It was great to see so many engaged community members attend my town hall events last weekend! We had a packed house of about 80 people at the Moose Pass Sportsman’s Club. Most people there advocated for increased education funding to support local schools. By a show of hands, folks in the room definitively showed that they supported reinstating an education head tax. About 20 folks joined us at both the Nikiski and Soldotna events to talk about education, roads, the state budget, AKLNG, elections, grand juries, and much more. If you couldn’t make it to a town hall, please contact me with your thoughts and ideas. You can write to sen.jesse.bjorkman@akleg.gov or call 907-283-7996.

Committee work

My Senate Transportation Committee continued our hearing on winter road maintenance this week. The discussion included deteriorating pavement seams and potholes as well as plowing and the elimination of road brine use on Kenai Peninsula roads.

Education discussions also continued this week. The Senate Education Committee held hearings on the governor’s omnibus education bill and took public testimony. Senate Bill 82 would require districts to pay for transportation for students who want to attend schools outside of their normal attendance area. Also, open enrollment language in the bill would be done on a first-come, first-served basis. This language eliminates lottery systems used by charter schools and potentially results in students from another attendance area to displacing local students who live closer to that neighborhood school. If you wish to weigh in, please email Senate.Education@akleg.gov.

Budget subcommittees

Each year the Legislature forms subcommittees to comb through the budget requests of the State of Alaska’s departments. Subcommittee members take deep, detailed dives into the programs and services executed by the state government. At the conclusion of this process, the subcommittees forward their recommended changes to the House and Senate Finance Committees to be incorporated in whole or part into the Legislature’s final proposed budget.

For 2025 and 2026, I will serve on five budget subcommittees where I am focused on reducing duplication of services and finding ways to cut costs. Our state government must prioritize constitutional mandates and work to avoid taxing Alaskans who work. In the Department of Labor subcommittee, we are working to maximize workforce development and rehabilitation opportunities for Alaskans without redundancy. In the ADF&G subcommittee I am working to restore the Anchor Point test fishery so that Kenai Peninsula fishers will have more data about sockeye run strength and timing. On the DOT subcommittee we are prioritizing delivering projects and maintenance on time and on budget. I’ll provide updates on the Commerce and Administration budgets in a future column.

I am honored to be your state senator and I want to hear from you. You’re welcome to call my office at 907-283-7996 or email me at Sen.Jesse.Bjorkman@akleg.gov. I hope you’ll take the time to share your questions and ideas.