October 23, 2025 Assembly Legislative Committee Meeting Summary
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October 23, 2025 Assembly Legislative Committee Meeting Summary
The Anchorage Assembly Legislative Committee convened on October 23, 2025, to review the draft 2026 Legislative Program and discuss strategy for the upcoming session. The administration presented a resource-constrained outlook, citing a potential state deficit of $300 million and declining oil prices. Key deliberations focused on the feasibility of asking for capital support for the Port of Alaska modernization, requests for affordable housing and blight reduction, and the coordination of a joint visit to Juneau. The committee also heard public testimony regarding education funding and local voice concerns.
Consent Calendar
- No items were formally placed on the Consent Calendar; the meeting proceeded directly to business review.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Carol Tream (Government Affairs Manager, AML): Announced the upcoming Alaska Municipal League (AML) annual conference (Dec 8th week) and legislative line (February). Noted that Assembly members Rivera and Brawley currently serve on AML committees, with a recruitment effort underway if a vacancy occurs.
- Nanda Thompson (ESD Teacher, Turnagain/Graduate Communities):
- Expressed strong concern among teachers regarding high classroom numbers, calling for state accountability from ASD (Alaska Standards Council/Department) to reduce class sizes.
- Highlighted a lack of support for special education, noting budget issues observed in previous sessions.
- Urged the committee to protect the voice of community councils, citing concerns about restrictions on local voice at both municipal and state levels.
Discussion Items
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Review of 2026 Draft Legislative Program (Nolan Clouder, Mayor's Office):
- Themes: The program is structured around "Safe, Secure, and Affordable."
- Top Ask: Capital support for the Port of Alaska modernization program.
- Safe Category Requests: Capital support for the Anchorage Police Department (APD) real-time crime center; $500,000 for blight reduction (nuisance abatement of ~10-12 structures); inflation adjustment of the E911 surcharge; and funding for the Community Assistance Program.
- Secure Category Requests: Increased rates for General Relief to expand assisted living bed capacity; support for the Chugach State Park Access Study; prioritizing winter road maintenance coordination with the DOT; a hiring freeze on the Alaska DOT Central Region noted as an issue; and amending utility rate statutes to allow AWU to recover infrastructure costs without a full rate case.
- Affordable Category Requests: A $2 million application to the Renewable Energy Fund for the Waste-to-Energy project; gap financing/patient capital mechanisms for affordable housing via ADA and AHFC; allowing ADA loan participations for housing; and weatherization funding targeted at mobile homes.
- Fiscal Context: Wendy Chamberlain (Mayor's Office) described the outlook as "bleak," estimating a $300 million state deficit due to natural disasters and potential oil price drops ($55/barrel), limiting flexibility for new appropriations.
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Strategic Debate on Project Quantification and Priorities:
- Blight Reduction: Council member inquired if $500,000 would address 200 derelict structures. Clouder clarified the funds would demolish approximately 10-12 structures, deemed a strategic low-dollar ask given budget constraints.
- Affordable Housing vs. Infrastructure Bank: Members questioned why the program asks for patient capital rather than an infrastructure bank. The administration noted the current political reluctance to break out ADA funds and the likelihood that the Governor might veto larger housing-specific asks unless there is pre-agreement with AHFC and ADA.
- Port of Alaska Ask: A debate ensued regarding the necessity of including a specific dollar amount for the Port.
- Speaker Position (Council Member Silvers): Expressed skepticism about a small ask without a specific dollar figure, arguing that outside of a general obligation bond, a small contribution might be insufficient to move the needle or could invite political games.
- Speaker Position (Administration): Acknowledged the need for a large-scale ask ($100M-$200M) but noted the difficulty of pinning a specific number if no General Obligation Bond is proposed. Clouder suggested a concrete ask with a rationale would be stronger than an open-ended request.
- Speaker Position (Council Member): Argued that if a General Obligation Bond occurs, the Port should be an obvious inclusion, but without it, the administration should clarify if they want a specific ask or if they are taking a "pause" as they did last year.
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District Priorities and Process:
- The committee discussed limiting district-specific project lists to one or two per member to ensure strategic advocacy, noting that many past year's requests were either not funded or vetoed.
- Action: Staff will coordinate with members to finalize lists of 1-2 projects per district that align with the CAP (Capital Improvement Program).
- Emergency Planning Committee Request: A document from the Anchorage Local Emergency Planning Committee was received, requesting state funding to retain federal FEMA dollars. The committee agreed to distribute this as a public document for potential inclusion.
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2025 Legislative Visit to Juneau:
- The committee discussed the strategy for a joint visit with the Mayor's office. Previous attempts to visit separately caused messaging confusion; the goal is a unified front.
- AMAL Timing: It was noted that the 2026 Annual Municipal League (AML) conference in February may be difficult for Assembly members to attend due to scheduling conflicts, as it conflicts with the regular assembly meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2025. A work session to discuss the legislative program draft is tentatively targeted for November 21.
- Voting Timeline: The legislative program is scheduled for formal adoption at the Assembly meeting in December (likely December 4).
- Agreement to Coordinate: Staff will reach out to Assembly members to solicit 1-2 district priority projects each, with the final list to be reviewed before the work session.
- Administrative Tasks:
- The committee will send the Emergency Planning Committee document to the Clerk's office for distribution.
- Staff will coordinate a follow-up meeting with the Mayor's administration to set a date for the Juneau visit.
- Starting January 2026, the committee will meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month.
- Public Action: Council member Silvers agreed to correspond with Nanda Thompson regarding concerns about classroom sizes, special education, and community council voices.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Well, I'd like to go ahead and call the meeting to oh, sorry, we're recording. All right. Well, then I will call the meeting to order. We're here for the October 23rd meeting of the Assembly Legislative Committee scheduled from 2 30 to 3 30 PM. Go ahead and start with introductions, members in the room. Yara Silvers. Zach Johnson and online we have Ms. Baldwin Day. Present. All right, wonderful. I believe that's everybody. If I'm missing someone, uh speak up. If not, without further ado, let's just go ahead and dive right in. If there's a policy director would like to go ahead and jump right in the first item business review of the 2026 draft legislative program. Sure. Nolan Clouder, mayor's office. Mr. Chairman, so I have uh what you've got in front of you here is a is a draft of our legislative program. This is this has gone through, you know, the through main folks on the eighth floor. Um we've you know, we're we've crafted this uh in line with with the requirements in code for legislative program. You know, it needs to be introduced by before the budget is approved. So this is scheduled for introduction to November 18th, and then it has to be approved before December 10th and code. So we are on track for all of those, all of those requirements. Um this has been drafted, you know, for for discussion and consideration. There is, of course, when a window of opportunity and plenty of time to incorporate feedback into it. Uh, and before we, you know, before it goes on to the agenda for people by the by the body. Um we couched this one and I presented this the fee high level on it by way of reminder, the three themes of safe, secure, affordable, uh, and and that our top ask would be for capital support for the Port of Alaska modernization program. So uh so you'll see the the top request listed there for the port. Um, you know, I think we know that that that we're in a very budget constrained environment. Um, I think we've gotten that message really clearly, and we and the administration met with most of the anchorage delegation a couple of weeks ago, and that was that was definitely a clear message. But uh, but nonetheless, I think we have you know a responsibility to uh to try to get resources for the important needs that we have. And so um, and there is still you know some possibility of a general obligation bond. But so the port ask would need to be something, you know, it's it's a large dollar ask, but it is a statewide concern or um, I think as well. So the safe category is sort of is sort of where community safety, you know, is the main is the main connecting thread. The main asks that we have in there right now, um capital support for the APD real-time crime center. Um we had uh included an ask for blight reduction funding. Um this would be to uh in in for development services for their they have that nuisance abatement fund. We've been able to deploy capital from that, you know, effectively in the past to deal with nuisance properties um that don't have a chance of don't have a don't have much prospect of being rehabilitated or that are not viable for rehab. Um the um inflation adjusting the E911 surcharge, which creates revenue for the municipality. Um that surcharge hasn't been adjusted for inflation in several years, uh, and also doesn't apply to voiceover IP systems, so it's a per line charge that would create revenue that can go towards our public safety response. Um funding the community assistance program, which is always something we're always gonna have in our program. I think in one form or another, um, that's couched as public safety because you know, public safety is almost half of our budget, and um that is the likely use of that funding, you know, if we continue to get it. Um the secure category is about kind of infrastructure and resilience. Um, so I think you know, this port modernization would fit there. Um, a lot of our asks here are related to infrastructure, but but there are a few other kind of categories that fit that fit that. One is um increasing rates for general relief for assisted living. This is related, this one might require a little explanation, but this is the issue that we have. If you go to some of the the um congregate shelters that we have, you find that that there are a lot of people that are that are living with disabilities that are in those shelters, and that's not a very good and supportive environment for them to be. Um, and there's a challenge with them getting into supported, you know, assisted living arrangements because if the they're on um general relief if they're not on Medicaid, if they don't if they don't if they're eligible for Medicaid, that the reimbursement rates are too low.
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