The second session of the 34th Alaska Legislature concluded on Wednesday (5/20/2026) night. In addition to passing the operating and capital budgets, the Legislature passed a flurry of bills on the last day of session. The next day the second special session of the 34th Alaska Legislature gaveled in. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) called the special session after he and the Legislature failed to reach a deal on a gasline bill. The June 1 filing deadline is just eight days away. Many candidates for governor have still not chosen a running mate and many legislative races are still open. And Governor Dunleavy was joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum at his Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage.   

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend. It was an extremely long week in Juneau with the end of session. I came down with a bad cold on the last day of session and have been laying down and taking it easy since. I was supposed to fly back to Anchorage on Friday night but was too sick. I am finally starting to feel better. I am flying back to Anchorage tomorrow night. 

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I have been covering the legislative session in Juneau for the last seven years and just finished my eighth session. We will be covering all the 2026 Alaska elections in-depth. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive.

Check out the eighth episode of Governor Peninsula! In this episode, we take a glimpse into the home lives of some of the Den members. And make sure to tell us what you think.

Legislature passes operating and capital budgets, vetoes looming

The following is an excerpt from this week’s edition of the Alaska Political Report. You can click here for more information about the Political Report. A subscription is $1,299/year per organization. Discounted pricing is available for non-profits and government entities. Our coverage of the budget starts with the governor’s proposed budget, and we track everything in detail through the entire process. If you have any questions or would like to subscribe, please email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com.

Yesterday evening, the Legislature completed it’s work for the 2026 regular legislative session. They adopted the conference committee report on the operating budget and the Senate concurred with the changes made by the House to the capital budget. The budget passed by the Legislature reduces overall spending by $910 million Unrestricted General Funds (UGF) and eliminates the $1.1 billion deficit in Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed budget. 

The Legislature made significant use of FY2026 surplus to fund education and Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) payments in FY2027. They reduced the Governor’s large, $3,700 PFD, to $1,200 per person. This saved $1.5 billion UGF and allowed them to make investments in school maintenance, state infrastructure, vocational training, and community assistance. For more detail see our in depth reporting on the conference committee and capital budgets from the past two editions.

Next Steps

Once the budget is transmitted to the Governor, he will either have either 15 or 20 days days, less Sundays, to make his veto determinations. (The Alaska Constitution gives the governor 15 days, less Sundays, to act on a bill when it is transmitted during session and 20 days, less Sundays, to act on a bill when a bill is transmitted not during session.) It can take up to a few weeks to transmit the enrolled copy of the budget to the Governor. Part of that delay comes from the need to have legal review followed by ‘wet’ signatures from the presiding officer of each body.

Given that the Legislature is now in special session, that process may move faster. If they expedite transmittal and send the budget bills to Dunleavy while they are still in special session, the 15 day rule would apply. Doing so would force Dunleavy to act on the budget while the Legislature is still in session reviewing his priority gasline legislation. Depending on the transmittal date, it could allow them to take up veto overrides during the special session. Note that an appropriation veto override requires a three-fourths vote, or 45 votes, a difficult bar to reach. The budget must go into effect by July 1, the start of the fiscal year, to avoid a government shutdown.

Generally, veto review is limited to items added by the Legislature over the Governor’s proposal. This year the Legislature made significant additions in areas that have frequently been vetoed by Dunleavy in the past. Expenditures like K-12 funding, school maintenance, and assistance to communities are likely to be scrutinized during the veto review process. If, or how, the Governor attempts to leverage these decisions against his gasline legislation remains to be seen.

We are tracking things closely and will have updates as they we learn them. 

Other Happenings 

After the Legislature and Dunleavy failed to reach an agreement on the gasline bill and pension bill, Dunleavy vetoed the pension bill (House Bill 78) on Monday (5/18/2026) night. The next day the Legislature failed to override the veto by seven votes. Dunleavy then issued a proclamation for a 30-day special session starting on May 21. The House and Senate both adjourned sine die from the regular session on Wednesday (5/20/2026) night.

The House and Senate both gaveled in for the special session on Thursday (5/21/2026) morning. Both bodies passed resolutions exempting themselves from having to meet every three days. They both gaveled out to June 4. Both finance committees will continue their work on the gasline bill during the special session. The House Finance Committee held a hearing on Thursday in Juneau. They are scheduled to hold a hearing at the Anchorage LIO on Tuesday (5/26/2026). The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to start holding hearings on Wednesday (5/27/2026) in Juneau. If a deal is reached, members will need to return for a few days so both bodies can pass a bill. 

Several bills were passed on Wednesday before the House and Senate adjourned sine die. Two bills of note are House Bill 280 and House Bill 16. HB 280, a House Rules Committee bill, is the digital tax bill. This is similar to a bill Dunleavy vetoed last September. HB 16, a bill from Representative Calvin Schrage (I – Anchorage), imposes campaign contribution limits. The Senate version made the effective date after this election cycle. But the House failed to get the 27 votes needed for the effective date, meaning the bill would go into effect in 90 days – during the current election cycle. Dunleavy is likely to veto both of these bills. Neither bill has been transmitted yet.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was in Alaska this week. He was pushing the gasline hard at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference.   

Several people reached out about the sheer number of bizarre bills that were passed at the end of session. One Landmine reader suggested a “Nobody Asked for this Bill” award after seeing these kind of bills passed in the waning days of session: naming the giant cabbage the state vegetable, a bill about classic cars, a bill about betting on when it snows, a resolution making May myositis awareness month, just to name a few. There should be a rule setting a date for unimportant bills to be passed, say by April 30. If not, the bill is dead. And there should be a rule if a bill has not passed the originating body b a certain date, it’s dead. And there should also be a rule not allowing stuffing bills into other bills at the end of session, especially ones that have had few public hearings. 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the omnibus crime bill that passed the Legislature, especially after this spicy letter from Representative Sarah Vance (R – Homer) to Governor Dunleavy!

Representative Kevin McCabe’s (R – Big Lake) just got interesting with Republican Doug Massie entering.  

Representative DeLena Johnson (R – Palmer) picked up a running mate, Republican Michael Bowles. He serves on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.  

Please tell me her given name is not MyGina. I can’t wait to see how Representative Jeremy Bynum (R – Alaska) reacts when they say her name at a debate or forum. 

There is a lot of of chatter that Democrat Tom Begich’s running mate may be Democrat Julia Hnilicka. She unsuccessfully ran for the House in 2020 against Representative Mike Cronk (R – Tok) and served as state director for USDA when Joe Biden was president. He is making the announcement on Thursday (5/28/2026) in Anchorage. I was really hoping it would be Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage)! But she made it clear to me it’s not her when I asked her in the Capitol this week. Oh, and what a weird graphic. It shows a woman racing a man who is missing a foot. 

This Week’s Loose Unit

This week’s designee is a multi-way tie. This week’s Loose Unit is all the gubernational candidates who have yet to name a running mate. I know several people who have been asked by various candidates and said no. The deadline is on June 1, just eight days away. If any of the candidates fail to find a running mate, they are disqualified. That would be super loose. What is likely to happen is several of them, including the worst of the worst like Crooked Adam Crum, are going to end up with a nobody or whack job. Because anyone with an ounce of sense would not be Crooked’s running mate, or many of the others. 

Here is a list of the candidates actively campaigning who have yet to name a running mate:

• Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (R – Alaska)
• Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage)
• Democrat Tom Begich (says he will announce on May 28)
• Republican Treg Taylor
• Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins 
• Republican Matt Heilala
• Republican Crooked Adam Crum
• Republican Edna DeVries, Mat-Su Borough mayor 

My bet is some of them drop out or combine tickets because they can’t find a running mate. Maximum loose. 

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.