Sen. Murkowski Addresses Wins Secured For Alaska In Bipartisan Infrastructure Package

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski held a press conference in Anchorage to discuss the benefits of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, soon to be signed into law, will bring to Alaska, saying that Alaska will greatly benefit from the historic infrastructure bill. Murkowski was a lead author and negotiator of the bill, which secures provisions that will be critical to building, improving, maintaining, and upgrading the state’s infrastructure.

Sen. Murkowski said:

“I think you will see as you move through here, some things that probably clearly have an Alaskan’s fingerprints. I don’t think too many of my colleagues would have included specific set aside in service transportation block grants for maintenance of ice roads. … I will take a moment to highlight one piece that, I think, is quite significant. That’s what we’ve done to include a new program for essential ferry service … On the water and wastewater side, I think it is significant to note the funding that we have dedicated in this area for the water and wastewater projects through the clean water revolving fund and drinking water revolving fund is going to be incredible. … We wouldn’t be able to be communicating through Zoom through the connectivity that broadband provides. We know in this state that we are woefully behind. With the grants to states that will be coming, it’s a minimum allocation. $100 million to each state.”

The Kenai Peninsula stands to benefit from the more than $3.3 billion to conduct mechanical thinning, controlled burns, fuel breaks and other related activities to reduce wildfire risk. The fuel breaks implemented on the Kenai, in particular, are credited with saving communities during the Funny River Fire. Regional Kenai Peninsula airports stand to benefit from $5 billion in grants for a new Airport Terminal Improvement Program, which includes set asides for small hub airports, nonhub, and nonprimary airports in communities of all sizes.