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Hello!
Last week the Alaska Senate passed an austere budget that zeroed out requests from the Governor for new spending, defunded many programs, and made spending cuts that will be noticed by Alaskans across the state. Although the budget will change because of the upcoming conference committee, reductions in spending must be carried out because of Alaska’s declining revenue.
Even with big news surrounding an increase in formula spending for K12 education, the overall spend for education will be cut by about 2.5 percent next year because of declining enrollment. However, the Governor has still threatened to partially veto funding. If he does, people on the Kenai Peninsula can expect schools like Sterling Elementary and other programs to close.
The size of the dividend in the Senate budget is $1000 reflecting the nature of the challenging fiscal climate. One large factor bringing down current revenue are the investments being made by Conoco for the Willow project. We are very thankful that Willow is underway, however the short-term impact of writing off that lease activity against Conoco’s tax liability has cost the state over $500 million this year. Once Willow is under production it would be excellent if the Federal Government honored the terms of the Alaska Statehood Compact and provided the state of Alaska with our 90 percent royalty share, instead of cutting our birthright down to 50 percent. That’s why I introduced SJR 19 that you can read more about below.
I am honored to be your effective advocate in Juneau. Please contact my office when you have ideas or concerns by calling 907-283-7996 or by email at sen.jesse.bjorkman@akleg.gov
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