Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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WalletHub: Where does Alaska rank in job resignations?

Suzanne Downing
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WalletHub: Where does Alaska rank in job resignations?

WalletHub ranks Alaska as first in the nation for how frequently people leave their places of employment. For April, 3.90% of Alaska workers resigned. The average resignation from Alaska jobs over the past 12 months was 4.15%.

Florida comes in at second place, and Arizona at third, on an annual basis.

New York State had the lowest number of job resignations last year, at 1.95%.

Alaska has one of the most transient workforces in the nation, with an emphasis on seasonal jobs such as construction and fishing, which boosts the number of resignations up, perhaps somewhat artificially. It also has a high number of government jobs, where the workforce is especially stable.

The top ten:

To view the full report and other state rankings, click on this link.

Defined pension HB55, for public safety, dies in Senate after Alaskans make their voices heard

Suzanne Downing
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Defined pension HB55, for public safety, dies in Senate after Alaskans make their voices heard

A bill that would have reinstated a defined benefits plan for some public employees has failed to make it through the Alaska Senate before the Legislature gaveled out for the year.

The bill, HB 55, would have restarted a plan for firefighters and peace officers, which was introduced as a method to recruit and retain public safety officers and replace the current defined contribution plan with a set pension, similar to the one that existed before 2006 in Alaska.

Americans for Prosperity Alaska State Director Bernadette Wilson said the bill dying was a victory for fiscal responsibility. Her group had raised the alarm over the likely costs for returning to a pension plan, when the previous plan has not yet been paid down. Her group counts this as a win, after volunteers made hundreds of calls to lawmakers asking them to vote no.

The bill, pushed by public sector unions, was flawed by many accounts. According to the Equable Institute, the plan provided slightly worse retirement benefits for most Alaska peace officers and firefighters, compared to the current defined contribution plan.

More about the score the Equable Institute gave HB 55 here.

The Equable Institute also said:

  • Short-term workers would likely be worse off under the proposed retirement plan. 
  • Medium-term workers could be slightly better off under the proposed plan than the current plan depending on personal factors in their career; but even if they are the proposed plan’s value is below common standards for adequate retirement income. The proposed plan does not meaningfully improve retirement security prospects for medium-term workers.

“Because the proposed pension plan does not provide meaningfully better benefits, it is unclear whether adopting HB55 would achieve the stated goal of its proponents to improve retention,” Equable said. “Most academic literature suggests that few individuals join public service because of the retirement benefits, and other factors like salary, health benefits, and working conditions are stronger factors for retention than retirement benefits (no matter the plan design).

If the public employee unions want to push the effort to return to defined pensions, they’ll need to reintroduce legislation next year, as HB 55 is now dead.

Permanent Fund dividend whittled down by Bill Walker allies in House, but is still largest in history at $3,200

Suzanne Downing
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Permanent Fund dividend whittled down by Bill Walker allies in House, but is still largest in history at $3,200

A Permanent Fund dividend and energy assistance check that started at $5,500 in the Senate two weeks ago was whittled down to $3,200 late Wednesday night at the close of the Legislative session.

Lawmakers needed a three-quarters vote to access some funds from the Constitutional Budget Reserve to pay for the compromise that came out of the conference committee, which was $3,850.

Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Conference Committee, put a poison pill in the compromise. An opponent of the statutory dividend, Stedman counted on the House not being able to come up with the three-quarters vote to access the CBR, and he was right.

Late at night, just before the House was required to adjourn for the year, the political knives came out by the Democrats who oppose the reelection of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and wanted to try to take away a win from him. Of the 11 Democrat House members who voted against the $3,850 dividend (by voting against the CBR), six of them are deeply aligned with the campaign for governor of former Gov. Bill Walker, who started the tradition of cutting the dividend in 2016 and who was booted from office in 2018.

Those House members are Reps. Brice Edgmon, Tiffany Zulkosky, Andy Josephson, Adam Wool, and Daniel Ortiz — all who have signed on as co-chairs of the Walker-Drygas campaign.

The sixth, Rep. Grier Hopkins, is a defacto Walker surrogate, with close family ties to the former governor: He is related by marriage to Scott Kendall, Walker’s former chief of staff and who has been deeply involved in his current campaign for governor. Kendall also led the failed push to try to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Even though it is smaller than proposed in the compromise by the conference committee, the dividend is the largest in history, and it’s unlikely the governor will veto it and hold out for the extra $650 for every Alaskan. He has won most of what he set out to get, which was a full statutory dividend for Alaskans and an even-up for what was taken from them last year by the Legislature. He’ll likely turn his political sights on getting new legislators elected who will support using the statutory formula, rather than keeping Alaskans entrenched in PFD warfare year after year.

What was practically unthinkable in January has somehow made it through the legislative process in what is an election year for nearly all of the members of the Legislature. The final number is: $2,550 Permanent Fund dividend and a $650 relief assistance bonus on that dividend for every eligible Alaskan.

Michael Tavoliero: Education must create citizens

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Michael Tavoliero: Education must create citizens

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO

I would like to offer a thought or two regarding Jodi Taylor’s May 16, 2022, Must Read Alaska column.

First and foremost. Thank you, Jodi. 

My hope is the direction we take as a state, as a community, and as individuals, is to understand that it is the parents who must be the ultimate determiner of their childrens’ education. When parents are given this control and held accountable and responsible, that can create an environment where government education will have to compete with the private sector.

We must do this now and not tomorrow. Thomas Sowell points out, “The big problem in the long process of dumbing down the schools is that you can reach a point of no return. How are parents who never received a decent education themselves to recognize that their children are not getting a decent education?”

First and most important, Alaska education is about our children’s future. It is not about anything else. It is not a platform for social justice, it is not an echo chamber for situational morality, and it is not a foundation for political demonstration and insurrection.

Education must create literate citizens.

Perhaps the unintended consequences of the Correspondence School Allotment Program are that parents may realize they’ve been duped by their own government. 

Using Jodi’s example, parents receive up to a $4,000 reimbursement per student from the Anchorage School District and personally spend an additional $2,000 for one year tuition at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton private school. They attend full time and are also enrolled in the Anchorage School District’s Family Partnership Charter School. 

I read the internet reviews of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton private school by parents. They were impressive.

Parents living in Anchorage who own their home pay 8.47 mills in property tax for education in Anchorage for 2022.  According to Alaska’s News Source, the beginning of 2022 set the average single-family home in the municipality as property tax assessed at $400,949. That’s an additional cost to the parents of $3,396.04 for education for 2022 without any benefit since the student allotment is based on the Base Student Allocation, which is state money and not MOA property tax money.

Sure, the argument can be flimsily made that this pays for the Anchorage School District’s overhead in administering the Anchorage School District’s Family Partnership Charter School, but couldn’t this be bypassed with a direct allocation to the parents from the state?  After all, depending on how you read the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s budget, some 18% to 25% of its 2021 $1.66 Billion budget went to administration. Why do we have another layer of administration designed to financially damage its constituents?

Jodi states, “Alaska spent $20,553 per student in average daily attendance in 2019-2020, yet correspondence homeschool students currently receive only the Base Student Allocation, or $5,930 each as a base, depending on district (the Base Student Allocation is only part of the cost per student).” She is pointing out a systematic theft by government with no reward.

Are parents who are guilty of the only crime of seeking an exemplary education for their children being punished by this additional financial burden? 

In a school district that flaunts the superior features and benefits of equity, do any of you see this as a demonstrable inequity?

Michael Tavoliero is a realtor in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chaired Eaglexit.

Jodi Taylor: Private school, state reimbursement, and family choice is available to parents in Alaska
Michael Tavoliero: Education and the public purpose

Notes from the trail: Mark Begich endorses Chris Constant for Congress, Les Gara has a barbecue with Vic Fischer

Suzanne Downing
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Notes from the trail: Mark Begich endorses Chris Constant for Congress, Les Gara has a barbecue with Vic Fischer

As of Tuesday, about 58,000 of the ballots in the special election primary for Congress had been voted and turned into the Division of Elections. That’s about 40% of the high end of the “expected vote” in this election, but with a mail-in election and a short campaign season, it’s still anyone’s guess, as Alaskans begin the process of replacing their congressional representative.

Political family splits: Mark Begich, former mayor of Anchorage, former U.S. senator, and now businessman, has endorsed Chris Constant for Congress, even though his nephew, Nick Begich, is running for the same seat. Constant is a Democrat, like Mark. Some thanks Nick gets for having provided capital for his business ventures. (Corrected).

On the air: Tara Sweeney, running for Congress is making her move in media. Her campaign and the independent expenditure group supporting her just bought over $80,000 in broadcast ad buys for messaging from May 17 through May 26, which means it will be the Tara show on the airwaves. Carpet bombing.

Watch the Halcro video at this link.

Halcro on Twitter: Andrew Halcro, running for Congress, is running a series of ads on social media that look like they were done by Fivrr, the overseas design shop that lets you have graphics built on the cheap offshore. His latest is a cartoon video showing he supports Lisa Murkowski, LGBTQ, Abortion, and that he believes climate change is real and supports gun rights. It’s the kind of production that might cost him $200 to have produced. The whole campaign is beginning to look like a marketing venture for something else Halcro is doing in the future. He doesn’t use legal disclaimers on his ad, per FEC.

Sealaska pulls the race card: Vote for a Native, Sealaska says in its recent message to Alaska Natives. “Let’s send one of our own,” is how the corporation puts it. Imagine if the Daughters of the American Revolution or garden variety “white person” wrote such a thing.

The known Alaska Natives running for Congress are Mary Peltola, Emil Notti, and Tara Sweeney — none are Sealaska shareholders.

Palin fundraisers in Florida, Georgia: Sarah Palin is raising funds in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Savannah, Georgia this week, with former Gov. David Perdue.

Les Gara barbecue: Running for governor, Les Gara says he is the only pro-choice candidate. Special guests Vic Fischer and Jane Angvik and music by Hannah Yoter are notable for this downtown Anchorage event. Downtown Anchorage is Gara Country. No word on what they are barbecuing but surely it will be a carbon neutral event. Maybe Les is going to clean out his freezer full of last summer’s salmon.

Notes from the trail: Four congressional candidates show up at Juneau GOP forum, Alan Gross announces road trip

Notes from the trail IV: Dunleavy fundraiser, and observations from the forum in Anchorage
Notes from the trail: Mat-Su GOP women are with Nick for Congress, and March On women support Constant, Peltola

Follow up: Palin files federal financial disclosures, but Revak, Halcro, Wool still missing

Suzanne Downing
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Follow up: Palin files federal financial disclosures, but Revak, Halcro, Wool still missing

Following a Must Read Alaska story Tuesday on the financial disclosures by congressional candidates that were due Monday, former Gov. Sarah Palin filed her disclosure with the Clerk of the Congress, as required by the Congressional Ethics Act.

The disclosure shows her financial investments and where she has made her money from in recent years. There is nothing remarkable in the filings except that much of her income has been generate through an online program called Cameo, in which celebrities get paid to give shout-outs to people for their birthdays, anniversaries and more. Palin reported $200,000 in income from making these short videos.

One of these Cameo videos was contracted by some friends of congressional candidate Tara Sweeney last year, who evidently paid Palin for it, as Sweeney was retiring from the Department of Interior, with the election of Joe Biden for president. It can be seen at this link.

A screenshot from one of the Sarah Palin “Cameo” videos that she has done to earn income over the past year. This was the Cameo for Tara Sweeney.

Palin reported her assets as between $950,000 and $2.4 million. Her Wells Fargo savings account has between $500,000 and $1 million. The financial report shows that she has had a successful career as a political figure since being governor of Alaska.

View the financial disclosure forms for all the congressional candidates who filed them at this link. Use the search function and be sure to click on the “candidate” tab.

Candidates who raise more than $5,000 are required to file these disclosures for the special election now underway to fill the Alaska seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Still not filed are congressional candidates Josh Revak, Andrew Halcro, Adam Wool, and dozens of others who have not mounted strong campaigns.

Which congressional candidates have missed or met their Ethics in Government Act financial disclosure deadlines?

Biden visit to Korea includes Alaska fueling stop on Thursday, closing air space around Southcentral

Suzanne Downing
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Biden visit to Korea includes Alaska fueling stop on Thursday, closing air space around Southcentral

President Joe Biden’s expected trip to Korea on Thursday will mean a stopover at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, where Air Force One will refuel before making the last leg of its journey over the Pacific.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration has issued a Temporary Flight Restriction for areas around Southcentral Alaska on Thursday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that Biden will not be visiting the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea on this trip because he has visited it before.

“Just to reiterate here is that as vice president, he has been there before,” Jean-Pierre said. “He is just not going to go on this trip. He is going to go to South Korea. He is going to show his support for the region.”

The FAA said that previous Temporary Flight Restrictions in this area resulted in numerous violations and reiterated the agency needs support from the aviation community to get the word out and stay clear of the affected area.

Rob Forbes: Downtown project will revitalize Anchorage

Guest Writer
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Rob Forbes: Downtown project will revitalize Anchorage

By ROB FORBES

For decades, politicians, Anchorage Assembly members, and mayors have talked a big talk about the revitalization of Anchorage – and more specifically, our downtown.

We have achieved positive movement around the Dena’ina Center and the Anchorage Museum to the credit of past administrations. We are progressing with development in the downtown transit center that makes it feel safe again for our residents and tourists. 

Private ventures, such as the 49th State Brewing Company, led by Jason Motyka and David McCarthy, reinvigorated another community staple and transitioned a tired area into a booming thoroughfare of the downtown area.

Ginger’s Matt Gill took on the burden of mandates, Covid-19 closures, employee shortages, and inflation and has kept our storefronts and tourists’ full for the past few years. Now it’s time for us to rise up together to support a project that will take a significant leap in the right direction to jump-start our downtown revitalization project.

As you may have likely read in Anchorage Daily News or on Alaska’s News Source, longtime Anchorage property owners Peach Holdings, LLC plan to demolish and reconstruct the 4th Avenue Theatre after a long and storied history as an icon in the downtown area of Anchorage.

According to ADN, Peach Holdings owns all but one lot on the city block between Fourth and Firth Avenues along F and G streets, including the former Key Bank Building, which is currently undergoing a massive transformation. Mayor Bronson has come out in strong support of this new development stating “…the project will be a boost to our economy. Our downtown should be bustling with life.”

I agree wholeheartedly and will do everything within my power to support the project moving forward to provide our downtown with a fresh breath of air, investment, and modernization which is critical and necessary to become what our city is destined to be. We are a great city with great ambition. We must pursue ambition, risk, and innovation instead of living under the nostalgia which impedes our children’s future from attaining the infrastructure that bringabout high paying, quality careers in Anchorage.

I am encouraged by the statement made by Adam Trombley, the director of the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development when he stated that “This is an extremely complicated project,” and that “I’ve never witnessed such coordination between a developer and the municipality.” This is good news for Anchorage, not just for downtown Anchorage, but for all of us!

When the City of Anchorage decides that we will partner with private developers to move projects forward to revitalize our city – we all win. As risk takers and innovators, we must change our perceptions and preconceived notions that fuel an anti-development narrative jumbled with special interest jargon and bureaucratic red tape.

I will work tirelessly for this vision of our city and have every desire to work with the current and future administrations for the betterment of the people of Anchorage. With the knowledge I have accrued in start-up business ventures, real estate, and management, I will ensure this project rests in the interests of the people and that we can capitalize on the private investment offered by Peach Holdings.

Let this great moment serve as a catalyst for private developers. As our city grows and matures into what we are destined to be – the greatest northern city in all of America to visit, live, work, play and raise a family.

Kudos to Peach Holdings. Kudos to Mayor Dave Bronson. Now the work begins on the final act for the 4th Avenue Theatre.

Rob Forbes is a downtown candidate for Assembly for the 12th seat, and is the former owner of Shred Alaska, and partner of the newly developed Eureka small business center.

Poll: Most Americans want abortion limits

Suzanne Downing
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Poll: Most Americans want abortion limits

While the March On Women is threatening a “summer of rage” over abortion rights, new polling from the Convention of States Action and the Trafalgar Group reveal that most Americans actually support abortion limits.

57.6% of those polled by Trafalgar said “abortion should only be legal in specific circumstances.”

Democrats, by nearly 19 percent, say abortion should be legal all the way “until the moment of birth, including partial birth.” Only 4.5 percent of Republicans believe that should be legal.

Among all respondents, the poll found 11.6% said “abortion should be legal up until the moment of birth, including partial birth.”

The poll was conducted between May 5-8 and had 1,082 respondents of likely general election voters. The margin of error was calculated at 2.99%.

Last month, a draft decision from the Supreme Court was leaked to the media, showing that the majority of the justices had voted in February to overturn the landmark decision known as Roe v. Wade, which puts limits on how far states can go to determine abortion laws.

The court’s decision, while not final, is expected to be released in early summer and already threats are being made against the majority justices, as pro-abortion fanatics have marched in front of their homes, and some have threatened to burn them down. Virginia Gov.  Glenn Youngkin and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan urged the Justice Department to tighten security around those homes.

The issue of abortion is becoming the major political tug-of-war for the midterm elections, as Democrats believe the issue may turn the tide in their favor. For now, it appears Republicans will be winning seats across the nation, in a growing voter rebellion against Democrat-Socialists and their policies.

View the results of the poll at this link.

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