I hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl! It was a weird game but many Seahawks fans in Alaska are very happy tonight. We are three weeks into the legislative session, and things are moving right along. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) released his supplemental budget, which adds more to the FY2026 deficit. The House Finance Committee heard Governor Dunleavy’s proposed fiscal plan, which was not received well. A new contract from a Juneau lobbyist resulted in Senator Bert Stedman (R – Sitka) not holding back on his dislike for DigitalBridge. And Former Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins filed to run for governor, making him the third Democrat in the race and the sixteenth overall.
I am excited to announce a new feature on the Landmine – “Juneau on the Loose: Juneau’s Unofficial Events Calendar.” If you know about or have an event happening in Juneau, like a reception or fundraiser or party, please send me the info (jeff@alaskalandmine.com) and I will get it added to the calendar. Thanks to the people who have sent events so far. We already have seven for the upcoming week!
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 recently arrived 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.
Dunleavy’s supplemental request adds to FY2026 deficit
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.
On Feb. 3, the statutory deadline, Gov. Dunleavy released his supplemental budget. The supplemental budget is intended to cover immediate needs of the state that were unanticipated at the time the Governor signed the budget last year.
In December, with his FY2027 proposed budget, the Governor made funding requests for a handful of urgent FY2026 items, like funding for the state’s transportation improvement program. This most recent release adds needs that, for the most part, don’t have the same level of urgency but still support necessary operations.
The supplemental budget includes $79 million in new Unrestricted General Fund (UGF) spending, $9 million Designated General Funds (DGF), $752 million Federal, and $99 million in other funds. When combined with the supplemental needs included in his December budget, the new total for UGF supplemental needs is $374 million. Based on the most current revenue forecast, this results in an anticipated $425 million draw from the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) just to balance the current fiscal year.
In addition to the newly released supplemental budget, recent presentations from the Legislative Finance Division (LFD) have highlighted a few areas of spending that do not appear to be accounted for in the Governor’s budget. Some, like $47 million in Medicaid match, are relatively certain. Others, like the ongoing appeal process over the state’s failure to pass the education disparity test, are not guaranteed to impact state spending.
This updated fiscal summary adds in newly proposed spending from the Governor and, in the green cells, accounts for some of the costs not yet addressed in the FY2027 budget. Based on these adjustments, it’s unclear if the state will be able to afford even a $1,000 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) without a draw from savings in FY2027.
If you would like to see the rest of this section, as well as a comprehensive breakdown of the entire budget, please consider subscribing to the Alaska Political Report. Email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com for a copy of the latest special report.
Other Happenings
House finance heard an initial presentation from Department of Revenue officials on Governor Dunleavy’s fiscal package, and it did not go well. Members of the majority and minority criticized different elements of the plan, mostly the sales tax. Many did give Dunleavy some credit for introducing something, but that is about where it ended. However, as has become the norm in Juneau, the Legislature is not offering any kind of plan. Public testimony on Dunleavy’s plan also did not go well. Unfortunately, too many Alaskans have been conditioned to believe the state can give out free money while no one is expected to contribute state government.
One thing very interesting was said at an informal House majority press conference on Friday (2/6/2026) morning. Representative Neal Foster (D – Nome) told reporters that if the vote for a sales tax were held today, it very well may be 0-60. Yikes.
Speaker Edgmon and House leadership are holding a “Coffee with the Speaker” with the press. Unfortunately, it’s not streamed on Gavel. All three finance co-chairs are here as well as Rep. Stutes and Rep. Kopp. #akleg pic.twitter.com/FKHgLsZOiw
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) February 6, 2026
The House majority press conference was a kind of on the record press conference. They rarely do ones that are streamed and recorded on Gavel, presumably because they only have 21 members and are skittish about saying anything that could upset any of their members and/or because they lack unified positions on any of the major issues. The Senate majority holds an on the record weekly press conference that is streamed on Gavel – which is great. As of this point, neither the Republican minorities in the House and Senate have held a single press conference or press availability. They don’t want to be asked about Governor Dunleavy’s proposed fiscal plan!
Check out this response from Senator Stedman when I asked him what he thought about lobbyist Frank Bickford getting a $71,000 contract from DigitalBridge. Stedman has a bill that would ban the state from doing business with DigitalBridge. This is the firm Crooked Adam Crum did a shady deal with right before he left his role as Revenue commissioner. Bickford should give Crooked Crum a little commission for the contract. Ten percent for the big guy!
Gotta love Sen. Stedman! Listen to his response when the Landmine asked him about DigitalBridge hiring a lobbyist for $71,500 in response to Stedman’s bill to ban the state from doing business with them. Crooked Adam Crum is the gift that keeps on giving. #akleg pic.twitter.com/gG5ylDRqEf
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) February 4, 2026
Democrat Jonathan Kriess-Tomkins entered the crowded governor’s race this week. He filed on February 2, the day after the reporting period ended for the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) reports that are due on to come out on February 17. This means we won’t get to know where any of his money is coming from until the next report on July 20. He claims he raised $600,000 days after filing to run. With his connections to the lizard people, I would venture to guess he received multiple donations in excess of $50,000. Kreiess-Tomkins is the third Democrat in the race after former Senator Tom Begich and Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage). There are also 12 Republicans and one independent.
Wow. Democrat JKT saying he’s already raised $600,000. This won’t show on the APOC reports that come out in a few weeks as the reporting period ended on Feb. 1. #akleg pic.twitter.com/AZy1zG6yRT
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) February 5, 2026
Not a great list to be on for Governor Dunleavy…
New @MorningConsult governor tracker is out. Bad news for @GovDunleavy. He’s tied for most unpopular. Yikes. #akleg pic.twitter.com/cKCr8YEBjm
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) February 5, 2026
Seth Church must have had an awkward conversation with Treg Taylor after the Landmine post showing Seth Church was listed as a host for a Treg Taylor fundraiser.
That didn’t take too long lol https://t.co/MwnxbQOtuJ pic.twitter.com/WsuEiNPszg
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) February 7, 2026
Campaign season is gonna be so loose with all these people running for governor. I give this text from Matt Heilala an 8 for creativity and a 9 for weirdness.
This Week’s Loose Unit
This week’s designee really earned it. This week’s Loose Unit is Representative Zack Fields (D – Anchorage).
On February 23, Fields introduced House Bill 271. The bill directly benefits HEX/Furie owner John Hendrix, another Hendrix Handout if you will. This Landmine article, “Hendrix Handout: House majority bill aims to permanently reduce royalty rate in Kitchen Lights Unit,” goes into more detail about the bill, as well as a troubling pattern of behavior from Hendrix where he finds legislators to introduce bills to directly benefit his company. Very loose indeed.
HB 271 essentially aims to permanently lock in a 75% royalty reduction the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approved for Hendrix last year. In fact, when they approved the royalty reduction they back dated it five months (to when he submitted the application for royalty relief), resulting in a $2 million credit! Maximum loose.
Senate bills Hendrix managed to get introduced in 2023 and 2024, from Senators Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage) and Jesse Bjorkman (R – Nikiski), both failed to get a single hearing after reporting I did after the bills were introduced. In fact, Giessel pulled her bill in 2023 a week after she introduced it.
But Hendrix seems to have better luck in the House. Fields’ bill did get a hearing in House Resources this week. After Fields presented the bill, Mark Slaughter, HEX/Furie’s chief commercial office, gave a presentation. You can watch that here. It was basically more Furie propaganda. But the best part is when some members of the committee asked Slaughter what Furie charges for gas (compared to Hilcorp) after the state has been so generous to Furie. Slaughter, who knows the exact number they charge, refused to answer. He said the state knows. When a DNR official was asked, he also did not know. Very interesting!
The reason they don’t want to say is because while Hilcorp is delivering gas at a contracted rate of approximately $8 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), Furie is charging nearly $14 per Mcf! And yet Hendrix continues to seek more handouts. 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.
The Lizard People ?
It’s a reference to a particularly unusual bit of public testimony where somebody referred to him as a lizard person
Thank you for clarifying that
No it’s not. It’s in reference to his connections with East Coast elites and the Silicon Valley tech elites. Don’t know about any public testimony involving lizard people lol
If you don’t mind me asking, what are the connections ?
It was during a House Finance budget public hearing when a caller said Rep. Grenn looked like a lizard.
East Coast and Silicon Valley tech elites? Ha, yeah, I’m sure JKT has Thiel, Musk, and Lewis Eisenberg on speed dial.
I’m not sure how familiar you are with Icke, but it is certainly a choice to use his tropes as shorthand for complaints about Outside influence. What Icke has deftly done is re-brand common anti-semitic conspiracy theories by basically asserting that the fascists mistook alien overlords for Jewish bankers. In his telling, the relevant genealogy of the Rothchilds et. al. was not their Jewish mothers, but their alien ancestors. Why are we entertaining such bullshit for any purpose other than mockery of David Icke and the readers who take him seriously? (Please don’t misunderstand my mockery of Icke’s conspiracy theories… Read more »
Lazy and unbecoming is Jeff in a nutshell.
So, people like Rogoff ? Or more like Lindauer ?
Ah! I misremembered this — it was a public testifier calling Jason Grenn a lizard person.
Saurians from the Draco system.
Decades ago in California, we called them Lounge Lizards. We could identify them by how they dressed. I’ve seen them in the Simon and Seafort type habitats. Some things never change.
“…Hilcorp is delivering gas at a contracted rate of approximately $8 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), Furie is charging nearly $14 per Mcf!” Gotta make that Alaska Gas Line project pencil out in the cost estimates. The gas line’s $44 billion price tag is more than a decade old; since then, steel costs have increased 66 percent while labor is up 46 percent. Glenfarne hired a consultant to update cost projections in May 2025, ahead of its final investment decision, but has no plans to disclose those figures. Good luck with that. I will be surprised if we see a… Read more »
“……… The gas line’s $44 billion price tag is more than a decade old; since then, steel costs have increased 66 percent while labor is up 46 percent………” Pay the Ukrainians to build it. For $146 billion in military aid, Europe and the U.S. have gotten them to utterly destroy the Russian armored force (the largest the world has ever seen), destroy the Russian oil industry (the largest in the world when the Invasion of Kiev began in 2022), and build the next world military force in drone warfare. This likely included destroying the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which… Read more »
“…Many did give Dunleavy some credit for introducing something, but that is about where it ended. However, as has become the norm in Juneau, the Legislature is not offering any kind of plan.“ BOOM. Finally, someone in the media is calling out, much less just pointing out the obvious that the Legislature (i.e. – the Majorities that control both bodies currently) has and should use their power to introduce a legitimate plan but is instead doing what they do best… throwing stones and waiting till they get a Governor they like to do work on our states long-term fiscal plan, just shameful… Read more »
Where have you been, Don? Jeff is not breaking any new ground here. It’s an election year. That almost always means legislators — not limited to the majorities you want to pretend are the only problem — aren’t likely to stick their necks out about anything. No surprise they’d so quickly and vocally express opposition to a sales tax. Also no surprise that some are quick to point fingers at others instead of looking in the mirror. That’s pretty “shameful and embarrassing,” too.
Yeah, this being an election year is a factor, but veto-happy Dunleavy is also a factor. Why stick your neck out in an election year only to have Lurch veto your revenue bill?
Someone say cop-out? Do what you gotta do, and do what’s best for Alaskans, to heck with what the executive will do. Do you really think it’s okay for the Legislature to kick the can down the road for another year because of “a vEtO”? Lame-ass argument.
“……..Why stick your neck out in an election year only to have Lurch veto your revenue bill?……..”
None whatsoever. Better to play the PFD Zorro (along with the governor) and masquerade as a Champion of the People. You damned sure don’t want to be labeled a PFD Thief in an election year………..until reality during an extra or emergency session well into summer forces you to come up with a budget……………..
I’ll take lame-ass excuses McCabe would make for being a PFD thief for 500, Alex.
Definitely, McCabe. What an idiot.
“………..Definitely, McCabe………..”
Are you Mike Alexander? Or an “anonymous coward”?
I’m interested in this claim of McCabe being a “PFD thief”. His public statements are 100% otherwise:
https://kevinjmccabe.com/how-does-the-pfd-belong-to-you/
“……… I have always believed in a full statutory PFD…….”
I, Reggie Taylor, oppose the PFD in whole, but I can read. Apparently you can’t.
McCabe is a PFD thief. He can say whatever he wants, just like you can. His voting record speaks the loudest and it screams “PFD thief.”
“……..He can say whatever he wants, just like you can……….”
And you, too. I quoted him and referenced his words for any and all to review. You claim otherwise? Lay out your “facts”, reference them, or you’re just another victim of the Derangement Mind Virus which has gripped the entire planet.
“………not limited to the majorities you want to pretend are the only problem………”
I’m amused at the word “majorities” that are tossed about here like a volleyball. These “majorities” are not party controlled. They’re “coalitions”. Gaggles of individuals controlled by………..well, how about you know-it-alls produce some names?
Or can you?
Fair enough, but pointing out the majorities is also more than fair – they control what passes and what doesn’t, they have the votes. That’s how the Legislature works in case that’s breaking new ground for you.
If the Governor’s plan sucks so bad, where is THEIR plan that is (in theory) much better and “fiscally responsible“? Have you seen it, do you know what it is? The public sure doesn’t know, and I’m willing to bet that you live in a district that’s represented by someone who’s currently in the House Majority so please do tell!
I was with you until that final sentence. Unnecessary and unfair.
Every legislative district has a variety of residents. I don’t recall ANY legislator ever getting 100% of votes cast.
Our constitution specifically assigns to the Governor the jobs of: proposing what to spend money on; and proposing how to raise that money. The governor shall submit to the legislature, at a time fixed by law, a budget for the next fiscal year setting forth all proposed expenditures and anticipated income of all departments, offices, and agencies of the State.The governor, at the same time, shall submit a general appropriation bill to authorize the proposed expenditures, and a bill or bills covering recommendations in the budget for new or additional revenues. -Alaska Constitution, Art IX, Sec. 12. This year is… Read more »
Cool story Dan. None of that changes the fact that the Legislature has had just as many opportunities these last 7 years the Governor has to introduce a legitimate plan and permanently right our states fiscal crisis and yet… well I sure hope I don’t have to spell out for you the rest of that sentence for you, I rest my case.
I completely agree that each legislator has a responsibility to help our state balance its books.
But you only crab when the majority legislators fail. You made that your focus.
-Don Ingles
I don’t know how self-aware you are.
But your partisanship is showing.
You won’t believe me but I would say an standby the same damn sentiment even if the Republican were in charge right now, in the 33rd Legislature the Republicans did in fact control the House for a whole legislature and still no fiscal plan, I don’t get caught up in the past is all Dan, and neither should you. At this time with this 34th Legislature, it is the case that both majorities are controlled by members who are predominantly to the left. Idc though, if their fiscal plan is better than the Governor’s and makes sense and is what… Read more »
I’m not going to list all 35 members of our legislature’s majorities.
But the legislative leadership they elected:
are not “predominantly from the left.”
That’s bad-faith crazy talk.
Not seeing a reason to take you seriously. Bye.
One “Independent” who was a registered D his whole career before that and three RINO’s?? And you’re not going to name the rest of the majority members because you and I both know what their regisration is and they’re the ones who put the named leadership in charge, they are no different philosophically, not at all. C’mon Dan, you’re not even trying anymore!
“………But the legislative leadership they elected:
are not “predominantly from the left……….”
They might not be Antifa, but the damned sure aren’t “fascists”, either. I bet if we use the abortion fulcrum, every one is on the left side of the Line of Demarcation.
“……..it is the case that both majorities are controlled by members who are predominantly to the left………”
Ta Daaaaaa!! Give this man a cigar!!
“Party” has absolutely nothing to do with it.
“………you only crab when the majority legislators fail………..”
Huh! There it is again!!
“……….But your partisanship is showing……….”
What does “party” have to do with this magical “majority”?
It seems like a universal condition, not exclusive to any one branch. Which is unfortunate.