Federal Funding Cuts (and Backtracking) Creates Chaos
President Trump’s first weeks in office have produced a flurry of executive orders and confusing directives for federal programs nationwide, with many experts identifying the moves as unlawful. On Tuesday, January 27th, the President’s office released a memo directing a “pause” on grants, loans, and financial assistance from the federal government. This announcement, coupled with an abrupt Medicaid portal outage, sparked distress for millions of Americans whose lives are impacted by federal funding.
Federal funding supports a large number of crucial social services and public assistance programs that we rely on in Alaska. From childcare to food security to the environment, threatening to take away these sources of support hurts families across our state. Federal dollars are crucial to many of our communities, and President Trump’s executive orders remain a threat to our way of life. The Alaska Center will continue to monitor and advocate for federal funds appropriated to Alaska, but we need your help!
The immediate confusion caused by this directive led to chaos nationwide and at home, leading the administration to rescind the order shortly after the memo was published. The original memo specified that the majority of federal funding would need to be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure alignment with the president’s priorities. The memo explicitly named areas the President seeks to gut, including crucial climate investments that are poised to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Alaska.
These confusing directives take place on the heels of several recent executive orders aimed at slashing federal spending and agency operations. You can read more about these actions in our most recent blog.
To further the President’s interests laid out in these executive orders, in the same week, the administration announced a “buyout option” for the majority of full-time federal employees via email. Current employees will have until February 6th to decide if they will resign in exchange for about 8 months of pay. Workers that remain in their roles were told that they would not be provided with certainty that their agency or position would not be eliminated in time.
In the background of all of this, President Trump has appointed Russell Vought to lead the OMB. Vought is one of the primary authors of Project 2025 and a staunch opponent of government spending. Despite a boycott from Democrats, the Senate Budget Committee advanced Vought’s nomination 11-0. A procedural vote for Vought’s nomination is set for Monday, February 3rd.
We encourage you to reach out to your representatives and let them know how you feel about this disastrous nomination. You can find the telephone number for your Senator here.
President Trump’s actions stand to put incredible strain on federal programs and resources in Alaska. Our schools, non-profits, and local governments deserve better than the chaotic leadership we are currently experiencing. Together, we need to work to ensure the Trump Administration operates within the bounds of the law, and puts hard working people – Alaskans included – before Project 2025’s wishlist.
Make your voice heard! Use this pre-filled email form from the League of Conservation Voters to tell your Senators that OMB nominee Russell Vought is the wrong choice for Alaska.
For a thriving Alaska,
The Alaska Center
Shaping Alaska’s Future: Legislative Advocacy 2025
Legislative session starts in just a week and a half, on January 21st. Are you ready to join us for another big year of advocacy? Here’s what you need to know:
With the election outcomes we saw this year, we’re anticipating that voting rights will be a big part of the conversation this legislative session. As voting by mail becomes increasingly popular, you might be surprised to know that Alaska law still contain serious barriers for those trying to cast mail-in ballots. First, there’s the witness signature requirement. In the 2022 all-mail special election, thousands of ballots were thrown out because voters didn’t include a witness signature. It would be one thing if this rule was making our elections more secure, but in fact, these witness signatures are never checked for authenticity, and state lawyers have been unable to name a single case of this law being used to detect fraud. To make matters worse, if you forget a witness signature, or make any other mistake on your ballot, there is no way for it to be fixed after you mail it in—your ballot will simply be thrown out and your vote will not be counted.
We’re working to fix this in the coming legislative session. Our proposed changes include removing the witness signature requirement and creating a process for “curing” ballots so that a voter’s vote can still be counted if they make an honest mistake on their ballot. We are also working to create a recurring vote by mail list, so that people who vote by mail year after year do not need to fill out a new application every election cycle. These changes would remove unnecessary barriers preventing all Alaskans from making their voices heard. If you believe that all Alaskans should have a voice and a seat at the decision-making table, sign our petition supporting voting reforms!
Last year was an exciting year for clean energy legislation – we had some big wins like passing the Community Solar Bill and establishing a Green Bank. And we know that this session will be another chance to solidify our renewable energy future and Alaska’s chance to be a leader for a Just Transition. But we will need your support to get there. Governor Dunleavy released his proposed budget last month, in which he took steps to continue to expand extraction in our state. He proposed funding to advance the Alaska LNG pipeline project toward construction and support permitting of the disastrous West Su Access Road. This road would literally pave the way for a new coal mine in the Mat-Su Borough, endangering air quality, our climate, and local health.
The proposed budget also includes some investment in renewables, but not a sufficient amount for this critical moment. As gas contracts along the railbelt expire and the climate crisis intensifies, we need to fully fund the Renewable Energy Fund, and continue to build on its success.
In preparation for our legislative advocacy, we hosted Senator Wielechowski and IBEW Business Leader Doug Tansy at our Clean Power Happy Hour this week to discuss clean energy, good jobs, and the upcoming legislative session. Both panelists talked about the importance of state and federal investment in upgrading our transmission system and adding more storage to the grid. Doug Tansy noted how crucial it is that new clean energy jobs provide real opportunities for Alaskans to stay here and raise their families. He specifically emphasized the intersection of other policy areas like affordable housing and robust education funding for workers to be able to thrive here.
Senator Wielechowski further highlighted the need for any general obligation bond to serve the state equitably and include the most impactful renewable energy projects that are shovel ready. He went on to give some background on the Renewable Energy Fund and a Renewable Portfolio Standard. The Alaska Center will be strongly advocating for greater investment in renewables through direct funding and policies like an Renewable Portfolio Standard, which would require the utilities to bring more renewables online or pay noncompliance penalties. Will you join us?
This is shaping up to be an exciting legislative session. Stay tuned for many more opportunities to get involved this spring!
Best,
The Alaska Center
Regulatory Round-Up
Earlier this fall, we wrote to you about the importance of the regulatory world of policy. Before we shift some of our attention back to Juneau and what the newly elected bipartisan majority coalitions can accomplish, let’s talk regulations.
Net Metering
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) is considering changing how many people can participate in net metering. “Net metering” is best explained by an example: our Co-Executive Director, Chantal, has solar panels on her house. When those solar panels are not enough to power the whole household, she pays for extra power to be supplied by her utility. When her solar panels harness more energy than she needs, the utility buys that energy back from her to use elsewhere in the grid.
The RCA currently limits the overall number of households who can participate in programs like this by setting a cap: each utility can only receive 1.5% of their overall power from net metering. When one of the utilities wants to go beyond that, they have to request permission from the RCA and get approval – wasting time and resources that could be better spent on other issues.
Now, the RCA is considering raising that limit to somewhere between the current 1.5% and a much larger 20%. By allowing more households to add generation on their own properties, this could reduce our overall need for natural gas and help us better conserve the limited resource.
We reached out to some of our members about this, and you came through. We saw eleven original comments in favor of raising the cap from supporters of The Alaska Center, and more from our partners and friends. The RCA has yet to issue a decision on the issue, and we will be watching closely to see what the next step is in the process.
Planning Leadership
Meanwhile, the Railbelt Reliability Council (RRC) successfully hired a President and CEO. Edward Jenkin will begin acting in this role on January 3, 2025. His background at Matanuska Electric Association included a focus on energy transformation, sustainable technology, and reducing the environmental impact of the utility. We look forward to seeing what President Jenkin can achieve as he leads the RRC through the planning process for the entire railbelt energy grid.
The RRC is in charge of completing an Integrated Resource Plan for the railbelt energy grid. They have an opportunity to create a plan that brings as many renewables online as possible to meet the demand of the railbelt while moving us off of fossil fuels and to a safe, reliable, and sustainable energy mix. We know that a large percentage of renewable energy is the lowest-cost option for our future, and we are excited to see new research indicating that grids with more renewable energy integrated are also more reliable overall.
Public involvement committee meetings of the RRC are open to everyone to attend, and we expect to see additional opportunities to specifically engage in the Integrated Resource Plan development. If you are interested in getting involved, contact our Climate & Salmon Organizer, Zoe Cramer at zoe@akcenter.org.
Our work at the state level is crucial to securing a reliable, renewable, and safe future for Alaskans. Please help us shape the future of clean energy in our state by getting involved with our regulatory advocacy in 2025!