Governor Bill Walker is seeking to streamline three state agencies responsible for financing economic development, housing, and renewable energy.
He signed an administrative order Thursday requiring the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Alaska Energy Authority, and Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority to find opportunities to become more efficient or consolidate.
The agencies have more than $3 billion in assets and employ 440 people. Walker says the state hasn’t pre-determined what the outcome will be.
“This is a process that will be inclusive, not exclusive,” he said. “It’s not going to be a process where we come up with an edict on the third floor and say, ‘This is the way it’s going to be.’ We invite them – no one knows their agencies better than them. So they have been doing this a bit internally themselves. So we just have expanded that a bit.”
Commissioner of Administration Sheldon Fisher will lead the effort. Walker said he expects the recommendations will require new state laws next legislative session.
Andrew Kitchenman is the state government and politics reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO in Juneau. Reach him at akitchenman@alaskapublic.org.
