JUNEAU – The Alaska Senate Thursday passed the state’s operating budget for fiscal year 2020. The budget includes $4.3 billion in unrestricted general funds (UGF) for agency and statewide operations – a reduction of $258 million over last year – and $1.94 billion to pay each eligible Alaskan a Permanent Fund dividend of approximately […]
Conservation groups voice support for Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act Washington, D.C. — In response to today’s U.S. House Natural Resources Committee vote passing the bipartisan Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act out of committee (the bill passed 22-14), Alaska Wilderness League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, […]
Agency seeks broad spectrum of nominees to help improve public lands management nationwide ANCHORAGE — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced that it is seeking public nominations for positions on 31 Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) nationwide, including five vacancies in Alaska. These citizen-based committees assist in the development of recommendations that address public […]
JUNEAU – The Alaska Senate Finance Committee today approved amendments boosting this year’s Permanent Fund dividend to about $3,000 per person and transferring $12 billion from the Permanent Fund’s earnings reserve account into the fund’s constitutionally protected corpus. “We must take effective action to protect the Permanent Fund,” said Senator Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, co-chair […]