Latest news with #BryceEdgmon
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New bill would prohibit hard-rock metals mining in Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed
Braided wetlands and tundra in the Bristol Bay watershed are seen from the air on July 26, 2010. Seen here is Upper Talarik Creek, which flows into Lake Iliamna and then the Kvichak River before emptying into Bristol Bay. A new bill introduced on the last day of the Alaska Legislature's 2025 session would bar hard-rock metals mining in the Bristol Bay watershed. (Photo provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Mere hours before he banged his gavel to adjourn this year's session of the Alaska House of Representatives, Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, introduced a bill to bar metals mining from the Bristol Bay watershed. The measure, House Bill 233, would expand on the Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 decision prohibiting permitting of the controversial Pebble Project in the region. The Biden administration action, which followed up on a process started in the Obama administration, invoked a rarely used provision on the Clean Water Act to prevent development of the huge open-pit copper and gold mine planned for the region upstream from salmon-rich Bristol Bay. Edgmon's bill would ban all metallic sulfide mining in the area designated as the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, which encompasses state land in the Bristol Bay watershed. Metallic sulfide mining, also known as hard-rock mining, is the type of mining that extracts elements like gold and copper from acid-generating rocks classified as sulfides. When these sulfides are processed, they commonly cause acid to drain out. It is a method distinct from placer mining, which sifts out metals from loose sediments. The copper and gold that would be produced at the Pebble project is held in sulfide ore and would be extracted through hard-rock mining. The Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve was established by the Legislature in 1972 to prevent oil and gas development in the region. The effort was led by Jay Hammond, who was president of the state Senate at the time. He later became governor. Under House Bill 223, the Hammond-championed prohibitions on petroleum development would be expanded to mining. The justifications for the 1972 action 'also warrant new protections to prevent hardrock mining activities that would risk polluting the region's river systems, ground water, aquifer systems,' as well as any drainages that connect to Bristol Bay's surface water, the bill's text says. Edgmon is from the Bristol Bay region. The bill will be considered next year, along with other measures still pending in the 34th Legislature. Alannah Hurley, executive director of a consortium of Native tribal governments in the Bristol Bay region, said the bill would provide extra protection for EPA's action. That protection is needed because of 'the uncertainty that we're continuing to face' from litigation pressed by Pebble's sponsors, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and the Pebble Limited Partnership it owns, said Hurley, who is with United Tribes of Bristol Bay, an organization that has long opposed the Pebble project. Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership have sued to overturn the 2023 EPA determination, and the case remains active. The state of Alaska, at the direction of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, has also sued the federal government over the action. Hurley said that beyond upholding the EPA determination, the bill would prevent the development of other metals mines in the region, Hurley said. There are about 20 active claims that could be developed into large metals mines, though not as large as the proposed Pebble project, she said. If the bill passes, 'we wouldn't have to face 20 other mining claims piecemeal over who knows how many decades,' she said. While the bill is new, the effort behind it goes back a long time, Hurley said. 'This is something the tribes have been talking about for years. We need the EPA protection, but we also need legislation to really protect the watershed,' she said. A legislative effort similar to House Bill 233 was mounted on the federal level by former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. She introduced the Bristol Bay Protection Act a year ago to codify the EPA's Clean Water Act determination barring a Pebble-type mine from being permitted in the Bristol Bay watershed. The act died in committee, and Peltola lost her seat in November to current Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska. The tribes and other Pebble opponents have thus turned their attention to the Legislature now that Peltola is no longer in the U.S. House, Hurley said. 'The fact that she wasn't reelected has frustrated expectations that we can make any progress with Congress,' Hurley said. There have been previous efforts in the Alaska Legislature, as well. In 2015, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, introduced a measure, House Bill 119, that would require legislative approval for any large-scale metallic sulfide mine in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. It failed to reach the House floor. Josephson introduced a similar bill, House Bill 14, in 2017. It also died in committee. Josephson is a co-sponsor of Edgmon's new bill. Representatives of Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership were not available to comment on the new bill. Dunleavy, who has been supportive of the Pebble project, has not taken a position, said his spokesperson, Jeff Turner. The bill was just introduced, so the governor has not had time to review it, Turner said. 'As a general rule, the Governor's office does not comment on legislation until it has passed and been transmitted to his office,' he said by email. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska House approves draft budget with large deficit and estimated $1,400 dividend
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, talks to fellow legislators during a break in budget debates Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a $6.2 billion draft state operating budget, putting Alaska on track for a significant deficit in the fiscal year that begins July 1. If Wednesday's draft is added to a capital budget draft passed Tuesday by the Senate and a planned supplemental budget needed to fix a deficit in the current fiscal year, total general-purpose spending is near $6.6 billion. Meanwhile, the Alaska Department of Revenue expects $6.1 billion in general-purpose revenue during the upcoming fiscal year. The House is proposing to spend from the Constitutional Budget Reserve, the state's main savings account, to balance the budget. 'This is the best our body can do right now,' said House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage. Kopp went on to say that the House-passed budget is preliminary and subject to change by the Senate. An earlier version of the House budget included $2.5 billion for the 2025 Permanent Fund dividend, enough to pay almost $3,900 to every recipient. To reduce the size of the expected deficit, the House voted to cut PFD spending to $950 million, a payout of about $1,400 per recipient. 'Some may argue that we should cut the fat. What fat is there? We are at the bone,' said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee. The one major increase in the budget is an $86 million increase to K-12 public school funding, equivalent to a one-time $1,000 increase to the base student allocation, core of the state's per-student funding formula. Last year, lawmakers approved a one-time $680 increase to the BSA. 'I want to celebrate today … this is a pro-growth budget that puts our state on a path toward prosperity,' said Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage. Wednesday's vote fell along caucus lines, as all 21 members of the House's coalition majority — 2 Republicans, 5 independents and 14 Democrats — voted in favor of the budget draft. All 19 members of the House's Republican minority voted against it, with some citing the deficit. 'This budget is a bunch of lofty promises. That's what's so heartbreaking about it, because everybody here knows they will not be kept,' said Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer and a member of the minority. Vance and other members of the minority said the budget is unsustainable because it relies on spending from savings. Even if the CBR — which contains $2.8 billion — is sufficient to cover this year's deficit, it may not be enough to cover next year's projected gap, which is expected to be worse. 'This budget makes promises it can't keep,' said Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer and a member of the minority. 'It will probably be the other body that takes on the responsibility that we have given up,' she said, referring to the Senate. Senate leaders have said throughout the session that their aim is to pass a budget without drawing from savings. 'We've got to balance the budget without a CBR draw for this year and prepare for next year,' said Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, in a Tuesday news conference with reporters. Over the next fiscal year, the Alaska Department of Revenue expects North Slope oil prices to average $68 per barrel. That's significantly lower than the current year and would reduce the amount of revenue available to the state. 'To the fundamental core question: Can the Senate balance the budget at $68? The answer is yes. Is it going to be fun, without any difficult decisions? No,' Stedman said. Asked where the Senate's cuts will be, Stedman said that remains to be determined. 'Everything's in play,' he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alaska lawmakers are divided over state budget, stuck without agreement over dividend, schools
Alaska House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, speaks at a House majority news conference, April 8, 2025, in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage; Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage; Edgmon; and Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, are seated left to right. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) As Alaska faces economic shocks from a tumbling stock market and an unstable oil market, leaders of the state House of Representatives are appealing to minority-caucus members and Gov. Mike Dunleavy to help balance the budget. 'Ladies and gentlemen, we're all in a pickle,' House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham said in a news conference on Tuesday. 'It's not just the House majority: It's the House minority; it's the governor; it's the Senate majority; it's the Senate minority. We all own the situation in front of us.' The House Finance Committee passed a budget on Thursday that includes $1.9 billion more in spending for the 12 months that begin in July than the state is forecast to raise. But Edgmon said that committee would continue to work on the bill to try to bring it into balance, as required by state law. Edgmon, I-Dillingham, noted that the budget faces several challenges, including oil prices dropping over the past week. And he said the 21-19 split in the House meant that any one member has a veto power to block legislation. The House majority consists of 14 Democrats, five independents and two Republicans, while the minority has 19 Republicans. 'We need to work together,' Edgmon said of the House minority, before addressing the governor's office: 'Please step up. Work with us. We'll get through this. But if you leave us to our own designs, we are going to be stuck in this morass that unfortunately will carry forward into what none of us want: And that's a special session.' Two majority finance committee members — Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, and Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Bethel — support Permanent Fund dividends at the level set under the formula in current law, which would be around $3,800 per resident and cost $2.46 billion. That size would make a balanced budget impossible without new taxes or significant draws from savings. The value of the Alaska Permanent Fund fell by $3.2 billion, and Alaska North Slope oil fell from $76 per barrel to $65, in the days after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs. Before the majority news conference, the House minority held one of their own. Finance committee members Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, and Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, both said the draft budget must be reduced. They raised the possibility of reexamining any new programs or positions that were added in the current budget, which started last July, or were proposed in the draft budget, including a hotly debated education funding increase. 'It's hard work,' Johnson. 'It's drudgery. … It's not one of those things you approach with a lot of excitement. You have to approach that with a lot of work.' Stapp questioned the affordability of the proposed increase in the funding per student in public education. House Bill 69 includes a $1,000 per student increase in the base student allocation, the core of the state's funding formula. For the next school year, that BSA increase would equal $253 million. 'Ultimately, you're going to have to take the education funding level and say, you want to prioritize education, but you probably can't do a $1,000 BSA,' Stapp said. He said the increase should look more like the one-time boost in state funding for the current school year, which was $680 per student. In terms of the total budget, that education funding increase was $174 million, compared with the $253 million in the draft proposal. In the majority news conference, leaders of that caucus took a different view. Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, said legislators shouldn't even be raising the possibility of a Permanent Fund dividend using the formula in current law. 'I ran and campaigned on a balanced budget,' Kopp said, adding that he would have joined the other caucus if it agreed to a balanced budget and what he described as 'the dividend we can afford.' Kopp also emphasized that the majority is not proposing paying for a larger dividend with legislation to increase taxes or other revenue. He rejected increasing oil taxes, saying that the industry is still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic and he doesn't want to discourage investment in future development. Finance committee co-chair Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, said the draft budget includes some growth driven by necessity. As an example, he cited funding for child advocacy centers to interview children who have been sexually abused. And he noted that most of the increase in the budget was proposed by Dunleavy, with additions for public employee contract increases. Josephson described the education funding increase as a 'core principle.' 'We heard from scores of Anchorage citizens about the importance of that, and we have their back,' he said. 'Come hell or high water, we're going to stand for that principle.' The legislative session is scheduled to end by May 21. Special sessions have been called in 2017 and 2021 to avoid partial state government shutdowns, which would occur if there isn't a budget enacted by June 30. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Possible Postal Service changes present challenge to Alaska Bypass Mail
A plane flies over the town after taking off from the dirt runway on Sept. 14, 2019, in Kivalina, Alaska. (Photo by) In late February, Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, issued a letter to the state's congressional delegation voicing concerns over active and proposed federal spending cuts. In a list of potentially targeted agencies and programs they included one unique to Alaska: Bypass Mail. Bypass Mail is an Alaska-only classification of parcel post mail that bypasses U.S. Postal Service facilities. It includes food and other products that are shipped from Anchorage and Fairbanks through private carriers to retailers off of the road system. Bypass Mail must be from a single seller to a single recipient, shrink-wrapped and moved on pallets for ease of storage, and in a minimum order of 1,000 pounds. The USPS subsidizes the service, at an estimated cost of $133 million in 2022. Alaskans' concern over Bypass Mail is rooted in recent comments by President Donald Trump, who recently suggested ending the independence of the U.S. Postal Service. On Feb. 21, the Washington Post reported that Trump planned to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce. The president added the next day that the Commerce secretary was 'going to look at' postal reform. On March 5, presidential adviser Elon Musk announced his support for privatizing the Postal Service, saying, 'I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example …. We should privatize everything we possibly can.' Calls to privatize the Postal Service have occurred since the 1980s, with rural delivery serving as a primary target. That's especially true for Alaska, where much of the state relies on air mail delivery. Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly, ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was succinct last month in his estimation of what privatization would mean for the state, telling CNN, 'If you privatize the Postal Service, there's not a piece of mail that could be delivered in Alaska for any kind of reasonable price.' Those who oppose Bypass Mail, including the national-level Postal Service leaders, have repeatedly argued that it is not a mail service like others provided by the USPS. Instead, it is more similar to a private freight service. A 2011 USPS report referred to it as 'a freight service that includes items seemingly considered nonmailable anywhere else in the United States.' Bypass mail grew organically, out of the inability in the 1970s for Anchorage post offices to process the high volume of parcel post that was shipped to the bush. This mail reached its final destination by air and postal employees at that time began shifting large orders directly to the air carriers in a system they devised on their own. Rural mail service through the U.S. has been protected against previous cost-cutting attempts by a mandate in the 1970 Postal Reauthorization Act, which was co-sponsored by Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, created the USPS as the independent agency it is today. It codified into law that the USPS must provide 'equitable service to all Americans.' Bypass Mail has periodically been targeted for criticism. It was the subject of a strongly negative 2011 USPS report, followed by a 2014 congressional hearing. Then-Congressman Don Young testified at the time to the often unspoken and unsolvable part of the Alaska mail problem: lack of roads. 'Now, you build me some highways, Mr. Chairman,' he challenged California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, 'and I will go along with you.' The hearing resulted in no changes to the Bypass Mail system. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy suggested eliminating Bypass entirely in 2020, but backed down in the face of political opposition. While those seeking to eliminate Bypass have suggested that without it shippers would promptly turn to freight services, Grant Aviation's Vice President of Commercial Operations Dan Knesek is mindful of parcel post's history. He cautions that those seeking to discontinue the program should be aware of how parcel post was previously the overwhelming choice for most Alaskan shippers and what returning to it would entail for the USPS. 'If those [thousands of pounds of] boxes were not shipped via Bypass, every box would be taken individually into the local post office by the shipper, every box would be weighed individually by a postal employee, and every box would then have to be stored in the post office until every box was separately dispatched for delivery. When it arrived in the destination village, the USPS would have to have employees out at that airport to receive every single box and either store them in those post offices or deliver them immediately. Right now,' he concluded, 'none of that storage and none of that handling is done by postal employees. It is almost entirely done by the aviation industry in Alaska. If the post office was to remove Bypass then it would need to invest in warehouses, hangars, trucks, forklifts, staff and everything else to do what the carriers are doing, and have done, in Alaska for decades.' Under the current system, USPS's only responsibility for Bypass Mail is to cover some of its costs. Once received by a carrier, the shipments are always under their control. The USPS thus is freed from responsibility for storage, loading, unloading, and delivery. Last year, according to Knesek, Grant Aviation moved 17 million pounds of U.S. mail as a Bush air carrier, with the majority of it Bypass Mail. Bush carriers serve small villages, mainline carriers serve hub destinations where the mail is then disseminated to Bush carriers. Additionally, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which currently has figures through November 2024, reports that Bering Air moved 13.8 million pounds that year, Alaska Central Express moved 11.3 million pounds, Ryan Air moved 11 million pounds and Wright Air Service moved 5.4 million pounds. Several other companies flew figures less than one million pounds and Everts Air Cargo, which flies both mainline and Bush mail, flew just over 25 million pounds. When asked to comment on privatization and how it would affect Alaska, a USPS spokesperson replied that there was no statement at this time as the 'inquiry is centered on action by the administration and cuts that haven't happened.' Meanwhile, on March 14, DeJoy released a letter informing Congress that the USPS had entered into an agreement with the General Services Administration and Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The agencies were going to assist USPS in 'identifying and achieving further efficiencies'. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New-look public education funding bill advances toward Alaska House vote
House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage (left) talks with Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham (right) during a break in the Wednesday, March 5, 2025, meeting of the House Rules Committee. Seated at center is Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, chair of the committee. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Alaska's public schools could receive a major permanent funding increase under a bill that will receive a final vote in the Alaska House of Representatives as soon as next week. House Bill 69, from Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, passed the House Rules Committee on a 5-2 vote early Wednesday. Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said debate on the bill will begin Monday in order to give lawmakers enough time to write potential amendments. HB 69 has been the biggest topic of this year's legislative session so far. If signed into law, the current version of the bill would increase K-12 public school funding by about $250 million annually. Last year, lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved a $175 million one-time bonus payment for public schools, making the year-over-year increase only about $75 million. Nevertheless, school districts across the state have said that the increase will help them prevent major cuts to programs and reduce class sizes. The increase approved by the House Rules Committee is less than Himschoot's original proposal, which would have amounted to a $325 million increase in the first year, with more increases in the second and third years. Speaking to the committee on Wednesday, Himschoot said she reduced the rise 'in good-faith compromise' with lawmakers who worried about the original cost of the proposal. As originally proposed, Himschoot's bill would have left schools at the same inflation-adjusted funding level that they received in 2011. Now, schools will be below that level. HB 69 was originally limited to funding levels, but after closed-door negotiations with Dunleavy administration officials, the bill now includes some policy changes sought by the governor. Among the key provisions: Parents will be able to enroll their children in any school within a particular school district. Districts won't be able to limit enrollment to students who live near a particular school. School districts must adopt rules that limit students' ability to use cellphones in school. There will be additional hurdles if a school district seeks to eliminate a charter school. The Legislature will create a task force to investigate further education changes, and the state will commission a report that investigates ways to reduce regulations on school districts. Dunleavy has proposed an alternative bill, one that includes more favorable treatment for charter schools and home-schooled students. However, that idea from the Republican governor doesn't have support among the members of the predominantly Democratic coalition that controls the House. On Wednesday, an attempt to amend HB 69 to include the governor's proposal failed by a 3-4 vote of the rules committee, with members of the House's Republican minority caucus on the losing end. One amendment from House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, was adopted by the committee after gaining support from House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage. That amendment calls for expanding a Dunleavy-backed reading-education bill to cover students from kindergarten through sixth grade. It currently stops at third grade. Costello's amendment calls for the state to fund the program with $450 per student, but that funding is subject to legislative appropriation. Alexei Painter, director of the Legislative Finance Division and the Legislature's chief budget analyst, said fully funding that provision will cost about $22 million per year. Edgmon, a member of the rules committee, noted that Dunleavy himself has already vetoed funding earmarked to pay for his own reading law, and given that history, the program has questionable benefits. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
