"George Rauscher"

This year’s legislative session starts Tuesday, Jan. 16. Ahead of their return to the Capitol, lawmakers are using pre-session bill filings to lay out priorities for the months to come.

Starting July 1, Alaska’s governor will be paid approximately $176,000 per year, the lieutenant governor about $140,000, and commissioners will receive about $168,000 per year. Legislators will be paid $84,000 per year, up from $50,400, starting next January.

Dozens of Alaskans shared frustration and anger over pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 vaccines and what they see as the medical community’s suppression of alternative treatments for the virus at a gathering Monday at Anchorage Baptist Temple. 

“As a state legislator he has a special responsibility not to do that kind of thing,” said Hodes. “He’s just in gross violation of the oath of office that he took as a legislator, not to mention the oath that all of us former officers swore when we were commissioned in the Army.”

Some of the legislation recycles ideas that have failed to get traction in the past few years — like levying state income taxes and adopting daylight saving time year-round — but there are plenty of new ideas, too.

Tuesday is primary day in Alaska, but the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to drive down election day turnout. And a record number of Alaskans have requested absentee ballots. Since absentee ballot counting won’t start until a week after the primary election day, results of close races may not be known until the end of August.

Alaska’s Legislature has been working to finish the state budget and pass bills in response to the coronavirus, and lawmakers could leave Juneau as soon as Friday.

Any of four absent members could have changed the outcome of a vote to fund the capital budget this week. 

The Alaska House of Representatives failed again to approve funding for the capital budget Monday morning. A measure that would draw funding from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve fell one vote shy of the 30 necessary for passage.

A new possibility to fill the seat emerged. The Republican Party advanced retired Palmer small business owner Vicki Wallner to replace Braund as one of three nominees.