Next week is the 33rd session of Alaska’s legislative session. The House, however, is not organized. The Republicans won a narrow majority during the midterm elections, but it is still not clear if those 40-person members will follow the party line or form a multi-party coalition.
Former House speaker, Rep. Bryce Edgmon is an Independent from Dillingham. He stated that it is a common pattern: This will be the third cycle in which House members start the session without having a clear idea of who is in majority.
“The next two-years, it’s really up and down. He said that we don’t know. “And I believe we’re all going down to Juneau hoping that we can pull a rabbit from the hat and get a larger group together and, as I said, leave a lot political swords aside. All that remains to be determined at this stage is, however.
Since 2017, , the House has been controlled by the multiparty coalition. Edgmon was the speaker of the House from 2017-2021. He expects that the Legislature will address long-standing issues such as education funding and shrinking workers. He believes the Legislature underestimated both the effects of the pandemic as well as the inflation-related toll on schools.
“There is one faction in the Legislature that will insist that schools should be increased. He said, “We’ve dilled long enough.” “But there’s also going to be another type of core group legislators who will say, ‘Yeah but what about performance metrics?” Are schools actually achieving the goals they are supposed to? Alaska is ranked 49 in every category. That’s what I expect to be the centerpiece of our discussions in Juneau and ultimately what we come up with at session’s end.
Edgmon stated that it is crucial to find ways to retain and recruit educators to address many of the problems schools face, particularly in Bush Alaska. He is cautiously optimistic about how the governor and legislature will work together.
He stated that “We have an administration entering for a second term and the governor seems more willing to cooperate with the legislature, and to be part the solution, at minimum in my opinion.”
Edgmon pointed out, too, that funding for the federal infrastructure bill will be renewed in a second round.
He said, “We’re looking at possibly somewhere in the vicinity of about a billion bucks going through state budget process and federal money going through state’s capital budget processing largely.” That should be interesting and attractive. And I believe we will see at least $100 million in broadband money through the state budget process.”
Friday will see the release of the next batch pre-filed legislation, while Tuesday will mark the start of the legislative session.
Watch KDLG’s interview featuring Rep. Bryce Edgmon
Izzy Ross – Representative Edgmon, thank for being here today.
Rep. Bryce Edgmon, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be with you.
Ross: The last time we spoke was just before the November midterm elections. Many things have changed since then. How does the composition of the legislature change now?
Edgmon First, it’s amazing how fast time passes. We are now, roughly, a week before the 33rd Legislature convenes. January 17th is the first day. It’s January 17. The Senate appears to be well organized at this point. The governor has already put together his team. The House is now in Juneau for its third consecutive cycle. It is not organized and has two distinct factions. They are preparing for another round of stare-downs and trying to figure out how to get some legislators to decide that the greater good is better than being on their side.
Ross: Right. This isn’t an uncommon position.
Edgmon – That’s right. As you know, I have been involved in every attempt to organize over the past six years. I have also been in leadership positions within the Legislature. It’s still up in the air for the next two years. We don’t know. We’re all going together to Juneau hoping that we can pull a rabbit from the hat and bring together a larger group, and, as I said, leave a lot behind in politics. All that remains to be determined at this stage is, however.
Ross – Got it. That’s it. What are you looking out for as we head into the session next week?
Edgmon – There are some bigger priorities bubbling up. The governor indicated that he is open to participating in the debate on education funding. The state government is facing a shrinking workforce in Alaska. This issue will be brought up because it must offer state workers a competitive compensation package and a retirement package. It’s something I believe will come up.
There are many other issues that will always arise. Before I arrived, I looked at the prefiled list of bills. It contains about 70 bills that were pre-filed in both the House and Senate. Many of these bills are familiar to me because I’ve seen them move and change many times. They’re back. In an environment in which oil prices are declining or falling and are lower than what we predicted when we left Juneau last spring, I believe there will be a need for us to tighten our belts and examine state spending. We’ll also be looking at the Permanent Fund Dividend, as we do each year.
It will be round two funding for federal infrastructure bill. This is interesting. We’re looking at somewhere around a billion dollars going through both the state budget process and federal money going through state’s capital program. This should make it very exciting and attractive. And I believe we will see at least $100 million in broadband money through the state budget process.
It’s going be one of those sessions where we don’t know what the end result will look like.
Ross – When I think about education funding, I spoke with teachers from the region. They discussed the differences between the pre-2006 retirement plans and the current retirement plans. Also, they mentioned how incentives are necessary to attract teachers to this area. Are you predicting the state moving in one direction or another with education funding?
Edgmon – I believe we need to really think about the question “Where does Alaska go next?” because we are in a state where there has been a dramatic decline in young residents. We are now at a point where oil money doesn’t fund the majority of government services. However, when oil prices rise, which they did last year, they are still quite high at $70 to mid-$80, there are other options to address deferred maintenance. This includes huge backlogs of projects, the university, our school system, our airports, and roads that have not been maintained in years. We have the chance to keep up with inflation, at least in terms of funding schools and other parts of our public sector.
It’s interesting, however, because we have an administration that is coming in for a second term at the beginning of this session. The governor seems more open to working with the Legislature and being part of the solution. So I am cautiously optimistic that the next two-years will take us in the right direction to invest back into Alaska. It all comes down to, you know. Especially out here in Bush, getting qualified individuals to come out and work here. And hopefully to become long-term members of our communities. We have a part to play in the Legislature.
Ross – Are there other areas you feel the state should be focusing its funding efforts on or need to rethink how it is moving forward?
Edgmon – You know broadband is a major issue. Over the next five to ten years, Alaska will see unprecedented amounts of money go into broadband. That’s why I keep an eye on it. Last session, I introduced the bill and got it signed by the governor. This bill established the broadband program for Alaska.
You know that a lot of what I believe will happen in Juneau is due to the education system in our schools. We underestimated the impact of the pandemic on schools. The fact that enrollment is declining in Anchorage as well as all over the state and the creeping presence inflation has really taken its toll on many schools.
One faction of the Legislature will argue that the school funding increase is long overdue. We have been putting off the issue for too long. There’s gonna be another group of legislators who will say, “Yeah but what about performance metrics?” Are schools actually achieving the goals they are supposed to? Alaska is ranked 49 in every category. That’s what I expect to be the centerpiece of our Juneau session and what we end up with.
Ross – This is an interesting dichotomy or two perspectives to consider, but they don’t appear to be necessarily opposing. Perhaps schools could be helped to meet these metrics by increasing their funding. Or, schools could pursue those academic goals for their students and provide more resources for them. What are your thoughts? These issues are also being faced by Bristol Bay schools, such as low enrollment and scores. Additionally, certain communities (I’m thinking just of Chignik Bay) are struggling to keep their schools open. I would love to know your thoughts on how you plan to address these issues in particular the area.
Edgmon – Yes, but the challenges faced by one school district may be quite different from the next, and so forth. I am eager to have this conversation and to present the State of the State of Education, if possible, and to view it more holistically. We were just talking about broadband and how it could be used to benefit school districts.
We have a difficult time and it will only get more difficult going forward. In terms of retaining and recruiting educators, we have a serious problem. It’s becoming increasingly pervasive. It’s one of the main reasons Alaska is so poor. I can recall my childhood in Dillingham and how teachers were often present from the first through 12th grades. Teachers arrived and stayed. They were part of the community and raised their families here. Their children graduated from local schools. It’s still true to some extent, but it’s less so.
So that continuity, that familiarity and comfort level, the acceptance, all that stuff that makes our public education system one the best in America, is being seriously challenged by the inability to keep people in small communities across the state. This is a major issue I will be focusing on. And I believe that a lot more legislators and governors will be able to do the same, hopefully.
Ross – When I think about broadband, Starlink and satellite internet have been a topic that has been surfacing in my social media feeds, particularly in the Dillingham community group. As a Dillingham resident, what are your thoughts?
Edgmon – I believe that to have high speed internet access in Alaska, you will need every technology available. Seriously. Fiber optic cable is the gold standard. There are many supply chain issues and other issues. It is also difficult to find workers and right-aways. Our working seasons are short here. Satellite technology includes both larger satellites further from the Earth that rotate and smaller satellites more focused that can provide service in certain capacities in an almost immediate manner. Satellites are responsible for much of our state’s internet and telephone systems. Satellites have a tremendous role to play.
Starlink, I have read about it just like everyone else, and I am hearing a lot of good things about it. It’s providing reliable service to many areas that didn’t have it before, at a very affordable price. Unalaska, for example, now has fiber. This fiber is being installed at the last mile level to get fiber into homes and businesses. So you are seeing a double effort. You’re also seeing satellite services. In the ten years that will follow, you’ll see more fiber optic cables crisscrossing the US and this being made available.
Ross – There are plans to build a fiber optic cable connecting Dillingham and Bethel. These movements are happening even within the region, so we can see these projects.
Edgmon : The rule of thumb for broadband, and we saw it in Anchorage, is that a community can get high-speed internet within a short time period. This means that the demand for the service will double. This is why fiber optic cables are considered more advantageous than satellites. Fiber optic cables have unlimited capacity, while satellites do not. It’s a mix and match. The federal money that is coming to Alaska will be used to bring high-quality internet to areas that don’t already have it. It also has the element of making it affordable.
Ross: Bristol Bay and the state are awaiting the final decision of the EPA on mining at the pebble deposits. The ongoing debate about whether or not the EPA should veto this is ongoing.
Edgmon – The legislature will be looking at the Donlevy administration’s request for the Department of Environmental Conservation of the state to have primacy over section404, which is water primacy management under the Clean Water Act. We kind of put the kibosh to that last year in legislature and instead we punted by authorizing a million dollar study that will be completed in March sometime. So that’s the issue of the state having some sort of control or domicile over the permitting process for that very important section in the Clean Water Act (the 404 section which involves dredge-fill type of activities in the most pristine water bodies). It will be complex and controversial. We’ll be watching what happens in Juneau.
Ross – Do you believe the legislature will make any decisions?
Edgmon – This would require the legislature to act because last year, the Department of Environmental Conservation asked for 28 additional employees to manage this program. These highly skilled technical employees would come in handy in an age when it is difficult to find employees in Alaska. It will have to be approved by the state budget. It will likely involve much back and forth, as I anticipate.
Pebble is something I oppose strongly. We have the Dunleavy administration that wants it to go through the process. I don’t know whether that’s code for being supportive or not. The states were able to control this section because of the issue of primacy over a section of the voluminous federal Clean Water Act, which dates back to 1972.
In all of those years, I can only recall three states – Florida and New Jersey – that have actually taken up the federal government. Number one, it is expensive to administer. There may not be a lot of benefit to doing it. This is because you have EPA, Corps of Engineers, and other people who have worked in a state such as Alaska, which has the largest wetlands in the country. They have a strong history presence, many long-term employees, and great relationships with federal counterparts. That’s another topic that could become a major issue in the next session.
Ross : Looking forward to following this legislative session. Thank you, Representative Edgemon, for taking the time to speak.
Edgmon : Thank you. I look forward to more conversations and encourage everyone to contact my office. Many of you have my cell phone number. I am available to speak at all times. We also send out an electronic newsletter on Fridays. If you are not on the list, we will get you on it.
