Senate committee votes to subpoena DNR commissioner over AIDEA land transfers

The Alaska Senate Resources Committee voted Wednesday to issue one or more subpoenas ordering Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Crowther to appear before it Oct. 26 and turn over records on state land transfers to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.

The vote followed one declined invitation and a second that Crowther hasn't said whether he'll accept. His office declined to attend an Oct. 8 hearing on the transfers, as Alaska News reported. On Wednesday, committee Chair Cathy Giessel read that reply aloud: "The governor's office has not given us permission to attend." It added that the department was happy to answer questions by email and was working to fill her records request.

Giessel invited Crowther again the next day, for Oct. 26. He replied that the invitation was received and "we will be back in touch with you soon," she said, but as of Wednesday he had not said whether he would come. She also said DNR's response to her Sept. 1 public records request, which said the department would do the work "as expeditiously as possible," did not include the extension notice and timeline state regulation requires.

The subpoena would require Crowther to appear in person at 10 am Oct. 26 at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. It also calls for records covered by Giessel's records request, and documents to help the committee understand the development plans, policy reasons and legality of DNR land conveyances to AIDEA and the housing corporation.

The biggest transfer would give AIDEA about 19,950 acres north of Houston at no cost. DNR's preliminary decision would waive the state's right to take the land back, saying keeping that right would limit AIDEA's bonding and financing options. A second would give AIDEA 885 acres at Port MacKenzie, keeping that right if the land isn't developed within five years. DNR's preliminary decision lists logistics hubs, energy corridors, manufacturing and data centers among possible uses for the Houston land, though AIDEA's executive director, Randy Ruaro, has said no data center project exists. The Houston City Council and Mat-Su Borough Assembly have voted against that transfer.

DNR's preliminary decision finds the Houston transfer serves a public purpose, and Ruaro has said AIDEA's job-creation work is a public purpose by definition. Legislative attorneys have said it may not meet that test.

Before the vote, Sen. Matt Claman asked whether the subpoena would have to be served if the department agreed to appear. Emily Nauman, director of Legislative Legal Services, said the motion's wording might answer that. If the motion required the subpoena, she said she believed the chair would have to deliver it. If it only gave the chair authority to issue one, the chair might be able to hold off if the department complied. Vice Chair Sen. Bill Wielechowski, who made the motion, said it was for the committee to issue a subpoena.

Claman said that, as he understood it, the last legislative subpoena to the executive branch, over revenue matters in 2025, was never served because the administration agreed to comply. He asked that Giessel have that discretion. Giessel said she respected Crowther and noted that his boss had kept him from the earlier hearing. If the subpoena persuades the governor's office to let him attend, she said, "I would certainly be eagerly accepting that." She added that the committee would "work that out." The motion was not changed to address service.

At Giessel's suggestion, Wielechowski amended the motion to allow "one or more subpoenas," so the committee could pick another date if Crowther can't make Oct. 26. Sen. George Rauscher suggested offering a range of dates instead, saying multiple subpoenas could build a record of Crowther missing dates when a range would give him a better chance to pick one. Giessel said the committee had already reserved Oct. 26 and would choose a specific second date if needed.

The vote was five yes and one pass. Sens. Forrest Dunbar, Claman, Wielechowski, Scott Kawasaki and Giessel voted yes. No response was heard from Rauscher, who attended remotely, when his name was called. Sen. Robert Myers, the committee's seventh member, was not listed as present and was not called.

Bryan Butcher, who leads the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., has agreed to appear at the Oct. 26 meeting to discuss the conveyances to his agency, Giessel said.