Bipartisan Majorities: A Win for Alaska’s Future
Hey all,
If your inboxes are anything like ours, you probably have many messages about dark days, grief, and moving forward. The federal election results portend a big step backward for climate, democracy, and other issues our organization holds dear–but we will continue working diligently every day to fight for a thriving, just, and sustainable future.
However, this is not a message to process the federal fights to come. This email is a very brief note of hope and an achievement Alaskans can be proud of.
Our electoral goal this year was to maintain a bipartisan coalition in the Senate that’s aligned with our values and gain one back in the House. There’s a goal accomplished: Bipartisan Majorities were announced Wednesday, in both chambers!
This is a huge victory for Alaska. We’ve had a one-chamber bipartisan majority in one chamber since 2016, but this will be the first time since then that we have bipartisan majorities in both chambers. We hope this will mean fewer fights and more progress (shared values, good bills, political strength to do veto overrides when necessary, and more! Think of the possibilities of a functioning government!).
It’s been a hard week. But there are many, many reasons to hope. We wanted to make sure to share this one with you this Friday.
Best,
The Alaska Center
We’re Almost Through! Your Last Minute Guide to Election Day
Dear Friends,
If you haven’t voted yet, and especially if you’re not sure how you’ll be voting, this is a deeply abbreviated catch-up-to-speed that tries to put all the important information we’ve sent about this year’s elections into one place.
Federal elections: You might have heard that there’s a consequential presidential race happening—you should vote! And while that’s important, we focus our work a lot closer to home. The Alaska Center has endorsed Mary Peltola for Alaska’s sole seat in the US Congress. Congressman Mary Peltola is the only candidate in the race who shares our vision of a thriving, just, and sustainable future, and we hope she returns to Washington to continue her good work!
State Legislative elections: Every voter in Alaska gets to vote for their State Representative this year, and half of the voters get to decide on your State Senator (Senate terms are longer than Representative terms, and only half are up each cycle). We’ve endorsed a suite of candidates here—they’re organized by district. (Not sure what your district is? Enter your address in this form to find your current officials and their district numbers/letters.) We talk about state legislative elections a lot because they impact so much: like how easy it is to vote, where our energy comes from, and how much we invest in our public education system. (Also: do you like more than one candidate? Great! Rank them!)
Ballot Measures: We’ve made endorsements on both of the ballot proposals this year. Voting Yes on 1 is a vote in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $15 over 4 years, requiring employers to provide paid sick leave, and protecting worker freedom. Voting No on 2 is a vote in favor of protecting Alaska’s voting system which includes open primaries, ensuring that Alaskans (most of whom are not registered with any political party) can have their full voice heard at the polls.
Judicial Retention Elections: The last thing on the ballot are judicial retention elections. Alaska does not elect judges—instead, we vote to retain appointed judges. An independent, nonpartisan commission (the Alaska Judicial Council) conducts a rigorous investigation of each judge and makes recommendations. They’ve recommended retaining every judge up this year. (Want to learn more? Our previous guest-authored blog is a great starting point.)
Phew! That’s it! There’s more information on our endorsements page here.
The most important thing you can do, whether you plan to vote in agreement with the above recommendations or not, is to get out and vote. The second most important thing: tell your friends, family, neighbors, and your community.
Thank you so much for being a voter.
With hopes for a bright future,
Jenny-Marie Stryker
Political Director
The Alaska Center
Be Informed + Learn About the Judges on Your Ballot
Hey all! Something a little different this week—our friends at Alaskans for Fair Courts are guest-authoring our blog to share important information about judicial retention elections. With election season in full swing, we wanted to give you the chance to hear from the experts on this crucial part of the ballot. Check it out below!
Greetings from Alaskans for Fair Courts! We feel honored to have this opportunity to chat with you because we know how dedicated and involved each of you are in various community-oriented efforts in our great state!
I want to talk about judicial retention. Why? If you want to protect your values and your Constitutional rights, it is in your best interests to fill out the entire ballot as an informed voter. Here’s why.
Nineteen judges “standing for retention” are on the ballots this year – fifteen of whom will be on the ballot in the Third Judicial District, home to 2/3 of the state’s population, which includes Anchorage.
Why does this matter to you? Alaska’s state judges are the bulwark against attacks on the Alaska Constitution and/or the rule of law. They handle 95% of all cases, affecting a myriad of issues that affect all Alaskans, sometimes involving core constitutional rights that you value.
What is judicial retention? Unlike many other states, Alaska’s judges do not run campaigns to become a judge. Alaska’s Constitutional framers kept money and partisan politics out of judicial selection and retention. Wise folks!
Toward this end Alaska’s Constitution creates an independent, nonpartisan commission – the Alaska Judicial Council – to evaluate judicial applicants and seek the “best available timber.” The Council is comprised of: three non-attorney members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature; three attorneys appointed by the Alaska Bar Association after polling its members; and the Chief Justice, who serves as an ex officio member who chairs the Council but votes only in those rare instances where there is a tie vote. The framers also concluded that judges should serve limited terms rather than lifetime appointments, requiring judges to “stand for retention” every so many years. Retention offers you an important role – to make the final decision about whether a judge should remain on the court.
This superior retention system – which is widely admired across the country – has produced judges who are dedicated to protecting the law while serving the community with integrity, professionalism, knowledge of the law, and respect for those who are in their courtrooms. We are lucky to have some of the best judges in the country.
Here’s why you can be so confident in our state judges. When a judge comes up for retention, the Judicial Council conducts a rigorous investigation of that judge, gathering information from thousands of people who have interacted with the judge, including jurors, court clerks, law enforcement, attorneys and social workers. The public has an opportunity to testify at public hearings. The Council compiles this information, grades the judges against judicial performance standards that reflect “best practice,” and votes whether to recommend the judge be retained. The Council’s findings, research, scores and recommendations are all on the Alaska Judicial Council website.
Unfortunately, since 2000, the “yes” votes in the 3rd Judicial District have declined by 7% – a downward trajectory that has now dipped below 60% for the first time in the State’s history. If a judge does not receive 50% of the votes during retention that judge loses their position on the court.
A number of factors have contributed to this trend:
- Voters not understanding how judges are selected and why they appear on the ballot
- Voters not finishing the ballot because they don’t know where to find information about the judges
- Eroding confidence in the judiciary exacerbated by national hyper-partisanship trends
- Individuals/organizations wanting to remove a judge because of an unpopular opinion or because a judge did not rule in their favor
- Efforts by individuals and groups within Alaska, and others from Outside, trying to destabilize our courts and replace our judges with ideologues
- Funding coming in from Outside extremist groups seeking to politicize Alaska’s state courts
If you don’t know the judges on your ballot, or don’t have the time to learn more about them, the Alaska Judicial Council has evaluated each judge rigorously and done the work for you! Check out their recommendations here!
For 64 years Alaskans have benefited from judges who were selected and retained by this process. Alaskans would not be well-served by a system that removes even one judge because of an unpopular decision, ideological differences, or because someone lost a case.
Please – When You Vote, Finish Your Entire Ballot!
Donna Goldsmith, Co-Chair Alaskans for Fair Courts
Check out the Find My Judges page at: https://akfaircourts.com
Navigating November: Ballot Measure Endorsements for a Thriving, Just Future
Hey yall,
Have you ever had the experience of going into the voting booth feeling prepared and ready, started filling out your bubbles oh-so-carefully, only to suddenly find that there’s a vote you didn’t prepare for? Me too!
Luckily, part of our job here at The Alaska Center is to help voters navigate the many questions we’ll all face this November. We’ve already emailed you (a lot) about our state legislative endorsements, but not yet about the ballot measures. We examine ballot measures through the same lens as candidates: what will lead us closer to our vision of a thriving, just, and sustainable future? With that vision in mind, our Board made endorsements on both ballot measures coming up on November 5th: Yes on 1 and No on 2!
Yes on 1 is a ballot measure to let Alaskans earn paid sick days, raise the minimum wage, and increase worker freedom. While employees of The Alaska Center and The Alaska Center Education Fund are privileged to already have these benefits (and many more!), 1 in 4 Alaskans don’t have a single paid sick day–that means thousands of Alaskans choosing between their paycheck and their family’s health. A just economy includes all of us and protects workers–this ballot measure is one step we can take towards that better future!
Ballot Measure 2 is an effort to repeal Alaska’s election system, and The Alaska Center (and The Alaska Center Education Fund!) has endorsed the No on 2 campaign. Ending open primaries strips away Alaskans’ freedom to vote for the best candidate regardless of party affiliation. Our endorsement recommendations don’t take party into account, and we know most Alaskans are the same with more than 60% of Alaskan voters not registered with a party. In 2022, we saw some of the most competitive races, with candidates that represented community members better than ever. This ballot measure is an attack on democracy, and voting NO is imperative to protecting it.
You can learn more about our ballot measure stances on our endorsement page. I hope you join us in voting Yes on 1 and No on 2!
All the best,
Jenny-Marie
Political Director
The Alaska Center
P.S. You know what’s on the ballot after the ballot measures? Judicial Retention Elections! We’ll talk more about this in a future blog–but if you want a preview, check out the information from Alaskans for Fair Courts to learn more!
Our Election System Glow Up
August in Alaska means our freezers are full, our gardens are bursting, and it’s time to cast our ballots in the Primary Election. Even we (who love elections, as you likely know) have to admit that past partisan primary elections haven’t always been the most appealing of electoral processes – especially if, like most Alaskans, you don’t identify as a Republican or a Democrat. Historically, the primary landscape has been dominated by a duopoly where Democrats and Republicans engage in their annual tug-of-war. Independents are invited (barely). But everyone else is left out. The new open primary system, however, has thrown the ropes aside and the doors wide open. Now, voters can choose from a broader spectrum of candidates, and that means that our votes have even more power.
In 2020, Alaskans voted YES to swap out our old election system for an open primary format paired with ranked choice voting for the general election. What does this mean? In a nutshell, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in a single primary. The top four vote-getters then face off in the general election where voters get to rank them from their first choice to their last choice.
With the open primary system, any candidate has the chance to compete directly against candidates from any party and voters have the opportunity to vote for their favorite in every race, regardless of party. The Alaska Beacon’s analysis of 2022 primary election data found slightly more than half of Alaska’s 192,061 voters opted to split their tickets in the races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor and state legislative offices. This means people voted for candidates from multiple political parties, an opportunity they wouldn’t have had in the old, closed primary system.
Research shows that candidates in open primaries – who must appeal to every voter, not just their party’s voters – are more likely to work to appeal to a broader base, be more moderate, and cordial to each other. And in open primary elections, candidates with more diverse ideas and identities throw their hat into the ring. When voters see that their choices aren’t constrained by party lines, and more candidates look like them, they’re more likely to head to the polls. This increased turnout and candidate diversity is good for Alaska and makes our democracy more representative of our communities and our Alaskan values.
As you prepare to vote in the Primary Election I’ll leave you with a few dates to remember and some words of wisdom: August 20 is Primary Election Day. You can apply to vote by mail before August 10. Early voting starts at select locations on August 5. This election season will be a very important one for our democracy – do your research, cast your vote, and do your part to make Alaska more just, thriving, and sustainable for generations to come.
Happy Voting,
The Alaska Center
Energizing Change: Reflections on Chugach Electric Board Elections and Future Goals
Early this spring, we endorsed two pro-renewable, pro-union incumbent candidates for the Chugach Electric Association Board: Mark Wiggin and Sam Cason. We worked hard alongside volunteers and partners to knock nearly 3,000 of our neighbors’ doors, call over 15,000 community members, and send over 4,500 texts to friends, family, and other voters about the candidates.
This year’s total turnout was 14%. While this is slightly lower than last year’s record-breaking turnout, it is still significantly higher than the historic average of about 10% participation. As we spoke with folks in person and on the phones, we heard our hopes confirmed: many of our community members are aware that they have a right to vote in utility elections. We are thrilled to see this greater awareness, and hope the trend continues.
One of our endorsed candidates, Mark Wiggin, won his seat for another four years, while opponent Dan Rogers beat out our other endorsed candidate, former Board Chair Sam Cason. At the first Board meeting after the election, Mark Wiggin was voted in as the new Chair of the Board in a 5-2 vote.
We are eager to see Chair Wiggin continue his leadership on this Board, and for the entirety of Chugach Electric Association to move forward with its work to get more renewable energy online. After we have rested and recharged, it is time to support the Directors in charting the course that is best for our communities and achieves the triple bottom line of reliability, affordability, and sustainability. Member-owners of the utility are always permitted to attend and comment at the public meetings of the Board, which you can find listed on the Chugach website.
Some of the Board’s current focus areas include: the new 500-kilowatt community solar project that will start taking subscriptions later this year; a potential wind power development which could provide 20% of Chugach’s total power needs; updating its facilities to include solar panels on site; and the One Campus plan which will bring all former Municipal Light & Power employees onto the same working campus as the pre-existing Chugach Electric teams.
Additionally, the Board is hearing from experts on emerging technologies, like tidal power. At the most recent Board meeting, Ocean Renewable Power Company presented about the potential in Alaska, which is home to the vast majority of tidal energy in the United States.
If you are interested in getting more involved with your electric utility, but aren’t sure where to start, contact Alex Petkanas at alex@akcenter.org to figure out the best way for you to plug in. Board elections are over – now it’s time to get to work!
With Renewable Enthusiasm,
The Alaska Center
Legislative Highlights: Celebrating Wins and Community Action in Alaska
Is it just us, or does spring feel extra busy this year? In a week with multiple elections closing, we hope you are celebrating Suzanne LaFrance’s significant lead in the Mayoral runoff and plan on joining us Friday for the Chugach Electric Annual Meeting! – we also watched closely as the 2024 Alaska state legislative session came to a close.
During the final few days of the session, we saw many of our clean energy and climate priorities across the finish line. We’ll have more to come on what this means for our next steps, but for now, we’re excited to share this brief recap.
PASSED! Community Solar (SAVE Act)
The Alaska Center has worked closely with Alaska Public Interest Research Group outwardly and behind the scenes over the past year to move a community solar bill forward. The goal of the legislation is to allow more people to access clean energy, by subscribing to solar arrays or other clean energy generation that is centrally located rather than placed on individual properties. We informed the public about community energy, testified ourselves, and encouraged supporters to call or write in to provide testimony, and met with legislators to answer specific questions and concerns about community energy programs. The bill went through many iterations and ultimately became known as the SAVE Act (Saving Alaskans money with Voluntary community Energy).
In late April, the SAVE Act passed the Senate unanimously, with Senators from various parties and districts speaking in favor of the legislation on the floor. We celebrated but knew we had to keep working to get the word out about the bill and clarify any concerns raised on the House side. Finally, this week, the bill passed the House and will head to Governor Dunleavy’s desk for his signature.
We are so excited to see community energy programs launch in Alaska and view this as one step toward a more equitable energy future.
PASSED! Green Bank
Late Wednesday night, before gaveling out for the year, the legislature passed a bill with language to create a Green Bank. A Green Bank is a financial entity that leverages private financing and invests in renewable energy technology like heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations, and more critical new infrastructure that a traditional financial institution is less likely to finance. The bill states that the entity “serves a public purpose benefitting the people of the state” by financing sustainable energy development.
Alaska’s Green Bank will be housed under the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, a community-oriented agency, that will strive to invest in renewables in a way that best serves the people of Alaska. We look forward to finding opportunities to collaborate with the Green Bank to ensure a transparent and just process.
STILL WORK TO BE DONE! Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
Although multiple versions of renewable or clean energy standards were introduced this session, they ultimately did not move forward. Utility providers themselves were heavily involved in the conversation, as both Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) and Chugach Electric Association (CEA) took up the issue in their own Board meetings. CEA passed a formal resolution in support of a general RPS, but raised issues with the specifics of the legislative proposals. Utility providers generally expressed concerns about the grid’s transmission capacity and limitations, the exact percentages included in proposals, and the enforcement mechanisms associated with standards.
Grid transmission capacity ultimately became a major focus of the session (more on that below). In terms of enforcement, we spoke with partners about alternatives to fines or penalties, which utilities said risked raising rates for consumers. One option is to provide significant incentives for meeting goals. Either way, we believe it will only be possible to actually meet these goals if there is some related consequence for achieving them or failing to do so.
The Alaska Center will continue to advocate for a state standard to be set to ensure we are on track to reduce our overall carbon output.
PASSED! Railbelt Transmission
We wrote to you last month to update you on the shift to transmission that took place in the energy space this year. With various bills and conflicting views on the most efficient way forward, this was a complex legislative issue. We weighed in by providing testimony and written analysis throughout the process, as well as meeting directly with legislators about the various transmission issues being addressed.
First, $30 million was included in the budget as the first phase of a state match for GRIP (Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships) funding. This federal grant of $206 million requires a state match, and will be used to upgrade elements of our transmission system, which is key to our ability to send renewable energy from wherever it is generated to wherever the power is needed at that moment.
The final transmission legislation got rid of duplicative charges to reduce the overall costs of sending energy up and down the railbelt, updated requirements for commissioners to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, and addressed the taxation of new power projects. It also created a new organization under the Alaska Energy Authority called a railbelt transmission organization (RTO) but left planning in the hands of the existing Railbelt Reliability Council. Instead, this RTO will focus on cost recovery of transmission operations.
An efficient and upgraded transmission system is a critical part of our clean energy infrastructure, and we look forward to thinking about the next steps in the coming year.
STILL WORK TO BE DONE! Voting Rights
Voting rights were a hot topic this session and both the House and the Senate attempted to pass substantial updates to our current systems and policies. HB 4 (the repeal of open primaries and ranked choice voting (RCV)) had a hearing on day one of the session, and HB 129 (purging voter rolls), moved quickly out of the House and into the Senate for consideration. The Senate then turned HB 129 from a bad voting rights bill into a good voting rights bill by adding a provision to remove the witness signature requirement on mail-in ballots, adding a system to fix mistakes on ballots, and allowing Alaskans to register to vote on election day.
Unfortunately, the House would not support these provisions and this bill did not make it over the finish line. What does this mean for voting rights? It means that many of our leaders and community members want to see voting rights expanded, and that next year we will work even harder to pass positive voting reforms. The repeal of ranked-choice voting and open primaries will likely be on the ballot this November, so we will continue to update you on how you can take action to protect our democracy.
PASSED! Juneteenth Bill
Finally, at 11:05pm the House voted to pass SB 22 – establishing Juneteenth Day as a legal holiday. Juneteenth is a crucial recognition of our shared history, emphasizing the central role of Black leaders. Specifically in Alaska, many of those leaders were brought up to build both the physical and the political infrastructure of this state, moving Alaska toward statehood. By officially recognizing Juneteenth, we honor the labor and sacrifice Black communities contribute and we join the rest of the nation in one day of celebration and liberation. Thanks to our leaders and community members for helping this get across the finish line! If you are in Anchorage, stop by and say hi at our booth at the Anchorage Juneteenth Celebrations on June 15 and 16!
We are grateful to the many elected officials who worked hard this session to move forward highly technical, politically charged, and crucial bills for our climate and our communities. We are looking forward to a summer full of advocacy to prepare for what the next session has in store for us! Stay tuned!
Powering forward together,
The Alaska Center
Beyond Bill Numbers: Clean Energy Update
It’s the year of energy legislation in Alaska – and we’ve seen lots of big ideas introduced in Juneau. As bills make their way through committees and amendments, none of them come out looking exactly the same as the version that was introduced. To that end, we want to highlight the clean energy issues that have popped up in various bills, and update you on our focus: getting clean energy online now.
THE GOOD NEWS
We have seen multiple efforts to create new standards along the railbelt for renewable/clean energy generation. The Chugach Electric Association passed a resolution supporting a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in general, but has not publicly taken a position on any specific bill. While the details of these proposals look different, the basic effect is that utilities along the railbelt (like Chugach Electric Association, Homer Electric Association, and others) would be required to get some amount of their energy from renewable or clean energy sources by a certain deadline. Many states have standards like this, and it is imperative that we develop similar standards in Alaska to achieve our vision of a Just Transition. Critically, these standards mean nothing unless backed by either an enforcement mechanism or a significant incentive for utilities to meet these goals – we have seen nonbinding aspirations like 50% renewable by 2025 fail to materialize without these things.
Legislation has also been introduced that would make renewable energy more accessible to many Alaskans through a program called Community Solar. This would allow Alaskans who cannot directly install solar panels on their property to subscribe to a solar array elsewhere, opting into renewable energy even if they rent, have a suboptimal property for generation, or do not have the upfront capital to install solar panels. It would also allow Alaskans to develop solar arrays or run of the river hydro projects, and sell the energy generated directly to the local utility provider. This tool for getting more renewables online and in use has been rolled out in 43 states – which gives us the opportunity to learn from the experiences of others as we get things started here.
Bills to create a Green Bank have been introduced in both the House and Senate in Alaska, which would create an energy independence fund to leverage private financing and invest in renewable energy technology. This could fund things like heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations, and more critical infrastructure that a traditional financial institution is less likely to finance. More information about Green Banks can be found here.
And finally, we’ve heard calls to match the federal government’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) funding awarded to Alaska. The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $206,500,000 to the Alaska Energy Authority for railbelt resiliency, which will allow our state to modernize transmission infrastructure and make our grid more efficient and affordable across the railbelt. This funding requires the state to make a dollar-for-dollar match. We strongly urge the legislature to allocate a state match to federal GRIP funding in order to secure these critical infrastructure upgrades.
THE BAD NEWS
At the same time, we’ve seen some troubling things put forth that threaten Alaska’s energy future. While you may have heard about the shocking inclusion of coal as “clean energy,” here’s what else we find concerning about proposed energy legislation this session.
Rather than focusing on transitioning to alternative energy sources, some legislators are making efforts to expand oil and gas production within our state. One bill suggests creating a working group made up of resource developers and related legislators, whose sole purpose would be “to determine methods to increase oil and gas exploration and production in the state.” Others suggest pouring more public money into subsidizing the oil and gas industry directly, or reducing taxes for gas exploration and production. Whatever the method, we oppose formalizing the favoritism of an extractive industry over renewable energy development.
Finally, we’ve heard concern that new renewable energy cannot be brought online until grid transmission upgrades have been made. We disagree. Though our railbelt transmission system is in need of physical and policy upgrades, we must move forward on every step of the transition process now in order to reach our decarbonization goals by 2040.
THE TAKEAWAY
As we close in on the first half of the 2024 legislative session, you can call your legislators and let them know that you support investment in renewable energy for Alaska. While bill numbers may come and go, our message is simple: we must use every tool we have to transition to renewable energy sources now. In order to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change and secure a liveable future for ourselves and generations to come, we cannot afford to wait.
Thank you for standing with us in pursuit of clean energy. Let’s make 2024 a turning point for renewable energy in Alaska!
Warmly,
The Alaska Center