Task Force on Education Funding

The Task Force on Education Funding was created through the passage of House Bill 57. Because this is a legislative task force, the goal is to hear from education partners as we develop recommendations to be finalized in January of 2027. A task force allows us to take a deeper dive into complex issues, such as schools' fixed costs (such as energy, insurance, etc) or how we use impact aid, without the time constraints and distractions of the legislative session. Any bills generated from the Task Force recommendations will go through the full legislative process, including opportunities for public input, which can be submitted to EdFundTaskForce@akleg.gov.

The task force held a meeting earlier this month in Anchorage. During that meeting, members heard from various state and national experts on education funding formulas, including comparative analyses from other states, a history of Alaska’s own funding formula, and suggestions for state formula improvements. Task force members also completed several site visits to schools within Anchorage, Wasilla, and Kenai, including: Wasilla High School, Wendler Middle School, Fairview Elementary School, Kenai Alternative High School, Kenai Central High School, Aurora Borealis Charter School, and Mountainview Elementary School. These school visits confirm what I have known for a long time: there is much to celebrate and support in Alaska's public school system.

Our next meeting will be in Juneau on January 23, at 3:30pm. It will take place in the Capitol, and can be livestreamed HERE. This meeting will focus on attendance policies in our schools, and will feature speakers from SchoolHouse Connection, the McKinney-Vento program, Attendance Works, and other organizations. I look forward to diving deep into many of the topics and obstacles that education funding in Alaska faces.

SNAP Update

On October 31, I sent out a special edition newsletter highlighting the uncertainty of the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Because of the government shutdown, SNAP benefits were interrupted beginning on November 1. There was conflicting guidance from the federal government, and many state governments did not have the funds to maintain benefits for the millions of Americans who rely on them.

I am happy to say that full SNAP benefit service has now been restored. Over 66,000 Alaskans rely on SNAP benefits to meet their monthly needs and it is crucial that this service stays in place. I would like to extend my gratitude to the numerous food banks, pantries, tribes, community organizations, and volunteers who stepped up now and every day to help those experiencing food insecurity. Southeast Alaska depends on community members such as you!

Pictured are volunteers with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska outside of their Fill the Bus Food Drive earlier this month.

Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is hosting public open houses in November and December 2025 to gather input for the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SEATP) update. They are offering two in-person and two virtual meetings coming up in November and December for public participation.

The virtual open house meetings will be held on December 16 from 10:00AM to 11:30AM and 5:00PM to 6:30 PM, hosted on Zoom.

Click HERE for more information, including a link to the Zoom.

December Office Closure and Meet and Greet

On December 16th my office will host a meet and greet with constituents in Sitka, hosted at the Sitka LIO from 11AM to 1PM. Please feel free to stop by and chat with me. Cookies and coffee may be provided.

Following this event, my office will be taking a short winter holiday break. Please note that response times may be slower during this window.

Decline in Seafood Sector Employment Across Alaska

In a report released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development this month, findings were shared that Alaska lost seafood harvesting jobs for a fifth straight year in 2024, bringing the industry to its lowest job count since data collection began in 2001. Southeast Alaska is one of the regions of the state that saw losses.

Across the state, many factors have contributed to the loss of employees. Even with these losses, Southeast Alaska remains the leader in commercial fishing license holders per capita.

According to the report, Southeast lost about 8% or its harvesting jobs in 2024, which is on par with the losses seen across the rest of the state. Southeast lost 142 jobs last year, including 300 fewer jobs during the summer peak, bringing commercial fishing employment levels to the lowest on record.

Moreover, since 2014, Southeast Alaska harvesting employment has dropped almost 30%. Much of this change happened during the COVID years, but Southeast Alaska's fishing industry still hasn't fully recovered.

In Southeast, only the crab harvest added jobs in 2024, driven by a summer employment recovery and summer and winter harvests both stretching into additional months for some permit holders.

According to the report, state losses in the salmon industry are the most impactful on the fishing industry's employment levels. Recent years have shown record low harvest levels for salmon across the state. To read more about the fishing industry in Alaska, see the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's November 2025 Trends Report.

Alaska Legislative Ethics Committee Seeking Public Members

The Alaska Legislative Ethics Committee is the main oversight committee ensuring that lawmakers follow the ethics requirements of the Alaska Legislature. Those requirements include a limit on gifts legislators may receive in a given year, public disclosures for a legislator’s membership in boards and commissions, and enforcing limitations on mass communications and office functions during campaign cycles to help level the playing field between incumbent legislators and challengers.

The Ethics Committee includes four legislators (including two alternate legislators), and five public members appointed by the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court (including one alternate public member) and, currently, there are two vacancies, one public member, and the alternate public member. If you or anyone you know may be interested in serving on the Alaska Legislature’s Ethics Committee, please mail a letter of interest, as well as your resume that includes your political affiliation, to The Honorable Susan Carney, Alaska Supreme Court, 303 K St. 5th Floor, Anchorage, AK 99501.

Public members serve a three-year term and may not be a legislator, a legislative employee, an elected or appointed official required to make disclosure under AS 39.50 (public official financial disclosure), an officer of a political party, a candidate for public office, or a registered lobbyist.

Considerations for Public Members include:

• Members are only provided per diem and travel expenses to attend meetings,
• Members must file Financial Disclosures with APOC, and
• The Committee normally meets four to six times/year in Anchorage or Juneau.

The Division of Legislative Ethics (DLE) is the nonpartisan division of the Alaska Legislature that supports the Ethics Committee and maintains extensive records relating to legislative ethics. In addition to filing an ethics complaint, you can review previous advisory opinions of the committee, search legislator’s disclosures, and get more information about existing ethics requirements for legislators on DLE’s website, linked below. 

Feel free to reach out to my office with any questions about this process. For more information about the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics you can visit their website at http://ethics.akleg.gov/.

You can monitor the legislative calendar for hearings that might interest you. If there is a bill you care about, you can submit written testimony to members of the committee hearing the bill, or contact the Juneau Legislative Information Office or the legislative information office in your community to give verbal testimony.

If there is a bill or resolution you want to follow, you can get an email update every time action is taken on the legislation with the Bill Tracking Management Facility.