The Juneau Assembly unanimously passed a resolution Monday night urging Alaska’s congressional delegation to oppose cuts to federal agencies. The move is a response to the local effects of the Trump administration’s widespread federal firings.
In 2024, more than 700 people living in Juneau worked for the federal government. It’s not clear how many are still employed after the firings.
Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs introduced the resolution.
“I just want to make sure that we’re doing like every single thing we can to let the people who are our representatives in the federal government know that we want you to do something about this,” Hughes-Skandijs said after the meeting.
The resolution was passed through the consent agenda, which means they didn’t discuss it, and there wasn’t public testimony.
Hughes-Skandijs said the firings will negatively impact Juneau’s economy and vital services residents rely on. Her resolution does not name the Trump administration, which carried out the terminations.
“Is that person who was the breadwinner for their family going to stay in Juneau?” she said. “The fallout effects of a bunch of federal workers getting laid off, I think, has the potential to have a major impact to our community.”
Hughes-Skandijs also pointed to the National Weather Service’s role in public safety by monitoring Suicide Basin and issuing warnings ahead of each year’s glacial outburst flood.
She also acknowledged the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, which the resolution calls a “cornerstone of Juneau’s tourism economy.”
The visitor center, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, recently saw a near-complete termination of its staff. Some have since been rehired, but the staffing situation ahead of the approaching tourism season remains uncertain.
In her annual speech to the Alaska Legislature last month, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski condemned the ways the Trump administration is carrying out the mass firings, calling some “unlawful.”
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan downplayed the firings in his own legislative address and said that Trump advisor Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is making “noble progress” to reduce the national debt.
Both Murkowski and Sullivan recently co-sponsored a resolution to keep the U.S. Postal Service independent and public.
The Assembly also read through a proposal to set aside $200,000 to help staff the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The Assembly will vote on it at its next meeting on May 19.
