of who is appointed to the Permanent Fund Board of Trustees and remove the ability of the governor to appoint members of his cabinet to the board.

The Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt report and presentation is at this legislative link.

The trustees’ report, conducted simultaneously, was released on Tuesday to Must Read Alaska, as a result of a public records request, and is in this earlier story:

Bombshell report: Former head of Permanent Fund Corp. threatened political retribution and launched ‘vitriolic diatribe’ against Board of Trustees

Incoming: Temporary flight restriction for Air Force 2 refueling at JBER, after Harris flubs South Korea speech

Suzanne Downing
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Incoming: Temporary flight restriction for Air Force 2 refueling at JBER, after Harris flubs South Korea speech

She’s wheels up from Seoul, South Korea. Pilots around Anchorage will be observing a FAA Temporary Flight Restriction on Thursday morning, due to the incoming flight of Air Force 2, with Vice President Kamala Harris on board, fresh from her trip to Japan and South Korea.

The restriction starts at 16:30 UTC, or about 8:30 am Alaska time, until about 11:45 am. Last week a TFR was in place when Harris was en route to Japan for the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and for a diplomatic trip to South Korea. The stopover at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson is a routine fuel stop. Harris is not scheduled to leave Air Force 2 to meet with local officials.

While in South Korea, Harris met with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul and visited the visit the Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ, on Thursday, in what is being characterized by the White House as a “symbolic” visit. The DMZ is the border that divides North and South Korea.

During her visit with President Yeol and his officials, the Koreans relayed to Harris their concern regarding the Inflation Reduction Act and its tax incentives for electric vehicles. Vehicle manufacturing is one of Korea’s main industries and exports and the act is expected to have a negative impact on South Korea.

Harris’ visit to the DMZ came at the same time North Korea launched two test short-range ballistic missiles.

During her visit to the DMZ, Harris accidentally reinforced the United States’ strong alliance with the “Republic of North Korea,” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” which is South Korea. “The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” she said.

Temp flight restriction, as Vice President Kamala Harris’ jet stopping in Anchorage for fuel on way to Japan

How low can it go? Biden continues to drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Suzanne Downing
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16
How low can it go? Biden continues to drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The White House took credit for how quickly gas prices dropped after the cost per gallon of gas had risen to the highest levels in history in March. AAA reports the price of gas averages $3.71 a gallon nationally.

The price drop comes with a national security risk because President Joe Biden significantly drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 1 million barrels a day, and the nation’s fuel reserve now has only 422 million barrels, down from 635 million barrels when Biden took office.

On Sept. 19, the Biden administration announced another auction of 10 million barrels from the reserve, which will be delivered throughout November, in time for the midterm elections. Earlier, the Department of Energy said it would release oil from the reserve until Sept. 19, but the department extended that to Sept. 27, with deliveries scheduled for Nov. 30.

At the beginning of October, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will at a low level not seen since 1983.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell below $80 a barrel, with the longest stretch of weekly losses as governments and central banks attempted to stave off inflation. The price drop at the pump is good for consumers, but not as good for the state budget, which is currently predicated on oil futures at $101 barrels, while current futures are at $92.

The price of gasoline has begin to edge up. In Alaska, the average price last week was $4.88 per gallon, according to AAA. This week it’s selling for $5.005 per gallon, on average.

The U.S. is selling more barrels from its reserve than the production of most medium-sized OPEC countries, and it’s sells more than twice from the salt-cave as what flows through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System each day.

Meanwhile, in Congress, Democrats have proposed a bill that would allow the government to buy and sell oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve to other countries and use the money to fund electric car charging infrastructure.

Bethany Marcum: What pet projects are Alaskans paying for?

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Bethany Marcum: What pet projects are Alaskans paying for?

By BETHANY MARCUM

While the bulk of state expenditures occur via the operating budget, the capital budget is a separate lever policymakers often use to cut or increase the state’s overall spending. This year, due in part to high oil revenue, they wedged many pet projects into the capital budget. This is unfortunate, unsurprising, and irresponsible. 

The state capital budget is meant to fund exactly what it sounds like: capital projects, mainly infrastructure and assets, such as public buildings, bridges, and roads. It is assumed that the capital budget pays for necessary projects that will benefit the entire state, not community projects that are more appropriately funded through local government or private support.

Yet this year, Alaska policymakers appropriated at least $16 million to pay for projects outside the scope of state government. While many of them are admirable programs, they are not state priorities, and the appropriated money would be better used elsewhere, including savings.

Distribution of capital project funds by House district — which legislators slid in pet projects for their districts — is available through Alaska’s Legislative Finance Division. The list includes handouts such as $2.5 million for facilities at the private Alaska SeaLife Center; $7.3 million for the private Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository; $6.3 million for creation of a new private Chugach Region Archaeological Museum; $87,000 to replace a scoreboard for the private Seawolf Hockey Alliance; and $588,775 to the private Dimond Alumni Foundation to replace diving boards. 

Many Alaskans (and visitors to the state) benefit from sports teams and museums. However, these should be financially supported by beneficiaries, not by the state’s pocketbook, which is not bottomless.

For contrast, two appropriations that will benefit the vast majority of Alaskans were $175 million for the Port of Nome and $200 million for the Port of Alaska. While the Port of Alaska is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage, it handles goods bought by 90% of Alaskans. Projects enabling the Port of Nome to expand its capacity, meanwhile, are broadly beneficial because Alaskans are currently so reliant on the Port of Alaska. Creating capacity through multiple ports not only increases the available flow of goods, but also protects against unexpected problems at one or the other. 

The governor vetoed some capital projects that clearly did not belong in the state’s budget, such as $300,000 for the construction of a private “Equity Center.” The requestor was a community-based advocacy group, meaning it should be financially supported by its community, not the government. State government should not be paying for non-state-owned buildings regardless of the cause for which they are used. It is unfortunate that more pet projects were not eliminated on similar grounds.

Overall, state funds appropriated for the capital budget add up to more than $935 million. This is the largest share of state funds in the capital budget Alaska policymakers have enacted since 2014, and the federal government added another $2 billion. While many projects required state matches to claim the federal funds, the vast wave of cash allowed policymakers to sneak in their favored projects and increase the capital budget total. 

Millions of dollars are being spent to fund localized community projects that should instead be funded by local support and private sources. Alaskans deserve responsibility and transparency, not waste and opacity.

Bethany Marcum is CEO of Alaska Policy Forum.

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