The reductions, about $100 a month for many, were supposed to start Jan, 1, but they are going to be largely reversed, according to a Department of Health and Social Services memo sent to Reps. Ivy Spohnholz and Tiffany Zulkosky, who voiced opposition to the unannounced cuts.
Read MoreFormer Sen. Pete Kelly repeats the convenient half-truth in the Daily News-Miner today that “We have a governor who has done exactly what he said he was going to do during an election, and voters are now furious because he did it.”
Read MoreThe newspaper column by Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer should have been preceded by a disclaimer in large print. Something like, “This column is packed with bogus assertions that no one should swallow.”
Read MoreGov. Michael J. Dunleavy is henceforth to be known as Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a name change that requires a revision to the state letterhead, according to a state communication.
Read MoreInstead of disguising the reason for a benefit cut to Alaska’s most needy, the Dunleavy administration should give credit where credit is due—a $7.5 million veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Read MoreA technical document posted on a state website says that many recipients of Adult Public Assistance in Alaska will see a cut in their benefits of $100 a month or so on Jan. 1, but the state has yet to announce this decision.
Read MoreIn a real news interview, Gov. Mike Dunleavy would have been asked if he still plans to cut $730 million from the budget that is due to be released by Dec. 15, as he told Alaskans on June 28. He would be asked if he still plans to cut education by $330 million next year, which would force the layoff of thousands of teachers statewide.
Read MoreLongtime state employee Mike Barnhill took over the revenue job today on an acting basis, the governor’s office said in a statement Monday.
Read MoreThe latest information about sulfolane contamination and PFAS pollution are to be included in a Wednesday open house in North Pole at which the main subject deals with connecting to the expanded North Pole water system.
Read MoreWhat USA Today readers did not learn from the column is that a court order has placed an indefinite hold on the Dunleavy-Clarkson anti-union crusade, a disclosure that was withheld from the propaganda piece.
Read MoreCommissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka takes me to task over my blog post Sunday about the work that a brand new Seattle company, which registered in Alaska in October, is doing for the state.
Read MoreGov. Mike Dunleavy submitted a short video to the meeting of local government leaders in Alaska, portraying himself as a guy with great hearing. It took him a long time to start listening.
Read MoreIt’s not clear how much the state is paying Tandem Motion, why it was chosen, apparently on a sole-source contract, or what the full scope of work is. I have made two requests to the department for a copy of the contract and received no reply.
Read MoreWhen he communicates to right-wing organizations both in Alaska and Outside, Gov. Mike Dunleavy strikes a combative tone and blames the budget uproar he created this year on special interests in Alaska who “want government to be big.”
Read MoreOne giant question Alaska needs to have answered regarding the BP-Hilcorp sale is whether the eventual dismantling of the trans-Alaska pipeline will now be governed by what we’ll call the Unocal plan, which is to avoid all responsibility for the task by selling out, unloading the obligation on the remaining owners.
Read MoreThe Big 3 owners of the trans-Alaska pipeline told the Texas Supreme Court that a ruling allowing Unocal to unload its 1.3 percent share of the pipeline without paying for future removal costs, “strongly incentivizes the remaining owners to end TAPS operations to ensure that no one else can try to walk out on their DR&R obligation for free.”
Read MoreAttorney General Kevin Clarkson and Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer have signed off on a distorted summary of the oil tax initiative, claiming that the word “and” means “or.”
Read MoreThe boilerplate language is significant in this instance because there is a real possibility that the Legislature will make a sensible decision and refuse to appropriate the $500,000 to $600,000 promised to the recipient of the contract.
Read More“She hates me,” Trump said of Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “I kind of like her but she really doesn’t like me. We do so much for Alaska you’d think we’d get her vote for something one of these days.”
Read MoreIt is possible that Gov. Mike Dunleavy will try to raise taxes, as Revenue Commissioner Bruce Tangeman suggests, as that might be the only way in which Dunleavy survives and finds some path to increase the Permanent Fund Dividend without slashing state services.
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