Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy introduced his proposed FY2026 budget on Thursday, Dec. 12, emphasizing education, public safety, and a full PFD. The governor had similar priorities in his FY2025 budget, announced in Dec. 2023, but the thrust of those goals in that budget didn’t align with the goals of the legislature.
The governor said that in working with the legislature this year, he hopes for a productive session. “A whole host of things can happen if we all work together and so I’m looking forward to working with the legislature. I’m going to be looking at policies, not personality.”
Dunleavy’s previously proposed budget prioritized education, but rather than increasing education funding, it chose to focus on teacher bonuses and bolstering charter schools. The legislature in 2024 also wanted to increase funding, passing a budget that included a $680 increase to the Base Student Allocation. However, the governor vetoed that budget.
This year, Dunleavy said that while the budget could include increases to education funding, nothing would be taken away. “There’s no cuts to education this year. There may be additions as we go through the process, but the budget as it’s rolled out, no cuts.”
The governor once again is seeking to prioritize charter schools, citing a University of Harvard study that ranks Alaska’s charters as the top in the country. “Some of you may have heard last year that there was a report done by Harvard that showed that our charter schools are the best in the nation. That’s something to be proud of. That’s something we want to make sure it continues and is expanded here in the state of Alaska for all of our kids.”
Echoing his stances from last year, Dunleavy attempted to steer solutions to education funding away from adding more money, citing a decrease in student populations. “The whole funding formula, to an extent, is tied to population in schools. So, when people tell you–that are advocates for money only–that it’s just everything gets fixed just simply by adding money, you got to have an honest, serious, deep discussion as to what’s happening with our schools.”
Another notable point of emphasis in the governor’s proposed budget is public safety, which he also drove at in his FY25 budget. Specifically, Dunleavy is seeking to increase funding for rural Alaska public safety, address the rise in illegal drugs entering the state, and reduce domestic violence. “We’re going to make sure that there’s more money for VPSOs in rural Alaska, more money for troopers all over the state of Alaska, including in rural Alaska, and approaches to drug interdiction to make sure that we keep drugs out of Alaska. To the extent we possibly can, domestic violence, we’re putting money into making sure that we lower the incidents of domestic violence.”
Again, like in 2023, Dunleavy budgeted for a full PFD, which he says would be $3,892 per the statutory formula. “We’re putting in the budget because it’s part of the law; it’s part of our statutes,” Dunleavy said. “We’re going to shoot for and put the proper amount of money in the budget for that.”
Along with the proposed budget, the governor announced a projected decrease in state revenue to the tune of $200 million less. “This is due to lower oil prices as well as higher lease expenditures. A lower production forecast also contributed to the decreases seen through FY2030, but there is an expected increase in production and revenues after that,” said Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Krum.
