On Oct. 19, a right-wing Washington paper printed a Gov. Mike Dunleavy press release that included this claim: “My administration has identified 100 job-killing regulations that must be revised in order to increase freedom and growth for Alaska businesses.”

Dunleavy and his staff began claiming they had a secret list of job killers more than a year ago. Dunleavy referred to his list in a September video in which he wore a hard hat and said he was taking aim at “over 100 regulations that we feel impede business and impede Alaskans ability to just carry on daily life.”

On Nov. 22, the Anchorage Daily News reported on the claim of 100 job-killing regulations, but the Dunleavy administration refused to release a list. There has been no reporting on the alleged job-killing regulations since then or how many have been removed.

At the Trump campaign event Thursday at which Dunleavy spoke—in front of a pickup truck with fake weights suspended—showing the alleged work of Trump in lifting the regulatory burden on Americans—Vice President Mike Pence claimed that Dunleavy has now done away with all 239 job-killing regulations.

Pence said, “in his first year in office, his administration modified or rolled back 239 different regulations in over 100 professions.”

“He is making sure that Alaska is open for business and prospering with less taxes and less regulation,” Pence puffed.

Where did the number 239 come from? It appears to have been made up.

I suspect that the claim of 100 job-killing regulations was also a manufactured number. Not that Dunleavy hasn’t identified regulations he wants to change, just that the “job-killing” claim is standard issue political puffery from way back.

The 139 percent increase in alleged job-killing regulations appears to have started in December with Dunleavy at another White House Trump praise-a-thon.

When it came Dunleavy’s turn to say that Trump is doing a great job, Dunleavy said “You’re doing a tremendous job.”

Dunleavy was impressed that Trump always gets off Air Force One when he lands in Alaska, which most every president who has ever landed in Alaska does—except when it happens in the middle of the night.

“And, in terms of regulation, in terms of helping the military spouses, we’re doing our part,” Dunleavy told Trump last December. “We’re looking at 239 different regulations to either modify or roll back in over 100 professions.”

At Thursday’s event, Pence quoted that remark and said the 239 job-killing regulations are no more.

By February Dunleavy had dialed back the regulatory target, but Pence didn’t get the job-killing update.

“We’re looking at all kinds of regulations,” Dunleavy told a right-wing group in February. “We have about 115 regulations that we are looking at now to remove—so remove those barriers so it’s easier for folks to do business in Alaska as well as professionals.”

The Dunleavy administration has revised numerous regulations so far, but it doesn’t have a giant list of job killers.

Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.

Comments? Write to me at dermotmcole@gmail.com