Lawmakers are looking closely at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to create a state Department of Agriculture.
Dunleavy issued an executive order proposing the new department in December. It would split out the existing Division of Agriculture from the Department of Natural Resources and add 13 new administrative and IT positions, including a cabinet-level commissioner.
To start, it would handle essentially the same functions as the current division: farm loans, land leases, marketing, scientific research and so on.
Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle presented the concept to House and Senate committees Wednesday. He told lawmakers that DNR is a $173 million agency with a wide variety of responsibilities, everything from mining and oil and gas leasing to wildfire management and state parks.
Supply chain interruptions during the pandemic pushed the Dunleavy administration to make food security a bigger policy priority, and Boyle said creating a cabinet-level “ag” department would force the state to focus on growing the agriculture sector on a long-term basis.
“Right now, you've got a commissioner that loves ag, you've got a governor that loves ag, but in two years, that could completely change,” Boyle said. “Then ag might not have its voice, or might not have its champion as much anymore, and so this is really a way to leave that lasting legacy.”
Farmers and agriculture groups testified in support of the new department.
“With improved access to lands, investment in research, development of diverse, climate-suited crops, we can significantly increase the availability of locally grown food,” Alaska Farm Bureau President Scott Mugrage told the House Resources Committee.
Another advocate noted that Alaska is one of just two states without a state agriculture department.
Creating the 13 new Department of Agriculture positions would cost the state some $2.7 million, and the 37 positions slated to move out of DNR would cost another $7.2 million. Boyle said he is not planning to propose corresponding cuts to the existing DNR budget.
But the state, of course, is reckoning with a budget deficit and a number of other pressing needs.
Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, said he was skeptical, especially as students, teachers and parents plead with lawmakers to boost public school funding.
“How do I make the case to them and say, ‘This year, it is so important that we fund this new Department of Agriculture that we need to take $2.7 million away from what we could put toward education,’” he said.
Other lawmakers — on both sides of the aisle — argued the price tag was worth it. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, chaired a 36-member food security task force that recommended creating an agriculture department.
“I would say, if not now, when?” she said. “Things are unsure, but I would also point to the fact where we are talking about an education funding need in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and here we're talking about a couple million.”
Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, framed it a bit differently.
Starting the new department would cost something on the order of $8 from each Alaskan’s Permanent Fund dividend this fall, Fields said.
“I kind of think that’s worth it,” he said.
Mugrage, the Farm Bureau president, agreed.
“I believe we'll lower the cost of food way beyond that $8 commitment,” he said.
The new department will start work in July unless lawmakers pass a resolution opposing the executive order by mid-March.
