The final days to make your voice count.

12 May 2026

Dear Neighbors,

The 34^th Alaska Legislature is in the final 7 days before the scheduled end of session by the constitutional provision. The legislature can end early, vote to extend up to ten days, adjourn and call ourselves back in to a special session or adjourn at which time the Governor can call us back to a special session of his choosing. It is hard to say what will happen at this point in the process, but I know a lot of lawmakers and staff who temporarily live in Juneau will be evicted by the end of the month!

There are really only a few items that remain for the legislature to do before the session ends. The only item required by law would be to pass a state budget. It is usually the last item done and usually causes controversy because of the contents or lack of contents in the final product negotiated by the House and Senate Finance Committee leadership.

The major issue still facing legislators is the Governor Dunleavy Tax Breaks for the AKLNG proposal. The multi-billion dollar project to export natural gas to overseas market is currently aligned with President Donald Trump and the White House, but also faces economic uncertainties. The private project is likely uneconomic without billions of federal loan guarantees and grants, a state property tax exemption in the billions in the life of the project and a price for consumer gas that is higher than what we would expect to pay for decades.

We will talk more about that progress below as well as an omnibus cleanup bills to address items like education and criminal justice and a series of personal bills making their way in the final day!

988 Successfully Lowering Suicide - Friday Bill Hearing

The 988-surcharge bill is legislation that two of my Inseparable colleagues, Rep. Nellie Jimmie (D-Toksook Bay) and Rep. Genevive Mina (D-Airport Heights) have introduced with me to protect and enhance the funding stream for the Behavioral Health Crisis system in Alaska, which includes the 988 phone service. The 988-line started several years ago through federal grants, but funding has been narrowed and reduced. SB196/HB138 would create a sustainable, significant boost to pay for services like this line and other health crisis services. The surcharge would be a $.98 surcharge per telephone line that is similar to every other state and matches the emergency 911 charges that are currently on most phone lines in Alaska.

Recently, the Journal of the American Medical Association has found positive results for suicide mortality among young adults after the implementation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The House version of the bill is set for final hearings in hopes that this important legislation will become law this year. The hearing for HB138 is scheduled for the House Finance Committee on Friday, May 15 at 09:00am. You can send written testimony to house.finance@akleg.gov or contact my office directly.

Seniors, the Silver Tsunami and Mother's Day

May is designated as Older Americans Month, a time to honor the contributions, wisdom, and resilience of older adults. First designated by President John F. Kennedy at Senior Citizens Month in 1963, the month has grown and expanded to recognize contributions by older adults, highlight aging trends and promote programs that foster independence. Alaska is a state whose senior population is growing quickly and outpacing every other population block in what has been known as the ‘silver tsunami’.

A criminal Justice "Omnibus" Bill

The legislature is finishing up on this second session of the 34^th Legislature with a criminal justice bill with many elements that have either been passed or have been heavily debated. The Crime Omnibus Bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee is currently being heard in the Senate Finance Committee as the final stop before it comes to the Senate Floor in final passage.

The Crime Bill or HB239 contains a dozen measures including a crime of failure to assist after a car accident, faster tracking of sex assault kits, raising the age of consent to 18, allowing for tribal government victim counseling centers, mail theft improvements, criminalizing artificial intelligence child sex abuse material, allowing for expanded electronic monitoring and streamlining court system operations. All in all, the bill offers some small and large changes to policy and I look forward to seeing the final product in the next few days.

24 Hour Rule: Bills In Motion

As we near the end of the session, the “24-Hour Rule” is now in effect. For those who are not familiar with the legislative process, bills are usually scheduled a week in advance for their respective committees of referral. This gives the members of the committee, as well as those presenting the bill, enough prep time to ensure that the hearing is productive. Towards the end of the session, time is of the essence, thus why the “24-Hour Rule” is so important. What the rule does is allow bills to be scheduled with only 24-hour notice. Since we are at the end of the session and have been working on these bills for almost 2 years, my office and I are ready to present at a moment’s notice.

I have several bills currently moving in the legislature that will be subject to this rule. Two of these bills are in the House Finance Committee and are SB104 and SB167. These bills are not scheduled yet, but I am confident that they will have a hearing before the end of the session. Both bills have been highlighted in previous editions of this newsletter, but I will provide a brief overview now.

SB104 would allow an Alaskan to request a Transfer on Death Deed for a boat, vehicle, or a manufactured home licensed through the Department of Motor Vehicles. This is a common-sense piece of legislation that allows Alaskans to skip the probate process, which can take 6 months to 2 years, if a Transfer on Death Deed is filed for a particular asset. This allows quicker access to these assets. This is especially important to us in Fairbanks because a car that is left alone during the winter may be unusable when summer comes.

SB167 would enable individuals whose convictions have been overturned to receive the PFDs they lost while wrongfully incarcerated. This is the least we can do as a state for those who have faced bitter injustice. Other states provide college tuition and monetary compensation for each year the individual was wrongly incarcerated. Texas gives its wrongly incarcerated individuals 80k for each year they were imprisoned. I have been working on this legislation for almost a decade and am looking forward to it’s passage during the time of the 24-hour rule.

AKLNG and the Pipeline Predictions

From now until the remainder of the session, I will publish an update to the important AKLNG legislation and where it might end.

The Senate Resources Committee has been having daily hearings to discuss the possibility of the AKLNG with almost 25 meetings so far with another half dozen scheduled this week. The House version of the bill passed last week and had an initial hearing in the House Finance Committee. It is clear that the House bill will be the one that passes the chamber first and will become the enabling legislation. The House and Senate language does differ slightly and I will talk a little more about what that means for the bill and especially for Fairbanks and our local economy.

Fairbanks has long been left out of the discussion around the AKLNG project at the legislation that underpins the proposal. SB138 passed over a decade ago during the SB21 Oil Wealth Giveaway bill as part of a proposal to monetize and then export natural gas from the North Slope to markets in East Asia through large LNG tankers. SB280 did not have enabling language for Fairbanks which means that interior Alaska would be left out of the AKLNG project. It was disappointing to hear the AKLNG does not envision the 45-mile pipeline that allows the interior to access on to the cheap North Slope natural gas that could easily benefit small businesses and families who are struggling with the high cost of heat and electricity. In fact, Fairbanks has been stranded in the interior without access to a cheap energy supply because of the lack of structure around the intertie and because the South Central region around Anchorage including the Mat-Su and the Kenai has had a subsidized natural gas price since the late 1960’s and still continues to get preferential treatment for energy.

If you're interested in testifying on SB280 and believe that there should be changes. Public testimony is being held tomorrow at 9:00 AM.

Legislative Teleconference Phone Numbers

All other Callers (844) 586 - 9085
From JNU 586- 9085
From ANC 563 - 9085

I will continue to fight for low-cost energy to heat homes, power electric plants and support businesses and families and make interior living more affordable. I will not support a bill that leaves Fairbanks out in the cold trying to find a way to build a lateral spur line. The estimated costs for a spur are upwards of $300M and are currently not part of the legislation before committee, meaning that customers in town could be left trying to pay for the spur ourselves or through a costly tariff whose estimates are unknown.

Office Moves Back Home!

The Legislative office will move boxes of legislation, old files and interim work back home to Fairbanks over the course of a week or two. The office will also lose our computers and may be difficult to reach during that time. You can call us at 907.456.7423 where the phones will be active and forwarded.

The Legislative Office in Fairbanks will officially open on Tuesday, May 26^th after Memorial Day weekend. The Legislative Office is located in the Global USA Building at 1292 Sadler Way near Home Depot. The Legislative Information Offices and the offices of every member of the Interior Delegation are on the 3^rd Floor. Come visit us during the summer interim when a lot of planning work, budgets and future legislation is discussed.

Hearings and Public Testimony

The Legislature publishes the next week hearing schedule on Thursdays and one can find them at the Alaska Legislature website HERE. There are also a couple of hearings that directly impact the interior and Fairbanks that are highlighted below.

Legislative Teleconference Phone Numbers

All other Callers (844) 586 - 9085
From JNU 586- 9085
From ANC 563 - 9085

My Staff and I are Here for You

As always, I will continue to keep you updated on what I’m working on in Juneau throughout the session. If you have any questions about anything going on in the Capitol or at home, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email – as always, my staff and I are working for you. We will assist you with the issues important to you and your family.

Working Hard for Fairbanks Families,