An Alaska lawmaker has quietly proposed taking over Anchorage’s port, but won’t say why

A powerful state senator from Bethel introduced a bill last year for the state to take over Anchorage’s port, where most of the physical stuff shipped to Alaska arrives.

Still awaiting consideration, Senate Bill 155 would take ownership of that critical infrastructure away from the city and give it to the state, potentially through eminent domain. State Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Bethel Democrat, is the bill’s unofficial sponsor, but he has so far not publicly talked about it.

And now about eight months later, with the Legislature gearing up for its next session, Anchorage officials are still in the dark about why state lawmakers would pick this fight.

“The state’s gonna do what the state’s gonna do and it’s gonna be the legal fight of the century when we demand that they provide consideration for the taking, if they in fact move on that goal,” Anchorage Assembly Chair Chris Constant said. “It will be a very interesting fight.” 

The state Senate spent about 14 seconds last May introducing the bill for the port takeover. The Senate secretary read SB 155’s title, and the Senate President referred it to two committees.

That was the entirety of the public discussion the Legislature has had about the bill. It was lawmakers’ last day in regular session.

“This was quite a shock,” Constant said during a briefing in July.

“I was also surprised,” said Wendy Chamberlain, the city’s state lobbyist.

And, as Port of Alaska spokesperson Jim Jager put it last week, “We were as surprised as anybody when it floated up.”

(If you’re wondering, yes, for now, it’s called the Port of Alaska, but the city of Anchorage owns and operates it. By weight, about half of all goods that enter the state arrive there).

Assembly member Meg Zaletel chairs the local committee that oversees the port. She invited Sen. Hoffman to discuss it in her committee. In November, a Hoffman staffer told her in an email that they weren’t ready.

Staff in Hoffman’s office said no one would be available for an interview for this story, either, until the Legislature goes back into session.

The bill proposes creating a public corporation called the Port of Alaska Authority. It would be run by a board appointed by the governor, legislative leaders, and Anchorage’s local elected officials.

The bill also pays some special attention to an unresolved lawsuit between the city and a federal agency that was responsible for overseeing a botched port expansion project that began in the early 2000s. A trial court judge decided in 2022 that the feds owe the city more than $367 million. The feds appealed, and the parties are working on scheduling oral arguments in federal appeals court.

The bill says the cash-strapped state would pick up the legal costs to continue fighting the case, as well as whatever money the federal government ends up paying the city.

Port Director Steve Ribuffo said his office has not been contacted about the potential port takeover.

“So far, we’ve not been asked one way or another about how we feel about this,” Ribuffo said. “And because it falls into the policy category, and we don’t make policy here, I’m not going to take a position on it. We’re gonna execute whatever the powers that be say is the best way ahead.”

The next legislative session begins Jan. 16.

In the meantime, Mayor Dave Bronson’s chief of staff, Mario Bird, said the administration remains opposed to giving up the port.

“That is not something that the taxpayers of Anchorage have expected for the last 50 or 60 years,” Bird said. “And the administration’s position is that the taxpayers should be respected.”