Back to School, Primary Election and More Bills Become Law

11 August 2026

Dear Neighbors,

With the start of school in Fairbanks, the nearing Primary Election and with the annual Tanana Valley State Fair in the rear-view mirror Autumn is right around the corner. I hope you and your family have been having a great summer. Continue reading for updates about back to school, upcoming elections and more bills that have become laws as we end the summer.

It’s Back to School Time!

The first day of school in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District is Tuesday, August 18. I always remember the excitement (and a little apprehension) of the first day of school. I wish all our students, teachers, staff and families a wonderful and successful school year.

As we all get reoriented with the school year, the school districts website has several helpful resources. Firstly, nearly every school in the district will be hosting a back-to-school social for students, parents, teachers and staff to get to know each other before the school year starts in earnest. You can view the list of school ‘meet and greets’ online at the district website. Additionally, you can find information about bus routes, the district calendar, nutrition services, start times, supply lists and more!

To help students in need, our local news station KTVF is hosting its annual “Fill The Bus” school supply drive which benefits Bright Futures Fairbanks – a program of the School District. If you have new or lightly used school supplies you can donate to students in need, you can drop them off at one of the many sponsoring businesses around town. You can learn more about this program, and where to drop donations off online here. This supply drive runs through August 18.

Missed Opportunity to Support Vulnerable Students

While the 34th Legislature saw success for many important education policies including the largest permanent increase to education funding in state history, one bill unfortunately fell short of the finish line. HB12 sponsored by my House counterpart Rep. Maxine Dibert would have provided free breakfast and lunch for all students in K-12 schools in Alaska.

It is not new for Alaska – during the pandemic, students had access to free breakfast and lunch. Student nutrition is not only important for student health, but when students are well fed a corresponding increase in test scores is observed. While the bill passed out of the House Education Committee, it stalled in the House Finance Committee and did not pass before the end of the second regular session. With the start of the school year right around the corner, it’s important to support policies like these that support our most vulnerable students.

Bills That Become Laws Part 2

In the June 25 Edition of the Juneau Note, I provided a comprehensive list of bills that had become law up to that point since the adjournment of the regular legislative session, as well as bills that had been vetoed. Throughout the rest of the month of June, July and the beginning of August, more bills have been becoming law.

It is important to note that the Alaska Constitution allows the Governor to sign bills, allow them to become law without a signature or veto them. Nearly every bill that has become law this summer has done so without a signature. While it is the prerogative of the Governor to enact bills as he sees fit, until this governor allowing bills to become law without signature was a rarely used method of bills becoming law. I am puzzled why the Governor would not sign bills, but it is better than the alternative outcome of them being vetoed. Here is the list of bills that have become law since June 24:

HB 126: Reinstatement of ANCSA Regional Corporations by Representative Neal Foster (D – Nome).
HB 73: Complex Care Residential Homes by the Governor.
SB 239: Registration of Foreign Classic Cars by Senator Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla). In the final days of session, this bill was amended on the House Floor to include language from HB 214 from Rep. Alyse Galvin (I – Anchorage) which updated SR 22 insurance laws for drivers with previous DUI’s.
SB 230: Relating the Jonesville Public Use Area by Senator George Rauscher (R – Sutton).
HB 173: Omnibus Healthcare Licensing by Rep. Nellie Jimmie (D – Toksook Bay). This bill started as a bill to add Alaska to an occupational therapy licensure compact, but the Senate Finance Committee incorporated language from several other bills relating to occupational licensing in HB 173. One of the additions was something that I championed with Representative Mike Prax (R – North Pole) in response to a local physical therapist. Specifically, Sections 3 and 10 of the final version of the bill establish an executive administrator for the Physical and Occupational Therapy Board which will help with the board’s day-to-day operations.
HB 216: Transfer of Railroad Land to Whittier by Rep. Ky Holland (I – Anchorage).
HB 243: Board of Barbers and Hairdressers Delegation of Licensing by Rep. Ashley Carrick (D – Fairbanks).
HB 244: Certified Nurse Aide Training by Rep. Jubilee Underwood (R – Wasilla).
HB 246: Increasing funding for the Special Education Service Agency by Rep. Andy Josephson (D – Anchorage).
HB 262: Additional Superior Court Judge for Palmer by the House Rules Committee and championed by Rep. DeLena Johnson (R – Palmer).
HB 388: Increased Cap on Loans from the Bulk Fuel Revolving Loan Fund by the House Finance Committee and championed by Rep. Neal Foster (D – Nome) and Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I – Dillingham).
SB 86: Money Transmission, Virtual Currency by Senator Jesse Kiehl (D – Juneau).
SB 252: Unform Commercial Code Secured Transactions and Electronic Records by Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage)
SB 249: Virtual Currency Kiosks by Senator Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla).
HB 221: Establishes the first Friday in October as Arts and Culture Day by Rep. Carolyn Hall (D – Anchorage).
HB 302: Update to Travel Insurance Laws and Increased Unemployment Benefits by Rep. Carolyn Hall (D – Anchorage).
SB 163: Repealing Three Inactive Funds by Senator James Kaufman (R – Anchorage).
SB 181: Updating interagency data sharing at the Department of Labor at the request of the Taskforce Evaluating the Alaska Seafood Industry.
HB 14: Repealing the unused programs for catastrophic illness assistance and medical assistance for acute medical conditions by Rep. Will Staff (R – Fort Wainwright). This bill was amended on the Senate Floor to add the language from two bills: HB 210 to expand workers compensation coverage and disability benefits firefighters by Rep. Chuck Kopp (R – Anchorage), and SB 83 relating to reimbursement rates for telehealth by Sen. Matt Claman (D – Anchorage).
HB 249: Transfer Vehicle Title to Insurer by Rep. Elexie Moore (R – Wasilla).

In addition to allowing 20 bills to become law since June 24, the Governor has vetoed seven bills. In July, the Alaska Beacon reported that during the 34th Legislature, the Governor has set the record for most bills vetoed, breaking the record set by Governor Tony Knowles in the 19th Legislature. As the Governor works hard to identify his legacy in the final months of his term, his unproductive relationship with the Legislature has become a hallmark of his eight years as Governor. Unfortunately, the Legislature was unable to meet in joint session to consider veto overrides for any of these bills, so they will have to be reintroduced next session. Here is the list of bills that the Governor vetoed since June 24:

HB 16: Campaign Contribution Limits by Rep. Calvin Schrage (I – Anchorage). This is the companion bill to SB 116 which I introduced through the State Affairs Committee. This bill is already on the Primary Election Ballot as a ballot initiative so Alaskan voters will get to vote for a citizen veto override.
HB 25: Disposable Food Service Ware by Rep. Andy Josephson (D – Anchorage).
HB 79: Naming the Vic Fischer Marine Park and Renaming the Institute of Social and Economic Research at UAA after Vic Fischer by Rep. Zack Fields (D – Anchorage).
HB 93: Tying residency requirements for hunting and fishing licenses to PFD eligibly by Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I – Stika).
HB 96: Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board by Rep. Mike Prax (R – North Pole).
HB 133: Payment of Contracts by Rep. Rebecca Himschoot. This is the companion bill to SB 129 which I introduced at the request of local non-profit organizations.
HB 176: Student Fee Transparency Act by Rep. Ashley Carrick (D – West Fairbanks) and Senator Robert Myers (R – North Pole).
HB 278: Establishing an Alaska Ireland Trade Commission by Rep. Mia Costello (R – Anchorage).
SB 174: Establishing an Invasive Species Management Council by Senator Forrest Dunbar (D – Anchorage).

More Personal Bills Become Law

At the end of June, two more bills that I introduced through the State Affairs Committee became law. SB 237 was a collaborative effort between my office and Representative Nellie Jimmie (D – Toksook Bay) to allow for electronic applications to renew Social Security Cards. This bill was amended on the House floor to incorporate language from a bill to allow digital drivers licenses which I first introduced in 2022 as SB 194. That bill was reintroduced by the Governor in 2025 as HB 180 despite initial opposition to the bill in 2022. I am pleased to see that both these bills I have introduced have become law!

SB 282 is a bill to update the mission of the Joint Armed Services Committee which I Co-Chair. This committee was first established in 1998 by then-State Representative Lisa Murkowski and was focused on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process which was anticipated to result in the closure of military installations in Alaska. This bill refined the mission of JASC so it can focus on developing community relationships between military installations in Alaska and military families and arctic defense initiatives.

Only One Week Before a Big Day

In last week’s edition of the Juneau Note, I provided information about the upcoming Primary Election on August 18. As a reminder, early voting is under way at the Division of Elections Office downtown at 675 7th Ave during regular business hours during weekdays, from 10:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday, and 12:00pm to 4:00pm on Sunday. In addition to voting for your choice candidate for U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, Governor, State Senator, and State Representative, voters will have the chance to weigh in on campaign contribution limits for our elections. As the prime sponsor of SB116, the identical bill to Ballot Measure 1 which passed the Legislature as HB16 and was unfortunately vetoed, I encourage you to vote yes on Ballot Measure 1! To learn more about this ballot measure, and the other measures on the General Election Ballot, you can watch a hearing that I chaired with Rep. Ashley Carrick (D – West Fairbanks) which provided a legislative overview of each ballot initiative. You can watch that hearing here.

The Primary is the first of three elections in Fairbanks this fall. Between the Primary and the General there will be our Municipal Elections which will be taking place on Tuesday October 6. This will be an opportunity for borough residents to vote for borough assembly members, school board members, members to the Interior Gas Utility Board of Directors, and city residents to vote for city council members. Additionally, there will be three ballot measures for borough voters to weigh in on: Proposition 1 is the reauthorization of the tax revenue cap, Proposition 2 would change the date of borough elections to align with the state general election, and Proposition 3 would require hand counting all ballots in local elections.

The deadline to register to vote in our municipal elections in Sunday September 6, Early Voting takes place between September 21 and October 1 at Noel Wein Library, and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is September 29. Municipal elections often have the lowest turnout – under 20%. However you choose to vote, please make sure to do so by election day! You can find more information about how to make your voice heard in our local elections on the Borough’s website here. You can also call the borough clerks office if you have any questions at 907-459-1401, or my office at 907-456-7423.

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

During the interim, my staff and I work from our office in the Fairbanks Legislative Information Office. 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,