Budget

As with many recent sessions, discussions largely center on the state’s finances, while a number of social issues have come up as well.

Lori Townsend talks with School Board Member Dave Donley, and Alyse Galvin of Great Alaska Schools, to understand the scope of the Anchorage School District's $68 million budget gap, and what can be done to address it.

The new bill would slow rate increases to match inflation instead of instituting a one-time price hike.

Alaska’s state government can expect $1.3 billion less than it previously forecast, largely because of the drop in oil prices.

Typically, some of the most intense fights at the Alaska state Capitol are between Democrats and Republicans. But one of the biggest ideological fractures complicating this year's legislative session is within the GOP, and that's creating some strange bedfellows.

With the legislative session winding down, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has gotten traction with some of his ideas, but many others have stalled. The governor's office is still holding out for more, but his allies say Dunleavy can still declare victory without passage of specific bills or initiatives.

Dunleavy’s shifting positions on state spending and budget cuts have left critics fuming; they argue that the governor was able to make dubious claims on the campaign trail that were never debunked by a weakened mainstream media, and that that might have changed the election's outcome.

Dunleavy is proposing to increase spending on a handful of projects and programs. They represent some of the governor's core priorities, like public safety and criminal justice, along with non-negotiable obligations, like the system that pays pensions to retired teachers and other public employees.

KSKA: Tuesday, October, 24 2017, at 2:00 p.m. Addressing Alaskans, this week, is taking a look into Alaska’s fiscal options by discussing facts, frequently discussed approaches and the dollars attached to the state’s very real budget issues. LISTEN HERE

Standard & Poor's downgraded Alaska's credit rating Tuesday after months of warnings to shore up the state budget. With plunging oil prices wreaking havoc on the state's budget, the agency knocked the state down a notch from the top AAA rating it has held for the last four years.Download Audio