State Government

“Our current statute is broken,” said Anchorage Rep. Geran Tarr. “It’s outdated and incomplete.”

Keren Lowell held several positions with the Alaska Council on the Arts over a span of eight years. She and her colleagues lost their jobs in 2019 when Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the council’s funding.

Alaska’s air traveler testing program may have contributed to relatively low rates of coronavirus infection in the state.

Alaska Airlines said Saturday that it banned state Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, from its flights for continuing to refuse to follow mask-wearing requirements for travelers.

The committee plan released on Friday would free up roughly $410 million by using American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace state revenue. That money could be spent on permanent fund dividends; roads and other capital projects; or other items. 

During oral argument in January, attorneys representing the Sitka Tribe of Alaska argued that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is required under certain clauses of the Alaska State Constitution to use the “best available information” when making management decisions about the fishery.

A bill in the Alaska Senate would intensify interventions for students identified as struggling readers by the time they finish third grade, using help from the state education department to create individual reading plans.

The governor and legislative leaders have agreed on a rough plan to use federal pandemic relief from Congress to help stabilize Alaska’s beleaguered ferry system.

At least 10 state foster care agencies hire for-profit companies to obtain millions of dollars in Social Security benefits intended for the most vulnerable children in state care each year, according to a review of hundreds of pages of contract documents.

The House amended the bill on Wednesday in an attempt to assure funding for not just the school year starting this summer, but the one after that.