Just ten days remain until the constitutional session limit. In addition to the operating and capital budgets and the gasline bill, there are a ton of bills different legislators want to get over the finish line. Unlike the first session, once the second session ends all the bills die. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska), Glenfarne, and the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation are making a hard push to get a gasline bill passed by the end of session. The Senate passed the operating budget and the House failed to concur, triggering a conference committee. The House Finance Committee moved the capital budget from committee after making several additions. And some more people filed to run for the Legislature. 

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Check out the fifth episode of Governor Peninsula! In this episode, Governor Dunleavy holds a secret meeting with Treg and Adam! Stay tuned for more episodes. And make sure to tell us what you think.

Pressure builds to pass gasline bill as clock ticks

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.

Just 13 days remain until the constitutional session limit, and neither the House nor Senate have passed a tax relief bill for the proposed natural gas pipeline that Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has made his top priority of the session.

The House and Senate each have gas line tax bills introduced by Dunleavy that are moving through the committee process — but Dunleavy has made clear that both include changes made by legislators that are unacceptable to him

Dunleavy held a press conference Monday where he encouraged the Legislature to pass a bill that he wants — namely, by replacing the existing petroleum property tax that would apply to the gasline with a tax that goes up and down based on how much gas is going thru the line.

His office also provided a letter of support from the White House for the gas line bill.

The House version of the bill, House Bill 381, passed out of the resources committee Wednesday by an 8-1 vote. It now heads to the finance committee. The Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill 280, remains in the resources committee. If a gas line bill passes, HB 381 will likely be the vehicle.

But the clock is ticking. The House Finance Committee is scheduled to hear HB 381 on Friday. Even if it can rush and pass the bill by the middle of next week, it still needs to go to the House floor and then over to the Senate.

There is a small chance that negotiations could result in the Senate just passing the House’s version of the bill, but that is unlikely. And even if the House sends the Senate their bill, the Senate would need to hold at least one committee hearing before passing the bill. That would take a few days. If the Senate made any changes, the House could concur and the bill would pass. But that is also not likely.

The most likely scenario is the bill ends up in a conference committee. A conference committee would have just days to work out the differences between bills passed by the two chambers — and get a final version back to both bodies for a vote. 

And whatever gas line bill the Legislature may pass would need to be agreeable to Dunleavy to avoid a veto. At this point, the Legislature and Dunleavy are far apart. If Dunleavy does not like what comes out of the Legislature, he has one hour after adjournment to call an immediate special session. Otherwise, he must give a 30-day notice before a special session can convene. 

Many legislators have plans following the end of session; of course, it’s an election year. And housing gets tight in Juneau in the summer. 

Still, the odds of a special session on the gas line bill are good. The only question is when. 

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

Operating and capital budget 

The House Finance Committee passed out their version of the capital budget on Friday morning (5/8/2026). In keeping with the deal negotiated between House and Senate leadership, the committee added just shy of $100 million Unrestricted (General Funds) UGF to the version that passed the Senate. However, to accommodate additional priorities of the committee, they added an additional $26 million in appropriations that will only take effect if oil prices remain high through the first six months of the fiscal year. The House should send the capital budget back to the Senate this week. The plan is for the Senate to concur with the House’s changes. It will then go to Governor Dunleavy. 

The Senate passed their version of the operating budget on Thursday (5/7/2026). The House failed to concur with the Senate’s changes the next day. This was expected. Once the Senate fails to recede from their changes, a conference committee on the operating budget will be appointed. This will also trigger the 24-hour rule, meaning bill hearings can be scheduled the next day instead of the normal week notice required. This will speed up the pace of bills moving through committees. The operating budget conference committee should finish up their work by the end of the week or early next week. Once they are done, the budget goes back to each body for an up or down vote. 

Other Happenings 

The Legislature was supposed to hold a joint session this week to vote on Governor Dunleavy’s department heads and appointees to boards and commissions, but it was delayed. It should be this week. The one to watch is Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox. By my count, he is short of the 31 votes needed for confirmation. But he did a good job at his confirmation hearings and has been working it hard. He might just be able to squeak through. If he’s not confirmed, Dunleavy will be able to make a recess appointment through the end of his term in December. 

The Legislature failed by two votes to override Governor Dunleavy’s veto of the elections bill. Senator Bert Stedman (R – Sitka) and Representative Jeremy Bynum (R – Ketchikan) voted yes on the bill but no on the override. This upset many in legislative leadership. Strangely, Dunleavy introduced a new elections bill this week that is very similar to the one he vetoed. The odds of that bill going anywhere with ten days left are low.   

Former Republican Representative Ken McCarty filed a letter of intent to run for the House. McCarty lost his House seat in 2022 when he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate. He lives in Representative Dan Saddler’s (R – Eagle River) district. There’s been a lot chatter that Saddler won’t seek re-election, but he has not confirmed that yet. The filing deadline of June 1 is quickly approaching.     

Republican Heath Smith filed to run for the open Senate seat Senate President Gary Stevens (R – Kodiak) is retiring from. Representative Louise Stutes (R – Kodiak) filed to run for the seat a year ago. Republican Carrie Harris also recently filed to run for the seat.  

This is so infuriating. 

This is some very loose behavior. Does this guy think he is some big shot with the State Department?!

This Week’s Loose Unit 

AIDEA’s fake “special envoy for Middle East engagement” was definitely a contender. But a late development locked in this week’s designee. This week’s Loose Unit is Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson. 

Wilson has been one of the loudest advocate for a full PFD – something I have long referred to as the dividend delusion. She’s repeated all the tired and wrong arguments. But there might be a reason why. Check out this Landmine article published yesterday, “Full PFD” gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson had 2023 and 2024 PFDs garnished. It reads like a satirical headline but it’s real! 

The article explains that Wilson and her mom had their PFDs garnished due to a debt collection lawsuit filed by Shoreside Petroleum against Wilson, her mom, and Denali Disposal – a trash company owned 75% by Wilson and 25% by her mom. 

None of them ever responded to the lawsuit, resulting in a $57,000 court ordered judgement. Not bothering to responding to a debt collection lawsuit is maximum loose. 

But it gets way looser. Wilson provided a statement where she blamed Covid and compared herself to Donald Trump! You can’t make this shit up. Classic Loose Unit behavior. 

We are incredibly blessed that we survived draconian COVID lockdowns. Like so many businesses across Anchorage, our business took a huge financial hit. My heart breaks for businesses that were not so fortunate and had to close their doors. Anchorage has still not fully recovered.

Across Alaska, I see business owners whose true strength has been measured not by their good times, but by the challenges they have overcome. I look at our president, who has declared bankruptcy multiple times, and see a man who has taken wisdom learned from his struggles and put it to use, becoming one of the best presidents this country has ever had.

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.