Giessel says free AIDEA land transfer takes over the Legislature's appropriation power

Senate Resources Committee Chair Cathy Giessel said Wednesday that the state's plan to give nearly 20,000 acres near Houston to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority at no cost would hand AIDEA a power that belongs to the Legislature.

DNR is "delegating assets," Giessel said, and AIDEA in return "is taking over an appropriation authority" that belongs to lawmakers. She called it "a violation of our legislative appropriation authority."

She made the case just before the committee voted to subpoena Natural Resources Commissioner John Crowther over the transfers.

Giessel compared the giveaway with a lease. The University of Alaska is leasing 829 acres in the Mat-Su for private development for $586,740 a year, with annual increases. At the same rate, she said, the state would collect about $14 million a year for its general fund if it leased the Houston land directly to the industrial park and data center developer AIDEA has proposed. The figure is her back-of-the-envelope comparison, not an appraisal. It assumes the Houston land would lease at the same per-acre rate as the university's.

The transfers rely on the state's public and charitable use law, which requires that conveyances serve a public purpose. Giessel walked the committee through how DNR changed the definition. A regulation proposed in December 2025 added "supports private commercial or industry that contributes to the economic development of the state," along with anything "otherwise determined by the commissioner to be in the interest of the state." She said it was adopted in February and took effect in March.

DNR's preliminary decision finds the Houston transfer serves a public purpose. AIDEA Executive Director Randy Ruaro has argued that AIDEA's job-creating work is public by definition. Legislative attorneys have said it may fail that test.