Email from Alaska Senate Majority

May 15, 2025

Dear Neighbors,

We are one week away from the end of the first session of the 34^th Legislature! As the session concludes, there are several important and timely items of business to be considered in the last few days. There may be other bills or interests which are placed on hold or in a subcommittee for further study. The good news is that the bills will be picked up next January where they were left this year.

We are having daily floor sessions in these last days, and we have also implemented the 24-hour rule, which means that committee meetings and bill hearings can be scheduled with as little as a single day notice. Normally, we have five days between an announcement and potential action.

Senator Kawasaki speaking on the floor

Budget Negotiated in Conference Committee

The budget is really the only thing that the legislature must do every year and before the end of the session. This year, Governor Dunleavy provided legislators with a budget in December that had a $1.5 billion deficit. After the Trump Administration released his budget projections, the stock market tumbled and the price of oil took a downturn, that budget deficit for the year began to grow even larger. I believe in passing a balanced budget instead of borrowing from savings or future generations.

The State Senate passed a version of the budget that cut nearly every one of the Governor Dunleavy requests and also started to look at some of the federal budget cuts and how to pay for them with state funding. It does look bleak as 40% of the budget is through federal receipts and another 40% comes from the stock/bond investments and 14% from the price per barrel of oil. The Senate passed a budget with a much smaller deficit and now the negotiations begin between the House/Senate negotiators of the Finance Committees. I will highlight more about the budget in the coming days.

Senator Kawasaki speaking with Senator Kiehl who is on the Senate Finance Committee

The PFD and an Income Limit

I’ve received dozens of emails regarding HB209, which would set up an income limit for the payment of the PFD. This is not the first-time legislation like this has been considered by both parties and both the Senate/House and Governor.

I support a balanced budget and the Permanent Fund Dividend and they are not exclusive to one another. In fact, prior to passage of tax breaks for big oil corporations in SB21, Alaskans enjoyed the full PFD, a balanced budget, nearly $18 billion in savings, a full Constitutional Budget Reserve and public services we want like police, fire protection, better roads, open parks and a stronger K12 and UAF. I still support a balanced budget and PFD more than ever. Prior to SB21, oil and gas paid for 80% of the state general fund budget, paid a full PFD and allowed Alaska to save for the future.

Cutting the PFD is the absolute worst way to fund public services because it hurts seniors, children, the poor, people on fixed incomes and residents in rural areas who are the most vulnerable. I cannot support HB209 which would create an income guideline for the PFD while Alaska continues to spend billions in oil tax breaks for the biggest of corporations. Alaskans deserve a fair share for all of our resources whether it is gold, oil and gas, minerals, timber or fish and these big corporations should not control the destiny of Alaska.

Over the next year, I hope that we continue a strong dialogue on a fiscal plan as Governor Dunleavy has requested. Every budget item should be discussed and every source of potential revenue should be considered as a way to balance the state budget for today and decades to come.

Elections Need Improvement to be Safer, Smarter and Speedier

As the Chairman of the State Affairs Committee, I have been charged with designing a state elections legislation. Over the last five years, with help from Governor Dunleavy and the former Chairman of the Senate State Affairs Committee, Senator Mike Shower (R-Wasilla) and the Rules Committee Chairman Senator Wielechowski, the Senate has come up with some changes to modernize state election laws. These laws, if passed this year, will make elections safer, registration/voting smarter and the results speedier.

SB64, which is the Elections Omnibus bill contains portions of legislation from the previous three Legislatures from both bodies. The first part of the bill is to make elections safer by enacting a cybersecurity protocol, contains provisions for risk limiting audits, requires DOE to purchase a ballot-tracking system that employs multi-factor authentication, ensures Alaskans be notified if there is a data breach and allows for DOE to compare PFD rolls to establish residency.

The second part of the bill is to update and make the voting and registration process smarter. Codifies reviews of the master registry of voters to remove ineligible voters, allows for voters to voluntarily cancel their own registration, creates a new tribal liaison to help rural communities, allows voters to correct/cure their own ballots if a small error was made prior to election day and ensures voters get language assistance.

Finally, the third part of the bill will make sure that Alaskans get results speedier. Shortens the window for a deadline for overseas and military ballots to ten days, requires absentee ballot review begins no later than 12 days before election day and requires all preliminary RCV tabulations are available immediately and updated regularly.

Stopping the Madness of Clock Changes!

I introduced Senate Bill 102 to exempt Alaska from Daylight Saving Time and keep us on Permanent Standard Time which closely matches the sun. Daylight Saving Time, on the other hand, is manufactured time created by laws and which no longer relates to our country. In addition, the clock change twice per year has been researched to cause accidents, sleep deprivation and even increase accidents and medical incidents according to the Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation.

SB26 would have us use Pacific Standard Time as our permanent time while SB102 seeks to have us permanently on Alaska Standard Time. The argument in favor of SB26 is that it would keep Alaska’s time closer to the lower-48 time zones, as for half of the year, we would be on the same time as the West Coast. Bankers and the Chamber of Commerce opposed standard time, which would give us a 5-hour time difference from the financial centers in the East Coast for half of the year. SB26 passed the Senate with a vote of 18-2 and is headed to the House for consideration.

Alaska Needs to Pass a Balanced Budget

Alaska is currently indisputably in a dire financial crisis due in part to cuts to the federal government support, the stock market and billions in tax cuts for big oil corporations that have been in place since 2013. In efforts to generate some revenue for our state, last week we passed Senate Bill 113, which would update our current corporate income tax system to include taxes on online businesses that sell goods and services to Alaskans. Our current corporate tax laws were designed for brick-and-mortar businesses, before online businesses were so ubiquitous. SB113 would modernize our tax laws while putting mail order and locally owned businesses on the same footing.

Another bill dealing with the State Corporate Income Tax on Oil is SB92. The bill would cure a loophole in the tax system and ensure that a billionaire oil tax corporation will have to pay just as Conoco Philips and Exxon also pay their oil taxes. The small loophole would mean that the Alaskans would receive about $150-million more a year for our oil that is currently profit for one individual who owns major oil developments in Alaska. I hope that this bill will come to floor vote soon to be negotiated in the State House.

Only You (and the State Legislature) Can Prevent Forest Fires

As all of you who have spent at least one summer in the Interior well know, one of the extreme weather conditions that we face here is the summer wildfires. As a lifelong resident of Fairbanks, I can say that our wildfire problem has been getting more extreme over the years.

In efforts to help mitigate future fires, the Borough of Land Management Alaska Fire Service is working with the United States military to carry out controlled burns near Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright through May 25. The purpose of doing controlled burns is to remove flammable vegetation before fire season, to help prevent wildfires from taking off later in the summer. This month, you might see smoke from Eielson, Chena Hot Springs Rd, Salcha, the Richardson Highway. The operation will be closely monitored to make sure that our air quality remains at a safe place on the index. Let’s hope that this plan will save us from dangerously smokey days later in the summer.

This year, it isn’t just those of us in the Interior that are worried about upcoming wildfires; Southcentral Alaska had an unusually dry winter, which will make that region as a higher risk for fire than usual. In response, Anchorage Representative Ky Holland is sponsoring House Joint Resolution 15, a resolution calling for local and state agencies to prepare for several wildfire seasons this year and in the future. Yesterday, HJR 15 passed the House with a vote of 35 to 5.

Support the Alaska Climate Center

In National news, one of the departments that President Trump has proposed cutting funds for is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.) Cuts to this program would be particularly detrimental to Alaska because of our extreme weather conditions, how much we are being impacted by climate change and that so many of our major industries, such as fisheries or tourism, are weather-dependent.

One of the results of these cuts to NOAA would be the closure of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP.) The ACCAP is based at the UAF Troth Yeddha’ Campus, but their work on studying the weather helps all of Alaska. The ACCAP studies and documents extreme weather events due to climate change in Alaska, works with the Tribal communities that are being impacted the most by these weather events and brings Alaskans weather reports and climate-related webinars.

Rick Thoman, the climate specialist who brings us the radio segment “Beyond the Weather,” on KUAC and also does weather segments for KNOM Nome, KYUK Bethel and KDLG Dillingham, works for ACCAP, and his entire salary is from NOAA. Between the plan to slash funding to National Public Radio and the plan to cut funding to NOAA, our access to weather updates like “Beyond the Weather,” is in jeopardy.

Many organizations, communities and individuals in Alaska are dependent on information that they get from ACCAP. The center is working on compiling stories and comments from Alaska residents, organizations and specialists to submit to UAF leadership and the Alaska Congressional Delegation.

If you have a story or comment to submit, follow this link or contact Alison Hayden at [email protected] or 907-474-7812.

ACCAP core team from left to right Allison Hayden, Rick Thoman, Adelheid Herrmann, Zav Grabinski, Sarah Trainor, Heather McFarland, Nathan Kettle

Mary Siah Survives Another Year

At the local level, a big concern for many Fairbanksans has been about the future of Mary Siah Recreation Center. Due to our local fiscal woes, less support from state revenue sharing and higher costs, Mary Siah was on the chopping block, having been recently voted to be shut down by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Finance Committee, in order to save the borough $68,000.

Mary Siah is not only a swimming pool, but also a community center, particularly popular among senior citizens. The news of its impending closure caused public uproar. After hearing hours of public testimony in favor of keeping the pool open, the Borough Assembly reconsidered and voted unanimously to keep the pool open. The user fees with be increasing, however. Alaska and the borough need to have a long-term fiscal plan to address the needs and wants in Fairbanks.

There is Always Something Going on in Fairbanks

Downtown Market: Thursday, May 15, 4-8 pm at the Golden Heart Plaza

This free event will include live music, local vendors, food trucks, a scavenger hunt with prizes and a pop-up pet adoption. Check out the first downtown market of the summer!

The Really Free Market: Saturday May 17, 10 -- 11 am at the UAF Lola Tilly Commons Parking Lot

Everything will be free! Donate items for this event between 8 and 10 am on the same day.

North Pole Football Booster Club Spring Fair: Saturday, May 17, 10am – 5 pm at North Pole High School

Support the North Pole high school football team and support local vendors! Both crafts and food will be for sale.

Wine and Muscle Showcase: Saturday, May 17, 6-9 pm at the Spur

This event includes a silent auction. All proceeds from the auction and a percentage of the ticket sales will go to the Fairbanks Rescue Mission

My Staff and I are Here for You

As always, I will continue to keep you updated on what I’m working on in Juneau throughout the session. If you have any questions about anything going on in the Capitol or at home, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email – as always, my staff and I are working for you. We will assist you with the issues important to you and your family.

Working Hard for Fairbanks Families,