The first session of the 34th Alaska Legislature is underway! The House and Senate both gaveled in on Tuesday with no drama or shenanigans. Both bodies are now both run by Democratic-led majorities, though the Senate majority is closer to a split between Republicans and Democrats. The Senate majority, Senate minority, and Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) all held press conferences this week, while the House remained more quiet. The Senate Resources Committee already held two hearings on the Cook Inlet gas crisis Southcentral is facing. The field is set for the six Anchorage Assembly races in April. And former Governor Sean Parnell announced his resignation as Chancellor of UAA. 

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No Drama Start to Session

The House and Senate on Tuesday (1/21/2025) elected presiding officers on the first day of session for the first time since 2017. You may recall that in 2019 and 2021, it took the House several weeks into session to elect a speaker. The Senate also struggled with electing a Senate president, but was able to do so quicker. In 2023, a speaker was not elected until the day after session began. 

Senator Gary Stevens (R – Kodiak) was re-elected Senate President by unanimous consent of the 20 senators. The Senate majority is comprised of 14 members (nine Democrats and five Republicans) while the Senate minority is comprised of six Republicans. 

Representative Bryce Edgmon (I – Dillingham) was elected Speaker of the House on a caucus line vote of 21-19. The House majority is comprised of 21 members (14 Democrats, five independents, and two Republicans). The House majority is comprised of 19 Republicans. 

Both bodies also adopted their respective Committee on Committee reports on Tuesday. These are the reports that outline the committee chairs and membership of committees. There was some talk that the House majority might deny some minority members seats on a few committees, but that did not happen.   

I was a bit surprised the House Republican minority did not play any games. I figured they would have put up a Republican for speaker, Representative Chuck Kopp (R – Anchorage) for example, to mess with the majority. Kopp is one of two Republican members of the House majority, the other is Representative Louise Stutes (R – Kodiak). But instead, the minority did not make any fuss or play any games. They just voted against Edgmon and that was it.

If the bar scene the night before session was any indicator of how the first day of session would go, no one should have been surprised. This is my seventh session in Juneau. Usually the bars are pretty packed the night before session. But this year they were mostly dead with a handful of lobbyists, staffers, and legislators. Something is definitely different this year. 

The House Republicans probably realized causing unnecessary drama was not worth it. With 19 members they have a powerful minority. If they play their cards right and stick together, they can cause the majority a lot of trouble later in the session with amendments, procedural votes, and a Constitutional Budget Reserve vote if that is needed to fund the budget (that requires 30/40 votes).  

First round of bills set tone and goals for new Legislature

The following is an excerpt from a special edition of the Alaska Political Report. It was done by Neil Steininger, our budget correspondent. 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.

In the first week of session, 113 bills and six proposed constitutional amendments were introduced across both bodies. Not all of these bills will pass, and many may not have any hearings, but several set the tone for legislators’ objectives and goals. Several of these bills propose policy changes that could significantly impact the state’s fiscal position.

Education

House and Senate leadership have both indicated that they will soon introduce legislation addressing the state’s K-12 foundation program. In advance of those bills, Anchorage Democratic Sen. Matt Claman– who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee – introduced a bill that would seek to move the funding formula to an annually determined ad hoc appropriation.

Claman’s bill, Senate Bill (SB) 46, eliminates the section of law that defines the base student allocation (BSA). Currently the BSA, when applied to student counts and other factors, determines what is called the ‘basic need’ for K-12 funding. In the last few years the Legislature has chosen to fund above the basic need with ad hoc appropriations to address rising costs. SB 46 would eliminate the formulaic approach to basic need and instead make it an annual decision of the Legislature.

Retirement

Both majorities have expressed interest in advancing plans to return the state to a defined benefit (pension) system this session. Two senators introduced slightly different pension bills for consideration. SB 27 was introduced by Juneau Democratic Sen. Jesse Kiehl – a majority member on the finance committee – and SB 28 was introduced by Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel – who serves as majority leader. SB 28 is a reintroduction of SB 88 (also introduced by Giessel) that was passed out of the Senate last session. It is likely that SB 28, given the bills level of vetting last year, will be the vehicle for pension reform.

In the House, Eagle River Republican Rep. Dan Saddler – a minority member – introduced House Bill (HB) 38. This bill would ensure that school districts are able to opt into the state’s supplemental retirement benefit system (SBS). Currently, districts do not participate in SBS or Social Security, which results in a reduced level of retirement benefit for teachers when compared to other public employees.

If you would like to see analysis of more bills, as well as our more detailed coverage of the legislative session, consider subscribing to the Alaska Political Report. Email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com for a copy of the latest special report. 

Other Happenings 

The Senate Resources Committee held two hearings on the Cook Inlet gas crisis this week. First, they heard from Furie and Hilcorp. Second, they heard from Enstar. They are both worth watching but if you don’t have time, let me just say that I am very happy we are having a warm winter. The gas situation in Cook Inlet is much worse than most people living in Southcentral realize. It’s a travesty our leaders have let us get in this situation, but here we are. This week, Enstar filed a lawsuit against its main gas supplier Hilcorp about gas delivery. This ADN article provides more information. Those with a wood burning fireplace or stove are lucky. 

The field is set for the six Anchorage Assembly races and two school board races in April. Only two incumbents, Assembly members Dan Volland and Kameron Perez-Verdia, are seeking re-election. So there will be at least four new Assembly members on the 12-member body in Anchorage. Assembly members Meg Zaletel, Mark Littlefield, and Karen Bronga are not seeking re-election. And Assembly member Randy Sulte is now living out of his district due to redistricting. Both school board incumbents race heads-up matches. 

Sean Parnell announced that he is leaving his role as Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Defense Secretary thanks to a tie breaker from Vice President JD Vance. This was after three senators, including Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – Alaska), voted against his confirmation. 

A picture really is worth a thousand words!

Have not heard any more about the condition of Senator Donny Olson (D – Golovin), but his wife Willow responded to this tweet with, “We are really grateful for everybody that helped with a quick intervention. He will need to take some time to recuperate, but you know him, he’ll be back to work before we expect it. Really appreciate that the #akgov called to check on him. We would appreciate privacy right now.” Wishing him all the best. 

Amy Demboski is being sued for wrongful termination. What a shocker! Representative Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla) is on the board of directors of the Chugiak/Eagle River Senior Center. 

Renee Reeve, VP of Government & Community Relations at Cruise Lines International Association, held her 50th birthday party last night in Anchorage at Van’s Dive Bar. I was NOT going to miss that. I just turned 40 and she looks better that me! It was a great crowd that included a lot of faces that are familiar in Juneau (heavy resource cabal!). I first met Renee in 2010 when I was working for an IT company and she was working for the Alaska Support Industry Alliance. I have gotten to know her well over the years. She is one of the coolest, smartest, and most fun people I know. And her husband Mike Reeve is great too. You can tell a lot about a person by the friends they have. And Renee has some pretty amazing friends. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

As I said above, it was fairly tame for the first week of session. But one person really stood out during a Senate Resources Committee meeting. This week’s Loose Unit is a tie between Mark Slaughter, chief commercial officer for Furie, and John Hendrix, the owner of Furie. It’s no secret John Hendrix has been asking for a “Hendrix Handout” from the State of Alaska for many years. Whether it’s a 95% reduction in his property taxes in Cook Inlet, large royalty reductions, or the state confiscating the private overriding royalties in his field, his hand is always out. His behavior over the years has been very loose. 

But things got maximum loose during the Senate Resources Committee hearing. In response to a question from Senator Robb Myers (R – North Pole) about why Hendrix bought Furie out of bankruptcy when he knew the overriding royalties were part of the deal, Slaughter actually said in his answer, “It’s like when you buy a used car. You think you know what you’re getting, but until you start driving it and you start figuring where all the issues are – all the gremlins – that’s what we’ve been dealing with for the last four and a half years.”

Read that again. 

Slaughter’s analogy is basically this: A kid (John Hendrix) buys a cheap car. The kid thought he was getting a great deal. But then the car started having problems. So the kid has to go to daddy (the State of Alaska) for a bail out. 

Classic Loose Unit behavior. 

You can watch the interaction here. 

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.