Gavel Alaska

Ahead of Alaska’s Aug. 18 primary election, four newsrooms teamed up to put together the 2026 Alaska Voter Guide. Use it to read up on and compare the candidates, available at adn.com, alaskapublic.org, ktoo.org and alaskabeacon.com.

I appreciate the hard work the conference committee has put into this important legislation to provide property tax relief and advance the Alaska LNG pipeline to deliver gas for Alaskans. That work has brought us close to a bill that would serve the people of Alaska well. However, including the S Corp tax provision introduced by the Senate raises serious concerns. By the conference committee’s own admission, this provision has not been adequately debated, tested, modeled, or analyzed. The bill started as simple property tax relief and a straightforward volumetric tax as a replacement. The S Corp tax provision in the bill is neither simple nor straightforward and could have unintended consequences that destabilize the business environment in Alaska and negatively impact Alaskans. If the legislature passes the bill in its current form, I will veto it. We are close to having a bill that will help deliver natural gas for Alaskans. To allow work to continue toward a positive outcome, I am calling a special session beginning July 27 in Juneau. I will continue to collaborate with the legislature and look forward to signing legislation that helps move this project forward so we can provide a reliable source of energy for Alaskans for decades to come.