Lawmakers will be back at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this file photo, on Aug. 16, and after spending several weeks on background hearings and public testimony, members of the work group say they're ready to get into solutions. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Fiscal working group readies for policy proposals

After weeks of hearings, group set sights on solutions

Lawmakers spent what would have been the first day of a third special session of the Alaska State Legislature taking public testimony from Alaskans in Juneau and elsewhere.

A special session was initially scheduled to convene on Monday, but lawmakers asked for a delay to allow a bipartisan, bicameral working group to discuss policy solutions to the state’s financial woes, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy pushed back the start of the session by two weeks. The group has so far spent most of its time on informational hearings, but Sen. Jesse Kiehl said Monday the group is ready to discuss proposals for resolving the state’s fiscal deficit.

“It’s time to have those conversations out in public,” said Kiehl, a Juneau Democrat. “We’re pretty determined to get something out ahead of the special session.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

While giving testimony, Alaskans urged lawmakers to alternately cut the state government down in favor of larger Alaska Permanent Fund dividends and to ensure that critical programs continue to be funded. In Anchorage, students from the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho program at the University of Washington School of Medicine asked lawmakers to continue funding the program as it is Alaska’s only doctor training program. In Wasilla, one woman said she was frustrated smaller PFDs were being distributed despite the Alaska Permanent Fund’s record earnings.

“When I hear government say we can’t possibly cut government, it falls flat for me,” said Jennifer Graham. “It’s actually really frustrating, and I feel like government is kind of looking at the private sector and saying you don’t matter to us.”

Several state residents suggested that by not following the previously used statutory formula lawmakers were stealing Alaskan’s PFD money. One person said if he were governor he would have lawmakers jailed.

“There’s a number of myths about Alaska’s fiscal system, in particular the PFD,” said Cliff Groh, a lawyer and one of the legislative staff members who helped draft the original legislation creating the PFD.

[Gov moves special session start date]

The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled the PFD is an appropriation, Groh said, which makes that the law.

“The Alaska Supreme Court is the supreme arbiter of Alaska law,” Groh said. “There’s no way that I know of to change that unless you change the constitution.”

Groh has worked in and around the Alaska state government for decades and on Tuesday will moderate a Zoom presentation and discussion with Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, and Speaker of the House Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak. According to Groh, the presentation is meant to give a neutral explanation of the state’s fiscal problems and lay out a range of possible options.

Establishing agreement on the state’s financial situation is a challenge the working group itself has had to face. The group spent many of its early meetings hearing presentations from the state’s financial experts and only recently started to hear ideas for resolving the situation. Groh works for nonpartisan think tank Alaska Common Ground, which he said is trying to draw together as many people with differing views as possible.

“Having listened to all that testimony, the kind of people who come out to testify for three minutes may be a skewed sample,” Groh said. “You’re going to have more extreme voices and passionate people.”

The group met every day last week after members of the Republican House Minority complained about the slow pace of the meeting calendar, but currently the group has only four meetings scheduled before the start of the next session.

Ahead of the Monday evening public testimony session Kiehl said that despite the sometimes extreme rhetoric heard in the sessions, public testimony is always useful.

“Sometimes it adds insights, sometimes it makes people angry, but listening to the public always has value,” Kiehl said.

Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnuEmpire.

More in News

Robert Weaver was last seen at the Doroshin Bay public use cabin on June 25, 2025. (Photo provided by the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
Kenai wildlife refuge seeking information on missing man

Robert Weaver was last seen near Skilak Lake on June 25.

The Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team conducts a training mission in Seward, Alaska in 2024. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team
Anchor Point fundraiser to benefit Alaska rescue and recovery group

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization established in 2016.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic staff (left to right) Angie Holland, RN; Jane Rohr, Sonja Martin Young, CNM; Robin Holmes, MD; and Cherie Bole, CMA provide an array of reproductive and sexual health services. (Photo provided by KBFPC)
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic releases report on STI trends on the Kenai Peninsula

The report pulls from data gathered from 2024 to early 2025.

Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Swimmers, parents call on Kenai to support Kenai Central pool

The KPBSD Board of Education last week said communities will need to step up and take over administration of pools within the next year.

Traffic passes by South Spruce Street in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai drops effort to rename South Spruce Street

The resolution would have changed the name to make it clear which road led to North Kenai Beach

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress fourth grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy calls special session for August

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they were surprised by the move.

A makeshift coffin decrying the risks of Medicaid funding cuts is seen on Thursday, June 26, in front of the Blazy Mall in Soldotna. The cuts were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Ahead of Senate vote, Soldotna protesters defend Medicaid funding

Cuts to the program were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning.

Board President Zen Kelly speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough school board to finalize budget

The new budget designed by the committee will be considered at a public hearing during the full board meeting on Monday evening.

Most Read