[vc_row][vc_column]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] The Medicaid Double Dilemma [/vc_column_text][vc_separator el_width=”50″ css=”.vc_custom_1747538816921{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=””]We have a double dilemma, a fiscal and moral crisis facing Alaska—a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The raging topic spreading across the state as the month of May kicked off was HB 209 filed by Rep. Zack Fields of Anchorage.…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]No issue has taken precedence this session like the issue of education. It’s often a substantial topic in the legislature, but it has absolutely…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]For those who want us to cut the budget enough to completely close the gap this year, there are not the votes. There will…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]You may remember from last week or from my interviews on the radio, that the Anchorage School District (ASD) over-estimated HR by $41 million…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]We all love the sunshine, but we really shouldn’t shun the precipitation this spring because it’s been a dry winter. Every drop helps dampen…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]As someone deeply appreciative and connected to military life, this month and day holds incredible meaning. My office is unique in that each of…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text css=””]SB 113 Corporate Income Tax on Digitized Businesses will be on the floor this week in the Senate and has the votes to…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] ⛺⛺⛺ [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text css=””]My children attended public schools in both rural and urban Alaska, and I care deeply about all students throughout the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Education and Sharing Day occurred this year on April 9, 2025, but what it represents, we should carry with us every day. Communities across…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]As one of the eight who was on the education package negotiation team earlier in the session (2 from each majority and minority caucuses…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Recently, my husband had a milestone birthday, and after the party, kids walked away with helium balloon bouquets. Inevitably, as we were cleaning up,…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]This isn’t the time of year for rollercoasters but it’s looking like this year is an exception. I by no means claim to be…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]While I’d prefer by far we had more focus on the private sector, this year, both the House and Senate majorities (who set the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Are you ready, folks, for an adventure in problem-solving? Buckle up. We recently learned that the revenue forecast is down a bit so that…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]With a firsthand view on the Senate Resource Committee, I can see that there are majority members dead-set on two oil tax bills: one…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]If you were to become a digital being and slip into my email inbox, you would discover a lot of messages clearly resulting from…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]I’ve had to correct a false rumor several times in last few weeks, and even though I’ve been quoted by the press, have discussed…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Did you hear that Alaska has once again a chance for its very own steady and reasonable “DOGE” with teeth that involves the legislative…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Two bills have been filed to raise taxes on oil companies (SB 92 and SB 112) and one bill has been filed to tax…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Time to “march” forward and update you on happenings in your state capital. Here’s the skinny. The Senate Finance Committee has indicated there’s a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Oil & Gas Tax Convo” i_icon_fontawesome=”fas fa-burn” i_color=”violet” i_size=”sm” color=”sandy_brown” style=”double” border_width=”3″ css=”” add_icon=”true”][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text css=””]Our first tax conversation will be about SB 92,…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Food Security Workshop in Palmer on Saturday, February 22nd was a smashing success! An estimated 130 attended, coming from as far as Willow…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]We’re going to get a little interactive here as we start off this article. Please raise your hand if you eat food (do it…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]One of my fellow Senate Republican Caucus members, Senator Robert Yundt, introduced a bill he thinks is a good idea. I don’t think it’s…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Healthcare costs should be a hot topic du jour in the legislature, but frankly, it is not. It is for me though. I was…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]I continue to watch the efforts of the companies in Cook Inlet and the utilities to solve the coming natural gas shortage. Enstar and…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]This week I expect much of my focus to be on policy and funding discussions to help our students and teachers achieve better outcomes…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”5546″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_rounded” css=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text css=””]Much focus is on national matters presently but I’d like a quick check-in with you on an…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Judge Zeman first created uncertainty for students and now has created uncertainty for the legislative branch, the executive branch, and school districts throughout the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]You have an opportunity to weigh in regarding the retention of Judge Zeman who made the recent Alaska Superior Court decision impacting public correspondence…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Better wear a thick mitten hot pad or you will most certainly blister your hand because the education issue continues to be an extremely…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1713761421664{margin-bottom: 35px !important;}”]Prior to a couple of months ago, I had never heard the acronym “AWOS”, let alone knew we had an AWOS problem…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Word released Friday evening puts families of more than 22,000 Alaskan students in jeopardy. Families who receive public funding allotments for public correspondence (homeschool)…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The House version of the operating budget bill is sitting at approximately $12.3 billion (including the PFD). Where do we get the revenue to cover…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Off-the-road-system rural Alaska has its perks. It’s not for everyone but with a decade under my belt living in what we used to call “the bush”…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Much work has been underway by groups, companies, policymakers here in the US and abroad to develop roadmaps for tackling all the big questions AI…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Corporate media will likely spin what happens and why. I’ve heard from pro-override individuals who have let me know after hearing me out that they…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Across Alaska’s peaceful and rugged landscapes, a new chapter is unfolding—one that will develop the state’s flourishing promise and secure the well-being of its people.…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]SB 24 is a bill that would add “mental health education” to the K-12 curriculum in public schools. I had tremendous reservations about the bill…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The time has come to broaden our economic horizons beyond relying primarily on oil revenue. Our state’s shaky financial health proves the need for diversification…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]SB 140, the education package, is on the governor’s desk. The bill underwent arduous negotiations between the House and the Senate, with Governor Dunleavy, a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is indeed unusual that this early in the legislative session that the House passed SB 140, an education package that provides provisions to expand…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As Alaska stands at a fundamental crossroad, the decisions made today regarding the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) will profoundly influence the state’s economic, cultural, and…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Whoa. What? Shelley Hughes is supporting this? A separate department for agriculture?? But isn’t she all about right-sizing and limiting government? Yes, folks, I…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Based on chronically low student performance across our state (except for some wonderful pockets of excellence sprinkled in both urban and rural regions), a constitutional…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Blow The Dust Off The Dam Project Already [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711667164548{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Nobody is happy a natural gas shortfall is looming on…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Where have all the fiscal conservatives gone? [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711666600190{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]In the recent debate over Senate Bill 88, a pressing question…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A foundational question for all of us in Alaska, when too many schools are failing, is whether any proposed increased funding is targeted or not…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Hughes Introduces SB 177 AI, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, Deepfakes [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711665911028{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Just prior to the session kicking off, I pre-filed…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Food & Farm Caucus [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711665691049{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]We are kicking off 2024 and the new session with our first Food and…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] WE MUST PASS HB 68 [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711664614874{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The topic of trafficking in the US ramped up last summer after the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Concealed Carry Job Duty Assigned to at Least One Qualified, Trained Individual per School [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711664284556{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Shortly before we gaveled…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This is a bit technical but hang tight with me. If you can track what happened technically, you can better understand what happened politically. I…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] A PFD Cut is Not a Fiscal Plan [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711659399160{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]SB 107 cuts the PFD and sets Alaska on a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Choose Right Destination [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711658933732{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]We are at the critical juncture where we absolutely must understand how what we do…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) decided not to take up a vote last week to adopt a bylaw change that would have limited girls’…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] From Sap to Syrup [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711648257299{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]This is the time of year for boiling things down, whether in the syrup…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The House decided to pass and move the operating budget bill to the Senate last week after reaching an agreement for fair play regarding the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Part of Solution to Workforce Shortage [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711571918967{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]It started last year. Nearly every single person who streamed into my…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The recently announced goal by the Biden administration that 50 percent of new vehicles be electric by 2030, his “EV Acceleration Challenge”, is unaffordable, unrealistic,…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] SB 77 Undermines Principle of Property Right Protection [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange”][vc_column_text]Ours is a nation where property ownership is sought out as part of the American…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Alaska School Activities Association [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711562318341{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]A board member of a non-profit in Alaska typically does not expect to be…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Greenhouse Gas Emissions [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711067525087{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Well, la-dee-da. Based on data from 2021, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are actually down 17.7…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Taxes Alone = A Runaway Horse [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711067298616{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]If your horse is not hitched to your wagon, don’t expect your…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Real Health Insurance Savings Potential for School Districts [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange”][vc_column_text]The words “pooling” and “steam” in the title may conjure up images in your mind…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] 2023 Business Plan Competition Keynote by Senator Shelley Hughes [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711065682127{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1711065779209{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left:…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] …The Key Point in Email Traffic [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”juicy_pink” css=”.vc_custom_1711065188450{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]I try my best to keep up with the hundreds of emails…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] We Need to Rally for Public Accommodation Sanity I received a report this weekend, and I will state right up front, as of this…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Let’s Extend This Significant Day Throughout the Year “Education and Sharing Day is set aside each year to remind us that it is our…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Directing More Dollars to Classrooms with Funds Districts Already Have [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711057730289{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The issue of school funding is a big…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Flawed Process and Policy [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange”][vc_column_text]In response to the 67% pay raise proposal for legislators, I introduced Senate Bill (SB) 111 “Rejecting Legislators’ Salary…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Effort to Repeal Ag Crop Statutes Creates Stir [/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”orange” css=”.vc_custom_1711056721006{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]After working for more than seven years to promote hemp…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Thanks to Alaska Board of Education Safe and fair for all: Title IX-related resolution passes Many of you have been begging me to file…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] “National Popular Vote” isn’t what it’s cracked up to be: It’s bad for Alaska, bad for the Nation I’m barely (by one year!) old…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] How can we make sure we’re getting the most bang for our buck in state government operations? Chatter about raising old taxes and implementing…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Spending Cap, PFD, and SB9 Should Be First, Not Taxes Discussion among leadership and the governor ensued last week about the need for a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] SB 96, HB 105, SB 43 Many of you have contacted me to let me know you are in adamant opposition to SB 43,…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Executive Board Formed A new legislative task force is picking up where Governor Dunleavy’s Alaska Food Security and Independence Task Force left off when…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Group of Legislators Thanks Walgreens for Following Law We all know that some things are not what they seem. That occurred this past week.…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Whoa. Of the 50 minerals and metals critical to the United States, Alaska has 49. But if they’re buried, what good are they? Leaders…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]No one likes being in last place, but this time, oh how I wish we were. Alaska is number one among the 50 states for…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Senator Cathy Giessel, the sponsor of SB 88, and nine co-sponsors from the Senate Majority are touting the bill to reinstate pensions for public…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] An issue currently rising to the top in Juneau Why is Lady Justice’s blindfold slipping in Alaska? And what can we do about it?…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A project in the National Petroleum Reserve has suffered some resistance from the Biden administration. The day of reckoning will soon be upon us as…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke last week to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature, a speech which included remarks pertaining to the Chinese spy…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Student Learning Outcomes Must Be Tied to School Funding Are Legislators Listening? I testified under “public testimony” to the Senate Education Committee a couple…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] What’s an issue currently rising to the top in Juneau? Food Security and Independence Priority for Alaska What happens if something catastrophic happens to the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear Friends and Neighbors, Hope you are feeling Influential and masterful this February 20th! Why, you may ask? Well, I figure feeling a bit presidential…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] We are facing a crisis in our K-12 schools in Alaska. Does the legislature have the political will and fortitude to help our students? Sometimes…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear Friends and Neighbors, As you all know, I am a state senator and serve in Juneau, not Washington, D.C. At the same time, we…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The question of defined benefits for public employees: Should we return to DB? Can we afford DB? Since Alaska closed the door on the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear Friends and Neighbors, Things have been rockin’ and rollin’ this past week in the people’s branch and there’s no stopping the momentum this coming…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Is HB172 the culprit that allowed the wrongful custody hold of the school principal to occur? No, it is not. Is there work to…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS Governor Mike Dunleavy gave his fifth annual State of the State address on January 23rd to a joint session…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dear Friends and Neighbors, The gavel came down January 17th to kick off the 33rd Legislature, and already there’s been a steady whirl of activity…