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. 

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! 

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.   

Not a great list to be on for Governor Dunleavy…

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. 

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.