Alaska’s congressional delegation has been churning out press releases to trumpet Alaska-bound funds in the trillion-dollar spending bill President Obama is expected to sign Saturday.
Among them is $75 million in fisheries disaster assistance. That could bring help to Alaskans who lost out in the failed 2012 commercial king salmon fisheries on the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Cook Inlet. But Ciaran Clayton, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says fishing communities in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Gulf Coast and Samoa are also eligible.
“NOAA and our parent agency, the Department of Commerce, will be working with each individual state’s governor’s offices and industry folks on next step for allocation of that funding,” Clayton said.
The money could ultimately go out as direct aid to fishermen but also on retraining, infrastructure or projects to prevent a future fish disaster.
Alaska’s congressional delegation had been pressing for $150 million in fish disaster funds. Among the other projects they’re highlighting in the spending bill: More than $100 million for construction of aviation buildings at Fort Wainwright and $82 million for a building at Fort Greely. The bill includes $10 million for the Denali Commission.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
