We are more than two-thirds of the way into the 121-day legislative session! It was a bit of a short week as nothing happened on Monday due to Easter break. The Anchorage election took place on Tuesday (4/7/2026), with one race still extremely close. The House spent the week debating and amending the operating budget, making one big change to the amount of the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). The Senate Finance Committee was supposed to introduce a committee substitute to a tax bill but both hearings were canceled. And Republican gubernatorial candidate Click Bishop chose his running mate.  

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 am now here for 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. 

Budget Update

The House spent the week debating and amending the operating budget. The big change was the amount of the PFD. The House Finance Committee passed out the budget with a full dividend, but more than half of it ($1.4 billion) was dependent on a draw from the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) – which did not have close to the 30 voted required.

Representative Kevin McCabe (R – Big Lake) introduced an amendment that would have paid the full dividend with general funds. But Representative Calvin Schrage (I – Anchorage) amended McCabe’s amendment to make the PFD just under $1 billion, or about $1,500 per person. That passed 22-18, with two minority Republicans – Fairbanks Representative Will Stapp and Ketchikan Representative Jeremy Bynum –  being responsible and voting with the majority. Representative Neal Foster (D – Nome), one of the finance co-chairs, voted with 17 minority Republicans. McCabe was not happy his amendment got hijacked, but he could not stop it.

The House has still not passed the operating budget. It is on the calendar tomorrow. There are some amendments left, but they should pass it tomorrow. The original plan was for the House to pass the operating budget and the Senate pass the capital budget by April 10, but that date has been pushed back. 

The Senate is scheduled to close out their finance subcommittees for the operating budget this week. And it’s likely the Senate Finance Committee will introduce a committee substitute for the capital budget this week. If they move fast, they may be able to pass the capital budget by the end of the week.      

If both bodies pass their budgets this week, that allows for just over a month until the constitutional session limit on May 21. 

Other Happenings 

The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to hear Senate Bill 227 on Wednesday (4/8/2026) and Thursday (4/9/2026), but both hearings were canceled. This is the fiscal package bill introduced by Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) in February. The bill was heavily amended in the Senate Resources Committee, stripping out the seasonal sales tax and adding things like the S corp tax. The finance committee had planned on introducing a committee substitute but there has been some snags and disagreements. The details are still unclear but there are a lot of possibilities as it is a revenue bill. This bill could be part of an adjournment package. 

The House passed Senate Bill 64, the elections reform bill, by a vote of 23-16 on March 23. The Senate concurred with House’s changes by a vote of 16-4 on March 25. The bill has still not been transmittal Dunleavy. The Senate did not want to transmit the bill until after Easter break in case Dunleavy vetoes it, but that was a week ago. In a press conference on Wednesday, Senator Bill Wielechowski (R – Anchorage) said he expects the bill to be transmitted soon. There is a good chance Dunleavy vetoes the bill. 

Republican gubernational candidate Click Bishop chose Greta Scherch as his running mate. Schuerch runs government affairs for Teck (owners of Red Dog Mine) and serves on the NANA board. She’s a strategic choice as she has strong ties with rural Alaska and is well known in the resource development industry. You can watch the event and her speech here. Only a few of the 18 candidates in the race have chosen their running mates. The deadline to choose a running mate is June 1.    

On election night, conservative Dave Donley was up 89 votes over progressive Janice Park. But as more votes came in, his lead narrowed. By the last update (3,559 more votes than the election day count), Park pulled ahead by 22 votes. This will go to an automatic recount. In a district where the progressive should be favored by several points, it’s embarrassing for Park just how close the race is. All the other races went as expected. The $12 million special education tax levy championed by Mayor Suzanne LaFrance is failing by 566 votes out of more than 62,000 counted. 

Todd Smoldon, Governor Dunleavy’s Mat-Su Valley guy and general shit poster, apparently thinks Dunleavy does not need to communicate with legislators about his priorities. Even Republican legislators aligned with him!  

This Week’s Loose Unit 

Todd Smoldon was definitely in the running with his hot take that the governor does not need to communicate his priorities with legislators. But one person was way more deserving. This week’s Loose Unit is U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola.     

During a recent campaign trip to Western Alaska, Peltola posted a video from Tooksok Bay. In the video she referenced serious conversations she had with elders. She stated, “The number one thing is stopping factory trawling, getting abundance back in our oceans and rivers.”

But days later, Peltola met with Coastal Village Region Fund (CVRF) – one of six Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups in Western Alaska. CVRF is the only CDQ group that operates their own factory trawlers. Very loose! 

In her video from Tooksok Bay, Peltola left out that the village has received just under $10 million from CVRF in the last seven years as part of the CDQ program. If her wish to end trawling is granted, how does she propose Tooksok Bay and all the other Western Alaska communities replace the money they get from the CDQ program? Classic Loose Unit behavior. 

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.