"AKleg"

The next task for the Alaska House of Representatives is to organize House committees. 

He encouraged people to challenge those making allegations.

If you think Alaska lawmakers’ job is tough right now, consider, for a moment, the plight of the lobbyist. They’re paid for access to and intelligence on what’s happening in the Capitol — but for now, they’re banned from the building.

The Senate Republicans formed a majority caucus during the last hour before the first floor session, leaving the party in control of the chamber for the ninth straight year. Just like two years ago, the House is evenly split and without a leader.

Alaska lawmakers who each year relocate to a capital city accessible only by plane or boat are facing challenges in getting settled ahead of what is expected to be a difficult legislative session overshadowed by COVID-19.

According to his budget proposal, he wants to draw about $6.3 billion from the state’s permanent fund earnings — about half of that is part of the regular draw that would happen under state statute. The rest, he’s calling a one-time ask — saying he doesn’t intend to regularly lean on the fund to pay for large expenses. 

The unofficial results in other races in the district show hundreds of voters likely split their tickets between Democrats, Republicans and independents.

That lead does not reflect at least 3,699 more early and absentee ballots that remain to be counted. 

The candidates are generally aligned on a lot of big goals, but there’s contrast in how they’d get there.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivered his 2020 State of the State address Monday night.