The Dunleavy deficit and his failure to propose to do anything about it went unmentioned in all of the news coverage of the failed legislative attempt to override the Dunleavy education veto.
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If the Legislature fails to close the loophole and fails to cut oil tax credits, the consequences will be lower Permanent Fund Dividends and less money for education and other services.
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Sen. Dan Sullivan’s unfortunate vote to defend the idea of reductions from Medicaid helped guarantee that the plan to cut $880 billion—which would lead to tens of thousands of Alaskans losing Medicaid coverage if the state does not pick up the cost—remains alive in Congress.
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On Thursday, Dunleavy snarled his way through a press conference in which he failed to take any responsibility for planning to spend $2 billion more than the state is taking in—pushing the state toward a real crisis.
He said he’s not interested in taxing and spending. His actions, not his words, show that he is interested in spending state savings down to zero without doing anything to stop the decline.
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“We’re talking about laying pipe as early as the end of this year, the beginning of next year,” Sen. Dan Sullivan claimed to Fox News on April 10 about the Alaska LNG pipeline.
“And it’s got President Trump’s name all over it, cause if it happens, it will be largely due to him,” Sullivan said.
It’s not going to happen, as anyone who looks at the calendar can tell.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, drinking from the same fountain of wishful thinking as Sullivan, recently predicted on Fox News that the pipeline would be supplying gas to Cook Inlet by October 2027, which is also not going to happen.
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With Gov. Mike Dunleavy in absentia, a divided Legislature is left grappling with Alaska finances when there is no fiscal plan, no hope of a fiscal plan and no leadership.
It would not be complicated to fix this. It would take a modicum of political courage, however.
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The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has repeatedly boasted that its earnings last year—$65 million—were strong enough that it contributed $20 million to the state general fund.
It was that boasting, in part, that led the State Senate to decide that AIDEA should contribute $32.5 million to the general fund, an increase of $12.5 million from the amount approved by the board.
But AIDEA’s cash income should be tapped to do more to fight the Dunleavy deficit.
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When the Senate Resources Committee advanced a bill to close the Hilcorp loophole, Anchorage Sen. Matt Claman said he had “no recommendation” on the bill, which is tantamount to saying he wants the loophole to remain.
Claman’s opposition could be crucial in blocking the bill. I have asked him to explain, but he has not responded so far. Alaska news organizations have yet to examine his opposition.
Closing the Hilcorp loophole, an idea that is understandably unpopular with billionaire Hilcorp Owner Jeff Hildebrand of Texas and his employees, would be a small step toward a sensible Alaska fiscal plan.
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“This week, we learned that the federal government has revoked visas for four individuals affiliated with UAA — one current student and three recent graduates in post-graduation training — without prior notice. No students at UAF or UAS have been affected to date. Our staff are monitoring immigration records daily and are working to support impacted individuals,” UA President Pat Pitney said Monday in a letter to university staff and students.
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When the Senate Resources Committee advanced a bill to close the Hilcorp loophole, Anchorage Sen. Matt Claman said he had “no recommendation” on the bill, which is tantamount to saying he wants the loophole to remain.
Claman’s opposition could be crucial in blocking the bill. I have asked him to explain, but he has not responded so far. Alaska news organizations have yet to examine his opposition.
Closing the Hilcorp loophole, an idea that is understandably unpopular with billionaire Hilcorp Owner Jeff Hildebrand of Texas and his employees, would be a small step toward a sensible Alaska fiscal plan.
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The Golden Age of Alaska has suddenly collided with falling oil prices, the federal cavalcade of clowns, enormous investment risks from Trump’s global trade war and the lack of a fiscal plan.
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Sen. Dan Sullivan has long supported cuts to Medicaid in Alaska, though he hides behind the claim that he wants to help the “most vulnerable” recipients, which is the way to preserve the program for future generations.
Translated, this means he support cuts for Medicaid recipients who are vulnerable, but not “most vulnerable,” a term that remains undefined by design.
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The Dunleavy administration signed a $3 million marketing contract with Six-7 Strategies, owned by longtime political operative Kevin Sweeney.
The contract called for getting a website up and running by March 15 at the latest promoting the advantages of Alaska to the world.
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Rep. Nick Begich the Third voted for the so-called “SAVE” act that will disenfranchise thousands of Alaskans from voting by requiring documents that many of them don’t have.
Begich the Third and all Republicans, along with four Democrats, voted to require that people show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It is a voter suppression plan.
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There was scant attention paid to President Trump’s tariff chaos Wednesday at a two-hour hearing on the Alaska LNG project, though the leaders of two state corporations both claimed that Trump’s support for the gas line helps the project.
Trump’s erratic behavior is the biggest threat to the latest gas pipeline dream, though Alaska’s leaders won’t say so out loud. They also refuse to say that Trump is trying to blackmail Asian leaders into supporting what Sen. Dan Sullivan is calling “America’s Gasline.”
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The federal Department of Homeland Security canceled a $46 million, 10-year grant to the University of Alaska Anchorage Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security notified UAA in all caps that the termination was PAUSED.
Read MoreThe Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority takes an expansive view of how it can spend state money.
The authority will seek to defend its $50 million gas pipeline backstop deal before the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee today at 5:30 p.m.
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Gov. Mike Dunleavy went on Fox Business last week and said the master plan is to have the 42-inch gas pipeline in place and operating in two-and-a-half years, which would be October 2027.
The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation is making a presentation to the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee today that says the first gas would be flowing to Southcentral in 2031.
Either Dunleavy or AGDC is lying
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The Dunleavy administration believes that Trump’s trade war bullying will get South Korea and other Asian nations to sign long-term binding contracts for many billions to underpin construction of an Alaska LNG pipeline, regardless of the cost.
“I’m telling you these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,” Trump said at a Republican Congressional Dinner Tuesday night, referring to the calls he is getting about his trade war. “They are, they are dying to make a deal. Please, please sir make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything sir.”
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UPDATED: The Alaska Permanent Fund has shed $3.2 billion of market value so far during the Trump Liberation Day stock market crash, dropping from $81.7 billion to $78.5. billion.
This does not count the numerous other state accounts, including the pension systems, that have tens of billions more invested in stocks. They do not post daily market values, the way the Permanent Fund does
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