ALASKA

PREVIOUS UPDATES:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will fund four fisheries projects in Alaska, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich announced June 30. The state will receive nearly $4.5 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The projects will repair a barrier on the Klawock River near Ketchikan, open the more than a mile on the Copper River, restore a mandmade channel in the Kenai Watershed and clean up marine areas statewide, according to the press release.

 

An aide to Gov. Sarah Palin told the Associated Press the governor will accept most of the federal stimulus dollars due to her state. Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said public opinion prompted the governor to change her mind. The state legislature conducted more than 20 public hearings on the matter, according to the AP article. Alaska is eligible for $930 million, the article said, and Leighow told AP the governor will reject $29 million for a State Energy Program. Palin has said in the past that the strings attached to that money is the reason for her rejection.

 

June 19, 2009

Alaska lawmakers and the public are upset with Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to veto more than $28 million in federal stimulus funding for energy efficiency. Palin told CNN there are “fat strings” attached to the federal money. But lawmakers are considering overriding Palin’s veto, and are exploring their options, Rep. Mike Hawker said in a press release. Sen. Lesil McGuire told a group of businesswomen there was still a question of whether the legislature could be the accepting authority for the money even if it overrides Palin’s veto in January, according to KTUU.

 

Alaska is likely to have enough money to fund more transportation projects from federal stimulus money than initially expected. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported June 13 that bids for road projects are coming in far below estimates. “It’s pretty remarkable,” Jeff Ottesen, director of program development for Alaska Department of Transportation, told the newspaper. “We’re going to get a lot more work for the same number of dollars.” He added, however, that projects to meet federal requirements have been difficult to find.

May 28, 2009
Gov. Sarah Palin on May 21 rejected $28.6 million in federal stimulus money for energy efficiency, becoming the only governor to turn down the funds, according to the Associated Press.  Palin said in a press release “Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.”

State Sens. Bill Wielechowski and Lesil McGuire, both of Anchorage, had urged Palin to accept the money. “The way it’s set up if one state rejects the money, it doesn't go back to federal treasury, it gets divvied up to every other state that accepted it,” Wielechowski told the AP. “Basically the governor has written a check out to the other states.”

Wielechowski and McGuire said they would support a move to override Palin's veto, which would require support from three-quarters of both chambers, according to the AP.

The co-chairs of the House Energy Committee were disappointed with Palin’s veto. “This issue has been researched thoroughly by legislative staff and we couldn't find one string attached to those funds,” said Rep. Charisse Millett in a press release. “The governor wants the state to have 50 percent of its power generated from renewable sources by 2025. Her decision takes us a step further away from that goal.” 

May 4, 2009

Gov. Sarah Palin has said she will accept all the federal stimulus money except for $29 million in energy funds, according to the Associated Press.  Palin said that energy money is tied to the state adopting a State Energy Code, and the governor believes Alaska’s conditions are not conducive to such a code, her spokeswoman Sharon Leighow told AP. The state’s legislature had passed bills accepting nearly all the funds. Palin acknowledged the legislature's actions and has said she will accept funding for education, community revenue sharing, home weatherization/energy efficiency, unemployment trust fund, electronic medical records and transportation, as well as money to protect Alaska’s rainy day fund.

April 21, 2009

Alaska is one of six states that haven’t had any transportation projects approved, according to an article by Stateline.org. The others are Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia and Idaho. Illinois leads in both the number of projects and the amount of funding, according to Stateline. Texas is second in both categories. ProPublica, in an article April 16, said transportation officials in the state blamed bureaucracy, caution and need for public input as reasons for the delays in submitting projects.