There’s just over three weeks left until the end of the 121-day session on May 20 at midnight. The annual Legislative Skits was held on Saturday (4/25/2026) at Centennial Hall in Juneau. A retirement dinner and roast was held tonight at Centennial Hall for Senate President Gary Stevens (R – Kodiak) and Senator Lyman Hoffman (D – Bethel). The first cruise ship of the year will be in Juneau tomorrow! The operating budget and capital budgets were exchanged by the House and Senate. President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act for LNG, sparking questions about his plans for the Alaska gasline project. And someone filed for an interesting House seat. 

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.

If you have not seen the second episode of Governor Peninsula, here it is. Stay tuned for more episodes! Make sure to tell us what you think.

Is there an endgame?

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.

With just 27 days left in the 121-day legislative session, an adjournment package — or, “getting out of town” — is on everyone’s mind. 

The big outstanding items are the operating and capital budgets. But legislative leadership and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy also have several other priorities that could complicate things — and we expect all of the power players’ major priorities to be wrapped up in the Capitol’s “endgame.”

Dunleavy’s main priority, and maybe his only one, is his gas line bill, having largely abandoned the fiscal package he introduced in January. The gas line bill, which he introduced in late March, aims to make the $44 billion-plus project more attractive to investors by replacing property taxes with a smaller tax on the gas the flows through the pipe. It has gotten a cold reception in the Senate.

Anchorage Republican Cathy Giessel, who chairs the Senate Resources Committee, has made significant changes to the bill, including increasing the gas tax nearly 10-fold, from six cents per 1,000 cubic feet to 55 cents. She also added a $1 million per mile construction fee, and an S-corp tax. 

Giessel and her allies say that the higher taxes will help offset costs assumed by municipalities that the pipeline travels through. But Dunleavy opposes them, saying that they could make the project unaffordable.

The House has done much less with the gasline bill. Utqiagvik Democratic Rep. Robyn Burke, a co-chair of the House Resources Committee, has drafted a rewrite of the bill, but has yet to unveil it. Her version is noticed for Friday afternoon’s House Resources Committee meeting.

The House and Senate majorities also have several priorities. These include an elections bill that was sent to Dunleavy 10 days ago, which he has a week left to act on. Other legislative priorities are revenue measures such as the S-corp tax and the internet tax, and the pension bill.

The S-corp provision is currently included in a number of bills, while the internet tax bill is currently in the Senate Finance Committee after passing the House earlier this month. Dunleavy vetoed that legislation when it passed last year, and lawmakers failed to override the veto in January.

The pension bill passed the House last year in a 21-19 vote, and is currently in the Senate Finance Committee.

Dunleavy, who has had little to no engagement with the Legislature, is opposed to all of the majorities’ priorities. But in the end-of-session negotiations, there’s always room for a deal. 

Dunleavy could agree to some or all of the Legislature’s priorities in exchange for them passing the gas line bill he wants. But based on Dunleavy’s historical relationship with the Legislature, that seems unlikely.

The biggest indicator of whether some kind of deal is possible is the elections bill. Dunleavy must sign it, veto it, or let it go into law by April 30. If the vetoes it, all bets are off.

If a grand bargain fails to materialize, Dunleavy has several options. He can veto large items in the budget, or the entire thing. He can call the Legislature into a special session this summer on the gas line. But it’s an election year and legislators want to get home to campaign.

Keep in mind the Legislature can extend ten days with a two-thirds majority vote. Once the session ends all the bills die as it’s the second session. They can be brought back in a special session only if they are listed as part of the special session. 

We are watching things closely and will have updates as they become available.

Other Happenings 

Legislative Skits was last night. There were some really funny moments and less technical issues than last year. As usual, the band killed it with their parody songs! Great job for all the staff for putting in all the work to make it happen. 

A retirement dinner and roast was held tonight for Senators Gary Stevens and Lyman Hoffman, both of whom are retiring. Hoffman has served in the Legislature since 1986 and Stevens since 2001. A lot of institutional knowledge will be lost next year. Businessman and former Senator John Binkley did a great job as emcee. Lobbyist Sam Kito delivered by far the funniest speech. I could have listened to him talk for an hour. Senator Bill Wielechowski (D – Anchorage) also did really good. He started out by joking that he was glad everyone was there to hear him talk about oil taxes! Representative Justin Ruffridge (R – Soldotna) showed off his pipes singing the Elton John song “I’m Still Standing.” The event was a really nice send off to two men who have dedicated a large portion of their lives to public service. Lobbyist Jerry Mackie did a great job of organizing the event. 

On Monday (4/20/2026) President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act for natural gas. The next day, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Alaska gasline is his number one domestic energy priority. Is the federal government planning on taking over the Alaska gasline project? Read this Landmine story, “Is Donald Trump planning on nationalizing the Alaska gasline project?” to read more. 

Kelly Howell is leaving her role as Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom’s (R – Alaska) chief of staff. She’s been with that state for 30 years! She’s replaced by Tetyana Robbins, the former executive director of Project Alaska. She’s married to Mike Robbins, head of ACDA in Anchorage.

Democrat Evelynn Trefon filed to run for the Legislature, but initially did not indicate an office. She’s since updated it to run for the House. She’s in Speaker Bryce Edgmon’s (I – Dillingham) House district. Edgmon has still not announced whether he will run for his House seat or the open Senate seat (four people have already filed to run). The filing deadline is June 1.

House Resources has a committee substitute for Governor Mike Dunleavy’s gasline bill, but it has yet to be officially posted. The Landmine got a copy of it!  

This Week’s Loose Unit 

This week was a really easy one. This week’s Loose Unit it Crooked Adam Crum! The former Revenue Commissioner and current Republican candidate for governor went fully loose after a legislative audit found he violated his fiduciary obligations with his dumb $50 million investment into a private equity scheme. 

In classic Loose Unit fashion, Crooked Crum doubled down and claimed he did nothing wrong. But the findings of the audit say the opposite. This Landmine article “Legislative audit finds Crooked Adam Crum violated fiduciary obligations with CBR investment” tells the whole story. 

Here is Crum’s loose and dumb press release. This guy thinks he can be governor! He’s fucking delusional.  

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.